"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then." Shree said as Madhav drove to her apartment in Chembur. He stopped the car at the curb that lead to the apartment. "Goodnight, Madhav." She said smiling as she opened the door.

Madhav smiled and waved. He watched her admiringly as she closed the door and started walking towards the apartment. Madhav took off his seat belt, the car keys and dashed out. He slammed the door shut and went running towards her.

Shree quickly stopped and turned to see Madhav running towards her. "What happened, Madhav?" she asked holding his hand. He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "You came running just for a kiss?"

"Nonsense!" he said. "I came because it didn't feel right to let my fiancée walk alone at this night."

"It's only a small walk across the compound, that won't take me a minute, and nothing can happen to me in that one minute. And if something does happen, like being me getting abducted by aliens or getting molested by a sexual predator I know you'd save me, or I might manage to save my own butt."

"Darling, but-"

She pressed a finger to his lip. "I'll be fine, Madhav. I've walked from the main road, even after 9." Madhav rolls his eyes and Shree sighs "Fine! I'll let you walk until the entrance to the building, happy?"

"Let me just accompany you until your floor."

"No!" She exclaims. "What will the neighbors think if they see us together? Don't forget that they were spectators of our 'public display of affection' the other day. They already think unimaginable things about us, seeing us together will only-"

"You're not afraid of encountering a sexual predator, but you're afraid to encounter your neighbors?" Madhav asked raising a brow at her. "What type of a wus are you, woman? You're my wife and-!"

"Technically, it's fiancée." She corrects him. "More like, your 'would-be- fiancée"

"Shut up!" he says annoyed, and she giggles. "What I'm trying to say is don't limit yourself by considering what a few unwanted and unrelated people would think or say. Now shut the fuck up and let me come with you till your doorstep."

"But you said till my floor!" she exclaimed, controlling her laughter.

"That was before you started arguing." Madhav said and held her arm in a secured grip. "Come along now, you're getting late."

Madhav and Shree walked into the elevator. Madhav pressed the button to the fourth floor and held Shree by her arm as the doors slided shut.

"Madhav!" Shree exclaimed in surprise, as her body came crashing to his. His arms snaked around her waist. She looked at him surprised, and he smiled cheekily. "Let go, you don't know what I'll do to you!"

"I don't see you do anything, and I didn't fall in love with you so I can let go of you, woman." He says and starts planting a row of kisses from her temple to her cheeks. "This elevator never breaks down?" he asks pulling away as the lift stops at the fourth floor.

Shree blushes. "Okay you may go now."

"I came this far, and you aren't calling me inside?" Madhav asks. "Is this how you Hyderabadis treat your son-in-laws?"

"Haan!" she agrees pushing him by his chest, inside the elevator. "Now off you go!"

"I made up my mind." He walks ahead towards her door. "I am not going back without meeting your folks."

Shree rolls her eyes as Madhav knocks at her door.

"Okay so tomorrow I'll wash my clothes for sure!" a voice comes from behind the door, Devi opens the door and stands surprised for a while, dressed in a white tee shirt and denim shorts. Her black eyes inflating like parachutes behind her glasses.

"This is what you told me last time, child!" Lakshmi yells again from inside the kitchen. "You and your sister are such lazy slobs! You girls can't even wash your own dirty undergarments! I don't know what sort of hell my son-in-laws have to cope up with in the future!"

"OMG!" Devi exclaims seeing Madhav and Shree together at their doorstep. She turns to Shree excitedly. "Is it? Is it? IS IT?!"

Shree nods and Devi shrieks happily pulling her into an embrace.

Lakshmi comes running from the kitchen, wiping her hands with the fall of her amber shaded sari. "Why on earth are you screaming like some possessed woman? You're going to disturb the neigh-" She stops midsentence as she sees Madhav and Shree at the doorstep.

"Ma! Shree said YES!" Devi yelled excitedly, jumping up and down as she ran to hug her mother. "Shree is going to get married!"

"Is it?" Lakshmi asks and Shree shyly nods. Lakshmi walks to Shree and hugs her. "Finally! I was always worried about having you unmarried for so many years." She turns to Madhav, breaking away from Shree.

"Come in, son. I'll make you a nice cup of tea."

"No. I should be going." He says and turns to Shree, adding jokingly. "Your daughter is aimed at chasing me from here."

"Don't listen to that crazy child! That child doesn't know her manners!" she says glaring at Shree. "You come inside!"

Madhav smiles and takes off his shoes. Madhav turns to raise his eyebrows at Shree before walking in. Shree grunted annoyed.

Devi picks up the freshly laundered clothes from the orange coloured sofa. She walks to her bedroom, opens the door and throws the clothes inside, on the marbled floor.

"Ma, I actually came to get Shree's horoscope." Madhav says as he sits on the sofa. "I told Mr. RK about us, and he agreed for the marriage. He has called our family astrologist tonight to check our horoscopes."

"I'll get it for you. Now tell me, is Shree like this even at work?" Lakshmi asks.

"No. No." Madhav adds smiling. "But then she has this habit of giving murderous glances whenever I ask her to do something."

Lakshmi laughs. "She has been doing that ever since she learned to walk!" Shree fumes from the doorstep. "I'll give you a thousand if she isn't glaring at you right now."

They turned to find Shree glance at him angrily. Lakshmi laughs again and Madhav tries to control his laughter. Lakshmi walks inside Shree's room.

"Dude, mom is ganging up with your fiancé to nag you!" Devi whispers.

"DEVI! COME HERE!. RIGHT NOW!" Lakshmi yells. Devi bites her tongue remembering how she absent mindedly threw the freshly laundered clothes onto the floor.

Devi crosses her fingers and walks to her room. Shree storms angrily inside as she takes off her heals.

"So, you didn't come all this way to drop me, but to collect my horoscope is it?" she asked as she walked to him.

"Actually, I came to collect a few vegetables, because I was hoping to start a vegetable shop somewhere close by." Madhav adds sarcastically. "That's very bold of you to assume that I came all this way to drop an adult! Of course, I came for the horoscope, you dummy!"

Shree grabs the cushion on the sofa and starts to beat him. "Alright alright!" Shree stops thrashing him. "I came for you and to fetch your horoscope, as a side quest. Now put that cushion down!"

"I'm not done yet!" She says and starts to hit him again with the cushion, harder this time. "THIS.IS.FOR.GANGING.UP.WITH.MY.MOM!" she adds with each shot on him.

Madhav holds her arms. "Peace! Now put that pillow down, you're going to kill me, now!" Shree puts down the cushion and sinks on the sofa beside him.

"What am I marrying into?" he exclaims as he runs his fingers through his jet black hair.

Shree turns to him, swift like lightning.

Lakshmi walks out with a yellow booklet. "Here is Shree's horoscope."

Madhav takes the book and stands up. "Thank you. I'll see you-"

"You can't go yet! You just came and-and-" she turns to Shree "-you didn't serve him anything to drink-or-or-eat?"

She looks at Madhav. "Why don't you stay back for dinner?"

"I'd love to, Ma, but-"

"This is the first time you're coming here. I mean as my to-be-son-in-law. You've been here at least three or four time and you haven't had anything to eat or drink. I bet you haven't eaten Andhra based food. Come I'll make you some masala pooris and moong dal stuffed rotis."

"Uhm-do you want me to-" Shree hesitated.

"I'd like a mishap free kitchen tonight, dear." Lakshmi added. "Why don't you freshen up while Devi and I prepare the food?"

"I hope you've tried Amma's Tomata Dal curry and the moong dal rotis. It's to die for!" Shree exclaimed excitedly as she offered Madhav a seat on the round dinner table. Shree had changed out of her clothes to a simple blue tee-shirt with wide neck and black sweatpants. Her black hair pulled back into a messy ponytail.

"Yeah! You'd want to die if Shree was the one making it!" Devi said as she kept the freshly fried pooris on the wooden table.

Madhav laughed. "Are you such a horrendous cook, Shree?"

"Me-Me?" Shree stammered, tucking a strand of her hair behind her hair as she sat facing Madhav. "I am- I am- really good. Yeah. I'm really good-at-at cooking."

"Oh why do you lie like this to my son-in-law?" Lakshmi snapped as she brought a big bowl of dal to the table. "She's the worst you can find in the whole of Maharashtra!"

"And Andhra Pradesh." Devi adds. "I hope you have a cook at home already, brother, or else its burnt chapattis and that undercooked chicken curry for the rest of your life!"

"I don't think cooking is going to be a problem. I have an amazing cook at home." Madhav says. "And there's me!"

"You can cook?" Lakshmi asks surprised as she serves Madhav some pooris.

"Yes. I can make a decent five course meal." Lakshmi raised her eyebrows impressed as she served the dhal to him.

"I'm glad you said yes." Devi whispered to Shree before she took her seat, in between Shree and Madhav. Devi drags the plastic chair forward against the tiled floor, making an eerie screech.

"How are you progressing with studies, Devi?" Madhav asks. 

"Yeah. Actually, I'd be fine if these seniors weren't such a pain in the arse. There's this pompous twat who keeps-" Devi stopped as she noticed Lakshmi glare at her for being irrelevant. Devi cleared her throat "Oh I'm doing fine! Fine as a fickle! I just have trouble with Corporate Law. Apart from that everything else is as smooth as silk."

"Maybe I can request my brother to help you with Corporate Law, that is if you don't mind. He's in his third year, right now."

"As long as he can explain things better than my professors."

"Don't worry, he's really good with explaining. I'll send you his contact number through your sister." Madhav looks at Shree, who was seated facing him. Madhav holds back a smile as he extends his foot forward. Shree freezes when his cold and rough foot strokes slowly against her ankle. Her fingers start to shake as his big toe sensually brushes above her ankle, his nail scratching delicately against her leg, sending subtle waves of erotic pleasure throughout her body.

Shree captures his foot in between both of her's and looks at him grinning widely.

"I like that." Madhav blurts out absentmindedly. "I-I-I was talking about the-the-the food. Especially this!"

"And what about the pooris?" Devi asked excitedly. "I made them!"

"Delicious." He says as he takes another bite of the roti. "What else can you make?"

"I can make chicken tandoori and butter naan!" Devi says with her mouthful. She swallows the food. "We'll call you when we're having chicken for dinner. I can do that curd marinated chicken thigh fry I saw on Masterchef!"

"Hmm. I'd like that." Madhav says as he quickly winks at Shree.

"I think I'm done!" Shree says letting go of his foot before standing. Madhav smiled to himself as Shree walked into the kitchen that was separated from the dining room by a thick blue curtain.

"I'm done too." Madhav says as he picks up the plate and walks to the kitchen. He takes silent baby steps as he enters the dimly lit kitchen. Seeing Shree humming to herself as she washed her plate in the sink, he smiles widely, his eyes glinting with mischief.

Just as she is done washing the soap's foam off the plate and keeps her plate on the kitchen counter, Madhav wraps his left arm around her waist. Shree squeals in surprise as he buries his face on the crook of her neck, inhaling her sandalwood scent. Shree blushes at the mixed sensation of his stubble pricking her soft skin and his warm breath fanning against her neck. He places a long and lingering kiss on the base of her neck.

"I'm planning to have you for dessert." He whispers as his left-hand wanders underneath her tee-shirt, pulling her harder against him. Shree shuts her eyes as she feels his fingers graze against her soft skin. His fingers brush against her waist the way a paint brush strokes against a blank canvas, causing her cheeks to glow with a vivid shade of roseate.

"I Love You, Shree." He murmurs, closing his eyes as he presses his nose against her slender neck.

"I Love You, Madhav." She moans as his left hand moves to her midriff. Madhav's eyes open suddenly, releases Shree and steps away from her just as Devi walks in.

* * * * * 

Shree smiles into her pillow in the darkness of her bedroom. She squeals in surprise as her phone pings to life. 

Horoscopes matched and Mr. RK wants us to have a South Indian wedding- Tamil wedding to be specific. Hope you are ok. Wedding date should be fixed. Meet me tomorrow at 8am, my cabin. 

Another message pops up.

Goodnight darling.

To be continued....

Glossary

Rotti- an unleavened flatbread comprising of wheat flour, salt and water.

Poori- an unleavened deep-fried bread made up of wheat, salt and water.

Moong Dhal- a variety of yellow lentils

Tomato Dal curry- a variety of a yellow pulses curry comprising of tomatoes; famous Andhra Pradesh cuisine.

Chicken Tandoori- a chicken dish prepared by roasting chicken marinated in yoghurt and spices in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven.

Butter Naan-  a butter flavored flat bread

Amma- Mother

Haan- Yes

Announcement

It's Dedication Time! As a way of returning your unwavering love and support to the story, I have decided to dedicate ALL the chapters of this book to each reader.

1: A question will be asked at the end of each chapter, regarding the story and/or the characters.

2: One person will be selected from all those who have provide the correct answer.

3: The lucky winner gets one chapter of this book dedicated to him/her. This process will happen repeatedly until all/most of the readers, active and silent, have chapters dedicated to them.

PREVIOUS WEEK'S QUESTION: What colour is Madhav's Audi car?

ANSWER: BLACK

Thank you to all those who submitted the correct answers but we can have only one winner.

WINNER: JananiPalpandi

Congratulations! Chapter 1 is dedicated to you.

Here is the question, the winner gets the 2nd chapter dedicated to him/her.

What is the name of Madhav's eldest sister?

Submit your answers with inline comments.