"You are the sunshine burning in my veins."
A grunt, a curse, and a moan were what it took for Atharva to jolt awake and frantically look around like a wild dog for the source of disturbance to his blissful sleep.
And guess who it was?
Of course, Aahana. Who else?
She got drunk very rarely but when she did, she was a pain in the arse in the morning due to her nasty hangover.
Dumbfounded, Atharva stared at the figure lying on the edge of his bed and he tensed when the events of the night before came rushing into his mind.
"A-Aahana?" he stuttered weakly, his adam's apple jumping in nervousness as fear crept down his spine.
He received silence in reply.
Taking a sharp breath, he jumped out of the bed and rushed to the bathroom. His whole body convulsed when he realized they had slept in one bed. And it was he who'd said her to stay.
Oh god, fuck, how could I?
The ice-cold water poured on him, drenching him to the core, and numbing him to oblivion but he stood there. He stood there to stop his wildly pounding heart, to catch his breath, to get a grip on himself when he felt like slipping away.
Drunk or not, never had he allowed a woman to come near him and today he had allowed his wife in his life.
It sounded so natural, 'wife', but not to him. He never wanted a relationship in the first place because he knew he couldn't have one. He was damaged, damaged to his very being- physically, emotionally, and mentally.
What shocked him more was he was here, calm when he should be freaking out because it was just a matter of seconds before he had a panic attack when he was around women as he had gynophobia since the age of 14.
Reminding himself he trusted Aahana and she was different from others, he stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips before walking into his room.
He couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped his mouth when he took in Aahana's state. She was still sprawled on the bed like the dead in her shimmery black dress. Her hair was mussed in different directions over the pillow and her face looked peaceful.
He shook his head and searched for something suitable to wear through his pile of clothes. He finally chose a grey sweatpant and black round neck T-shirt since it was Sunday, no office much to his dismay.
He strolled into the kitchen and made a hot cup of bitter coffee and bread jam for himself but recalling Aahana's morning restless noises, he knew she would need a bit of help from him, and thus, he prepared some for her too.
He was hesitant as he walked into his room with the tray of food, and placed it on the table. His hand flew out to wake her up but he halted. How do they even do it?
With a frown, he gently touched her shoulder. "Um... I think you should eat now?"
She grumbled something incoherent and swatted his hand away.
"Aahana," he repeated louder. "Wake up."
"No no. Leave me alone," she moaned and covered her head with the comforter to block his voice.
Atharva sighed and threw the comforter off her body. She shivered slightly when the AC's coolness swept across her body, but didn't complain as she fell asleep again.
"I'll give you 2 minutes. Get up," he ordered sternly as he sat on the chair and watched her.
Cursing, she opened her eyes and pinned him with a glare. "Leave me alone."
He snorted. "You didn't leave me when I told you, so why should I?"
Aahana opened her mouth but shut it when he held her shoulder and pulled her up into a sitting position. She whined in protest and moved away from him, a scowl marring her sleepy feature.
"Here."
He handed her the tray and she eyed it for a good 10 seconds blankly before picking it up haughtily and swallowing everything.
Atharva brought aspirin with a glass of water and placed it on her palm. She narrowed her eyes at the medicine in annoyance but drowned it and fell back on the bed.
"Uh-huh," Atharva gaped at her in disbelief. "Go freshen up." He flicked his fingers in the direction of the door.
She stared at him through droopy eyes as if she was seeing him for the first time and blinked. "Are you serious? I am not well so give me a break."
"I am dead serious. You will feel better. Go now."
"Atharva," she cried and shut her eyes. "I want to sleep."
"Who is telling you not to?" he retorted. "Just get changed into something more comfortable, then sleep, okay?"
"You do it for me." She held her arms up in the air.
Swallowing hard, he grabbed her arm, and she let him take her into her bedroom and push her into the bathroom. He hung a white towel on the side towel ring and closed the door, shouting, "Bye. Don't call me if you need anything."
She stared at the closed door and screamed into her palms in frustration as she hopped into the hot shower and all of a sudden her scowl changed into a full-blown smile when her dizziness washed away and she remembered yesterday's night.
She started jumping and singing like nuts and when she came out of her room in a pink tank top and black sweatpants, she was all bright, energetic, and fresh like sunshine.
She started her preparation for lunch and decided to make something special for him but now that she thought of it, she had no idea about his likes or dislikes. The realization hit her hard and wide-eyed, she rushed to Atharva's room, lunch long forgotten.
Without knocking, she barged in to see him...working yet again.
Wordlessly she made her way to him and shut the laptop. "We don't know each other." She stated in a distressed tone.
He blinked. "Huh?"
"I said we are husband and wife, and it's been 4 months to our marriage but we don't know shit about each other."
'Husband and wife. 4 months," he mumbled under his breath and looked at her. "So?"
She shook her head and plopped beside him. "So, we are playing 20 questions."
"Didn't we play that already? And what about your sleep?" He grimaced and opened his laptop but Aahana snatched it away and gave him her most convincing look which nobody could resist, so who was Atharva? Her puppy eyes and pouty pink lips melted him right away.
"Yes but I still have 17 questions to ask and I am not sleepy anymore. Please?" She batted her eyelashes for more effect.
He pressed his lips to stop the smile threatening to spill and nodded. "Okay. But down it to 10 questions."
"No 17."
"No 10."
"No 17"
"No 10."
"No- okay 15?"
"15 it is."
"Your favourite food?" Aahana chirped.
"I eat anything and everything. Your?"
"Cheese Pizza. Do you still like Arshi?"
He shook his head and stared at her. "I was a kid that time. Of course not."
"Oh okay."
"Which place you always wanted to go to, but haven't gone yet?"
"Paris." She stated dreamily. "Favourite actress?"
"None. I don't watch movies."
Aahana rolled her eyes. "You are so boring. If I ask what you love, I am sure you will say work. Birthdate?"
"It is work. May 3"
"Woah, just 2 months left. We need to have a grand party."
"I don't celebrate."
"What?" She looked at him incredulously. "We will."
"We won't. Last I celebrated when I turned 11 after my... maa's death."
"We are changing that." She smiled.
He sighed, unable to fight her. "If you got a chance to get out of this hellhole called marriage, would you?"
"Never and it's not a hellhole." She looked straight into his eyes. "What's your ideal romantic date?"
"I don't do romance and dates."
She smirked devilishly. "We are changing that too."
It was evening when they finished their little game and honestly, they wouldn't have stopped if it wasn't for Aahana's growling tummy.
She blushed and glanced at the watch. "Oh shit. It's 7."
"You noticed now?" He rolled his eyes.
"Uh yeah." She gave him a sheepish look and stood up. "I'll make dinner."
"No!" He exclaimed and scratched the back of his neck. "Uh I mean we can eat outside?"
She smiled at his awkward expression and nodded. "Sure, but you gotta smile first."
"Um I-I ca-"
"Come on," she urged.
He gave her a small one.
She grinned happily and skipped to her room. "Give me 10 mins."
"Okay!" He muttered to the air, the smile never leaving his face.
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