Chapter -2
After wrapping up his work and keeping his laptop aside, Raman got to his feet, stretched himself lazily and yawned. As he rubbed his droopy eyes and glanced at his watch, he realized he could take a short nap to energize himself, before it was time to go pick up his Madrasan. He got into bed quickly and stretched himself out. Lying on his back, he relaxed for a while before picking up her pillow and turning to his side to hug it close to his chest. A light, familiar fragrance hit his nostrils and a memory from last night flashed in his mind suddenly.
The feel of her hand crawling up his chest; her smooth, soft leg gliding over his legs; her lips pressing firmly against the side of his neck and his name uttered in a hoarse whisper, full of longing.
He sat upright on the bed, and as he realized what had happened, he groaned and sank back against the headboard of the bed, cursing himself.
He had got back home really late the previous night. In fact, he had had a crazy work schedule for the past 3 weeks, and last night had been no different. Adding to his fatigue and tiredness, was a pounding head ache and a throbbing right shoulder. All he had wanted to do when he had got home, was to slip into the comfort of his bed and forgetting all his work troubles , just surrender to sleep. Not wanting to wake her up, he had tip toed into their room, and had been relieved to find her sleeping soundly. He hated it when she stayed up late just for him, compromising on her sleep. Too exhausted to take a shower, which was his usual routine, he had just managed to splash some water on his face and do a quick change. He had hit the bed soon after, but not before popping a pain killer and applying a pain relief gel on his aching shoulder.
After tossing and turning for a while, trying to find a comfortable position, he had finally settled to lie on his left side, so that he could massage his right shoulder with his left hand. He wasn’t sure how long it had been before he started to feel the pain subside and found himself on the verge of slipping into a deep slumber. And that’s when he felt a hand sneak up his chest from behind, followed by a soft kiss on the side of his neck. Simultaneously, her smooth soft left came over his legs to rest on them.
As they often held each other in sleep, he simply patted her hand that was on his chest and tried to go back to sleep. But then, he felt the length of her body press up against his back, her leg sliding up and down his legs and her hot breath on his ear, before he heard his name uttered in a hoarse whisper. A part of his brain had tried to alert him and rouse him from that half asleep state. And what happened next should have effectively done that, because she peppered the side of his face with kisses and bit his earlobe. But alas it DIDN’T! He was simply too exhausted to move and too comfortable in the position that he was sleeping in. The urge to succumb to sleep overpowered his urge to turn around and at least hug her. The last thing he recalled doing was holding her hand that was resting on his chest and mumbling “so jaa Madrasan”. Sleep enveloped him soon after.
Any other day or any other time, had she done that, he would have wasted no time in mounting her and wouldn’t have gotten off her until they both were sated. But that was the point! That she had NEVER done anything like that before. Its been 3 months since they have consummated their marriage, and she has never explicitly initiated intimacy before. Getting her to express her s*xual desires freely or getting her to claim him without hesitation was a feat as yet unattained. And to think that the first time she actually tried initiating, he asker her to go back to sleep !!!
He raked his fingers through his hair and pulled on them. The last 3 weeks have been especially tough on them. She had her schedule full on most days and his European and US clients kept him at work on most nights. There were days when they couldn’t even have a face-to-face conversation, let alone spend any time together. Sighing deeply, he started to think of ways to make it up to her. However, the shrill sound of his phone brought him out of his thoughts. Seeing Mihir’s name flashing on the screen, he picked up the call quickly.
***
Parking her car in her usual spot, Ishita stepped out from behind the wheel, happy that she made it home in good time. She glanced over at the shining black Merc in the spot right next to hers’. It seemed to intimidate her modest red i10. “Just like the owner of the car,” she thought to herself and chuckled, before turning around to open the back door of the car to retrieve the food packets. Just then, out of the corner of her eye she spotted a tiny black figure approaching her at break neck speed – BAM!!
Before she could figure out what was happening, the tiny black figure had its hands tightly wrapped around her mid section.
“Ishimaa! Aap aaj jaldi as gaye?”
“Rooh! Yeh kya pehna hai aap ne ?” She pried Ruhi’s hands off her and took a step back to to take a good look at her little tyke. Ruhi was dressed in black from head to toe. It resembled a warrior’s out fit, complete with a black head scarf that covered her head and the lower part of her face.
“What does it look like Ishima ? Its a Ninja costume!” Ruhi rolled her eyes at having to state the obvious. “Mihika chitti be banvaya hai mere liye. Shravu ka bhi same to same hai,” she added.
“Accha? Come here my cute Ninja.” Ishita bent down and pulled Ruhi back into her embrace, and pulling her face cloth down a little, planted a sloppy kiss on her exposed cheek.
“No Ishimaa!!” Ruhi squealed and giggled.
“Where are my chocolates? Aap laaye ho na?” She started to tug at Ishita ‘s handbag impatiently. Ishita unzipped her bag, fished out the chocolate bars and handed them to her.
Ruhi took them from her happily, but suddenly turned thoughtful. “Ishima abhi time kya hua?”
Now, that was a question that Ishita did not expect from Ruhi , especially now, when she had her favorite chocolates in her hand. She did not have a good feeling about it.
“Chaar baj ne waala hai beta. Kyun?”
“Woh mujhe aap ki help chahiye thi, ek project mein”
This was definitely bad news , her inner self warned her.
“Lekin beta , kal se aap ki chuttiya shuru ho rahi hai na? Phir kaisa project ?”
“Holiday project hai. Chuttiyan khatam hone se pehle finish kar na hai.” Ruhi replied matter-of-factly and held Ishita’s hand and glanced at her watch.
“Usme toh abhi bohat time hai beta. Ab aap jaa ke khelo, baad mein dekh lenge.” She tried to distract Ruhi.
“Nahi Ishima , mujhe abhi aap ko dikh- ” Ruhi could not complete as they heard Shravu behind them.
“Ruhi ki bacchi !! Saare chocolates khudh hi khaayegi kya ?” He was also wearing the same Ninja outfit and was trying to look menacing by glaring at Ruhi.
Ruhi giggled and held up the chocolates. “Try and catch me, phir milenge chocolates,” shouting back , she bolted towards the play area, with Shravu chasing close behind.
Ishita heaved a sigh of relief and quickly retrieved the food packets from the car and locked it , when she heard Ruhi’s voice from a distance.
“30 mins Ishimaa..I am coming in 30 mins.” Ishita looked heavenwards dejectedly and rushed towards their building as every second was precious now.
***
“Mihir main tujhe sach mein maar doonga. Ek toh khud mujhe bolta hai ki aapke ke paas free time hai aap bhaabhi ke liye kuch plan karo aur phir khud hi mujhe baar baar call kar ke kaam mein uljhaata hai.” His fingers were moving furiously on the keyboard , as he continuer to speak. “Chal hogaya. Maine mail bhej diya hai unko . Now they should just shut up and you should get off my back. ”
“Sorry na Bhai. Important tha , isiliye call kiya,” Mihir was profusely apologetic.
“Chal ab phone rakh. Nikal na hai mujhe thodi der main.” He hung up and was about to close the lid of the laptop, when he heard those familiar footsteps coming up the stairs. He shot a glance at the wall clock and then at his own watch to confirm it was running fine. “No way!!!” , he thought and was about to get off the bed, when she stormed into the room.
To be continued..