I read somewhere that in the original Bengali series the ML gets jealous of the FL over her professor, so this OS is based on that. Thank you for reading!
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There was no one more magnetic than Imlie. Of course, he didn’t always feel this way. Adi knew how he treated her before. He knew how she tends to look at him, with a mixture of fear and awe in her chocolate brown eyes. He should have felt powerful knowing that she feared him, but he only felt miserable and out of control. Sometimes, however, Imlie didn’t look at him with fear, but with a sort of confidence, like she knew he was there. Like his presence in her life was giving her strength. Like he was enough. Just this made Adi feel as powerful as a king, godly even.
Once in a while, after she wrecked some sort of havoc, she looked at him with those eyes twinkling with mischief. Always on the outskirts of her craziness, her look was enough to coil around him and bring him into the center of it all. It was as if he couldn’t help himself. He would never admit this out loud, but sometimes, just sometimes, he almost burst out laughing. She made him feel like a child again, going on adventures and laughing like there was no tomorrow. Sometimes he just wanted to bask in the feeling of that childish bubble she created. A place where no one took anything too seriously and life was just a series of fun and games. Where dreams always came true and good always prevailed.
Adi’s thoughts were disturbed by the aroma of moti rotis. He smiled. What a perfect way to end the evening. Imlie’s Moti rotis were enough to make him feel full and satisfied. He eagerly closed his laptop and got out of his chair, wanting to be the first to eat the rotis while they were soft and steamy. As he walked down the hallway, the aroma got stronger and his smile got bigger. His mouth was watering, and he couldn’t wait to get the first roti. On the way to the kitchen, he was Malini on the couch with a stranger. The stranger was wearing a blazer and glasses, and next to him was a satchel. Aditya was a bit confused by this but didn’t give it much thought. He wanted that first roti. He needed to make sure to be out of sight from Malini or she would introduce him to her friend, and he wouldn’t get that roti. With this thought in mind, he slipped behind a pillar and tiptoed toward the kitchen. He inwardly smiled. Maybe Imlie was rubbing off on him. He couldn’t remember the last time he did anything so childish, so freeing. At the doorway to the kitchen, he could see Imlie cooking away. She was sweetly humming along and dancing around the kitchen, looking like a fairy. Her hair swayed along with the rhythm of her hips. She had a rolling pin in one hand and a spatula in the other and waved them around like they were dandiya sticks. He couldn’t help himself from leaning on the doorway and watching, knowing that if she knew he was there she would stop. After a few moments of peace, he cleared his throat, letting her know that he was here. She jumped, startled at the interruption, and her eyes shot toward Adi. When their eyes met, Adi held on. He felt something in his chest like it was hollowing. She stared at him and he just stood there like a dumb fool.
“Do you need anything Babusaheb?”, Imlie asked as her gaze dropped and looked anywhere but him. He hated when she did that. He wanted to grab onto her shoulders and shake her. Look at me damn it, he wanted to scream. His previous good mood began to filter out and he couldn’t help with frustration building in the center of his chest. Would she always be afraid of him?
“I just wanted a moti roti”, he replied looking over her shoulder onto the pile of hot rotis. His mouth was still watering.
“Malini didi wanted you to meet her friend from work before eating”, she told him quietly and shrunk away from him. He couldn’t do this right now. He couldn’t be around her when she was acting like this. He felt like a monster. He left the kitchen a d headed toward where Malini and her friend were sitting.
“Aditya, finally, I wanted to introduce you to my friend, Dr.Kumar. Dr.Kumar, this is my husband, Aditya Tripathi.”, Malini said as she stood up. Dr.Kumar also stood up, and Adi couldn’t help but notice how tall the other man was. Almost as tall as himself.
“Nice to meet you.” Dr.Kumar held out his hand and Adi shook it. The three of them then sat down and began to discuss things, mainly their careers. From what Adi could gather, Dr. Kumar had a doctorate in Physics and his research surrounded Quantum Mechanics. He really was a fascinating man and he had a lot to say about his passion for subatomic particles and their movements.
“Moti rotis!”, Imlie called out while bringing out two plates of rotis. Aditya immediately perked up. Imlie was here. With his moti rotis. He could finally get one before making a quiet exit. Determined to get the first one, his hand reached out right when the plates hit the table. Before his hand could touch the roti, it collided with another hand. He looked up with anger, he always got the first moti roti. Always. The moti roti at the top of the pile was always the warmest and Imlie always gave it to him. He never knew why she did it, but he had the sneaking suspicion that it was because it made her feel like she was caring for him. He secretly liked it too. And here was Dr.Kumar, who didn’t have a single look of guilt on his face as he quickly grabbed not one, but two rotis from the plate. Aditya decided he did not like this man after all. He shot a glance toward Imlie, as if to say ‘can you believe the nerve of this guy?’. Her eyes widened and she couldn’t help the giggle spill out her. Instantly Adi felt better. That man could have all the moti rotis he wanted. Adi got something much more precious than that.
“Wow Imlie, these taste great! Bring these to college everyday would you?”, Dr.Kumar said, while devouring the rotis at warp speed. As he was about to smile at his own wit, he caught sight of Imlie blushing. He didn’t like it, he decided. He didn’t like it at all. He reached for a roti and began nibbling on it as Malini leaned toward him.
“They look cute together, don’t they.”, Malini whispered in his ear.
“What!?”, Adi exclaimed and reared back as though he was shot by a bullet. Both Imlie and Dr.Kumar stared at him as if he had two heads. “Sorry, you guys carry on”, Adi said as he turned back to Mun. “Why would you say something like that?!”, he whisper shouted at her. His face was flushed and his heart began to beat faster. He didn’t understand what was happening to him. He never felt this way.
“You know our marriage is falling apart…”, Malini said and then waited for Aditya to say something, maybe hoping he would contradict her. He didn’t. Their marriage was falling apart, and that was a fact. He couldn’t change that, and frankly, he didn’t want to. It was neither of their faults that things turned out this way. They should have realized earlier how incompatible they were. They should have just stayed friends instead of jumping to conclusions that they were in love. Malini looked disappointed when he didn’t say anything but trudged on. “Anyway, I wanted someone to experience love since I wasn’t, and I decided to play matchmaker. Dr.Kumar was quite taken with Imlie from the start, and I think Imlie may feel the same way.” Adi felt his heart drop. He didn’t like the implications of what Malini was saying. He didn’t want Imlie to fall in love with another man. That was not supposed to happen. At least, he was hoping it would never happen. He knew he was in a complicated position. He stared at Imlie as she talked to another man. His fists clenched as he imagined punching the other man into oblivion. How dare he try and take Imlie away from him? Adi’s breathing got faster as dread began to overtake his previous anger. He had no right to call Imlie his. He never did anything to prove to her or the world that she was his. She might actually leave this place, leave him. After, what had he done but scold her, and make her feel unworthy? His reckoning had finally arrived, and he couldn’t take it.
“She’s too young for him”, he replied to Malini. He wanted her to stop with all of this matchmaking bullshit. If Imlie wanted to leave him of her own accord, fine. He would be heartbroken and never forgive himself, but latest she would be happy. However, he would not be okay with Malini pushing her into a relationship before she was ready.
“She’s also very mature for her age.”, Malini replied. Adi couldn’t argue with this. Imlie really was mature. She went through so much in her short life, that thinking of her as anything but capable would be unfair. As Adi continued to stare at the two of them banter away he felt like the oxygen in the air around was being sucked out. She never bantered with him like that. She was always too scared to talk to him freely. She never even laughed with him as openly as she did with that man. She was giving him her full attention and eye contact and that man seemed to glow under her attention. Adi knew what it was like on the receiving end of her warmth, and he couldn’t cope with the idea that she wasn’t just pulling him with her magnetism, she was pulling other men towards her too. With this thought, he stood up.
“Excuse me, but I still have some work to finish. You all keep talking”, Adi said and began to walk back to his room. He spent the next couple of hours thinking about Imlie. Malini had come and gone, but he didn’t even notice. All of his thoughts were concentrated on Imlie. He knew that he was the reason she was afraid. He treated her terribly. He had never been so unnecessarily cruel to another human before. He turned into a beast around her. It wasn’t until much later when he realized just how disgusting his actions were and began to fix them. He had begun to love her, he realized. He wasn’t just possessive over her because she was his wife, he was possessive because he was insecure about her feelings towards him. He didn’t know if she liked him the way she used to if he still had a chance to win her heart after the way he treated her. With this thought in mind, he began to walk toward the kitchen. He would make Imlie fall in love with him. No matter hell or high water, he would try his best. Once, he reached his destination, he saw Imlie putting ingredients away and cleaning.
“Imlie.”, Adi called.
“Yes, Babusaheb.”
“I’m sorry. For everything. I-I never properly apologized for how I treated you.”
“It’s okay, Babusaheb. You’ve always been good of heart, even if I didn’t always didn’t receive your kindness, I saw you give it to others, and that’s what matters. Anyways, ever since I got shot, you’ve been much nicer to me. So nice, actually, that I sometimes can’t believe it’s actually you!”, she replied with a laugh.
“Thank you,” Adi replied, with a smile. He felt much better.
“Is that all?”, Imlie asked, expectant of something, but Adi couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Um, yes, that’s all.”, Adi turned to leave, satisfied with how the conversation went.
“Wait!”, Imlie said as she grabbed his arm to stop him. He felt a jolt of electricity go through him. This never happened before. He turned around to face her, and he realized she was looking at him. She was looking into his eyes, unafraid and blushing. He felt warm all over. She turned around and reached for a covered plate. She gave it to him and he curiously opened it. In it was a single moti roti.
“It was the roti on the top of the pile.”, she said while ducking her head. She remembered. She remembered that he liked the one on the top. She reheated it to give it to him. A giddy feeling bubbled inside of him. She still cared about him. She somehow even knew that it wasn’t the roti, but the sentiment behind it that mattered. There were butterflies in his stomach as he put his hand under her chin and lifted her head. He wanted to look into her eyes. Her beautiful, warm, glittering, chocolate brown eyes.
“Thank you”, he said, with as much feeling as he could muster. Thank you for still caring about me.
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