PART 11
First morning after marriage, had turned out to be an interesting one. I was enjoying her presence in my life. I went down and got black tea for both of us. By the time, I had finished my tea, she came out of the bathroom dressed in knee length bathrobe worn on top of her Saree blouse and Underskirt. She had washed her hair and water was slightly dripping from her hair. She started drying her hair with the towel, later tied the towel around her head in order to dry her hair further.
"Not going to take a bath?"
"Yeah , but lil later."
"I want to change my cloths."
"Ok!! You can use the bathroom.
"Sameer, I am going to wear a Saree. I can't do it in the bathroom
"Yaar Naina, we are going to share a room, so why don't you change here. After all you have your blouse and skirt rt?? Do I have to always go out while you change?? You can stay here when I change, I am not going to ask you to go somewhere else. What will people think about us??
"Yeah...you are right, then turn the other side. I am shy Sameer, give me some time to get used to all this.
"Okay, you are spared for today. I will go take a bath and, stay here till I finish my bath. One important thing , wait till I come to put Sindoor. We have a tradition that needs to be followed. OK ??
"Alright!! I kept wondering what this tradition was. Anyways will get to know. I dressed quickly, applied make up , wore jewelry and was ready . After what seemed like 45 mins, he came out with just a towel wrapped around his waist. I was too shocked and hence said a sorry and turned around.
"Naina darling get used to it because I am not going to change my day to day activities. And I don't want you to change too. Just be yourself. From the corner of my eyes, I could see him moving towards the dressing table. The next thing, I knew was his hand was on my shoulders, turning me around to face him.
"Open your eyes Naina. Look at me. You don't have to feel shy dear. I am yours as much as you are mine. Saying so he applied sindoor
"My dad puts sindoor for my mom's forehead every day , only exception is when he is travelling and away on business tour. He says the red mark on his fingers always remind him of his wife and his duty towards her. I want us to do the same. So from now on , this is my responsibility. Agreed??"
"Yes."
He then pulled me closer to him and gave me a lingering kiss on my forehead. We were so close to each other , there was barely any space between us. I could smell his after shave. My eyes wandered to his broad athletic and slightly hairy chest. There were droplets of water resting on them. This was the first time , I was seeing him this way. My knees were going weak and my heart was pounding hard that I feared he would be able to hear it. I wanted to run my hands on his chest , feel every inch of his muscular chest. I was breathing fast than normal , so was he...I slowly looked at his eyes trying to gauge what was running thru his mind. His hands were still on my shoulders and both of us knew what we wanted but was scared to move ahead.
"I want to hug you Naina...May I ?"
"I...Sameer, ...I ...need to go for Puja, so its not ...right...to..."
"Yep , I understand. Its ok. You go ahead , mom will be waiting for you. Its already 7:00. I will get dressed and be there soon."
"Ok" Saying so , I rushed outside the room and closed the door. I knew he was hurt. So was I , I wanted to tell him that , even I wanted to hug him and feel his warmth, rest my head on his chest and listen to his heart beat. Hmm...How I wish I could tell him all this.
"Beta where is Sameer ?"
"He is changing his cloths ."
"Ok, I will go and call him. Else he is going to take time."
"Sameer !!! Come down soon."
"Yes Mumma. Though I responded to my mom and started dressing up. I didn't want to go down and face any one. I was so angry with her. All I asked was a hug and she found a reason to run away from me. I am not going to look at her even. It's all my fault, I shouldn't have asked when I knew she was not prepared for it...but the look in her eyes said something else. There is something that is making her hesitant and stopping her from loving me. Is she still insecure? I thought after marriage , she would be happy to leave all those thoughts behind. Does she still think that after marriage, I will leave her , if Kamya comes back into my life. Lord, how do I make her understand. This is so unfair. I am head over heels in love with her and madam thinks that I have Kamya in my heart. Does she not see it in my eyes?
Can't blame her , after what she has gone thru in her life and my past behavior , she is bound to be careful. I need to win her trust and for that patience is the key which I lose the moment I see her...MY NAINA!!
The next few hours went by soon. Then we had guests, neighbors and business partners who came to see the bride. By noon everyone had left. When I thought, I would get a chance to be with her, calling bell rang destroying the peace of the house and guess what?? Our school friends had come to meet us including Kamya. I had only met Kamya just once after our break up . It was some dinner hosted by one of our business partners. That day , she did try to act as if nothing happened and was trying to revive our relationship. I didn't know what to do, especially when all her act was drawing attention. I couldn't be rude in front of so many people. Thankfully one of my old friend rescued me. I never spoke about this to anyone. After which I made sure that, I avoided her. Since both the families dealt with cloth industry, we couldn't avoid interacting with them. Dad had always seen to that, I never had to work on projects dealing with their business. It was him or Nanu who would work on such projects. But now she was in the house right in front of us giving us a challenging look. I knew why she was here, she was here to judge our relationship.
One look at Naina's face and I knew what was going thru her mind. Poor girl had gone pale. I wouldn't let Kamya get her way. Not that easily. I walked towards Naina and casually placed my arm on her waist holding her close to me , giving a clear message to everyone there , that now she is my wife and not a word against her.
Everyone was happy for us , at least most of them did say , though I knew behind us there would be talks . To be honest, at that time, I didn't care. I just wanted them, rather everyone to leave me alone with my girl. I needed to be with her, talk to her about her insecurities and us. I wanted to have a heart to heart talk and confess my love. Hmmm...nothing of that was going to happen. All of them planned to stay back for dinner. Though there were lot of teasing, jokes and laughter I knew Naina was not comfortable. To top it all Kamya was trying hard to get close to me and act as if we were still good friends after our break up. Thankfully, she didn't speak anything about business dinner. I had to tell Naina about it.
I sat next to Naina, now my hand on her shoulder, hoping at least my presence would give her some assurance and confidence. My family also stood by Naina. Kamya and the rest of the gang were surprised to see how close my family was towards Naina. Especially Rohan and mom, the most talkative people of our house. They had never shared this kind of relationship with Kamya . With Naina , it was different. She was a daughter than a DIL.
"Sameer , so finally you ended up with our Behanji" said Raghav with an edge in his voice. I could see Kamya's smile of victory. I could have kicked them out but now they were our guest , I had to control my anger.
Even before I could respond , my brother came to our rescue.
"Looks like we have lots of sour grapes here or is that you couldn't recognize a Swan??"Atmosphere was getting tensed . I knew Rohan wouldn't keep quite, the jovial appearance was just a cover. When it comes to protecting his loved ones, he was absolutely ruthless. He would never care about doing it politely or diplomatically. Those two words were never there in his dictionary when he hated someone.
"Dinner ready." Shouted mom helping all of us to calm down and behave .
It was nearly 10.00 PM when all of them decided to leave. While every one was moving out, Kamya quickly gave me a hug and said "I am happy for you. I hope you will forgive me for what I did."
This act was a shocker for all of us. This time I was not lost for words , I had to act else my girl will be hurt and feel insulted in front of the world and I wouldn't allow that but I knew the damage was done. We were just a day old as married couple , so misunderstandings are bound to be there.
"I am glad you are happy for me and Naina. As far as forgiving you is concerned, I don't think you have done anything wrong because I was never hurt by your act, rather it liberated me. I am glad it didn't happen else I would never have got Naina as my wife. Good bye Kamya. "
With that , I moved to talk to others who were waiting to say good bye. Finally by 10: 15 all of them had left and it was just the family. I knew it was not over, I was sure she will strike back. It was only a matter of time.
Naina , quickly went to clean kitchen and dining area. Everyone knew she was running away. But I wanted to talk to her at that moment and not wait till the next day . So I went behind her but my mom pulled me away to her room.
"Sameer , give her some time. It wasn't an easy day for her. You need to give her time to calm herself."
"Mom, She is my wife. I need to talk to her . That Kamya... !! My past is going to destroy my present even before it started . "
"Calm down!! Is this how you think when you do business??"
"Mom , this is personal life. Peoples emotions are involved."
"Then let me give you an advice. Love will find its way Sameer. You both love each other, so don't worry."
"I do, I love her. I always have and I realise it. But that's not the case with Naina. She cares for me but she is scared to move further than that . She is insecure because of my past."
"Give her time and you will soon understand how much she loves you. We all can see her love for you but you see it as care."
"Fine , I will go to my room. You will never understand. I will wait for her in my room."
It was late in the night , when I heard someone crying . All I could hear is "Please don't leave me , please don't do this to me. I opened my eyes and understood, I had slept off waiting for Naina. I tried to check the time in the dim light of bedroom lamp. It was 3:00 AM. I realized , that the crying sound was not from outside. It was Naina, probably a bad dream??
PS: Please do let me know your thoughts and comments . Would love to read them. It encourages me to write .
WeRockTheWorld2018-05-31 02:56:40
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