Chapter 27: chapter 27

It was Mowri's first night with Arnab ,, alone as husband and wife and she found it was quite nerve racking. She was a nervous wreck nomatter how much she tried to show otherwise. Just trying to open her suitcase had become a chore. She had been trying to use the key but it just failed to turn. Two times she had dropped it on the carpet her fingers shook so badly and nowthat she had finally managed to put it in the lock it refused to turn. She was ready to scream whenshe heard the door to their hotel room open and Arnab , walked in.He took one glance at her and knew there was a problem. He narrowed his gaze and she gavehim a nervous smile. He walked right in and stood next to her near the bed."The key won't turn," she saida little nervously. Arnab , shook his head and took the key from herhand and then tuned it. There was a distinct click and the handles snapped open.Mowri looked away sheepishly. Damn. She needed to change out of this and get into her normal clothes. She was done playing dress up.Not that she hadn't enjoyed it but it was more work than play and her jaws had started to ache keeping that smile in place. How did girls do that? Thankful for her wonderful height she didn't need to wear heels if she had been doing that God knows how she would have managed. Theheavy clothes were pulling her down and the lobes of her ears ached with the heavy danglers not to mention her aching head. To keep thelong, thick hair and the curls in place the salon lady had used a lot of hair spray and a fifty or so hair pins. She just needed to be normal then shewould feel her old self again.She quickly took out a salwar kameez and went to the washroom. Once inside she removed the ear rings and kept them in the box. She washed her face thoroughly removing the makeup. It took three washes before she got rid of all the layers that had been put there. She applied hermoisturizer to keep her skin hydrated. Then changed out of her sari into the salwar kameez. She couldn't remove her maroon bangles for another month or so and she frowned. What abeacon?'Look here l just got married! Some girls actually liked to wear it for over a year. She wondered how. Anyway since she was stuck with it she decided to remove the hairpins. It was a tough job. Not to mention painful. It took her about twenty minutes to get rid of all of them.She combed her hair and tied it at the base of her neck with a band. She had forgotten to takeout the necklace. She tried to undo the clasp but it wouldn't come off seemed it was stuck.Just as the key had been stuck in the lock. She wouldn't ask Arnab , for help a second time. As it is she needed to apologize and thank him notnecessarily in that order. He had stood up for her and Varun hadn't been very nice to him either. She sighed. Why did she have to be relatedto someone like her sister and her husband? Someone knocked bringing her out of her thoughts."Yes," she said."Are you okay," Arnab , asked concerned, "you have been in there for over an hour" he said."Coming" she said a little wobbly.Why couldn't her mother love her just as much as she loved Simrit? She hated this. And she hated crying even more. She had done enough of thatto last her a lifetime. She quickly took in a couple of deep breaths and opened the door. Arnab , was sitting on the chair near the window with his laptop open in front of him. He looked up from where he sat. She was back to looking her usual self. And he was glad. This was the Mowri he knew and recognized. And hopefully she wouldn't play havoc with his sensesanymore. How mistaken he was going to be hewas going to realize pretty sOon."Are you going to wear that and sleep?" he asked. Mowri looked at her clothes and looked at him."ls something wrong with that?" she counter asked."Not if you want to choke to death while you sleep," Arnab , said with a smile.He really should stop doing that. Smiling. It turned him into a roguishly handsome man hard to ignore. Why would she choke to death? Her kameez was a little loose and she had kept the top two buttons open so she didn't feel hot."I don't think I would choke to death in my kameez," she said.Arnab , shook his head in mirth as he shut his laptop."I was not referring to your shirt," he said, "I was talking about that thing in your neck. Pretty though it is when you sleep it just might choke you or hurt you," he said with amusement."Well I tried to take it off but the clasp won't come off" she said a little embarrassed at not understanding what he was referring to."No worries," he said and rose to walk up to he."Mind taking your hair out of the way" he said. And she did. Moving her hair over her shoulder."It is a little tight," he said as he tried to open it.Mowri stood there frozen as a statue. His warm fingers lightly brushed her skin and she feltgoose bumps on her arms. His musky scent Wrapped itself around her. She kept quiet for fear of saying or doing something she would regret later. This was the first time she was in such close proximity to a man. A lot of people might laugh at her nervousness but it was true. Though they had already talked about these things and he had promised he would want to get to know her better but it was not him that worried her but herself. Damn. She decided to talk aboutsomething to take her mind off things."Thank you' she said huskily."It isn't open yet," Arnab , murmured."No, not for this," she said, "for standing up for me earlier""Mowri," he said patiently, "we are husband and wife now, and even if we hadn't been l would have stood up for you. Because I personally can't stand any man who would bad mouth a girl simply because he wishes to do so or has the power to do so. There is no excuse end of story.Besides you are my wife and my responsibility though you didn't need much support you can hold for yourself you know" he said and she heard the smile in his voice."Then why did you interrupt" she asked."Because it was going to get ugly andI did not want people to comment on you. They wouldn't have wanted to know the reason or why you lost your temper sadly, it is always the woman who is commented upon more"' he explained, "and I did not want him to think he had done the damage he had wanted to,' he said.At that Mowri whirled around. Necklace can come off later. This was important."You knew what he was trying to do?" she asked bewildered. Arnab , looked at her incredulous eyes and put hisarms across his chest."Mowri I am trained to observe things that people don't normally notice, to listen what otherwise is usually ignored. Had I tried, even then Varun's intentions were apparent. Because it was not just you it was also beeji, maybe even yOur parents.So his animosity extends to everyone. The way he talked about other things too proved he wasn't a trustworthy person. Who would come and tell you in your very first conversation about how to handle your wife?" he said and shrugged."A fool," Mowri replied and looked away."I saw what he was for Mowri," Arnab , said, "andyou don't have to thank me | was doing my duty." he said with a smile.Mowri looked at the man who stood in front of her. He was so much more than she could guess.His thouahts. his answers suggested hewas reasonable, understanding and she wanted to hug him for it but the ever doubting mind of hers refused to give him the clear this early. Not to mention she hadn't like the word 'duty. She sighed."Sorry' she said."You don't have to apologize for how you behaved," Arnab , said, "I understand you feltangry and offended," he said."I am not apologizing for my behavior" she said matter of factly, "he deserved it. I am sorry you had to meet a man like him, someone who isrelated to my family and that too today when youhave just officially become a member yourself,"she said morosely.Arnab , laughed. She was something else. And herealized he liked her. She was so different from any girl he had met or knew."You don't have to apologize either" he said, "we all have certain notorious characters in our families I have met yours you still have to meet mine. Basically we are even. Don't worry about these things. It takes a lot more than what happened this evening to form opinions," he said.Mowri looked at him and searched his face for any signs of falsehood. She found none. He had said every word sincerely. He couldn't be this good could he? It was like he was from a different planet. She hadn't met a single man who thought like him. She wondered what her life would have been had she got married to theman she had been engaged to before. She was sure she would have been miserable. And back then she had been naive. Not nowing how cruel world could really get. How deceiving people were? That they were not who they seemed to be. What you were and what you said were two different things. In her ignorance she had trusted her family in choosing the right person for her and she had gone ahead with it only to find her trust shattered. What had she seen in that man anyway? He was so pale in comparison to the one standing in front of her that he practically faded away. She thanked her stars she wasn't married to him. Arnab , shifted a bit uncomfortably under her steady gaze. He cleared his throat and she blinked."If all of that is out of the way let's get the clasp and remove it from around your neck" he said unsteadily.Mowri turned again and felt his fingers trying to undo the clasp there. Strange how his fingers felt less steady and less confident than they had been a few minutes ago. She would have knownwhy had she been looking at his face?Arnab , needed to get away from her and fast before he did something he would regret.**************