Chapter 18

AADHI

Everyone greeted each other and then started talking about their lives. I was listening to every one of them.

Ten or fifteen minutes later, my husband said, "I am going to take a nap."

"This is how you treat our guests?" I asked him, annoyed.

"They are your guests. I see them every day in the office. And I didn't get enough sleep last night," he said, shrugging.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

"You talk like you did all the work last night," Karthi teased. Nija punched his shoulder playfully.

"Yeah, my wife was insatiable, and I needed to do something last night," he said, winking at me.

"Yeah, that is because you let me starve for a long time," I said, getting angry and remembering how he burned all the food and left me alone.

Everyone became weirdly silent. They looked at each other and tried to control their laughter.

What did I say? Oh my God!

He had turned something innocent into an awkward situation. I blushed and ran into the kitchen.

What's with these pervy comments lately? I don't understand him. How can he say something like that in front of his friends, even if it happened?

Wait...why am I thinking about that thing happening? I must be crazy...

"I am sorry if they embarrassed you." I heard his voice from the doorway.

I turned swiftly toward him and started punching him on the shoulder. He tried to block my punches, laughing. It made me laugh too.

"Go away," I said, laughing. I didn't want to talk about it because then I would be even more embarrassed.

He walked away laughing while Siva and Ruby joined me in the kitchen. They were teasing me for some time, but then we moved on to other things.

Siva started to plan the whole day. We decided to have some girl time outside since I didn't get the chance to go out a lot.

So, we decided to go to the spa, parlour, and then mall to shop for dresses and then do some grocery shopping.

The boys said that they would stay and have the house to themselves. My husband was hesitant to let me go.

He said, "She never went out without me, let me come with you." Typical overprotective husband.

Siva glared at him and then grabbed my hand to leave.

"Okay, fine, just take care of her!" he yelled. She stopped and turned to glare at him again.

"Um, you take care too," he said with a sly smile.

I wanted to laugh at the look he had. I didn't know he was this overprotective. It felt good to know that he cared and felt protective of me.

The spa experience was serene and peaceful, and the manicure and pedicure were so calming. The worst part of the day was shopping.

These girls were even worse than my cousins. They made me walk back and forth to every shop in the mall. Finally, when we finished everything and came back, it was already time for dinner.

When we entered the house, no one was inside. The girls said they might be on the terrace. They took the groceries and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

I went to our room to leave the shopping bags and then I remembered I let some of the washed clothes dry on the terrace. I decided to go up and bring them down.

The stairs to the terrace were outside the house, on the way from the gate to our front door. When I went outside, I saw Harsha and Bharathi together.

They were talking, he was just looking at the ground folding his hands over his chest but she was looking at him and talking.

It seemed like she was angry about something and yelling at him. They didn't seem to notice my arrival, and I didn't want to spy on them.

"Bharathi, when did you come?" I asked trying to get her attention.

She turned and looked at me like she got caught doing something wrong.

"Um...I...I just came," she stuttered.

"I thought you were coming tomorrow," I asked, pretending to be confused.

"Um...change of plans," she said bluntly and went inside.

I knew something was wrong. After she went, Harsha sighed deeply like it was a relief and looked at me. He was looking at me to ask him about it, but I didn't.

I just started climbing the stairs. I could feel him following me.

As soon as I reached the top stairs, I regretted it. They were having drinks. My husband was standing at the far end, looking at the sky, cigar in hand.

"It's okay, Aadhi, come here," he said when he noticed me standing there awkwardly.

I started walking toward him hesitantly because I didn't like the smell of cigar smoke.

He must have noticed that because he threw away the cigar and motioned me to come. I just went there and started collecting the dried clothes. I still didn't want to stay there.

I heard Siva and Ruby's voices. I turned to look, and they were sitting with their husbands and chatting.

Wow, they really don't mind their husbands drinking alcohol.I looked at them in awe.

"Do you want to join them? Or if you don't feel comfortable, we both can stay here," he asked hesitantly.

"They are just having small amounts. If you want to join, you don't need to worry," he assured me again.

I nodded my head. He held out his hand and escorted me there.

I was still uncomfortable being around the alcohol, but it seemed like a casual thing for them.

We joined them. After a couple of minutes, my discomfort faded away. It felt exactly like a night out with my friends.

"Oh no, we forgot about the dinner." It was Siva who remembered. It was already late, and we forgot about it while chatting.

"Can we have pizza?" I asked shyly, looking at everyone and biting my lip.

"Then pizza it is!" Siva cheered.

"I am going to bring pizza even if it is on the other side of the world. I never saw you ask anything for yourself," my husband whispered in my ears and left.

I didn't know whether to laugh at his dramatic tone or be happy that he cared.

Harsha left before the pizza arrived. I tried hard to make him stay, but he didn't listen. He was acting weird the whole time. He was so quiet and didn't talk much.

I wanted to ask him what was going on, maybe I would try later when we were alone. I let him go. The others seemed to believe his excuses and sent him off.

After the pizza arrived, we decided to watch a movie while we ate it. After a long debate, we finally settled on some horror movies.

Three couches were facing the TV. Each couch was taken by a couple, and they were all large enough for a person to lie down on.

The lights were out. Nobody could see anyone other than the person nearest to them. Bharathi didn't join us. She said she was tired and wanted to rest.

I laid down on the couch with a pillow on my head, keeping my legs on the headrest. Above my head, I left some space for him to sit.

He came and sat, grabbing my pillow and keeping it on his lap. I know he did it to annoy me. I punched him on his shoulder playfully and changed my position.

I kept my head on the handrest and folded my legs carefully so as not to touch him.

He took my legs and kept them on his lap so that I could extend my legs comfortably. I didn't resist.

It was a casual thing, but I could already feel the tingles on my foot where he rested his arm. His hand was so warm and soft.

After some time, it felt so uncomfortable to keep the head on the handrest of the couch. My neck started to ache, I tried to stay in position, but it was getting too painful.

So I sat up, laid my head on the pillow over his lap, and put my legs on the headrest.

I looked up and said smiling, "This is more comfortable." He looked surprised but smiled back at me regardless.

He kept his left hand around my shoulder, and we started watching the movie adjusting ourselves in a comfortable position.

After some time, his right hand started to brush my hair. I shifted just my eyes up to look at him. He was probably doing it unconsciously.

It was so nice and relaxing. I felt as if I would fall asleep before the movie even ended.

His hand slowly came down to my forehead and he brushed my eyebrows with his thumb. I looked at him again and saw he was looking at me too.

His hand slid down to my cheek. I closed my eyes to feel its warmth.

And then his thumb started grazing my lips. I shivered at the contact. He was doing everything without taking his eyes off mine. Slowly, his head lowered toward me.

For a second there, I thought he was going to kiss me. I closed my eyes, anticipating the feel of his lips. I could feel his breath on my cheeks.

At that moment, I wanted that kiss to happen desperately. But to my disappointment, I heard his whisper in my ears.

"I've got a surprise for you tomorrow."