January 8, 2017

-S H R E E          P R A S A D-

Madhav took the trolley and walked down the dairy aisle of the supermarket. "Low fat milk or skimmed milk?" he ponders looking at the shopping list he wrote down in clear cursive handwriting. It's a Sunday morning and Madhav dragged my tired and sleepy ass from the bed. I am wearing a yellow shirt he picked for me along with a pair of baggy pants. "I wrote milk, but I haven't specified which."

You may think shopping is fun when you are married to a wealthy man. But it isn't! Madhav too has a shopping list and he sticks to a budget, instead of throwing everything he sees into his cart. My goodness, movies are so misleading.

"Can we get some chocolate full cream instead?"

"Chocolate milk isn't healthy for you. And neither is full cream." He says as he grabs a carton of low-fat milk. "This is healthy."

"What else do we need?" he murmurs as he walks, and I follow him. I drop a pack of frozen waffles into the shopping cart and he stops.

"Baby, if you want waffles then don't buy these frozen pieces of shit!" he says rolling his eyes. "I'll make you fresh ones. All we need is a few eggs, milk and some chocolate syrup."

He walks towards the meat section and I recognize a familiar looking lady walk pass him. It's Mrs. Verma, the principal of the school I'm teaching at currently. Madhav doesn't know. Every weekday when I leave at 6:00 AM to school I simply tell him that I am going to the mandhir or for cooking classes with Tanya Shukla: a famous celebrity chef.

Thankfully he's still in his pajamas- or rather the pair of khaki shorts he wears to bed- hence he never gets a chance to drop me. I have to walk from our penthouse apartment to the top of the lane to get the school bus that comes to pick me.

Whenever we are at the RK mansion, Yashoda Ma takes the sole responsibility of dropping me at school on her way to the mandhir. She's very supportive and is ready to take a bullet so I can continue working as a teacher.

Mrs. Verma smiles and walks towards me.

"How are you, Shree?" she asks smiling.

"I'm good, Mrs. Verma. Are you here to buy something-" I hold her hand and steer her from away from Madhav's direction. "I saw some really delicious paneer samples being given out shall we go check them out?"

"But darling I don't want to-" She protests. Yes, Ma'am I know you don't want to buy paneer, but I can't let Madhav see us together.

"Shree?" he calls from behind me and I turn in a second.

"Madhav!" I gasp aloud. "Look who I met! This is my-my-my school principal!"

"Nice to meet you Madam!" Madhav says shaking hands with Mrs. Verma. "I'm sure you must have had a difficult time with this little troublemaker."

"No! Not at all." Mrs. Verma said confused. He has no idea that she's referring to me as a teacher. Poor Madhav actually thinks she's the principal of the school I studied at. Hun, she's the principal of the school I am teaching at.

"Punishing this mischievous little one in front of the students, would have mended her ways."

Mrs. Verma was feeling uncomfortable now. She has no idea that Madhav doesn't know about my secret occupation.

"I think that's humiliating and inappropriate! She's a very dedicated and committed person"

"Ah! I see she has asked you to talk good things about her in front of me." Madhav says smiling that devilish smile. "It's alright Mrs. Verma, Shree and Ahaana would have been a very difficult pair to handle."

"Who's-"

"Mrs. Verma! There's that lady with the paneer sample, you must try them! Come!" I exclaim steering her away from him.

"We'll talk again, Mrs. Verma!" Madhav says.

"There is something you are hiding." Mrs. Verma says as I steer her away from Madhav. I stop and come in front of her.

"Madhav doesn't know that I'm teaching." I confess and she looks surprised. I narrate everything about him dismissing me from the company, how I've managed to slither off to work and how I covered it up with Yashoda Ma's help.

"Shree, this is wrong. Both you and Yasho are doing something extremely bad." Mrs. Verma says. "He'll feel betrayed when he finds out you have been lying to him for so many months."

"I know, but-"

"You shouldn't keep secrets like this. Shree. It's cancerous to a relationship. You must confess soon."

We had dinner that night in our penthouse. After dinner we sat beside each other on the couch watching Game of Thrones. I was wearing his black Under Armour tee-shirt paired with a pair of black shorts. He was wearing the same tee-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. My head was rested against his chest and he had his arm around my waist.

"Shree, I need to tell you something." He says fondling my arm. "Leila and her husband are getting a divorce."

I look up at him surprised. "But why?"

"Leila found out that her husband hasn't overcome her drug addiction yet. He promised to stop doing drugs before the wedding, but he hasn't in real. He hasn't gone a week without snorting cocaine and he has been claiming that he stopped. She was distraught when she discovered a bag of cocaine under their mattress."

"But Leila was so in love with him and-"

"It's betrayal, Shree. He lied. She did the right thing. Lies are unforgivable offenses in a relationship." Madhav said caressing my face. "I'm glad there aren't lies and fabrications between us. This is a honest healthy relationship, and I feel proud of how we are open and honest."

I feign a smile and nod, burying my face into his arm. I have been lying to him. I feel bad, terrible, horrible. He's going to be so mad when he finds out. He will find out eventually and when he does, will he divorce me too? He will because he values honesty, but it'd be difficult since he loves me so deeply. I sigh into his arm and he looks at me again. He switches the TV off and takes me to our room.

In our room, he closes the door behind us and dims the lights. He takes off his shirt and hangs it on the clothes stand. I was immersed in my own thoughts. I didn't realize he untied my hair and made me lay on our bed.

I turn towards him as he gets into the bed beside me.

"Goodnight." He says kissing my nose before falling asleep. I go to his side of the bed and wrap my arms around him, resting my head on his bare chest.

* * * * *

Madhav slams the divorce papers against my face. We were standing in our bedroom at RK mansion. He was wearing a red shirt and a black pair of pants while I wore a white sari. His loud voice erupts the room.

"I don't want to be related to a filthy liar like you. I trusted you but you have been lying to my face!"

I hold his hand and plead but he yells louder, pushing me from him. "Go away! I don't love you anymore."

I wake up with a start, sitting up, my tee-shirt drenched in sweat, panicking. Madhav is sleeping peacefully, that's good. I tie my disheveled hair into a neat bun and mop the sweat with my shaking hands, feeling beads of sweat race down my spine. The words are echoing louder in my head with each passing second and the thought of being separated from Madhav gets me in tears. I break into a sob and Madhav jolts up awake.

"Shree, why are you crying? What happened?" He asks trying to wipe my tears.

"I had a bad dream." I tell him and he looks very concerned. "We were in the RK Mansion, in our room. You said you don't love me anymore and also you wanted to divorce me."

"Shree that's just a dream." He says enveloping me in his arms. I bury my face into his bare chest like an injured doe as he caresses my back. "I love you so much. You mean the world to me. I mean it. I would never ever even think of divorcing you."

"I love you so much Madhav. I can't go a day without you beside me. I need you, today, tomorrow and forever. Don't leave me." He cups my face in his hands and makes me look at his face.

"I will never leave you, Shree." He says and drinks away my tears. I smile feeling his lips against my eyelids. He pulls me to his lap. "We will be together till the end of the line. I love you."

"I love you too." I whisper against his lips, feeling his hands crawl under my tee-shirt. I close my hands when he presses his lips to mine.

"I will be with you in every step of life." He says against my lips. He makes me lie on the bed and he softly makes such beautiful promises. I close my eyes memorizing every word, as he takes off my clothes and starts to make love to me.

"I will be there every night holding you in my arms. I will be there, holding you to my heart as we make love under the night sky. I will be there holding you safe when you are pregnant and expecting our baby. I will be there supporting you as our baby enters this world. I will be there as we raise our baby together. I will be there when as we grow to become old and withering flowers. I will be there, always."

Outside the sun starts to rise and it's first rays pour into our room and fall against our bare bodies. Our breaths are erratic after experiencing the pinnacle of our love making.

The clock on the wall reads 5:35 AM. It's Monday. I need to get ready to go to school.

"I need to go." I whisper to Madhav.

"Stay please, I'm thinking of having a day off from work." He says.

I can't stay back! I have 6 English periods today and I'm doing the morning prayer today.

"I can't Madhav." I say pleading.

"You really got attached to the mandir and that cooking class, haven't you?" He looks at me quizzically. "What the name of the celeb chef? Tanya Shukla?"

I nod.

"Fine, you can go, only if you agree to shower with me." He says kissing my neck. "Also, I get to select your sari."

"Done." I whisper. "And you need to go to work as well. It's not nice of you to skip work without a proper reason."

"Agreed."

January 9, 2017

-M A D H A V      R A M A K R I S H N A-

Monday morning traffic is the worst. Shree somehow managed to go to the mandir by herself. I'm not grumpy as I usually am on Mondays. Even with the traffic towards Marine Lane and the constant blaring of the horns I am smiling.

We have been married for exactly six months now. Six beautiful months since I tied the mangalsutra against her neck. In the past six months she had grown from an unorganized girl to a well matured woman whereas I have fallen in love with her deeper than ever. I am smiling thinking about how we made love this morning, and for a change without protection, just as she always wanted.

She didn't notice until I told her while I was shampooing her hair under the shower. She was ecstatic with joy. She wrapped her arms around me and shrieked excitedly. Her face had the brightest smile as I dried her hair and draped a yellow sari around her fragile frame. I rested my head against her flat stomach, hoping she conceives soon.

I look outside the window and that's when I notice something odd. A big cutout of celebrity chef Tanya Shukla with the caption: "Tanya is coming to Mumbai. Cookery Classes conducted by Tanya Shukla starting 1st of March. Call soon to be the first batch of professional cooks to be trained by Tanya!"

Shree said she's been going to her classes for almost four months!

I quickly dial the number.

"Hello, I'm Madhav Ramakrishna and I'm calling regarding the cookery class that is to be conducted by Ms. Shukla. Is there a current batch she's teaching?"

"No sir. Tanya ji got the idea of starting the classes only a month back!"

"Thank you."

Something is fishy.

To be continued....

Keep the votes and the comments flowing!

Glossary

Khaki- brownish yellow colour

Mangalsutra- The groom ties the auspicious thread around the bride's neck on the day of their holy nuptial (wedding day)

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 is Shree's middle name?

Answer: Sita

Winner: @Megha_Sharma98

This week's question: What country did Shree and Madhav go for their honeymoon photoshoot?

Submit your answers with inline comments. May the correct and most accurate answer win!