Chapter 31: 29

Y'all are going to love this chapter ;)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment."

✧ P R E E T ✧

I can't do this.

I don't know how to do this.

This is so exhausting, man.

"Deven!" I shouted in a voice which didn't fail to convey how I was about to cry. And I have only one person, I go to now when I'm in a fix.

Deven.

Paani nahi aaraha? Deven.

[The tap broke?]

Darwaze ki kadi tut gayi? Deven.

[The door is creaking?]

Wifi chala gaya? Deven.

[The wifi's not working?]

I've started to ask him the ever-so-basic questions. I consider myself dumb enough to make mistakes in those as well. In simple words, I have stopped using my brain when I'm with him and I think it's doing backflips and cartwheels right in front of me now.

Because I can't do shit on my own.

Kaha gayi mere andar ki wo independent woman?

[Where is the independent woman inside me gone?]

Majdoor bana ke rakha hai Deven ko wo alag.

[I've made him a labourer, that's a whole different thing.]

Okay, now I feel kind of guilty. What must he be thinking? That I make him do all my stuff? Although that might not be the complete truth, it's not a lie either.

"Yes? Are you done?" I heard a knock from the other side of the door of the bedroom.

I glanced around at the 6-meter-long dark blue sequinned fabric jumbled between, around and in front of me, lying carelessly as if I didn't give six freaking attempts to wrap it all around my body in the name of a saree.

We have to attend Jiyan's uncle's reception today. Aunty had given us the card months back and then she came to invite us with Jiyan yesterday.

"No, I'm not even close!" I whined, making a face that he wouldn't be able to see. He waited for a few seconds, probably to get a response, which included why I had called him here. "How long will it take?"

"I don't know."

"Andar aa jau?" He asked me. I took a glance at myself in the adjacent long mirror. I was in the blouse and petticoat, would it be embarrassing if I called him inside? The blouse was sleeveless and backless because, in Canada's winters, one can go take a bath in the sauna; Preet Randhawa will still choose to be a fashion icon.

Coming back to the point, it would kind of be embarrassing and awkward standing in front of him when half of my body was out there to display.

But I've also worn crop tops of somewhat this length. Why am I overthinking then? Let's just consider this as a tank top and skirt. If I'm not awkward in my head, then everything will be simple.

I feel shy, especially when it's him.

We have no option. There's nothing to be coy about. You got this.

"Yes," I replied softly.

He twisted the doorknob with a deliberate slowness. And took a step inside. The dark blue tuxedo fitted him like a dream, with his broad shoulders standing out, tapering perfectly at his waist. His fair skin contrasted with the richness and colour of his suit.

My breath hitched as my gaze trailed upwards. His freshly trimmed beard, subtly shaped to match his sharp jaw, added a further edge to it. It was better than anything I could have imagined when he asked me if he should trim. Then came his jet-black hairstyle so effortlessly yet intentionally.

He looked like he had walked straight out of a dream. But the way his gaze pierced into mine, reminded me it wasn't one. His eyes slowly travelled down, taking a complete look at the mess I was, and before residing back with my eyes, he gulped.

They also stayed a little longer at the exposed parts because of course, tharak works both ways.

Mission abort. Mission abort. Mission abort.

Shut up.

I won't be able to stand straight without a hue of redness on my cheeks if this art of perfection is breathing the same air as me. And let's not forget, I'm also half or quarterly naked.

"Pach tera,"  My expression took a three-sixty-degree turn after the mention of this. I rolled my eyes, ignoring the unnecessary remark.

Taking a mere attempt at whistling with an impressive look, I successfully managed to make his lips break into a smile. "Chhed rahi ho mujhe?"

[Are you teasing me?]

I nodded proudly. "Irada toh wahi tha."

[That was the motive.]

"Bohat bure irade hai." He folded his hands below his chest and tilted his head saying that in a disappointing tone, his eyes full of mischief

[You've very bad motives.]

"Aajate hai aapko dekhkar. Kya karu batao." I folded my arms below my chest as well, copying his flirtatious body language.

[Only when it comes to you. What can I do, tell me?]

"Aap kaam batao varna mere irade bhi fir thode aage piche ho jayege." I held back my chuckle but a red layer of blush was already on my cheeks.

[Now tell me why you called me before my motives started to shake.]

But, yes, I forgot about that.

The real motive.

"Also, don't tell me you're not wearing the saree, anymore. I would be pissed, haan. You made me wear this suit because it matches with your saree. And I'm not giving up on the chance to see you in a saree." I kept a finger on my lips indicating him to shut up, and he did, all without opening my mouth.

Preet effect.

Works solely on Deven though.

"I am. I just don't know how to wear it. I wish I had learnt it from mummy when she was teaching me. Now, this YouTube video keeps on confusing me. I don't know what to do." I narrated my sob story filled with struggles of getting confused between my left and rights and the same of the saree. "Can you help me?"

"Me?" He asked pointing towards him. I nodded, innocently.

"Who else?"

"Main thodi saree pehenta hu ki mujhe aata hoga." He raised his hand in a questioning manner while passing that rhetorical statement.

[I don't wear sarees to know how to drape those.]

"You have to watch the video and copy-paste the same on me. It's easier to do it on someone else rather than doing it on ourselves. I am a total failure, that's why." I explained, tapping my foot on the ground impatiently waiting for him to answer.

"I don't think I can do this-" I interrupted.

"Okay, then. I'm afraid I will not be able to wear a saree today-" he cut me off immediately.

"No. Let's try." I smiled at him. I feel he has more wins when compared to me in this.

"You're the best!" I passed him a flying kiss, which he pretended to catch and later kept on his left, his heart. He strode towards me within seconds of taking long steps and stood right in front of me.

"But if I make a mistake then you're not getting mad at me." He pointed towards me with his index finger.  Leaning towards him, I bit his finger lightly with my teeth. "You won't make one."

Uno reverse.

He does that every time I point my finger at him.

"Sab galat chize sikh rahi ho mujhse." He pulled a face and I chuckled.

[You are learning all the wrong things from me.]

"Okay, now, we'll be late for the reception. Do this, fatafat se." I ordered, passing him the phone. He spared me a head-to-toe look before burying his head in the phone.

I decided to not point that out anymore.

I've given up.

On myself.

I sat on the bed, watching his expressions turn from normal to furrowed brows to half-open mouth, then back to normal. And again furrowed brows.

"You got this, Deven." He muttered to himself which was loud enough for me to hear. He was encouraging himself as if he was going for an interview and this shall be put up in his CV.

He looked back at the video with utter dedication, while the hustle of cold air hit my back. "I may or may not have learnt all these girly things, all thanks you ma'am. I know how to straighten hair, tie it in a hairstyle as well, remove make-up, and now I'm learning how to drape a saree."

Wow.

I have indeed taught him a lot of things.

"Resume mein dalunga ye sab." I laughed at this. He glanced back into the phone while keeping his one hand on the waist.

[I'll put all this in my resume.]

Oh, are we soulmates? I thought the same thing.

"Bio data mein dalo. Sundar, sushil aur tikau ladka hai humara. Ghar ke saare kaam bhi kar leta hai, ladkiyon wale sare kaam bhi."

[Put it in your biodata. Our boy is versatile, he can do the household chores as well as the girlish things.]

"Abh kya, ladki toh patt gayi. Pehle dalna chahiye tha."  I clapped my hands together, giving him a tiny round of applause for his words.

[Now what, I've impressed the girl already. I should have put it before.]

"But sahi hai na apka. Pure bahu material ho." His eyes shot up and glared at me as I covered my laugh with my hand.

[But it's good for you. You're pure daughter-in-law material.]

"This is what was left to be heard." He shook his head dejectedly and I burst out laughing.

"It was the truth, though." I stood straight like a mannequin when he shot me one look, demanding to stand. Walking closer to me, he reversed the video and picked the end of the saree. He pulled me closer by my arm, so authoritatively yet gently as if I were nothing.

Intentionally or unintentionally, his fingers brushed on my bare stomach till it reached the underskirt and he removed the fabric I had tucked before.

My breath dropped as goosebumps arose on my skin. I blinked trying to figure out if this was his way of teasing. If it was, then it's damn working. I wonder how he had managed to make a sincerely straight face during this.

But why was he undressing instead of draping? Did he have a change of heart?

I think I have had a change of thought, I'm starting to think about some bullshit.

"What are you doing? I had already done that-" he placed a finger on my lips theI obediently closed my mouth.

"Sh."

Okay, da—

Ew. That was ew. Please stop, Preet and get some help.

My trance of thoughts broke when I felt his hand pushing a little part of the saree inside my underskirt at the right end. Oh, I had put the wrong side inside. He wrapped the saree from right to left around me and tucked all the sides lightly.

Going back to the video, he understood something the person was doing and came closer. So close, that I had started to get intimidated by his strong fragrance of cologne. Blood rushed to my cheeks, no matter what how hard I try to control.

I'm so glad he isn't looking-

And with that he raised his head, stealing a mere glance he put his head down with a small smirk. Making something, I assume was called pleats, he again decided to capture how red I was at the moment and interlocked his eyes with mine.

Without breaking the intense eye contact, he gathered the pleats and in a swift motion pushed them inside the underskirt, tucking them securely.  Shifting them to the left of my navel, his fingers feathered long enough to send a shiver down my spine.

Abort before I lose my breath-

The space between us dissolved further, my breath hitched as my front touched his. The intimacy of the moment lingered around the air, in a way words never could.

Picking up the remaining fabric, he draped it over my left shoulder, neatly keep them together.

"Do you have safety pins?" He asked. I could only nod and point to the bed where I had kept them. He went there to get those.

It was then when I could see myself in the mirror, he did a pretty decent job and a quick one, I must say. It does look like a saree. What I had tried looked like draping a curtain around yourself.

I also looked at my face which was all flustered and giggly.

Explains why he was smirking all along. He knew the affect he had on me, I had wore it on my face ever so clearly, one has to be blind to not notice.

He retorted, but stood behind me this time. My curious gaze was fixed at him, looking through the mirror. He shifted my open hair to my right shoulder, and took a step even closer so that I could feel his shirt's button poking my back.

His warm breath fanned on my ear, goosebumps arousing all over my body. I watched him take a deep breath, closing his eyes, he released it so evidently, I could see the partial rise and fall of his chest.

I noticed his Adam's apple moving as he gulped. Concentrating back on the work he was supposed to do, he undid the pin and caught me looking at him in the mirror. "Do you want an open pallu or should I pin it?"

"Open." I cut short my reply as I had no exaggeration to it, and words stuck right on my throat making it feel heavy.

Was I feeling and noticing his touch a little extra today or was he doing it intentionally?

The dominating smug look spread all over his face like a clear victory told me that it was the latter option.

And with the help of the safety pin, he pinned some part of my saree with the blouse's wide strap, inside out. And once again, his long fingers brushed against my shoulders—this can't be me over analysing, man.

The next expression of his, which I had caught in the reflection, held an ounce of seduction honey-laced with the satisfactory grin of doing what I failed to in fifteen minutes. "And here we go, shortfoot." He announced, proudly holding both my arms and pushing me closer to get a nice look at myself in the mirror.

I felt his presence right behind my back again, and my heartbeat started racing again. "Nice work, Giant foot."

I tried to raise my toes to the maximum I could. Noticing my struggle, he bent down a little while showing his teeth, mocking me.

I slapped his jaw playfully,   turned my head sideways to look at him and replied while laying a soft kiss between his jaw and cheek (because that is all I could get access to), "Thanks."

"Anything for my favourite lady." He kissed my cheek in return, so lovingly that he wasn't ready to move away. I broke into chuckles. Giving me a quick, short, tight hug from the back, he parted.

Moving back to my front, I heard him say, "We have to press the pleats at the end or something, they said."

"Oh yes, I know that. Mummy used to ask me to do that a lot of times. You have to arrange them together and press-"

He interrupted with an egoistic voice, raising his collar with his hand, "You don't teach the coach."

I shook my head at the witty response and watched him bend on his knee. To make the work easier for him, I forwarded my leg in front, "Arey, let me arrange the pleats first."

"Sorry, sir."

He reframed the pleats neatly, and then, placing my right leg in front, he pressed the pleats firmly on my leg from thigh to the end of this. Repeating this process once again, he stood up and kept staring at me, or his artwork, impressively.

"Oh, there's this waistband as well kept on the table over there. Can you pass it?" I requested him when the thought of it clicked. It was a simple, single-lined silver waistband, with occasional small white beads.

"Yes." He obediently brought the chain in his hand before scanning it like a curious cat, he was.

"I'll help you wear it." He exclaimed and unhooked the waist chain. I didn't rebel much and let him do however he pleased. I always failed to gook the chain by myself so I had to take his help anyway.

I walked towards the bed before he could come to me, "Sit here, it'd be easier." Following my instruction, he sat on the bed while I turned around at his convenience. After encircling the chain around my waist, he was about to tie it over my saree.

"Wait." I interrupted. He eyed me with a questioning gaze. "I have an open pallu, so the chain would go beneath the saree."

Nodding his head, his hand passed all over my stomach as he got the chain out to his side. Failing to hook it tightly and securely from his hand, my breathing faltered when he used his teeth to hook it.

"Done."

I'll be done, at this point.

I sauntered back to the mirror. The dark blue saree did wonders, and the sequins shining softly under the dim lights were a cherry on top. The colour suited my fair skin, and the fabric hugged me at all the right places, making me look a little...sexy?

I did look very pretty in it.

I glanced at Deven to ask him how I looked, basically fishing for compliments when I noticed him already staring at me or right into my soul.

It wasn't even thirty seconds before I muttered sarcastically with a cunning smile, "Pach tera."

"That is very little; I could adore you for eternity till I lose my sanity." He stated dramatically while looking right into my eyes with a gaze as strong as a wildfire. I raised my eyebrows pretending to be impressed by that.

"Cheesy much, Mister Mehrotra." This made me remember how I had forgotten his surname when we first met in Canada. Very random, I know. I can't help it though.

"No, really. I can't find the right set of words to explain how heavenly and beautiful you look right now. They are all too busy to admire your beauty which certainly flaunts too well in this saree." He shrugged. Putting his hand in his pocket, he took some slow steps towards me with some weird, unexplainable, bright, happy, yet evil look on his face.

"Thank you," I replied, shyly.

"If I were a poet, I would write thousands of poems at this moment comparing you with the moon. And when I'm not a poet...I would.. become one and consider you my moon." He added, taking his own pauses to make the lineup. After completing it, he grinned with satisfaction.

"Woah," I said and added later. "What an eleventh-grader line, Deven." My response caught him off guard. His expression made me laugh like a mad woman.

"It wasn't. It was a nice one." He countered and I just nodded for his sake.

He pulled me by my waist chain after entwining a finger. I gasped at the action, and my startled self had to put my hand on his chest for some support, moral as well as physical. His hand hung loosely around my waist at the back, my body surprisingly yearning for his touch after feeling its mere presence.

Mission abort-

Shut up, dude. Enjoy, and let me.

"But the question is, what do I get now?" He raised a question, impishly. A small sly smile danced on his lips matching the frisky melody of his ocean-like eyes.

"What do you want?" I mirrored his smile, seductive yet innocent. Dwelling into my intrusive thoughts, I encircled my hands around his neck. The move was almost like giving permission and access for him to finally keep his hand on my bare waist.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes feeling his burning touch raking on my exposed back.

He swiftly pulled me closer after tightening his grip on my midriff, our bodies touched, and our chests synced on the rhythm of our heartbeats.

I lowered my gaze feeling intimidated and naturally timid. I felt a lot more exposed than what I actually was, under his strong sensations.

Wrong move, but it feels completely, amazingly right.

"I think we both know that." He replied after what felt like an eternity. I looked at him through my lashes. I did know it. "And we both want that."

My brows furrowed when I watched his eyes looking at something behind me, and not on me. I had to look over my shoulder to realise that he was intelligent enough to perform this romance at a certain spot where he could also get a nice view of my back through the reflection of the full-length mirror.

Shifting his eyes back at mine, upon feeling my gaze, his smile morphed into an embarrassing one. However, he was quick enough to cover it again.

His hand on my back caressed it in a slow and soft motion. And his eyes flickered to my lips, staying there for a split second, they moved back to where they were supposed to be.

I passed him a slight nod.

Within a blink of an eye, his grip on my body tightened. He leaned in and I could feel his warm breath against my skin. My heart raced when his lips latched onto mine, soft at first and then he moved it as per his demand and urgency, taking over the complete control. His free hand found its way to my cheek, holding it a little harshly.

I moved my fingers from his neck to the back of his head, tangling them on his hair. The way his lips were moving against mine—with a passionate, strong, demanding force as if he had been waiting for this moment for years. It got even more fervent, showing the underlying yet perfect blend of desire, longing and raw emotion.

I could do absolutely nothing even if I tried to, because he was overpowering me. At this point, my knees had gone weak, as the intensity of the kiss had stolen all my energy.

When I lacked breath, and my chest raced heavily, I tried to pull away. Deven's hand on my back moved briskly to my nape; holding it, he brought my head closer to him, deepening the kiss and giving him more access.

Oh my god.

I had no other option but to pull his hair in a way that wouldn't hurt him and still pass the signal when he didn't get the clue of how I was about to lose my breath—and my life.

Finally understanding the hint, he stopped at the right moment, and I panted breathlessly. I noticed him being in a very similar condition, hair messy and trying to get some fresh air. However, the smile didn't leave his face.

It was barely a minute and my breath was about to get to normal, until I was pulled into a kiss once again. This one wasn't as harsh and fast as the previous one. It was the type where I could at least participate. The last one had managed to ignite a fire none of us could extinguish.

Making best use of the opportunity, I started moving my lips against his. His hand pressed my back further into his body, keeping no space for air to pass from between.

This kiss was more soft, raw, and more than just physical; it was a confession, a promise and a realise of all the emotions we had been holding back.

I could feel him not being able to curb his smile between the kiss, resulting into us breaking it. My lips curled upwards in a smile as well as I looked at him looking all messy yet attractive, his eyes knowing only one address, and wanting to spend it's forever there.

What he looked like at the moment, couldn't have been better. He looked all mine. And I could owe it up and announce it to the whole world, because the look he was giving me, my heart knew he felt the very same.

"I had to kiss you twice to believe that this isn't one of my dreams." He said. My smile grew wider, reaching my eyes.

"It's not." I said in a low voice. He pecked my lips again, making me blink.

"You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment." He held my cheeks lovingly in his palms and kissed my forehead softly.

"I know, I feel the-" He cut me off like one sentence from my mouth was a disrespect to what he had said.

And when the ocean met the darkness of a dim light, it shined brighter. "You have no idea, Reet. No idea."

✧

I'm not gushing, feeling giddy and kicking in the air.

You have to like the chapter, because I loved it. Do tell me about your views though.

A late update but I hope I made it more than worth it, and it was very long as well.

Ciao <3