After Party

Avishek's POV

"That's it, you're going to bed. No more." I laughed as I watched Vikram almost drop his drunk wife.

"Don't just sit and laugh, you asshole. Show me my room." He grumbled.

"She's going to have hell of a hangover tomorrow." I said as I made my way towards Rahul's room.

"She and Ru both. Damn, she is going to kick me all night." He said as he dodged her attempt of kicking him.

I opened the door and watched Neelam's tactic, amusedly.

"Goodnight, man" I said and closed the door. He was too busy to hear me anyway.

I went back to living room, to see Ruchika sliding towards the floor.

"Okay, you're going to bed too." I said.

"Noo, I want to drink more." She must've have hiccupped 3 times uttering 6 words.

I helped her to her room, ignoring her grumbling. I tucked her in her and hoped like hell she wouldn't vomit in the bed.

I passed kitchen to look for Seema and found it empty. She said she was going to bring a glass for herself. Since she didn't come a long time, I thought she needed peace and quiet and didn't disturb her.

I was very near to panicking when I didn't find her anywhere in the house. I sprinted towards the terrace, hoping she'd be there.

I open the door and there she was.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Seema" I call her but didn't answer. Didn't even turn to look at me.

"Seema?" I call again, frowning when she still didn't say anything.

I turn her towards me and saw her wide eyes and open mouth, like she was really surprised.

Wait a minute. Why does she smell like alcohol?

"Did you drink?" I narrow my eyes at her.

"No?" she said but ended in question.

"When did you even drink? You said you were going to drink juice." I said, keeping a hold on her.

"There was this really tasty cola in the kitchen." She answered, smacking her lips, like she could taste it again.

Tasty cola?

"Come on, let's go to bed." I said, pulling her with me.

I was hoping for some retaliation but was surprised when she came quietly. I told her to get on the bed and went to kitchen to bring a jug of water, thinking, she might need it.

When I reached our room, I saw her inside the comforter. Even drunk, she was so calm.

I changed, closed the lights and got on the bed. As soon as I did, I had an armful of Seema. I lost my breath for few seconds when she elbowed me in the stomach.

"Seema" I call out tentatively.

"Hmm" she said and oh dear God, I felt her lips on my neck.

I was breathless again but for a whole new reason.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"I'm cold." She said, almost whining.

"You're cold?" I ask, confused.

She made a noise in approval and snuggled even deeper into me if that was possible.

I laid as still as possible. She was plastered to me. Not an inch of space between us. Honestly, it was uncomfortable, but I didn't dare move. Her body was emitting warmth and transmitting onto mine. I didn't know what was happening, but I liked it.

I hesitantly wrapped an arm around her and hoped that sleep come soon. But as I felt her lips brushing against my neck once again, I knew, it was going to be a sleepless night.

Seema's POV

Make it stop. Oh, dear God, I was dying.

Someone was playing really loud drums near my ears. I opened my eyes, which was a really difficult task and wondered why I felt like I was dying. It took me few minutes to register that sunlight had filled the room and I jerked awake, which was a big mistake because the world spun, and the drumming got louder. I shot out of bed when I felt like I was going to throw up and dashed towards the bathroom. After puking my guts out for what felt like hours, I brushed my teeth, and washed up. Not feeling satisfied, I took a long shower.

I came out of room and stopped in my tracks to see Avishek folding the bedsheet. I must have made some noise because he looked at me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Like hell, I wanted to answer.

Instead I said, "my head hurts."

"Yeah, that's what you get for drinking too much. Where did you even get that drink" he asked, and I sat on the bed clutching my head.

"I have no idea. I remember I went to kitchen to drink something" I struggled to remember, "and there was coke. It was delicious." That much I remember. "I don't remember anything after that."

"I think you drank alcohol thinking it was coke." He said, looking at me sympathetically. I watched as he walked around the bed and picked up a glass which I had not noticed before.

"Here" he said, giving me the glass.

"What is it?" I asked as I inspected the weird looking water.

"Hangover cure" he smirked.

I looked at it warily and drank it in one go. It tasted really bad and that must be evident on my face because Avishek laughed.

"Did others wake up?" I asked, trying to get rid of the taste from my mouth.

"Only Vikram. We both woke up at same time to make the cure." He said, sitting next to me.

"Why do people drink if they feel this awful?" I asked, massaging my temple.

He shrugged but didn't say anything. He just looked at me. Like, really looked. Which was weirding me out.

"What?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable.

"Do you really not remember anything from last night?" he asked, looking at me expectantly.

"No, I don't remember after I was in the kitchen. Why? Should I have remembered something?" I asked, trying to remember.

"No, just checking." He said, taking the empty glass from me.

"Come on, let's have breakfast." He said and walked out of the room.

I stared after him, feeling like I was missing something important. Did I act all silly and tell something inappropriate yesterday? Did I do something I shouldn't have?

Still, trying to remember, I entered the kitchen and saw Avishek and Vikram cooking.

"Good morning." Vikram greeted with a smile.

"Morning. What are you guys doing? Leave it, I'll make breakfast." I said, trying to squeeze my way in.

"No way. You just go and sit there. We'll cook today." Vikram said, shooing me out with my own spatula.

I looked towards Avishek and he pointed towards the chair with a smile.

Feeling out of sorts, I sat in the chair and watched them cook. Or rather, watched Avishek. He did cook sometimes. With kids. When kids were small, Avishek brought them here to cook and I secretly think it was because he wanted some father-children time with them.

I was lost in my thought when Ru and Neelam flopped into the chair in front of me, clutching their head like I did earlier.

They looked awful. Did I look that awful too?

"I feel like I'm dying." Ru moaned.

"Shh. Don't speak. You're too loud." Neelam moaned as well.

The two men in the room just watched them, amused. Vikram placed a glass each in front of them.

"You're the best husband ever." Neelam said, and it would've been sweet if she had not said in such monotonous voice.

"Yeah, yeah. Drink up and go freshen up. Breakfast is almost ready." He said.

The two women made or rather crawled their way towards the bathroom.

After breakfast, Vikram and Neelam went their way and Ru headed towards her room saying she needed more sleep.

It was me and Avishek in the kitchen and he collected the dishes and dumped them into the sink. I'd raised to wash them when he shot me a look which made me sit down. There was silence in the room except of occasional plates clanking with each other.

"Did, "I started but stopped when my voice cracked.

"Hmm" Avishek prompted.

"Did I do something yesterday?" I asked, hesitantly.

His back stiffened for few seconds, but he continued like nothing happened.

"No, why?" he said.

"You asked me earlier if I remember last night and I have a feeling that I am forgetting something" I said.

He turned around but stayed where he was. He was wiping his hands with a clean cloth and let them rest on the countertop.

"I just asked that because I wanted to see how drunk you were. You didn't do anything." he replied.

But then, why do I keep feeling that something is missing?

"If I did so something silly, I'm sorry. I'll try to remember what happened." I promised.

He looked at me for a long time and just when I was about to feel uncomfortable, he moved. He walked towards me and my breath caught in my throat when he did not stop and got right into my personal space. He had one hand on the arm of my chair and another on the top of the dining table caging me in.

"You really want to remember?" he asked.

I nodded because I couldn't speak. He was so close.

"Really?" he asked again, coming even closer.

Is it getting hot in here? Why was I thirsty? I wetted my dry lips and watched as his eyes traced the action. I nodded again.

He looked up from my lips, moved towards me. My stomach was acting all funny and I wanted to flee from there but at the same time I was rooted on the spot. I swallowed my gasp when he moved passing my lips, his breath hitting my cheeks and whispered in my ear, "Good luck remembering."

His words did not register in my mind and my soul left my body when he placed a kiss on my cheek. I was frozen and just watched as he moved away and out of the kitchen. I had to remind myself to breathe and touched my still tingling cheek.

What the hell did I do last night?

Hiiii. Sorry I'm late. I'm a bit sick. Stay safe you guys, please take care of yourself in this difficult time.

But anyway, I promised for a looong chapter last week. I always keep my promise. So, here you go. What do you think?

That's all for today. Please vote and leave a comment if you liked the chapter.