"So how was your day at work?" Akshara asked an unsuspecting Abhimanyu.
"What?" Abhimanyu asked, suddenly feeling his throat go dry, making it tough to swallow the last bit of rice and cheese chilli dancing around in his mouth.
No one had ever asked him about his day before. And what did he even say? His day...had just been a day. Nothing special. Nothing extraordinary. It had been like just any other regular day. Other than the choice words he'd shared with his father and his cousin, it had been like any other regular day.
Abhimanyu cleared his throat before answering. "My day was fine. Busy. That's all."
Short, simple, and curt.
"Oh, nice." Akshara exclaimed, watching Abhimanyu intently.
Abhimanyu looked up to see Akshara still staring at him. What? Was he supposed to continue the conversation? Is that what normal people did?
"How...how was your day?" He asked, uncertainty flashing across his face. Was that appropriate small talk conversation?
"Good. I managed to unpack all my stuff."
"Yeah, I can see that." Abhimanyu replied, looking around his apartment.
Plants. He had house plants now. And throw cushions and throw blankets. Decent cutlery too. His apartment wasn't his anymore.
"Thanks. Do you like it?!" She asked, hopeful.
"I mean, I have no other choice now; do I?"
"Now that I come to think of it, no, no you don't." Akshara replied sweetly, grinning, relishing on the fact that she really, really, really enjoyed messing with Abhimanyu.
"By the way, there is the Birla hospital charity gala coming up in 2 days. And we have to go." Abhimanyu informed her, suddenly shifting the topic from one point of the spectrum to the other.
"Oh." She had no idea why she was caught off guard. She was 'married' to him. Of course there would be public appearances. That's the life she had signed up for. At least for the next year or so.
"As husband and wife."
"Obviously." That's what she was being paid to do.
"A happily married couple." He pressed on, staring at her.
"An madly, deeply in love, happily married couple." Akshara urged him. "And your point being?"
"My point is, will you be able to handle it?" He asked point blank.
"What's there to handle? I just have to act like I'm in love with you. I think I'll be able to manage that." She replied, casually.
"Okay, good. Because this Gala is very important for me. The entire board is going to be there. I really really to make a good impression." Better than Parth at least.
Akshara frowned at Abhimanyu. Why did he look so tensed? "Don't worry. It'll be fine." She assured him. "You'll witness some of my finest acting at the Gala. Everyone will be stunned." She babbled, trying to lighten the mood.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Abhimanyu grumbled under his breath. "Good." He said out loud.
"But the question is will you be able to put on a good show?" Akshara retorted, slyly shifting the onus onto him.
"What?" Abhimanyu asked abruptly.
"Yeah, will you be able to pretend to be head-over-heels smitten with me?" Akshara challenged. She had no idea why she as enjoying teasing him so much.
"Of course I can." Abhimanyu responded, offended that Akshara could even think of such a thing. "Why do you even ask?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you aren't the type of guy to ever fall in love? And with your past history with women, it just seems implausible."
"You don't have to worry about me. I very well know how to act like a lovesick fool."
"Good. I look forward to seeing it." She egged him on.
"But I'm just warning you though. There is a high probability you'll end up actually falling in love with me —if I want you to. So try not to." He smirked.
"Ha! In your dreams!"
"Well, speaking of dreams..."
"Shut up! I heard what I said!" Akshara yelled, flinging a balled up tissue towards Abhimanyu. Her cheeks turned a burning crimson red just as Abhimanyu let out a loud satisfied chuckle as he finished eating the last bit of his dinner.
~*~
Abhimanyu strolled into his bedroom just in time to hear the bathroom door close shut and the sink tap turn on. Finding this to be the best time, Abhimanyu ran up to his bed and flung himself back first onto the mountain of pillows that lined his mattress.
He felt a satisfied smile creep up on his face as he tucked himself into the blanket, nice and tight, squishing his head against the assortment of pillows.
"What are you doing?" Akshara asked, just as she stepped inside the room.
"What does it look like I'm doing? Swimming obviously."
"Funny." Akshara grit out, not an ounce of humor visible in her voice.
"I think the word you're searching for is hilarious."
"Get up! You're ruining my pillows! Get up!" Akshara demanded, as she began throwing the excess pillows onto the ground.
"Why are you throwing the pillows onto the ground?!" Abhimanyu questioned, bewildered by Akshara's strange behaviour.
"Because you're not supposed to sleep on them!" She explained, sneaking one pillow from right under Abhimanyu's back and flinging it onto the ground.
"Then why do you even put them on the bed?! Pillows are meant to be slept on!"
"For aesthetics!"
"Aesthetics? What?"
"Because they look pretty!" She exclaimed, finally calming down after having removed all pillows from the bed except for the original two pillows that were used to sleep on.
"You girls seriously are crazy." Abhimanyu quoted, baffled by Akshara's behaviour. "And that's why I'll never understand you." A generalized statement, but the truth nonetheless.
"But yet you chose to sleep with us. Kind of hypocritical don't you think?" She retorted, planting her hands to the sides of her waist.
"That's because crazy girls are wild in bed. And if that makes me a hypocrite, then I'm proud to be one."
"You seriously have no filter, do you?"
"And you seriously don't think the sheer stupidity of making the bed everyday with six-seven pillows in tow only to remove them at the end of the night so you could sleep? Kind of redundant is it not?" He retorted.
Yes. Yes, it was. But that was a hill she was willing to die on. "That is my problem to tackle." She grit out, folding her arms against her chest.
"Okay, whatever, weirdo. Good night." Abhimanyu fell back into the bed, tucking himself in for the second time that night. "Turn the lights off, please."
"Umm, where am I supposed to sleep?" Akshara asked, standing beside the bed like a doe caught in the headlights.
Without answering, Abhimanyu pointed towards the couch on the other end of the room. "There."
"Or. You can sleep in this bed. With me. We can share." He added.
"What? Sleeping in the same bed?" Memories of what happened earlier this morning flashed before her eyes.
"Yeah. See, here's the deal. There is no way I'm sleeping on the couch because frankly I my body isn't built for that couch. I simply don't fit. You on the other hand, do. However, I'm going going to be a nice boy and offer you your share of the bed. You can either sleep here for the next year or you can take shelter on the couch. The choice is yours. Because there is no way I'm giving up my bed. Not a chance in hell." Abhimanyu explained, closing his eyes shut.
Akshara pondered about her options. The couch —which she knew she could fit on but probably would end up with a life long body ache and uncomfortable sleeping patterns.
Yeah, no. She couldn't do that. Not for an entire year.
So she chose the lesser of the two evils or so she hoped.
Abhimanyu felt something press against his forearms and his legs. He opened his eyes to see Akshara creating a barrier of cushions between them as she settled into her side of the bed.
"See? Extra pillows can be useful for things other than pure aesthetics." Akshara exclaimed, glaring at him before settling down flat on her back on the mattress.
"Thank you for the pillow wall. I really needed something to help protect my virtue. So thoughtful of you, really."
"Your virtue?! You had your hands down my panties, fingering me! If anything, it's my virtue that needs protection from your grubby hands!" Akshara seethed.
"If I remember correctly, I had been sleeping. It was you who had grabbed my hand and inserted it in your underwear. I was just the robot, you were the one controlling me."
Akshara covered her face with the blanket, agitated, annoyed and frustrated by Abhimanyu's truthfulness.
"Just stay on your side of the bed and we shouldn't have any problems." She stated, her voice sharp, crisp.
"Talking to yourself are you?" Abhimanyu snickered.
Akshara removed the blanket from her face. "Yes. Telling myself how to avoid getting a STD." She grit out in anger.
"Practice safe sex, use a condom and you shouldn't have a problem." Abhimanyu offered, teasing her.
"Can you ever shut up? Do you always have to get the last word?" She asked, rhetorically.
"Yes." Abhimanyu replied, grinning.
Akshara felt like crying. Not actually though. But the 'Oh God, why is this dude so annoying?' cry. Because that is exactly how she was feeling.
"Screw you!" She muttered, half heartedly as she covered her face with her blanket one more time, willing sleep to appear.
"You wish, but alas, it's not one of the terms of the contract." Abhimanyu whispered back, knowing full well Akshara could hear.
"Just...just...argh!" Akshara's cheeks turned bright crimson red as her voice trailed off. And so, all she did was stretch her arm out from under her blanket to turn off the lamp on nightstand.
"Goodnight." Abhimanyu chuckled, turning off his lamp on his nightstand and like always, getting the last word in.
Abhimanyu closed his eyes as he let sleep take over him. Happy. He was feeling happy and satisfied. He couldn't even remember why he'd been in a bad mood earlier. And frankly, he didn't care. All that mattered now was the good night's sleep he was about to partake in.
<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>
Short and quick, let me know how it was! Don't forget to vote please! And comment if you can!