"....right Mr Maheshwari?"
Sameer came out of daze after hearing his name and just nodded in agreement not even bothering to know what he agreed for. He just knew that it was something to do with the share market. He was really exhausted and somehow stifling his yawns. At this point, he just wanted to go back home, change into his comfy and hit his bed to fall asleep, but he couldn't just leave this party abruptly, he needed a solid reason for that. That is why he made up an excuse of not feeling well and thanks to his stars, no one suspected it.
His driver Mohan pulled up the car in front of his house. Sameer came out of the car and asked Mohan to park the car in the garage and return to his quarters. He stepped towards the front door and was about to knock when he heard faint music followed by some jingling sounds of what seemed like bells. His eyes furrowed in confusion, 'Itni raat ko ghar mein koun naach gaana kar raha hai?'.
For a moment, he thought to check if it was his house only but the jingling sounds distracted him. Curiosity got better of him and using the spare keys, he unlocked the door. He stepped inside to see what was happening but froze at the sight in front of him.
All in her glory, Naina was dancing, her eyes closed, hands forming patterns which he couldn't decipher the meaning of, the bells tied at her ankles creating jingling sounds with her every foot movement, her hair flowing whenever she spun. Overall the sight was mesmerizing. The need for intruding her felt stupid to him as he watched her dancing without even caring about the world around her.
He didn't know for how long he stood there but immediately came out of the trance as the music stopped followed by Naina. As if sensing his presence, she turned instantly to see him. Her eyes met with his. They both were too stunned to say anything.
Naina's feet refused to move. God, for how long had he been standing there? Her eyes reflected nervousness while his, admiration. What? Admiration? Just when the thought passed through her mind, his demeanour changed welcoming back his cold gaze.
She felt embarrassed and moved her gaze to her feet. Both of them didn't know what to say. Sameer awkwardly cleared his throat and without saying anything, went upstairs in a haste.
Naina stood there watching him going upstairs and moved only after the sound of the door of his room being shut, fell into her ears. She heaved a deep breath and untied her Ghungroos. It wasn't like she had expected him to say anything but the awkwardness spreading around them was tough to deal with.
'Kar liya dance? Aur karo tension dur. Pata nahi kya soch rahe honge mere baare mein. Yahi ki kuchh din huye nhi aaye aur naach gana shuru kar diya...' She cursed herself although she was feeling relieved. She knew it was going to be much more difficult to face him tomorrow. Unplugging her phone from the music system, she went to check the kitchen once before switching off the lights and returned to her room.
Sameer was still in a daze of what happened downstairs and shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind only to rethink about it. Her dances moves were swirling in his mind in a slow-motion.
He had watched classical dance before in some cultural events or in TV and today was a whole new experience for him. Those which he had seen were professional dancers wearing heavy clothing and face full of makeup, but after watching her today, he could tell she looked much more fascinating as compared to them. She looked beautiful.
'Sameerrrrr get a grip on yourself. Dance hi toh tha bas' He mentally scolded himself for thinking too much about what he saw but failed. It wasn't like he felt attracted to her, but there was something, a sensation, even if it was for a second, which he couldn't comprehend.
Discarding all the unnecessary thoughts just like his clothes, he went for a shower. After changing into one of his night Tshirts, he checked his phone once for any important msg and went to bed, completely ignoring the fact that all of his exhaustion had fled away the very moment his gaze had fallen on her.
* * * * * *
Next day, the sun shone brightly, the slightly cool breeze blew around causing the leaves on the trees to rustle creating music of its own. The birds sitting on the trees chirped adding their own vocals to the music of nature. What more one could ask for a perfect Sunday morning?
Not caring about the outer world, Sameer was sleeping like a child, sprawled on the bed on his back. The bright rays of the sun dipped in through the window glass falling directly on him even when the curtains were closed, causing him to stir a bit. Not having any pressure of waking up early, he turned to his side to catch a deep slumber again but failed to do so since a loud whistling sound of the pressure cooker made his eyes open with a jerk. He groaned in half-sleep. It was a day off for him, no meetings, no office, no piled-up files, nothing, but it seemed he won't be spared even in his own house.
He carelessly rubbed his eyes before opening them and reached for the digital clock placed on the side table. 9:20 a.m.'Aaj toh kafi late ho gaya...' He thought since he had never woken up this late. Stretching his arms, he finally got up from his bed stepping towards the bathroom to freshen up.
In the other room, Naina was listing down the things to be done today. The first thing which she decided to go for was shopping since she was running out of some essentials like shampoo, soaps, sanitary napkins, etc. She had woken up early this morning and already had her breakfast. It was a daily routine for her to have her meals before Sameer to avoid any kind of awkward interactions between them. She would always try to not come in front of him to not bother him by reminding of her presence.
She listed the things to be bought on a small paper and kept it on the table. Taking out her clothes from the cupboard, she went inside the bathroom to take a shower.
Here, Sameer descended down the stairs wearing his white sleeveless t-shirt and black track pants. Sweat drops were trickling down tracing their path from his forehead to neck making him look even hotter than before. The veins on his neck throbbed as his breaths came in heavy pants after an extensive workout session which was a part of his morning routine. Flexing his arm muscles he stepped towards the kitchen and asked Ramdhari to serve his fresh fruit juice. He might be a busy and hardworking businessman but taking care of his fitness and physique too were his priority.
Sitting down on the sofa, he picked up the bunch of newspapers from the table. He was savouring his juice, flipping through the pages of the 'Business Today' magazine when he heard the click-clack of sandals descending the stairs and turned his gaze towards them. Dressed up in a crimson Kurti paired up with cream palazzo pants, Naina was getting down the stairs. With her wavy hair kept open, ears adorning silver loops, a thin line of Kohl highlighting her brown eyes, she looked pretty.
Feeling someone's gaze upon her, she lifted her head to see Sameer looking at her, but in the next moment saw him averting his eyes again going back to his magazine. Last night's incident was still afresh in their minds. Her steps faltered a bit going unnoticed by anyone as she took in his appearance. Why does my pulse seem to be a bit faster than normal?
Taking a few deep breaths, she calmed herself down. It wasn't her mistake as she felt in that way, Sameer Maheshwari had the power to mesmerize any other girl due to his charming personality.
Sameer peeked through his magazine and noticed her going towards the kitchen and greeting Ramdhari. Keeping the glass in the sink, she was going towards the main door when the shrill voice of the doorbell hollered around the house making both of them alert.
"Iss time koun aya hoga...?", Sameer muttered.
"Main dekhti hoon..." Before she could even reach the door, Sameer sprinted towards her and grabbed her arm. The touch felt like a jolt of electricity to both of them. Naina's gaze involuntarily shifted towards his hand which he instantly withdrew.
He was uncertain about the visitor who had come at this hour of the day. Since the marriage was still being kept as confidential, he didn't want to take any risk.
"Suno, hum koi chance nahi le sakte. I don't know iss time koun hoga but agar galti se bhi kisi ko kuchh pata chal gaya toh problem ho jayegi. Tum waha side wale room mein jaao aur baahar mat aana." Sameer said to her for which she immediately nodded and went inside the room quickly.
Brushing his hair through his hands, he nervously licked his lips and went to open the door. A lady in her 50s stood there all dressed up in a black silk saree with her straight short hair kept open, showing her extra-sweet smile to him.
Keeping his posterior straight, Sameer greeted her with a warm smile, "Good morning Mrs Mathur."
She replied with an excited tone in her voice, "Good morning Mr Maheshwari."
Sameer welcomed her inside.
Mrs Mathur was a nosy person. Keeping records of each and every detail about the happenings around her was her favourite hobby. For a woman of her age, she looked pretty young with those rich-class vibes radiating out of her. No one till date could ever withstand her strong personality.
But every strong person has a weakness. She too had one, and that one was her daughter, Mia. Mia was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Her parents had raised her like a princess, fulfilling her every wish even if it included setting up their own daughter with her crush, Sameer Maheshwari.
As they both got settled on the plush sofas, Sameer asked her if she wanted to have something to eat or drink, to which she politely refused.
Clasping his hands together, he asked, "So Mrs Mathur, bataiye, aaj subah kaise aana hua? Mr Mathur and Mia kaise hain?"
She replied, "Hum sab bilkul thik hain. Mia bhi bilkul thik hai aur aajkal toh kaafi achhe se apne papa ke sath kaam handle kar rahi hai" She said giving emphasis on her daughter. He knew what she was trying to do, therefore giving her a faint smile as reply.
After a few seconds, she continued, "Actually main aapko kuchh dene aayi thi." She kept a white coloured envelope in front of him on the table. He picked it up and opened it. It was an invitation. Before he could question her she continued, "Main aapko humari 30th marriage anniversary party mein invite karne aayi hun. We would be very delighted if you could take out some time and grace our party with your presence." He pondered over it and accepted the invitation.
Listening to that, her happiness knew no bounds. She had made a little progress in her mission "Mia&Sameer", only if she knew the truth. They had a little chit-chat about here and there with Mrs Mathur mostly giving prominence to her daughter, after which she got up to leave thanking him once again, receiving a warm smile from him.
She was stepping towards the main door when something clinked under her foot which felt like a piece of metal. She gazed down to check and picked the silver loop earring lying on the floor. It had fallen down when Naina had sprinted towards the room.
All that nervousness which he had managed to mask throughout the conversation, resurfaced as he saw her switching on her spy mode on.
With a slight smirk, she asked him lifting up the earring, "Yeh toh kisi ladki ka lagta hai. Yeh aapke ghar mein kahan se aaya Mr Maheshwari?"
Sameer tried to keep his calm demeanour and answered, "I don't know yeh kiska hai."
Mrs Mathur raised an eyebrow, "Aapko apne hi ghar ki chizon ke baare mein nahi pata? Strange."
Before he could say something, Ramdhari's voice caught their attention, "Achha, toh yeh yahan gir gaya tha. Hum toh dhundte dhundte pareshan ho gaye the."
She asked him out of confusion, "Yeh tumhara toh nahi ho sakta."
Ramdhari smiled, "Ji, yeh humara kaise ho sakta hai. Yeh humari behn ka hai. Darasal humne uske liye yahi bazaar se kharida tha taaki jab bhi gaaon wapas jaye usey yeh tohfe mein de. Achha hai yeh mil gaya."
She scrunched up her face on listening to his narration as she was hoping for some spicy gossip. Handing the earring to him, she glanced once at Sameer to say Goodbye and exited his place. Pheww, that was a close call.
As Ramdhari shut the main door behind her, Sameer released a heavy breath which he didn't know for how long he had been holding. He called Ramdhari, "Thank you so much Ramdhari. Aaj tu nahi hota toh pata nahi kya karti yeh. Duniya idhar ki udhar ho sakti hai, par yeh, yeh humesha aisi jasoos hi rahegi. Thank you yaar."
Ramdhari grinned, "Koi baat nahi bhaiya. Aapke aur Naina bhabhi ke liye kuch bhi." Saying this, he went back to the kitchen.
'Bhabhi? Itni bonding ho gayi dono ki?' Her name paired up with his gave an unsettling feeling to him. Thinking about her name, he suddenly got reminded of her being in the room.
He softly knocked on the door and said, "Naina, tum baahar aa sakti ho." After a sec, the door opened revealing Naina. He stepped aside to give her enough space to let her out of the room. Ramdhari gave her earring back to her.
She had heard all the conversation between them so didn't attempt to ask anything from him and proceeded towards the main door, but again stopped when Sameer called her.
"Tum kahin bahar jaa rahi ho toh main Mohan ko bol deta hun tumhe drop karne ke liye." He put forward his suggestion to which she politely replied, "Nahi, koi baat nahi main chali jaaungi." His out of the blue concern had taken her off-guard but the next moment became normal when he said,
"Dekho Mrs Mathur bohot tedhi hain. Aaj toh kaise bhi excuse dekar hum bach gaye par ab unhe shaq toh ho hi gaya hai, toh woh pakka nazar rakhengi. Aise mein agar tum baahar gayi aur tumhe kisi ne dekh liya toh problem ho jayegi. So its better Mohan tumhe drop kar dega."
Naina sighed at his explanation but nodded in agreement and replied with a meek okay. Sameer took his phone and called Mohan asking him to drop Naina while many thoughts were racing her mind. It's been almost a month to their marriage and he notices now that if she would go alone then there are high chances of being caught by someone. Had it not been Mrs Mathur, he would have never cared about how she manages to step out of the house cautiously every day.
A loud honk of a car horn broke her reverie. Muttering a quick 'Thank you' to him, she stepped out of the house and sat inside the car. Mohan greeted her with a small smile and switched on the engine before he began driving.
It was lunchtime when she came back all tired due to shopping. By the time she had reached the market, more items had been added to the list which took more than necessary time. She went back in her room to keep the bags and freshen up. After that, she had her lunch since Sameer had already eaten and was in his room as told by Ramdhari. Keeping her plates in the sink, she went upstairs in her room for an afternoon nap.
The rest of the day passed ordinarily with both of them confined in their rooms doing their respective works and coming out only for necessary purposes.
Hoping for something good and different to happen tomorrow, they went to their beds to call it a night.
Little did they know what was waiting for them...
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I had planned to give this update yesterday but then I watched 'Dil Bechara' and couldn't bring myself to write. Those who have already watched it would understand.
Anyways, hope you guys liked this update. Do tell me if there's any flaw in the storyline or anything which you feel would make this story better. Guys, your views and opinion matter a lot. So I request you to drop a vote if you liked it and advise me if you didn't.
Also, the story is proceeding towards some drama. Are you ready for it?
Stay tuned ;)
Lots of Love, Sim❣