Simar was awestruck on seeing the biggest bathroom she had ever witnessed in her life. She knows without a doubt that this room is much bigger than her bedroom at her house. More than the size, its décor amazed her. There was a tub in one corner. It was so large that it almost looked like kids swimming pool.
A large mirror-like we see in the malls’ restroom with a fancy washbasin is situated in another corner. She moved in front of it and frowned instantly looking at her reflection in the mirror. Though she is wearing the costliest lehenga and jewels she had ever worn in her life, she looked a total mess. Immediately, she started removing her jewel set. It was a tedious job. She should have asked her mother-in-law to help with this. She seemed very kind. Her mother or sisters usually helped her to undress after the function. She winced. She could not help but cry thinking about her overnight turned lonely life.
Once done with the jewels, she started removing her clothes but stopped abruptly when she realized that she is undressing in a stranger’s bathroom. Well, not technically a stranger. She shook her head before it starts imagining things.
She looked around and found the beautiful room strange. Yes, it is better to call the room, strange instead. And, it is so big that she feels like she is changing in a place like a hall where anyone could walk in. She got panicked and ran towards the door to check the latch. She exhaled loudly only after double-checking the lock.
Walking back to the mirror, she took out a towel from a cabinet under the washbasin counter. She removed her dress and wrapped herself with the towel. She felt very light after getting rid of that heavy dress which she was wearing for almost 24 hours straight. She packed all the jewels in a small laundry bag that she had found in the cabinet. Then, she folded her bridal lehenga and placed it on top of the counter. She could not wash it since it needs dry cleaning. The only thing remaining is her innerwear now. She became thoughtful. Would her mother-in-law bring her new set of inner wears too? What if she forgets to bring any? She decided to be ready just in case and started washing her innerwear inside the big washbasin itself. She looked around to hang up the wet clothes and found a stand like a coat hanger. Once she dried her cloth on it, she exhaled peacefully seeing all her work done.
She just has to take bath now. She wondered whether she needs to do that in the pretty big tub. She went near it and became confused. She looked around it searching for some user manual sticker that would tell her how to use it. But, sadly she didn’t find any. In movies, she had seen heroines taking baths in the tub. But they never showed how they prepared the tub in the first place. It usually starts with the heroine climbing into the tub which is already filled with water and foam. Yes, foam and water! She just has to fill the tub with water and dissolves soap into it to create foam.
She has done this so many times at home to play bubbles with her siblings. She looked down at the tub and frowned instantly. But, she had always done that in a bucket. This tub is a large one and it seems it would need at least 10 buckets of water to fill it. And, she doesn’t even want to think about the number of soaps that would be needed to create foam. She shook her head in disbelief. She is almost a niggard and hence decided against taking bath in this ‘cause of water scarcity’ tub.
She looked around searching for a tap or shower on the four walls of the bathroom but could not find any. What if they are very small? She walked along the walls tracing it. She completed a full round with no success. She got frustrated. What is the use of having a big bathroom without a shower? She was walking furiously when something hit her with a thud. She massaged her head to soothe the pain and looked up to check what she had hit. She gasped on seeing glass in front of her. What is a glass doing in the center of a bathroom? She peered at it carefully and then touched the glass slowly. Eureka! She had found it finally. This is what they call ‘hiding in plain sight it seems. There is a small glass cabinet in the middle of the room, but she is just noticing now.
She found the door and went inside. There is no shower tap but instead found some silver buttons. She pressed on it and got wet in a drizzle. She looked up and got amazed at seeing the water coming from the ceiling like rain. She became happy and started playing in the rain. It’s okay if she is causing water scarcity for a day – she’ll behave from tomorrow. She only stopped on hearing continuous taps against the bathroom door. She opened the glass door slightly to listen to the voice.
It was her mother-in-law’s. She was shouting that she had kept a dress for Simar on the bed. Simar shouted back thanks to her and finished her bath soon. She came out and moved near to the cabinet but there was no towel inside. She got panicked and checked all the cabinets but nothing useful was found. It seems she had used the last dry towel. On the last one, she found a laundry bag with the groom’s kurta nicely folded. She could not help but smile at how much they are similar in character. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and focused on the current issue.
Now, how she is going to take the dress on the bed? She could not walk inside the bedroom with this wet towel making the floor wet and dirty. She face-palmed herself for not taking the clothes from her mother-in-law directly when she had come before. She looked down thoughtfully and brightened at the sight of the kurta in her hand. She could wear this. Though it was found in a laundry bag, it doesn’t look dirty. She bent down to smell it and regretted it immediately since it had his fragrance. It clouded her brain and she felt like she needed another shower to clear it. But, since she doesn’t have much time, she decided to just settle by shaking her head vehemently to get the job done.
Anyway, it’s just a matter of few seconds. Without a second thought, she unwrapped the wet towel and worn his Kurta. No, the kurta! She needs to forget about who had worn this first. Opening the bathroom door, she held out her head and checked around. Once she is sure that the field is clear, she tiptoed towards the bed where a purple suit was kept neatly folded. She smiled at it and was almost near it when a clicking sound is heard. Someone is trying to open the door. She got panic and climbed into the nearby dress cupboard to hide.
She closed her mouth immediately with her hands when she heard the door open. She hoped it was her mother-in-law and peeped out. Oh no! It was her owner! She blinked. No, she meant Kurta’s owner. He was talking to someone in the call while walking back and forth at the foot of the bed. She got tensed once she realized the tone. This is how her mother talks to Rani aunty about her favorite serial. It is in no way going to end now or any time soon. She sighed out lazily and settled in the cupboard.
Can’t he take this call outside the room? How long is he going to talk? She cannot stay inside forever and her mother-in-law would be soon coming here to take her outside. She hoped he would go away for just two minutes outside so that she can run away at least into the bathroom again. She was enjoying herself so much in the biggest bathroom for the last one hour that she is feeling suffocated inside this cupboard now.
Suddenly it became silent interrupting her loud thoughts. She peeped again and noticed him holding the purple suit in his hands. He cut the call telling the person on the other end that he has some important work. What is more important than talking non-sense to a friend? Her mom never cuts the call even if they are dying in hunger. She would just tell her friend that her kids are doing their usual drama – which is true by the way.
He looked all around the room and before his eyes reach the cupboard, she closed the door. Oh goodness. It was close. But, she got confused now. Why is she hiding from him? This is silly. She opened the door to see him knocking on the bathroom door calling her name with the purple suit in his hands. For god’s sake, he is not going to eat her or something. She decided to get down from the cupboard and placed one foot down on the floor. Why is her leg bare? She gasped and pulled her leg inside the cupboard. In panic mode, she had closed the door with a thud.
She looked down and found the very familiar Kurta. She facepalmed and crouched herself tightly hugging her bare legs. She resisted banging her head on the cupboard to not to make any noise. But, no use anyway since the door slide opened allowing light and air to hit her face. She crouched more.
“Simar… what are you doing here?” he asked in a confused tone.
Oh no. Without looking up at him, she tried to hide her legs as much as possible from him. But, it’s no use. She needs something to cover it but this cupboard is full empty like her mind now. She peeped a little and noticed him still carrying the purple suit. At least that is good. She held out her right hand to him for the cloth. But, she gasped when she felt a hand over hers instead. She got surprised and immediately looked up at him. His face is blank but he nodded his head signaling her to get down. Oh yeah, of course. She could not live in the cupboard. Is she Harry Potter or what?
She nodded back and slowly placed one leg outside. She felt his hold tightening and looked up at him. He was looked at her leg with wide eyes instantly making her feel uncomfortable.
“Aarav Ji” she called out to him with a pout and he turned his head blinking.
“I am sorry, Simar. I was just looking at my Kurta.” He said quickly loosening his grip and she nodded back simply for formality.
She came out completely and stood before him. She tried to pull the kurta down with her left hand but it’s not going beyond the knees. Maybe it would stretch more if she uses her other hand too. But, he is not letting it go and for some reason, she doesn’t have the heart to remove it herself.
“I am sorry Aarav Ji. I noticed there is no towel after taking bath only and hence worn this kurta temporarily before changing into the suit.” She stammered indicating towards his other hand which carries her designated salwar suit.
“Oh… I will tell the maid to stack up our cabinet with lots of towels immediately so that you won’t have to wear any dirty cloth again” he replied gently.
“It is not dirty, Aarav Ji. It even smells excellent. See…” not only she blurted out like an idiot but to prove her statement she pulled up the kurta collar to her nose and inhaled it loudly closing her eyes. Her mouth automatically turned up with the intoxicating fragrance but her trance broke when she felt more pressure in her right hand. Oh goodness! What has she done?
Without opening her eyes, she prayed to God that this is the right time to pull her right up to heaven. To be honest, she is okay with even hell now. The pressure on her hand is reducing gradually and gone fully in few seconds. But she dared not to open her eyes since he had not let her hand yet.
No one spoke. After feeling almost like an hour, She felt an assuring squeeze and opened her eyes slowly. He was looking at her with a smile. Her breath hitched. She quickly thanked God for not taking her up! She would not want to miss this captivating smile for anything in the world or out of the world for that matter. She didn’t realize it before, but it seems that she missed this smile so much because her eyes are zooming into the smile now. She blinked and snapped out to reality. Her eyes are not doing any magic camera work but he is moving close to her effectively caging her against the cupboard. She wanted to climb into the cupboard again to hide but alas, she had already closed the door while getting down earlier. Her back pressed fully against the cupboard and she looked down chewing her lips.
She felt him bending down to her height making her gulp. His face is right next to hers now and she could hear his heavy intake of breath. He exhaled slowly fanning her neck and her knees lost the will to stand. The only thing stopping from them falling to the floor is her loyal left hand clutching the cupboard tightly as its life depends on it. She is dying with unknown feelings here but the traitor right hand is still enjoying the warmth of her captivator.
“I agree. The smell is excellent… almost mouth-wat” before he could finish his sentence, they heard a knock on the main door and he turned towards it.
She quickly pulled both her right hand and the purple suit from his hands and dashed into the bathroom. She didn’t even look back to see his reaction but her condition is worse for sure. She checked her heartbeat and it is beating as if it is in some race. But she is glad that it didn’t stop working altogether. What was he thinking? Doesn’t he know that she is having low pressure? Prankster! She got this strange feeling that these pranks are not going to stop.
Oh god! She requested God a change of heart to bear all this because the current one has already fallen hard for him.