âªâ« Jise chaha tune sach mein kitna chaha,
Kabhi apna bhi tu le le imtehaan,
Itni si bhi khudgarzi tujh mein na ho,
Tabhi ishq nibha payega tu beinteha
Gal sun le aa, gal sun le aa,
Ve kamleya mere nadaaan dil...âªâ«
__________________________
It has been a week since their conversation and everything has been going smoothly, to say the least.
Adira was sleeping when she got disturbed by the sheer pain in her lower abdomen. She looked around the room to see Viaan sleeping uncomfortably on the couch. She got up and went to the bathroom while holding her stomach.
She almost cried in pain by knowing that she had gotten her periods. She had always had painful periods with stomach and leg cramps, back pain, nausea, headache, and much more.
She came back and lay on the bed after changing her clothes. Suddenly a cramp hit her lower abdomen making her tightly clutch her stomach and turn on her side while pulling her knees to her chest to relieve some pain. The pain felt so unbearable to her.
She was getting frustrated for not finding a comfortable position to lie in and she weirdly found herself getting angry looking at Viaan who was sleeping soundly. As she turned to the other side, a cry escaped her, making her eyes squeeze shut.
"Adira?" she heard Viaan's voice as she whimpered in pain, "Are you hurt somewhere?"
She saw him kneeling down on the floor in front of her, on the side of the bed; panicked. She took a deep breath, "I'm fine. You should sleep."
"You are clearly not fine. What happened? You can tell me."
She was tired and felt frustrated and her mood swings didn't help either. "Listen, it's just periods. I'm fine."
"Oh! Umm...." He stuttered and speed walked out of the room.
Adira sighed and turned on her back, hands still clutching on her stomach. "Great! Now, I've scared him away."
After some time, she felt a hand touching hers. She opened her eyes only to see Viaan with a concerned look and a hot water bag in hand.
"I would never leave you when you're in pain. You're not getting rid of me that easy. In fact, you're never getting rid of me."
He placed the bag on her lower abdomen and she sighed in relief.
"Is it paining somewhere else too? Do you need something else?" He asked and added, "I can get you whatever you like."
"I don't need anything else butâ" she hesitated as she was not used to asking people for help.
"But?"
"I have a headache." She left it at that and let Viaan figure out the rest.
"Oh!" the realization dawned on him. He stood up, sat beside her head, and asked her to put her head on his lap. After she complied to him, he started massaging her head and soon she slipped into a deep slumber.
⪡âªâª¢
The next time Adira woke up, she was greeted by the sight of a sleeping Viaan. She noticed her head was still in his lap and one of his hands was in her hair while the other was on her shoulder.
She didn't realize that she was staring at him. He was handsomeâeven while sleepingâand she had seen him being playful around the house but at that moment staring at him she could also see innocence on his face. It captivated and intrigued her in equal parts.
She extended her hand and brushed her fingers lightly on his jaw.
"Staring is rude Mrs. Singhania." came Viaan's voice as he grinned and looked down at her.
She jerked her hand off and gaspedâat the sudden revelation or getting caught she didn't know. "You were awake! Why were acting this whole time?"
"How can I lose the chance to relish in the fact that my dear wifey was fascinated by my beauty?" his tone was playful as he wiggled his eyebrows at her but she saw something serious in his eyes.
"IâI wasn't fascinated by anything." She stuttered embarrassingly and successfully made an attempt to get out of the bed only to hear him laugh behind her but she didn't turn to look at him as a smile of her own was blooming on her face.
In the safety of the bathroom, she let out a sigh. Her husband was painfully beautiful and annoyingly playful and she didn't know what to do with that newfound information.
⪡âªâª¢
She moved to their room to get her phone. She entered the room only to see Viaan rolling his shoulders and neck and his face was contorted in pain.
"What happened?" she asked before thinking anything.
Viaan looked at her, his face breaking into a practiced smile that looked real but she could tell it wasn't, she could see the pain in his posture. It made her thinkâhow many times did he fake a smile in front of people so they wouldn't know that he was in pain? How many times did he force it for it to be an instinct? When did he teach himself the art of forcing a smile without getting caught? Why did he have to do it?
"Everything is good." He lied.
She knew he wouldn't accept that he was in pain if she asked again so she took another approach. "You said we are friends and people don't hide things from their friends. Friends don't lie." She saw the shock on his face but it faded the next second so she decided to continue a little. "Do you not trust me enough to share your problems?"
"Are you seriously pulling the trust card on me?" he gave her a deadpan look.
"Maybe."
He sighed in defeat. "I slept in a sitting position, so, my upper body is hurting a little but it's no big deal."
Judging from the look he had just a few moments ago, it was a big deal but she didn't say that. "Can I do something to ease your pain?"
She was asking genuinely but also framed her words that way on purpose because it was also a trick question. He could ask for anythingâas simple as a painkiller or as extreme as massage. She wanted to test if would he cross his line if he got the chance. Out of all the things she had expected, he still managed to surprise her with the next words that came from him.
"Can you hug me?" he sounded so innocent that she almost agreed instantly.
"I thought you'd ask for a painkiller or something."
"That too but I'm in desperate need of a hug." He smiledâthis time genuinelyâand added when he saw her hesitating, "But it's totally fine if you don't want to. I mean, you don't have to feel pressured. Not that I would do that ever but I'm just saying thatâ"
She shut him up by hugging him. He wrapped his arms around her waist; hugging her tight. She didn't remember the last time she hugged anyone but this felt good; comforting even.
They pulled apart but still had arms around each other.
She daringly slid her hands up until she had his cheeks cupped in her hands and pulled his cheeks. "You look cute when you nervously blabber things." She decided to tease him some more when the tip of his ears turned red, "Are you blushing Mr. Singhania?" She laughed when his neck also started turning red and he again hugged her to hide the fact.
They remained like thatâin each other's armsâuntil she pulled back. She went toward the nightstand, pulled out a painkiller, and gave it to him with a glass of water.
"You're wearing formals. Are you going to the office?" he asked after taking the painkiller.
"Yes, I have an important meeting today." She replied.
"You should rest, it's the first day of your period." His voice had a concern.
"It's an important meeting, I couldn't postpone it. I already took painkillers and I would take a half day and come back to rest for some time. Don't worry, I'm fine."
He nodded.
She took her phone from the bed and moved to the door but stopped near him. "And Mr. Singhania, staring might be rude but I've all the right to stare at my husband."
It took him a second to realize she was talking about this morning but when he did, he had a teasing smile on but before he could say anything they heard some commotion coming from downstairs which was unusual.