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You may begin now.

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This chap is affectionately dedicated to - soul_not_souling

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"People always talk about how cute it is when someone smiles against your lips, but how about the absolute tenderness when someone relaxes against you completely when you hug or hold them?
Just a thought of it is warm, you know.........................."

All the things he was doing to her made her heart pump blood as strongly as it could. Rolling her lower lip inwards, she tried to shake off his hands off her wrist. The prickly sensation that his beard was causing was too much.

Tongue and teeth were no less.

However, she was loving all the attention he was showering upon her. His time, his undivided attention was all she craved. And she was melting under the heat of his every administration.

He had managed to loosen the neckline of her clothing. He then realized that his desires had got the best of him.
What would she think about him?

But she had no thoughts in that moment. She didn't feel anything but only audibly gasped when she felt the material around her loose the grip around her.

His hands travelled down, from her wrists to her fingers. Intertwining, their fingers engaged in a play of their own.

Things really escalated between them. Anticipation had begun growing at an alarming rate. His every cell was on fire. Amidst all uncertain urges, he was certain about one thing and that was - he wanted to explore intimacy with her.

Was there a back from here?

He raised his head to get a look of her. She looked disoriented just the way his sanity was. The consuming passion he felt for her had overpowered his senses by all means. His eyes analysed her skin down that had turned into a lighter shade of red.

Around Manjiri, Shaurya was the one who tended to talk more. But there was something about those moments, hankering and hopeful, that had pushed him gently into silence. It was like sliding underwater and blocking out all sounds from the outside world. She surrounded him. She held him tight.

She soothed him. She was his calm. She radiated the comfort what he was in need for days. He couldn't tell her of how much he missed her presence around him.

He withdrew his right hand and tucked a bunch of her hair strands behind her ear.

Her hands ventured over his back pressing against his muscles. He took in a deep breath that fanned her face as she felt him up. Her eyes that were almost shut slowly widening to look at him.

He was unsure if he was allowed to go any further.

He tugged at the material hanging in between them whilst intently locking his gaze with hers. She showed no resistance when his hand moved upwards. Motivated he pressed his palms over the curves making her eyes to get shut in diffidence again. The valley there seemed to play peek-a-boo with him despite his fingers continued to feel her up. His fingers were ardently followed by his mushes, thus making her a shuddering mess.

From light brushes, things had transformed into slow, soft deliberate sucks and nibbles. This was the revised pattern.

Manjiri was captivated by all means. She sucked in a breath wriggling uncontrollably at the rasp of his stubble, the heat of his being. And the way she was reacting and responding to his actions, that feel was sending him to the edge. It felt gratifying to indulge himself in exploring her to another level.

Her hand withdrew from his back and reached the switch to put off the light above the table, making the room dark. The slight darkness of the early dawn was oddly comforting. And it was just enough for her to push the length of her hair on one shoulder and lean in to capture his mouth fisting the material on his chest.

They broke apart after a while but only to deepen their collision yet again.

With no words exchanged, in minutes they were on the bed. She appeared ready to follow him anywhere he took her. She was tired of resisting. Her guards had fallen long back.

Against the cushion, with him over her, she was a bundle of vibrating nerves again, alive and exposed. The sight was beautiful. He let his hand support the back of her head as he pressed close, his strong thigh sliding between hers with a sureness that made her gasp.

Pressure, so much pressure, so insistent and demanding. A desperate yet slow urgency.

Crowding her completely, he whipped her into a frenzy. He pressed her firmly cloaking themselves in a duvet cover.

"Feeling uneasy?"

"No, overwhelmed."

She breathed not meeting him in the eye, trying to arch up against him. But she couldn't since there was no space in between. He grinned taking a note of how close they were,

"In a good way or bad?"

"In a different, uncertain way."

She breathed out shakily, she was nothing but a semi-fluid beneath him when he pressed a long lingering peck on the corner of her mouth.

She gasped and he bent for an another on the other side. Her soft palms reached out to hold his face when his hands went struggling with his own shirt's buttons. He dragged that and got rid of it the soonest.

They looked at each other in the dim light of the bulb, glowing outside the room. It's light was sieving in through the drawn curtains over the window. Looking in the eye and being well aware of the sudden desire that had tangled them closer to each other was itself entrapping. They took shallow shaky breaths as a weird kind of tension set in.

She turned her head to the side unable to hold such strong waves of a variety of intense emotions. He observed her hand fisting the sheet beneath them. She was engulfed by a weird feeling she couldn't find a name for.

Grazing her jawline to the shoulder, he breathed against her skin,

"Try holding me and spare this."

His fingers reaching out to her palm that had been clutching the sheet way too tightly. Both of his hands found both of hers and he twined their fingers together. She turned to look at him.

He leaned in closer just enough to notice that her eyes were gleaming in the dark with the sheen forming in them. His fingers immediately got disappeared in her hair making her to look at him closely. She blinked with tears in her eyes and tried hard to grace her lips with a small smile.

Managed to free her hand from his grip, her fingers on their own accord flew up to comb the strands of hair curtaining his forehead.

"I'd lost all hopes, Shaurya. It was taxing to not know if things would get better between us or not..."

"I was in the same boat."

He breathed, leaving a feathery peck on her nose tip. Her eyes got shut in response, letting those traitors to slip out from her wet lashes and moisten his fingers which were still relaxing in her hair. She murmured meekly,

"I regret not trusting you..."

"And I regret not prioritising you. I was stupid..."

He sighed leaning in more and meeting her close eyes with his breath. Something touched her eyelids, sinking in that absolute softness, she smiled unfurling them.

"No, you're good. The best thing happened to me."

"That means you're good too since good things happen to the good people."

He voiced displaying his smile, and that was a real Shaurya smile. A smile which was enough to stir Manjiri's heart severely. Her gaze dipped lower, taking him all in. His golden skin looked vulnerable in the low light. She dug her short nails into his shoulder to get some support to rise a little, however, he bent instead meeting her in the halfway.

He was expecting a peck from her at a certain desired place but he earned somewhere else. Her voice turned urgent as she breathed against his skin,

"I'm sorry for pushing you away."

He had to turn his neck the other way when she even decided to use her teeth there, where his stubble faded. His eyes drifted shut as his head fell back, exposing the long line of his throat. His Adam's apple roughly worked as he swallowed.

"Then pull me closer now. As much as you want."

"I missed you..."

Feeling him up, she clutched him to herself almost immediately. Air left her lungs. Tears spilled down her face. Emotion knotted her throat as she dwindled falling back just in next moment. However, his palm beneath her back was quick to catch her.

Nonetheless, she wasn't the only one falling. Whether there or in love. He too was.

"And I need you...!" He brushed his mushes against her whilst fusing their upper fronts completely yet again, skin to skin. "...always." Adding it, he again seized her with a promise of mind numbing thrill.

He did something with his fingers, in between them, pulling at her flesh that instantly made her feel pain. A sweet pain which inspired her to tug at his hair in response. She squeezed her eyes shut letting out muffled sounds to echo in his mouth. He liked that. He repeated to tease out more sound. He himself too made a low, raw noise of satisfaction and held her hands tighter, as if he was sinking and he needed something to cling to.

He kept going. She too had no other option, there was no going back. They continued as their hands wandered the other in newfound reverence. Their yearning for love got them to home, got them to each other.

_

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_

"Bhai, wake up!"

Dev shook Shaurya in a exasperated way. But the latter seemed to be in no mood to give a damn to the world. Pulling the cover over his head, he shrieked snuggling more.

"Get lost."

"Behave brother. We're not at our place..."

Dev reminded crossing his arms. And that was when Shaurya registered his surrounding. He has slept in. The immense light of the sun filtering inside the room confirmed that. He probed from beneath the cover,

"What's the time?"

"It's quarter to nice. Looks like you took your role way too seriously. See, I know you're the guest of honour of this house but at least have some etiquettes. What's this code of conduct?"

Dev asked walking around the bed. Shaurya got up beaming to himself and leaned against the wall, since the bed had no headboard.

"Look whose talking."

"What's up with this stupid grin on your face..." Hardly could Dev decipher the reason behind Shaurya's purposeless beaming, his voice trailed off lost in amazement when he found him stretching his arms emitting a soft groan as his stiff muscles flexed. "Interesting!", he exclaimed when he found Shaurya's upper frame fully unclothed.

"Bring me my phone from there."

Shaurya demanded. Picking up the phone from the table, Dev mocked,

"Sure. But I expected you to first ask for your shirt... Never mind." He added as Shaurya attempted to avoid his eyes, "So?"

"So?"

Shaurya asked in similar manner, pretending to not understand what Dev's intent was. Dev smiled in response,

"Did you guys get a chance to talk?"

Shaurya nodded getting busy in his phone. Dev queried again,

"Things got better?"

"I guess so."

"Everything's fine then?"

"I guess so."

"Had a good time alone with your wife?"

"I guess... What?"

Shaurya looked up mortified. Dev chuckled looping his left arm around Shaurya's neck, trapping his neck in between the back of his elbow.

"Wow. I shouldn't have doubted your capabilities, man."

"Shut up. You're taking it all wrong. It was just that...'

Shaurya scooted Dev's arm away searching for the right words.

"That?" Dev stifled a snicker and then added, "Leave it, Bhai, I don't think I require the details."

"By the way, stop blushing like a newly wedded bride and tell me at what time we would leave or did Bhabhi manage to persuade you to not leave?"

Shaurya looked up. Dev was too much. Why was he so fond of speaking nonsense? Couldn't he just mind his own business. Not giving any emphasis on Dev's words, he voiced out.

"Around 2 or 3. After lunch."

"Whoopee!"

Excited Vidhi came running inside the room startling the other two in the course. Dev glanced back, he already had wasted a good one hour in irritating and getting irritated by that little girl soon after he had returned from his friend's place early that morning.

"Bhai, did we get scared? No, right?"

"You did. You jumped like Gul and got scared like this."

Vidhi mimicked drawing her hands closer to herself showing a fake frightened look and then laughed out loud just in next moment. Both Shaurya and Dev couldn't help but exchange an utterly amused smile at then.

"Who's Gul?"

Dev asked bending a little to reach to that little girl's level.

"You don't know Gul?" She asked surprised. Dev smiled shaking his head in negative. Hitting her tiny palm on her forehead, she turned to Shaurya,"Fufaji, tell him. He doesn't know."

"Gul is Shama Ji's cat."

Shaurya replied. Of course, he knew that. Vidhi did inform him about the cat last night when they were on the terrace waiting for Manjiri and the electricity.

"What the fu..." Flabbergasted Dev immediately rephrased on getting a glare from Shaurya. "...funk... Vidhi, have you ever heard funky music?"

"No. I've better things to do."

Not understanding anything, Vidhi voiced looking around with searching eyes. Shaurya said to Dev whilst looking for something on the bed with searching eyes.

"She destroyed you in a second, brother."

"She is doing so since the time she got up."

Dev responded finally sitting on the edge of the bed. Vidhi too followed him but reached to the side where Shaurya was.

"I was the first. I woke up even before Bua today. When I woke up I searched for you and her everywhere. I thought you were gone but then when Bua came and I asked her. She told that you were sleeping... You sleep a lot, Fufaji! You're the last in getting up."

Dev stifled a laugh while Shaurya just blinked, momentarily stupefied. He didn't know how to answer and what to answer at then.

"Umm... Mosquitoes didn't let me sleep last night. So..."

Dev intervened putting a hand over his mouth to mask his mirth. He was seriously finding the whole situation very funny.

"Seriously Bhai? Don't blame this place's innocent mosquitos."

Little Vidhi couldn't pick up many words from Dev's statements, but she did form a picture. Based upon that, she muttered looking at Shaurya who was busy hunting his shirt below the cushions, inside the sprawled covers.

"I wear full sleeves t-shirt at night. You should too, this way mosquitos won't bite any of us. But right now, where's your shirt? Who took it?"

Before Shaurya could even think of anything, Dev interjected rolling on the bed laughing.

"Now don't you dare put the blame on mosquitos. I'm warning."

All of a sudden, a masculine voice called out for Vidhi from downstairs. Shaurya couldn't mistake that voice. It belonged to Jai.

"Coming, Daddy." After screaming her lungs out, Vidhi turned to Shaurya. Thus scaring the hell out of him again. By all means, Vidhi was obliquely giving a tough competition to Dev and Sameeksha combined in terms of making any sober situation embarrassing for others, especially him. "You know Daddy bought me so many Jalebis. But this man, Bua's friend, ate two without my permission and Bua didn't say anything to him. He didn't even wash his hands. Scold him, Fufaji."

"I'll. Now you go, your father's calling you."

Dev couldn't help but smile when Shaurya very gently answered to Vidhi. He wasn't a stranger to the fact that his cousin brother did take his sweet time in making adjustment, especially where there are kids. But he was glad that Shaurya was trying.

At last, he was trying.
_

_

_

Dressed in a deep blue t-shirt and his all time favourite black jeans, Shaurya glanced at his watch discreetly entering the hall. He let his eyes travel all around the place. His gaze desperately searching for her.

Nevertheless, it wasn't hard to spot her. She stood beyond the sofa, leaning against headrest of the same. She was wearing a white top which went well with her flared dark blue long-skirt. Damn! They were twinning. She had left her hair open, maybe she washed it that was why it appeared uncombed.

She was busy chatting with Dev. Or more like Dev was busy chatting with her. He was telling her something with that stupid mirth filled grin pasted on his face and she was only smiling at him in response. He wondered how could a person smile so sweetly at an idiot?

Couldn't that man mind his own business? What was his problem?

Dev, like always, had his own ways to leave Shaurya exasperated. He was nothing but collective human form of those advertisements playing needlessly when one's so in mood to see something, have something, hear something.

In short, he was awfully annoying in all his uninvited grace.

"What's happening here?"

Shaurya asked walking up to them. A light blush automatically appeared on Manjiri's face when the back of his hand brushed against hers. She wasn't sure if that was intentional or unintentional. Though, that small smile lingering on his face wasn't hard to notice.

She instantly took her eyes off him in diffidence when a recap of their morning indulgence started spinning in her mind.

She didn't know before that the feeling of being yearned for could make her feel so positive and so confident in her own skin. She couldn't even put into right words what all she felt. All she knew was that the friction between them was so damn satisfying and fulfilling.

"Nothing. Was just telling your wife that how All Agra Mosquitos Association is all set to file a defamation case against you."

Dev muttered making Shaurya shake his head in dismay.

"Can you be any more absurd, Dr Dev Singh Mohan?"

"And can you be a little respectable towards me, Dr Shaurya Singh Mohan? You should be grateful to me. If I'd not insisted you, you wouldn't be here all smiles with your wife right now."

Dev argued winking at Manjiri. She smiled looking down. Shaurya rolled his eyes and stretched his arm to place it on Dev's shoulder telling him,

"Respect is commanded and not demanded. Anyways, thanks. And I really mean it this time."

"And I'm sorry for the way I behaved that day. I was so wrong about that." Dev muttered placing his palm against Shaurya's hand. Forcing out a smile, he repeated Shaurya's words, "I really mean it this time."

Shaurya turned to Manjiri. Her lips drew into a complacent smile assuring him that she would try level best to right all the wrongs. He smirked turning back at Dev.

"But I only accept cash apologies."

Dev shook his head and gave Shaurya a challenging smug.

"You know just a while ago, Vidhi was telling me that zombies eat brains. I should have told her that her Fufaji is safe if that's the scene."

Manjiri instantly started giggling. Dev joined her too. However, Shaurya took some time to decipher Dev's statements. He was supposed to be frowning at that but he chose not to, when he found the other two laughing merrily. His lips unknowingly got twitched on hearing Manjiri's hearty laugh.

Although, after some time, the happy looks on their faces shrank when Dev stated.

"However, you guys would face a problem with Ved Bhai. He's going to be very difficult for you both equally. He seems very disappointed this time."

The heavy silence which instantly took over was interrupted by Jai as he was making his way inside the house with a whining Vidhi in his arms.

"Stop it na, Vidhi. It'll be fine soon. Aren't you the strongest girl?"

"Hey, what happened to our highness?"

Dev asked as Manjiri neared Jai, trying to take Vidhi in her arms. But Vidhi didn't let her grip go weak around her father's neck, thus wordlessly telling others to not separate her from him.

"Our highness had a very dramatic fall outside."

Jai muttered shaking his head and rocking his baby girl, his palm caressing her head back and forth. Dev remarked going behind Jai to look at Vidhi's face.

"It must have been royally then."

Two of the men broke into low chuckles at Vidhi's expanse, thus making her whine more loudly. Manjiri came to the rescue almost immediately,

"Shh! My baby got injured and you're busy laughing, Bhaiya. It's very bad. I'll make a complain to Jiya Bhabhi of how you're making fun our Vidhi. That too when she's in pain."

Looked at Manjiri, giving her a careful stare, Vidhi leaned over and clawed at her arms till her father let her go. Cocooning to her chest, the little girl demanded in a weak tone. Her tears moistening Manjiri's top.

"Bua, call Mumma now."

"What?... No!"

That came out sharp from Jai's mouth. Shaurya couldn't help but stifle up his amused look at then. He then observed his wife taking her little niece towards the hand pump. She made her rinse her bruised knee.

By the time Manjiri brought Vidhi back, Jai was ready with an ointment in his hand. Taking it from Jai's hands, Manjiri settled down making Vidhi sit on her lap. She peered down at the girl who had now stopped crying, running her hand over her niece's unruly hair and gently pushing it back.

"Will call Mumma in a short while, but first will you allow me put a cream on your wound."

"No."

Vidhi whined cocooning to Manjiri's chest again. She hated the burning sensation caused by the ointments.

Jai sighed. He could deal with nearly anything but just couldn't do anything when his daughter acted like that. The last thing he wanted her to get on a crying spree needlessly again. She really used to give him a hard time in certain aspects.

Shaurya settled down beside Manjiri on the sofa, he asked softly when Vidhi looked at him with her cheek placed on Manjiri's chest.

"Is it hurting too much, Vidhi?"

Vidhi could only nod at that. Shaurya looked up at Manjiri signalling her something with his eyes and then looked down at the little girl again.

"Oh! But you didn't tell me how you got injured. Was it your fault or someone else's?"

Just an initiation was required and Vidhi got started with her tale by moving her hands here and there in an animated way.

"You know, Fufaji, I was running very carefully. That big stone, the one behind the baby Tulsi plant, itself came in between."

Nodding at her, Shaurya secretly forwarded his hand towards Manjiri. Taking the cue, Manjiri immediately spread some ointment on his forefinger.

"Really? Then?"

"Then I toppled over it and..."

No sooner did Vidhi start feeling something warm and prickly against her skin, then she looked down at her knee. .

"Don't you think we should remove that stone from there. Gul can also get hurt with it, no?"

Shaurya smiled drawing her attention back

Jai who sat across the centre table was looking at the scene before him carefully. He was aware of the fact that Vidhi had developed a swift liking towards Shaurya, her endless talks since the time he returned home early that morning hinted that. She wouldn't have let him touch her wound otherwise.

It seemed that his daughter had warmed up to Shaurya pretty soon, perhaps he should too. He wasn't a stranger after all. He was his dearest Minnie's husband.

Soon Mrs Megha Rao called everyone for breakfast. Manjiri set the table just the way her aunt instructed her to.

"Aunty, I've got something." Dev approached Manjiri's aunt and placed a card before her on the table. He added when she started going through it. "Dadi and Maa asked me to hand it over to you. They wanted to personally invite you. They'd called yesterday but then Bhabhi informed that you had already slept. So this..."

( Credits - ShreyasiBala9
A musical video of the e-card is also available on this Instagram account - 'sonali_nefelibata')

Dev couldn't speak further when the senior lady closed the card and looked up. There was something about Mrs Megha Rao which made her appear strict to the eyes of others. Not many could dare to speak in front of her. And surprisingly, Dev too landed among the list of those many.

"Thank you. I accept this with pleasure. I'm definitely looking forward for your wedding, young man." She added drawing her lips to form a smile, "Now, come and have breakfast. I heard you got a sweet tooth. So Jalebis are right here waiting for you."

"Thank you so much, Aunty. But my quota for sweets has exhausted since I'd already managed to have 2 from Vidhi's hands early in the morning."

"Come on, these don't hurt. Two are nothing. Have it with curd to balance out." Mrs Megha Rao then added looking at Shaurya, "Shaurya Ji, you too please have a seat."

If truth be told then Shaurya wasn't really in the mood of eating something so sweet and oily for breakfast. He was never fond of Jalebis. But since Manjiri's aunt herself served his plate, he couldn't say a no.

His gaze then stopped at Manjiri who was inquisitively looking at him. He threw a careful look around the table and swiftly winked at her when he found no one was looking at them. In response, her eyes flew open a little wider in surprise. Her blush grew deeper and she looked away in an instant.

His heart filled up with joy as he took a note of the pink shade of shyness which was colouring up her cheeks. He couldn't tell if it was makeup that made her cheeks appear pink or his gaze or those moments. But then he remembered, she was never a fan of makeup. Hence, that first option automatically got cancelled out there.

From time to time, her eyes would look at him and dart away the moment he caught her doing so.

_

_

_

"Car has gone for servicing, Bachha, and look there's so much heat outside. You'll only complain afterwards on the bike. Therefore, stay home. Daddy will come back within an hour. Promise!"

Shaurya heard Jai tell that to his daughter. But that little girl wasn't ready to oblige.

"No, I also want to go to the market."

Manjiri approached the father-daughter duo with two big, empty cloth bags in hands. Jai had to buy some necessary stuff for Friday's prayer meet.

"Try and understand. You'll get bored. Be with Bua and watch TV..."

"No, no, no. I don't like TV but market."

Declaring that Vidhi ran away snatching bike's keys from Jai's hand. Jai gasped helplessly,

"This girl..."

Before Jai could think of following his daughter to get back the keys from her, Shaurya suggested barging in.

"Let's take my car. This way things would be easier."

"No, please. Don't bother. It won't take me much time." Jai felt hesitant in agreeing to Shaurya's offer. He added forcing out a sly smile,"She has turned very stubborn lately. I just go and get my bike keys from her."

"Not just Vidhi but I too want to go to the market. So please, Jai Bhaiya. Moreover, she is already struggling with her injury. Distracting her mind from her knee would be a good thing."

Shaurya muttered making Manjiri to look at him with a soft gaze. In that moment, she found herself falling a little more in his love.

She wasn't blind to all the extra efforts he was taking to fit in her world. She always wanted that. She always wanted him to acknowledge her family. She knew he didn't have a positive image of Jai in his mind. It wouldn't be a wrong thing to say that Shaurya disliked Jai, but the way he just addressed him didn't appear fake. It was real and none other than her could know it better.

Jai was equally taken aback with surprise. A part of him felt a little guilty for his prior thoughts for Shaurya. Shaurya was definitely not what he had assumed. He sighed, a contented small smile made a way to his lips inadvertently. Shaurya responded noticing that,

"I'm taking that as a yes. Let's go and call Vidhi then."

_

_

_

With a heap of sun dried clothes in hands, Manjiri walked inside the room. Shaurya followed her into the room after making sure that others were in the drawing hall busy watching TV.

Keeping the clothes on the side of the bed to fold them afterwards, Manjiri turned towards the door to walk out. But on seeing him getting inside the room, her steps faltered.

Shaurya pulled her closer as his other hand went to shut the door.

"Finally! Mrs Shaurya Singh Mohan is available."

"I was here only. You only were unavailable."

Manjiri replied with a hint of a smile on her face.

They hadn't gotten a single private moment since their last uninterrupted series of moments. However, they were more than happy to receive each other's endearing attention in the form of intense stares, teasing blushes and inviting smiles time and again.

Bringing his face in line with hers, he intently looked into her eyes. She blushed and turned to the side. An easy smirk lifted the corner of his lips.

"So someone was keeping an eye on me."

"Can say."

Barely she could mutter that when she felt his warm breaths washing her cheek and jaw. Her eyes got shut on their own anticipating his next move. However, before he could go on what was on his mind, Vidhi's loud bossy voice broke their moment.

"No, she is my Bua. She'll only talk to me. You both go back to your home. You both are bad children."

"Dammit!"

Shaurya whispered and Manjiri gently pushed him back. She was kind of sure that Vidhi was bossing Shama's kids around again. She was aware of the fact that Vidhi at times used to face a problem in getting along with them. Moreover, since she was 3 to 4 years younger than them so she never used to be easy with them whenever they used to tease her or boss over her. And perhaps, presently again she was not ready to let them take the lead.

"Bua said that she won't talk to anyone if you'll not let me play with Gul. She doesn't want to see your faces since you pushed me yesterday."

"Really?"

Shaurya probed getting amused by Vidhi's pointed statements. God! Those kids were really having a hard time.

"No." Manjiri chuckled. "She loves making up things. I just go and check what she is up to, otherwise soon rain of arguments will start pouring in."

"Don't." Shaurya held her wrist, thus stopping her to leave him. "She is smart enough to deal anything."

"She's extra smart. If she doesn't talk to any of them, then she doesn't even allow them to come near me."

Manjiri spoke out chuckling. Shaurya remarked, his hand travelling from her wrist to her fingers.

"Don't laugh on her. I find her smarter than you and Dev combined."

Manjiri gasped.

"How rude!"

"Rude? But according to someone, I was a good person in the morning."

Shaurya whispered coming closer to her as she locked her fingers with his. She shifted a little as a wave of heat washed her from head to toe thinking about the events which took place in the morning.

But what he spoke next, instantly brought her back to the predictive reality. A reality to which she couldn't turn a blind eye.

"I'll leaving within three hours. And it's important you know..."

"I know."

She blinked and gave a slight nod. Shaurya didn't know why was he finding it hard to speak that to her. He didn't feel like that before. In fact, he never used to inform her about any of his prospective plans. She never asked and he never told. She eventually used to get the information of his leaving via others or when he used to inform his mother.

"I'll not be getting leaves for Dev's wedding if I don't go to Chandigarh this time. So you see it's very important..."

She immediately intervened lowering her face.

"Shaurya, please, don't embarrass me. These explanations are really not needed. I never had any complaints with regard to your work. I know how passionate you're for your work commitments. Which wife in the world doesn't want her husband to be proceeding towards his dreams, success?" She sighed. She wanted to add more but just couldn't, "But it was just that..."

"I understand."

He gently leaned closer and placed his forehead against hers. Moments later, when she made sure that she was not going to cry no matter what, she looked up to find him already looking at her. She offered him a small reassuring smile. He took his sweet time to return that back.

"You mentioned in your letter about your medals, trophies and parents' belongings. Don't you want to show them now?"

She attempted to confirm in a barely audible tone.

"You really want..."

He smiled and whispered, exactly in the same tone as her, under his breath.

"Yes, Silly Head."

"That soft kind of love where we melt at just one look at each other............................."

~~~

[ I tried to keep my words as simple as I like them to be. Writing clean is always my preference. I didn't know if I was able to do justice with your expectations or not, but I know that I tried my best.

If my efforts were able to touch your heart then do vote and follow my profile.

If not then that's perfectly fine too.

Can I complete 1K followers before the completion of this book? Cause now hardly 4 chaps to go.]

~~~

Dear ones, do share your honest views on this chap and the story, as this is the only source of motivation which literally pushes me to pen down.
This can also help me in improving. So yes, eagerly waiting now.

I would really appreciate if each one of you will come and put forward your genuine reviews + expectations from me and
"JI HUZOORI".

~~~

This is it for now. Hope you liked it. I am sorry for the mistakes.

In case if you want to share your views or suggest something, you are more than welcome.

⭐My sincere request to all the SILENT READERS - Do vote this chap.⭐

Till then take care and stay connected.

Love ♥️✨