Arjun's POV:
This girl really didn't know how to be shy but I still liked the idea of having a little girl who would resemble Daksha, calling me 'Dad' in her adorable baby voice.
God! The imagination itself was giving me a divine feeling.
When I was lost in my thoughts, I received a call from my assistant. So, I excused myself from her and went a little away from her to attend the call since the place where we were standing was very noisy.
After I finished my call, I came back to Daksha but she was so immersed in looking at the jewelry shop which sold custom-made rings, especially for couples.
Outside that shop, there was a couple who just came out of that shop, with a content smile on their faces and Daksha was looking at them with envy after gazing at her own ring finger.
Though I understood the situation, I decided to behave like I didn't notice anything. So with a smile, I went to her.
"Daksha, what are you looking at.?" I asked her.
"They are selling beautiful rings," she said while twisting her lips.
"Ohh okay. Let's go. It's getting late. Mom must be waiting for us." I urged her and in return, she glared at me and mumbled 'What an ignorant man!' under her breath but I still heard it.
I stifled my laugh at her and tried to hold her hand to which she avoided it and went ahead after stomping her feet like a child.
I shook my head with a smile and followed her. All the way to the house, she didn't talk with me. She didn't even spare me a glance at all and was looking out of the window.
After reaching home, she came out and took all the bags into her hands from the back seat.
She carried all the bags by herself with so much difficulty. It wasn't that the bags weighed too much but since there were too many, it became a difficult task for her to hold all of them by herself.
I just stood there, enjoying her tantrums. Seeing me behave like that, she glared at me and stormed inside while stumbling on her way.
Mom was present in the living room and was reading a book. After seeing her lovely daughter-in-law's struggle, she glared at me too.
"Someone always claims himself to be a gentleman," Mom scoffed at me. I rolled my eyes at her but didn't make any move.
"Stop standing there like a statue and lend a hand to her. Daksha, come here and sit beside me. He will take care of those bags." Mom ushered her and I made a face at them.
Seeing this, Daksha stuck out her tongue at me when Mom was not looking at her.
"Petty!" I mouthed at her and she rolled her eyes at me.
I sighed and went to pick up all the bags that she had dropped in the middle of the living room.
"Daksha, did you guys go shopping.?" Mom asked her.
"Yeah, Attayya. I didn't buy anything for Ammu and you until now. Since we were free, we both went to buy some sarees and dresses for you and Ammu," she said to Mom who grinned at her in delight.
"Really? Silly child. You don't need to do all these things but I am really happy with your gesture," Mom said and Daksha smiled at her.
After that, she turned to me and gestured for me to join her. I didn't obey and stood stubbornly.
"Hey, come here. I want to show her everything that I bought," she ordered me and I raised my eyebrows at her meaningfully.
"This boy has become deaf too. Arjun, come here." Mom too joined her daughter-in-law.
I sighed and dumped all the bags on the couch. After that, I slumped beside those bags tiredly.
Daksha came to me and collected those bags. After that, she showed everything to Mom and Mom was listening to her with a gleeful smile on her face.
"Hope you like them," Daksha asked Mom in a cautious tone.
"Arey, when they are given by you, how can I not like them? In fact, I loved them. Ammu is sleeping. I will give her dresses to her tomorrow. You must be tired. Go and freshen up. Come when I call you for dinner," Mom said to Daksha and she gave her a smile after agreeing.
"Athayya, I am not hungry. I ate some food outside. So, don't worry about me. You can rest early. Good night," she said and went upstairs to our room.
After she left, I turned to my Mom and asked her.
"Done pampering your daughter-in-law? If you don't know, I am also hungry here as I didn't eat much outside." I grimaced at her and she smiled warmly at me.
"Aww…is my Ajju asking me to feed him personally?" she teased me and I scoffed in return.
"I didn't ask you to feed me, okay?" I told her.
"Okay, wait here." Saying this, she left for the kitchen and came with a plate full of Rotis with curry immediately.
After that, she sat beside me and brought a piece of roti in front of my mouth which I avoided.
"Maa, I can eat it on my own. Give it to me. It's getting late. You go and sleep." I told their and was about to take the plate from her but she slapped my hand away.
"Be quiet and eat it like a good boy. It's not like I will feed you every day, right? Nobody is here. So, you don't need to feel embarrassed."
Saying this, she started feeding me with a content smile on her face and I too couldn't deny it anymore. So, I agreed with her and started eating.
"Ajju, do you remember when you were young you always insisted me to feed you every day and your dad used to scold you for behaving like a child? Thinking about it now, it's been so many years since I fed you with my own hands. Now, I am so happy to feed you again," she said with a forlorn look on her face while feeding me.
"Maa, I know it isn't enough to say a simple sorry for my previous behavior but I am trying hard to make it up to you. I realized the importance of relationships. You know, when you were in the hospital, Daksha was the one who made me realize my mistakes. I am so thankful to her. She is really good at heart. I am glad that she became my life partner," I told her with a smile.
After finishing feeding me, she kept that plate aside and caressed my cheek with her other hand.
"I am glad too. Now, will you agree mothers are always right?" she asked with a teasing smile.
"Of course. Without a doubt," I told her in a firm tone. We both laughed together for some time.
"Okay, now go to your room. Looks like Daksha is throwing a tantrum. Go and pacify her," she told me and I couldn't agree more with her.
So, after seeing her entering her room, I too went to our room. When I went inside, I saw that Daksha was sleeping. So, I went to the washroom to freshen up.
After freshening up, I came outside the washroom and went to her side of the bed. I stood there for a while, observing her face.
She was curled up inside the blanket. Her soft hair was resting on the pillow and it brought a lazy kind of beauty.
I stood there for a while but after noticing something, I bit back my smile and kneeled on the floor to the height of the bed, and started looking at her face closely.
Damn! She was looking like a pure, innocent angel. Seeing her face, I felt my heart soften.
"Daksha?" I called her softly.
She pouted her lips and didn't bother with me. She turned over to the other side to sleep.
Now, my assumption was true. She was not sleeping. I smiled at her. Not only me, but she could also actually pretend to sleep. Interesting.
Now she made an 'I am damn angry' pose and what she meant behind it was- 'Come and quickly pacify me otherwise you are dead meat.
I turned her in my direction and pulled her into my embrace.
"Okay. Stop pretending," I told her.
"Hmph!" she pouted and ignored me.
"Arey baba..what's the reason for this tantrum?" I asked her slowly.
"As if you don't know." Saying this, she tried to free herself from my embrace but I tightened my hold on her.
"I really don't know," I said to her, pretending to not know anything.
"Hmph! You know it well. Don't give me that innocent face. You know that I want a ring. We didn't even have an engagement ceremony to exchange rings. So, I want both of us to wear rings like a normal couple and you didn't give a damn to it. You are so mean. Leave me." Finally, she told me and I laughed at her.
"Daksha, for God's sake, we are already married. So what's the use of the rings now? Moreover, in our culture, wearing rings is not mandatory. So, I don't care about it. You too let it be and go to sleep," I told her to rile her up even more.
True to my words, she started smacking my arms.
"Don't irritate me. If you don't want to buy it, I can buy it myself. Just think that I didn't ask you anything. Can't you even afford a single ring for your wife? What a petty man!" she said and came out of my embrace.
I lifted myself from the floor and plopped on the bed sticking close to her.
"Move away. You are stinking," she yelled at me.
Instead of moving away, I went closer to her.
"You are so annoying," she mumbled in irritation.
"So what? You are tied to this annoying man forever." Saying this, I hugged her. This time she didn't resist me and leaned into my embrace.
"My bad. I never knew you were this annoying otherwise I wouldn't have married you," she mumbled in a low voice.
"Hahaha. But you did, right? So, no turning back. Bear with my annoying self all your life," I told her and caressed her head.
"Arjun, about the rings-" she started it again. So, I interrupted her in the middle.
"Ssh. We will talk about this later. Go to sleep now," I told her and started patting her back.
Soon, she fell asleep. I slowly released her from my embrace and moved away without disturbing her.
After making sure that she was comfortable, I took my phone and went to the balcony to make a call to Darshith.
He picked the call immediately.
"Hi, bro. What's the matter?"
"What about the thing that I asked you to do?" I asked him
"I don't know. I assigned that task to my assistant. Wait. Stay on the line for a minute," he said.
I could hear him calling his assistant and asking him about the matter.
"Bro, it will take ten days. Is it okay?" He asked me.
"It's okay. It's just that your Vadhina is throwing a tantrum. So, I called you to know about that thing," I told him.
"Hahaha..good for you,"
"When are you planning to return?" I asked him and the call went silent for a while.
"Not any time soon," he said in a low voice.
"How many more years are you planning to stay there? Just return to our country, dammit," I bellowed at him in frustration.
"Bro, you know it, right? I can't," he said, "I will call you later. I have a meeting to attend now. Take care." Saying this, he ended the call without even waiting for my reply.
I sighed and went inside. I placed my phone aside and slept beside her after pulling her into my arms. Soon I drifted to sleep.
After a week...
Daksha's POV:
It had been a week since I asked him for a ring. He still didn't say anything about it. Though I said that I could buy it on my own, actually I didn't have plans to do it.
How could I buy it on my own? It won't look good. So I left that matter aside.
Now, I was in my hospital, waiting for Arjun to pick me up. We both planned to visit my parents today since I didn't meet them recently.
I received a message from Arjun saying that he was outside the hospital. So, after arranging everything, I went outside and saw his car.
I entered it and rested my head tiredly on the headrest of the car.
He looked at me and started the car without saying anything. After a while, he stopped it in front of the cafe. I looked at him questioningly.
"You are looking so worn out. Come. Let's grab some coffee before heading to your parent's house," he told me after opening a door for me to come out.
I nodded at him and got out of the car. We both went inside the cafe. He ordered hot chocolate for me and espresso for himself. After having them, he paid the bill.
We both were about to go outside but I stopped in my tracks after seeing the person whom I never imagined to see, at least not now.
Though I knew that I would have to face that person someday I wasn't ready at that moment.
I held Arjun's hand tightly as all the events of that dreadful day were flashing in front of my eyes.
"You are the reason for my destruction. So I will destroy you now."
.
.
.
"Let's see who will save you."
.
.
.
"Daksha, go away from here and ask for help."
.
.
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"Teju, hold on for a while. Don't close your eyes, okay? You will be fine."
.
.
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"Sorry. We couldn't save them."
.
.
I started to tremble after remembering all those memories. I loosened my hold on Arjun and closed my ears in the hopes that all those voices would stop resounding.
I gasped as I was out of breath. Soon my vision was blurred and darkness consumed me.
"Rahul..." I muttered before I lost consciousness.
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