Shraddha did not know why Pranav decided to eat in his room that day. She thought that he must be too worked up and was tired to come down for dinner.
She ate with him and picked up the empty tray of food and kept it on the table to be cleared later on.
Pranav chewed on his bottom lip, contemplating.
She went to the walk-in closet and came back after some time, in her sleepwear. Pranav tried to pretend being asleep, while she carried out her nightly skin care routine.
He let out a soft sigh, when she turned off the lights and was under the covers.
Both of them were in apprehension. Pranav was relieved that she slept on the farthest side of the bed, and she was relieved that he was asleep already and did not try to initiate intimacy, like many other nights.
The morning approached and Shraddha stirred in her sleep. She was startled to see her husband already awake, but like every other day, he was not out of the bed, working out. Rather, he was sitting there, leaning on the headrest, with brooding eyes, focused on her. She greeted him and rushed to the bathroom to freshen up.
By the time she was done, and came out, a knock was heard on the door and she opened it to meet Jay.
"Hi. Good morning." Jay greeted her walking in.
She was more than surprised. Jay was never home before eight in the morning and he never approached their bedroom, until the previous night.
"You can leave." He said with a smile.
She blinked rapidly and sighed in defeat. She knew, there was no point in arguing with both of them.
"You are home early today." Pranav pointed out, when Shraddha left the room.
"I never left last night." Jay replied, pushing the duvet away from Pranav's body.
He opened the buttons of Pranav's shirt and stroked the bandage once.
"Does it hurt?" He asked looking up.
"No." Pranav simply replied.
But Jay knew better.
Without another word, he marched to the bathroom and filled the tub with hot water. He dropped a calming citrus bathbomb in it and the bathroom was filled with a refreshing aroma.
Jay came out and helped Pranav to stand up.
"I can manage Jay."
Jay chuckled lightly.
"Don't worry. One day, I might need the same care. Payback that day."
"Shut up Jay." Pranav snapped angrily.
"I would never want to see you in need of this kind of help." He hissed.
Jay's heart fluttered at his brother's words.
He made Pranav sit on the side of the tub and washed his body, carefully avoiding the wound. He cleaned it again and changed it into a fresh bandage.
After Pranav was fresh, he came down to the breakfast table and left to his office after he had eaten.
There was no scope of any suspicion about his wounded state.
This arrangement continued until he was completely healed. Shraddha never knew that her husband was hurt. She had no slightest idea of the reasons of Jay's frequent visits to their room.
When Pranav was better, and did not need help, Jay too, stopped coming to their room.
Elsewhere, Jay was slowly and steadily growing closer to Diya. That poor girl would look forward to a small meeting, sometimes in the library or in the parking lot. He would often take her out to evening meals. Many times she would protest and would insist to pay. But Jay would always beat her to it and made the payments. Those small moments and his light humour would give her the strength to look forward to another day ahead.
She was slowly trusting him.
He was slowly falling for her.
The reality was, Jay found her situation similar to his. He had no one to rely upon, other than his brother. She had no one at all. Though she had her cousin, Ajay, Jay did not find him able enough to take care of her.
She was alone in this world..... Just like him, if not for his brother.
Looking at her, for the first time, he had realized what it is to be without parents. And that had moved his stone heart.
He would, unknown to him, was ready to go to any extent, just to keep her tears at bay.
Ajay, Dev and Arjun had noticed her growing proximity with Jay. The trio was not very happy about it.
Ajay tried to sweet talk to her a number of times. She would silently listen to him and decide that she would keep a distance from Jay. But the moment she would see his dazzling smile, she would find her restless heart at ease.
One fine day, while Shraddha was trying to push her day away, she happened to receive a call from her college friends. They were planning to meet and have a girls day out, filled with fun.
Shraddha went ecstatic at the thought of leaving the damn Villa for a few hours.
She promised to come and join the fun.
That night, after the dinner, when Pranav came back to their room, she decided to talk to him.
"You know what, I received a call from my friends today. We all are going to meet tomorrow and have some fun."
Pranav raised his eyebrows and looked at her.
"What do you mean by that?"
She blinked.
"I mean, going out, eating, having some fun."
"You are not going anywhere."
She gasped.
"There are no boys Pranav. We are just a group of girls." She clarified.
"That is not what matters to me. It's still a No." He said with his usual calm voice.
She had her temper flared to top notch. But it would just cause more damage. She sucked in a sharp breath to keep her composure. Pranav did not happen to leave his cool. He was as calm as he ever could be.
"It's just a question of few hours. I will come back even before you."
Pranav closed his eyes briefly and let out a deep sigh.
"I said no Shraddha. You are not going anywhere."
That was it. She lost her cool.
"You can't dictate me. You don't even allow me to meet my parents. And now my friends too."
He looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.
"When did I stop you from meeting your parents? You can meet them all you want, provided, they come here. And your friends too, can come and meet you. No one is stopping them."
His words just added to her fury.
"So, you don't really mind if I call my friends here?" She asked.
"You heard me right." he assured.
"But I want to go out to meet them." She snapped.
"Watch your tone Shraddha. Losing calm is not my virtue. And I won't appreciate that from you. You can call your friends and party all you want." He said in a cold voice.
Shraddha gave him a calculative and challenging look. Next moment she pulled out her phone and dialled a number, all the while fixing her gaze on him. She informed the person on other end about the change in plans.
Soon enough all her friends received an invitation for the get-together in Charu Villa.
Pranav shook his head at her tantrums.
Next morning though, she was pleasantly surprised when all her friends showed up.
On a very short notice, Pranav had arranged a lavish breakfast under specially setup canopied tables in the garden.
Shraddha was surprised herself when a never-ending supply of food and drinks along with light music in the background was accompanied with a lot of games that a party planner was hosting for them.
The lunch was a lavish multi-cuisine spread, followed by a leisurely afternoon in front of the large screen in their home theatre, with a servings of soft drinks and popcorns.
The evening came with scrumptious lip smacking snacks. And there was a barbeque arranged in the open garden for the dinner.
The girls went ecstatic when they witnessed the arrangement of an open theatre in the backyard with seating arrangement of fluffy mattresses and lot of pillows. A large screen was setup and a collection of romantic movies was provided to chose from. The best part was, everyone was arranged to stay for the night at Charu Villa.
The girls left contemplating Shraddha the next morning after having the best girls night out.
When everyone left, Pranav and Jay were already gone.
She could not understand what Pranav wanted from all this.
On one hand, he had made her feel so proud by giving a lavish treatment to all of her friends, and on the other hand, she was left thinking, that he could have saved a fortune if he had just let her go for a few hours.
Even after so many months, she failed to understand him.
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Another chapter up.
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