24

"Rahul!" Jharna screamed at him after many failed attempts at waking him up.

"Arey yaar. I don't get to sleep beside my wife, at least let me sleep for some time in her room," he whined and pulled her closer and dug his head deeper into her neck.

"Aren't you getting too comfortable?" She teased him while caressing his hair.

"Agar patni ke saath nahi tho kiske saath comfortable rahu?" He questioned her back earning a smack on his head.

After cuddling for a while, Meera entered the room and smirked because of the scene in front of her.

"Kya hein ye?" Meera teased them making them immediately open their eyes and stand on their feet.

"Vo..bhabhi...vo kya hein ki- ye sab Rahul ki galti hein," Jharna covered her face because she couldn't face the embarrassment.

"Bhabhi hooo, kitni jhooti hein ye. Sach batao Jharna that you can't stay away from me." Rahul gave an excuse to not expose himself in front of his sister-in-law.

"Liar. Rahul har vakth chipakna chahtha hein mere se. Mujhe koyi shaunk nahi hein." Jharna was fuming because of his lie.

"Rahul, you lied. I know what type of person my Jharna is." Meera went and hugged Jharna to protect her from him.

"Bhabhi, not fair." Rahul sulked at his bhabhi's behaviour and left the room while glaring at Jharna.

Meera and Jharna laughed at his antics and went to the kitchen.

~~~~~

"Rahul," Jharna poked his bicep while he was immersed in his laptop because of some work.

"Suno," Rahul nodded his head after her hundredth try.

"Take me to the market, we need some groceries."

"Abhee?" Rahul asked while typing something on the laptop.

"Haa, abhee isi waqt," Jharna said sternly as she knew he would not take her if she didn't act serious.

"Okay, let's go." He got up from the chair and started walking to his car.

"Good boy," she whispered to herself and smiled at her convincing skills.

She ran to the car and sat in the passenger seat.

"Where do we exactly have to go?" Rahul asked her while starting the car.

"It's your village, you should tell me," she frowned.

"Right," he sighed and took her to a market nearby.

"Are Leher bhabhi and Abhi bhai talking?" Rahul asked her unaware of their condition.

"Hmm, they are somewhat talking. But bhabhi was really hurt so bhai has a lot of convincing to do."

Rahul nodded as an understanding and stopped the car in front of a huge farmer's market.

Jharna looked outside the window and saw hundreds of stalls and a lot of people buying from them.

"Getting crushed in this crowd would be real fun," Rahul whispered out those words while looking at the huge crowd.

Jharna smacked his hand and took him out with her while Rahul was least interested in sandwiching between so many people.

"First, we need cabbage," she murmured and looked for a stall that had fresh cabbage.

"There it is!" She exclaimed as she found the stall and dragged her husband with her.

"Bhaiya, do patta gobi," she said to the stall owner while pointing at the most fresh cabbages.

"Theek hein, aur kuch?" He asked her while taking out the cabbages.

"Aur, ek gobi," she continued her list while Rahul stared at her.

After her list was over, the shopkeeper kept everything in a huge cover and handed it over to her.

"Kitna hua?" She asked while talking out Rahul's wallet from his pocket.

"850" he told her while adjusting the other vegetables.

"Kya?" A shocked Jharna looked over at Rahul expecting him to reach the same way but he was clueless.

"Itna kaise ho saktha hein bhala? Aam admi ko lootna chahthe ho aap?" She argued with him.

"Madam ye market ka price hein," he tried to reason his prices while Jharna was still not convinced.

"Mujhe market price bohot acche se pata hein bhai saab," and then her bargaining started.

Rahul was mesmerised at this side of her. He kept looking at her without blinking his eyes but was taking out of his trance when Jharna spoke.

"Dekha kaise fatak se bill kum kar diye," she showed off her bargaining skills after sucking out all the energy of the shopkeeper.

Rahul laughed at her not-so-subtle flex and took the grocies from her hold.

"That's very impressive," a downwards smile formed on his face while Jharna shied away.

They were walking towards their car when a voice made them stop their movement.

"Rahul!" they both turned around to see where the voice was coming from and there, they saw a 5'7 feet tall girl with a lean body, brown hair and dusky skin running towards them.

She started walking towards them while Jharna looked at Rahul for a response.

"Who the fuck is she?" Rahul was confused as to why that lady was taking his name.

The girl's steps finally halted right in front of Rahul.

"Oh my god! How are you are? It has been years-"

"Who are you?" he narrowed his eyes at her and right then the huge smile on her face dropped.

"You don't remember me?" She frowned and looked down at her feet.

Rahul shook his head waiting for her to introduce herself.

"I can't believe I have to remind you but I'm Nayantara Shekhawat. Remember me now?"

A bulb suddenly lit in his brain as she remembered who she was.

"Naina?" He questioned in amusement while Jharna quickly turned her head towards Rahul because of the unexpected nickname.

"Thank god you remember me or that would have been embarrassing," she said trying to light up the mood.

"It has been so long and you grew up so I kind of forgot your face," Rahul said out awkwardly because of his behaviour.

Naina laughed at him while Jharna was standing like a statue because her husband was busy with some other girl.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce you to my wife," He pointed at Jharna while she narrowed her eyes at him.

Rahul laughed slightly but he knew that he was going to get an earful in the car.

"Naina, this is Jharna Mukherjee and Jharna, Nayantara Shekhawat." He intoduced them to each other.

"Nice to meet you, Jharna. Rahul is so lucky to have such a beautiful wife," she said and forwarded her hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you too, Nayantara," Jharna shook her hand softly.

"Call me Naina, please. Nayantara makes me feel old in fact your husband gave me that nicknmae," she laughed out loud making Jharna force out a smile and nod her head.

"Rahul and I used to be best friends. I lived a little far from their house and he used to visit the village only during summers. As adulthood welcomed us, we slowly drifted apart," Naina chuckled.

"I remember those days vividly. Summer holidays were the best," Rahul reminisced the past and smiled.

"Anyways, it is nice seeing you back, Rahul and welcome to our village, Jharna. I'm sorry but I'll have to leave now," she bid a goodbye.

"Come visit us some time, we are here for longer," Rahul said and she nodded her head

She hugged Rahul shocking him and his wife.

She waved her hand one last time and Jharna responded with a small smile.

After she left Rahul slowly turned his head towards his wife only to see her already walking towards their car.

"Jharna," he ran towards her while smiling like a teenager knowing his wife was jealous.

"Suno na," he said after he caught up to her and took the grocery cover from her hand.

"Go talk to your 'Nancy'," she huffed and mocked.

He let out a chuckle, liking her behaviour.

"It's Naina," he corrected her, getting a fierce look from Jharna.

"Of course. You wouldn't want anyone to butcher because you gave her that name," she rolled her eyes and huffed while folding her hands.

"Arey baba, she is an old friend," he tried convincing her while cheekily smiling.

"Mujhe kya, mein to sirf kisiki patni hoon jise nickname bhi nahi hein," she subtly hinted why she was angry.

"Oh my Jharna," Rahul softened at her complain and held her face in his hands.

He pushed her towards their car door, caging her.

"Jao aap," she said while pushing him away.

"Nahi, I'm sorry. Maaf kardo mujhe?" he pouted hoping to get a positive response.

She sighed and look down surrendering.

He put a finger under her chin and made her look up. She looked straight into his eyes and saw an emotion she was always looking for.

"Tú eres mi fuente de amor." He smoothly let out those words while looking into his wife's dark brown eyes.

"What does that mean?" she whispered to him while looking between his eyes and the small scar on his forehead.

'You are my fountain of love'  he wanted to tell her but didn't.

"You'll know when the time is right," he whispered and captured her lips in his.