"What the-" Jaison quickly jogged towards the woman sitting on a ladder, painting the wall with baby blue colour.
"What are you doing? Get off."
He spoke in a worried voice.
"Can't you see I'm painting?" She shrugged her shoulders still not looking back at him and concentrating on the wall.
"You can fall." He lifted his arms up in an attempt to catch her as he saw the ladder shake when she turned around to face him.
"Seriously? I'm not a child Jaison. Even if I fall it won't hurt much and you were the one who gave me the freedom to do what I wanted." She moved the brush in the air, exaggerating.
"Yes I did but this is not what I meant. If you want to change something just give those people an order and it will be done. You don't have to do it yourself."
"Ordering people around is not my thing. If I want something I'll make efforts to get it done by myself." She shifted her weight on the ladder causing it to shake more, adding to his anxiety.
"Get. Down. Now." He demanded.
She was surprised to see such a sudden change in his demeanour. He was acting like a worried child just a moment ago and now like an authoritative man. She didn't put up a fight and got off the ladder carefully.
The moment she stepped on the floor he took the can of paint and the brush from her and kept it aside on a table making her sulk.
"This isn't your work. Just like I said before if you want something just say. It'll be done."
"You really think I'm old right? If I fell off that ladder my bones would break?" She huffed, annoyed." Remind me who's older here." She raised her eyebrows up and down." You."
"Where did that come from? Its not about the age. I was just say-"
"I get it. I get it. Jeez." She didn't listen to him further and walked out of the room into the kitchen. He quietly followed her behind, dumbfounded at her ignorance.
Akira discussed something with Ms.Ara as she placed the bowls filled with food on the dining table while he followed her with his eyes.
Am I invisible? I came here to eat lunch with her and here she is ignoring me.
It was the third day since Jaison ordered to refill everything in the kitchen. Akira had been changing somethings here and there in the placement of the furniture.
She changed the sofa setting saying it looked too boring. It took her two days to do it as it was just her and Ms.Ara. The lady's back must be sore. Akira wasn't even allowing Jaison to look at it till it was done.
Ms.Ara had been preparing their food. The food was good to both their tastes but Akira wanted to cook by herself and today she finally did. She was really happy to cook after....4 days. Ha! Felt like 4 years.
Ms.Ara excused herself after the food was placed on the table. She was a really reserved person, always talked to the point. That made Akira a bit disappointed as she couldn't chit chat with someone. Whenever she cooked she stick to the recipe, not a ml of water more, not a pinch of salt less. Yep! She always carried a book with the recipes of various korean dishes in it. Akira could tell that she didnt cook because she liked it.
"Why are you so excited?" He asked as he sat on the chair.
"Shush! Don't kill the excitement. I cooked!!" She shrieked like a child that finally got the toy she wanted for so long.
He stilled for a moment and then just shook his head like a disappointed father. She wasn't going to listen to him, that was sure.
She opened the lid of the bowl. He leaned forward to take a whiff of the food but knitted his eyebrows at the unfamiliar dish. The smell was good but he didn't know what it was.
"What is that?" He asked as if he saw an alien.
"Kadhi Chawal. The rice is in that bowl."
"Ka-ka what?" She pursed her lips in an attempt to stop her laugh.
"Ka-" "Ka-"
"Dhi.". " d-dhi"
"Hm." She hummed, satisfied by his pronunciation. " and Chawal means rice. It is a very famous indian dish. Made by curd or lassi with besan."
He kept nodding his head as if he was understanding everything she was saying. He couldn't even register some of the words she uttered.
What is lassi? I don't even know if I'm pronouncing it right.
She served him with the boiled rice with the turmeric yellow curry on top. She placed the plate infront of him, folded her hands infront of her chest as she leaned on the chair beside him. She wanted to see his reaction. For the first time in her life someone other than her brother was about to taste her food.
This was the first time he was going to eat an indian dish. He kept inspecting and analyzing the dish for a few seconds.
The longer he took the more irritated she got.
Its not like its a bomb! Just put it in your mouth.
Her last thread of patience snapped as she took the spoon full of the food and shoved it in his mouth. He tried to protest as she did her job but ended up opening his mouth.
He glared at her as he chewed the food, his fingers wiping the small amount of curry around his lips. His expressions soon turned blank as he kept chewing.
It was heaven.
So thats how homemade food felt like. It was the first time in his life. He had seen his mother cooking a few times but refused to taste the food she cooked. He knew he'll ask for more if he did even if it didn't taste good because it had the most important ingredient. Care.
All his life he ate the food ordered from restaurants. Most of those Chefs cooked because it was their job not because they liked or enjoyed cooking.
He wordlessly took more bites from the plate. Akira tilted her head down to stare at his face in anticipation. He wasn't saying anything, just eating the food looking down.
Is it good or bad? Why isn't he saying anything? Shit, I should have tasted it first. Did I put too much spices? Nah. If that was the case he would be coughing by now.
He could taste how Lovingly she prepared the dish. It was filled with care and passion for cooking.
It gave him a feeling of peace.
He could get addicted to it.
..............
"WHAT?"
The girl sitting on the couch stood up with a jerk as she read the headlines of the newspaper.
'Kim Jaison, The Businessman finally got married.' The headlines written in bold letters.
"How- how- is that possible?" She was is a state of shock. She couldn't digest the image of Jaison holding hands with a freaking nobody in a wedding dress. The picture on the newspaper was haunting her.
"He- he can't do this. He can't do this." The paper started to get crumbled by the amount of force she was applying on it.
"No. HE SAID HE COULD NEVER FORGET HIS FIRST LOVE! THEN WHY??" she tore the newspaper into shreds and her body shook by the rage that was running through her veins. Her chest was clenching with unbearable pain.
"You lied! You fucking lied to me! How can you just move on like that? HOW?"
She gripped her hair into her fists not minding the pain shooting through her scalp.
She suddenly started laughing like a maniac.
She turned to a photo frame hanging on the opposite wall and pointed her index finger to it. Her laugh echoed in the empty room as she walked towards the photo.
"Di-d did you see that? He moved on." She stopped for a moment combing her hair back with her fingers and a wide smile spread across her face." He fucking moved on. Oh- oh my god. Hahahaha."
"He-he married some hoe in just a year. A YEAR!!"
She walked closer to the frame and removed it from the wall. She cleaned the dust away with the sleeve of her sweater.
The photo was quite old. The two girls hugged each other with their cheeks glued and their faces radiating joy.
Unknowingly a tear rolled down her face as she reminisced the past. The nostalgia hit her hard. Then she remembered the time when she was with Jaison.
He treated her like she was the only woman in the world. He pampered her with gifts, took her on dates, made her feel special and worthy.
More tears fell as her lips started to tremble. They were so happy together.
Then everything changed. He changed.
She gritted her lips recalling his words.
"Leave. Leave before I do something to you. Don't ever return because I'll never look at you the way I used to. You're not worthy of it."
She left.
She left with the hope that he wouldn't love anyone ever again. That his first love was his last. She was fine as long as he didn't love her. He wouldn't love anyone else either. She was ready to be away from him forever but not share him with someone else.
He's mine. MINE. No one in this world can take him away from me. Not even YOU. I don't care who that bitch is but she just got herself into a mess. A mess she wouldn't be able to come out from.
She angrily threw the frame across the room as she growled. The frame broke into pieces and fell to the ground with a thud, the glass shattering.
She breathed heavily as she closed her eyes and let her neck fall back. Her breath became steady.
She took deep long breaths still facing the ceiling. She opened her eyes wide staring at the ceiling with red eyes.
"I'm coming Jaison. I'm coming to ruin the temporary peace you found."
..............