Shlok felt light on his shoulder when he woke up this morning. Opening his eyes slowly he looked at his side and found Dhwani not there. He sprinted up and looked around as all his sleep was gone by then. Pushing the quilt aside he walked out  to the washroom hoping she will be there. But he did not heard anything from the other side of the door which made it clear that his wife was not inside the room at all.

“Dhwani..” he walked towards the other parts of the home. He stopped at the door of the kitchen. She was all alone and his anger rose as he realized his mom again left her alone though he had warned so many times regarding the issue.

“Mom...” she called still facing her back to the door. Shlok's eyebrows knitted in confusion. “Dhwani...” her heart skipped a beat when she heard her husband. She turned with a apologetic look on her face. She expected what will happen next. Shlok will be angry on his mother again and he will not let Dhwani to enter the kitchen ever.

“Sok” she smiled at him weakly. Shlok who was standing with a serious face could not hold his laughter and roared with hysterics. Clutching his stomach he walked towards his wife who was not understanding what made her husband crack in a second.

Shlok smiled nodding his head as he stood in front of Dhwani and watched her. How adorable she looked. He looked at her amused for some more time. Dhwani looked up at him waiting for his reaction or the reason for change of reaction.

“What were you exactly doing?” he asked softly stepping near her and Dhwani's heart started to beat rapidly. She lost herself in staring him. She did not knew if she would want to see anything other than him right now.

“Dhwani” his calm and soothing voice made her blink her eyes and his hold on her shoulder made the butterflies in her stomach fly. She moved her gaze from watching his hands to his eyes. He tried to read what was running in her mind. But he could not. Because it was not her mind which was making her to act that way ; it was instead her heart.

She moved her hand to touch the sweat droplets forming on her forehead when she felt a grip on her wrist. She looked up again at her husband who was blocking her hand from touching her face.

“You have played enough holi with the dough biwi” he smiled and she shrank her eyes and he moved her hand aside and looked around to find a cloth. Slowly he moved the cloth over her face to wipe off the wheat flour which spread like it was part of her make up kit.

“I asked you something” he stared at her chin carefully wiping it. His finger brushed the skin near her lips and it sent thousands of shock waves all over her spine and she parted her lips.

He then looked into her eyes. “What?” he asked when he found her staring him. She gulped the lump formed in her throat.

“I was just mixing the dough” she pouted and Shlok chuckled nodding his head. Now his eyes moved to her forehead and he wiped the flour off without smudging the vermillion in her hairline and she closed her eyes when he stood still near to her. What was happening to her. Though he was just an inch away from her why was she feeling he is somewhere she can't even see him.

“Did you tried anything other than that?” he asked strictly and she nodded her head  deepening her eyes and he instantly knew she was telling a lie. He stood with his hands on his hips and glared his wife.

She gave him a sheepish smile. She slowly brought her left hand little finger which was cut slightly. She closed her eyes fearing her husband's outburst for her carelessness.

“What the hell?” he grabbed her hand and moved to the water sink in a hurry. “What do you think you are made up of? Steel?” he asked washing her finger. The blood had clotted already but he was anxious over it. “Sok...” Dhwani spoke watching him worrying over the injury.

“I am fine” she said trying to calm him but he was going to get calmed down so easily. His wife was hurt.
“Sok” she called when he kept washing the hand in the cold water. “Oh god” he said worried looking at her finger. “And with this you were still in the kitchen?” he cast an annoyed look to his wife who pouted like a small baby and he sighed as he realized he was getting hyper on her.

“Why do you do this Dhwani?” he asked helplessly still holding her finger in his hand. Dhwani watched how protectively his hand held her finger.

“I... I did not do on purpose” she looked down. “Come here” he dragged her into a warm embrace and she placed her head over his chest.

He rocked her holding her head. “I can't tolerate you in little pain also Mrs. Shlok. So please for my sake don't get hurt” he said kissing her hair and she smiled closing her eyes. She held him more tightly this time not willing to let him go.

“What are you making?” he brought her out of the hug. “I finished making Matar Paneer” she said excited and Shlok narrowed his eyes. “Mom was there at that time” she defended herself and he sighed. “Then how did this happen?” he brought her finger up. She pouted. “I... I was trying to open the flour packet” she said looking down and Shlok smiled finding her cute antics lovable.

“You could have asked some servants to do it” he crossed his arms giving her a look that he is annoyed at her still. “I looked around. But I did not found anyone” she kicked her leg in air slowly.

“And we don't cut the packets with knife Biwi. We use scissor” he ruffled her hair and she looked up at him surprised. “But scissors are cruel” she crossed her arms. Shlok looked at her confused. “Why?” he asked her. “Because they squeeze the packet before cutting it” she enacted and that made Shlok's smile reach his eyes. She gave him reasons every second to love her more than the previous second.

He squeezed her nose and dragged her to hug again. She drooled happy to be close to him.

“Why were you calling mom?” he asked. “I mixed the dough but did not knew it was okay” she looked up at him and he smiled at her and tugged her along to reach the spot where the dough Dhwani mixed lied.

“Were you making dosa?” he asked lifting the semi liquid paste with a spoon. “No... I was making Roti” she said innocently. “But it has become a dosa mix though” he said looking at the mix. “Oh no.. Mom has to mix it again” she said disappointed about herself.

“Don't worry Biwi. She will not mind it” Shlok smiled at her. “ I know she will not mind Sok” Dhwani did not look up. “I feel bad that she has to do it every single time. You know how much her hands pain due to it. I don't want to see her in pain” she looked into his eyes.

There was genuine concern in her tone and it made his heart melt.

“Let me teach you to fix it then” he held her shoulders giving an assuring smile. “You will?” she looked at him with all the sparks in the world in her eyes.

He moved her near the kitchen counter and stood beside her. He put some more floor and told her to mix it now. She did the same but it was not kneading properly. Leaving a deep sigh he stood behind her and aligned his hand with hers. Entangling his fingers with hers he pressed the dough and Dhwani felt her breath hitching as he squeezed her hands as he kneaded the dough.

Her fingers stopped moving feeling a peak of happiness as his hand touched hers. His head was near the crook of her neck and his breaths fanned her neck and made all her sense come alive in that special moment. “This is how you do it” he said in between the process. Dhwani was hardly recording anything as her mind was blank.

“Dhwani” he called her when she stopped moving long back. “Did you understood?” he asked and she had no answer. He assumed she hadn't learn it. “Let me teach you again” he started to knead the dough again and squeezed her hands.
“Sok” she whispered. He stopped and looked at back of her head. If there was a mirror in front of them he would have realized what effect he had on his wife with his closeness. She was a blushing mess.

“Hmmm” he hummed. “I...I...” she struggled to form words out of her dry throat. “What happened?” he asked confused. Dhwani took a deep breath and untangled her fingers from his and turned to face him.

He still was confused.

The moment she clasped her lips on to his he realized the meaning of flying in a high sly above the clouds. His eyes wide and ready fall off his eye socket. His eyes then moved to his wife who had closed her eyes while she kissed him passionately.

He moved his hand behind her and locked them to pull her to himself. His senses were blasting and all he could do was crave for her more and more. He pulled her as close as possible. He moved to her face and then to her neck. Dhwani felt her heart jumping to her stomach's pit when she felt his lips on her neck. She held his shoulders tightly.

Shlok was loosing his control which he did not wished to. Why was he behaving this way? “Why did you do that?” he whispered in her ear and his heavy breaths made her fold her toes and she placed her head over his chest.

“I... I don't know” she said innocently not understanding what got into her suddenly. She was craving for his closeness and she did not knew the reason for it.

She crumbled into a small form clutching to him while his uncontrolled hot breaths moved all over her face and on her neck.

She did not wanted this moment to end. “Dhwani...” he dragged himself away a bit and she felt so bad for it. “Sok...” she looked at him craving.

“I... I am sorry” he said panting for breath. He closed his eyes gulping through his dry throat.

“I...” he squeezed his eyes feeling guilty. And he did not knew how to explain it to her. “I...” he tried to reason.

He simply walked from there leaving Dhwani almost broken. She stared in the direction he walked. And there was a pain in her heart which did not seem like ending anytime soon.

“Dhwani...” her mother in law walked inside the kitchen. “You mixed the dough?” she asked looking at the vessel. She smiled when she found the consistency of it correct. “Dhwani” he called her daughter in law when she did not respond.

She was standing still. And that confused her. “Dhwani” she neared her daughter in law.

Dhwani did not respond still and stood staring the ground lost in her own world of grief. “Baby” she placed her hand on Dhwani's shoulder. She moved as she realized she was lost in an imaginary world. Were the things happened some time ago were also her imagination? She did not wanted it to be illusion.

“What happened?” she asked concerned. “Mom. Can I learn Roti making some other day?” she turned to her mother in law.

Though her mother in law knew her from a short time only she could guess something was wrong with her. But she smiled nodding her head instead of consulting. She thought confronting was not the answer right now.

Dhwani walked to her room and found Shlok not inside the room. She heard the sound of shower and moved towards it. “Sok” Shlok  jolted when he heard her voice. He opened the tap and tried to avoid her voice but was it possible. “Sok” her voice was low and he knew she was sobbing. He turned the tap more and avoided hearing her sound. Dhwani stood placing her hand over the door. She wanted to talk to him. She did not knew why was he avoiding her. What had she done.

Shlok closed his eyes. Though the hot water was pouring down he could feel his tears which were warmer. Dhwani walked out of the room sad. Shlok walked out of the washroom and looked around for his wife. His heart sure panicked not finding her but he had no courage to face her. How could he lose himself to his lust. How could he.

He banged his hand to the wall and it hurt. Dhwani who was in the dining room flinched as though feeling his pain. She wanted to run to him but she stopped herself realizing that he did not wanted to talk to her for an unknown reason.

She walked from there also and her steps neared the home temple. She stood and watched the god there. He was smiling peacefully. She remembered how Shlok's smile was also as divine and peaceful as it was of the God. A small smiled crept her lips.

Shlok walked out of the mansion with his laptop bag. He took a deep breath reaching the car. It was the first time he was out of the home without kissing the forehead or saying sweet good bye to his wife. He felt uneasiness raising in his heart.

He wanted to run back to her but he could not. He had to punish himself for what he did though Dhwani's act made him do so but he shouldn't have done it. In his point of view it was wrong. Very wrong.

He sat inside his car and drove off.

“Pooh bear” Ansh spoke happily as he received the call. His sister did not speak for some time and that made him worry. He  wasn't wrong. She was controlling her cry to sound normal.

“Zorro” she spoke with difficulty. She might learn to hide her emotions but she cannot master it to a level her Zorro will not understand it. He wanted to run to her. He wanted to ask her many questions. 'Try to make her learn. Though she fails she knows you will be there to pick her. But some times she has to learn to pick herself up. Because the day she learns it you are giving her the greatest care in the world. Doing the best thing for her' he remembered Ragini's advice and a tear tripped his eyes feeling her pain.

“What's special today? My Pooh bear has finally got time from her budhuram?” he tried to sound normal. Dhwani's face fell. She felt the peak of sadness growing inside her.

“I miss you” she said softly not ready to burst into a bitter cry. He folded his lips looking up to contain his tears.

“You wanna come home?” he asked and she thought for a while. “I should ask mom” she said and he nodded his head and waited for her reply.

“Mom said I can go” he said a bit relaxed and that made Ansh smile. “Okay. I will pick you up in some time okay” he said and she smiled nodding her head.

****.***

How was it?

I hope you liked the update. Okay I'm sorry dragging this so much. Running out of ideas.

Anyways enjoy it..

Love,
Sally