"Nila!" Anuradha called out again for the umpteenth time.

"What is wrong with you? Why are you calling her like this instead of going out and telling her what you want to say? Is the door jammed?" asked Narain in exasperation, over the volume of the shower.

"It's not opening! I think she locked it from the outside."

"What? First this shower tap and now the door. Why is everything going wrong today? Let me try and see if I can fix this tap first."

"You've been trying for quite a while." Anuradha folded her arms, feeling bored.

"I'm not a plumber so obviously, I don't really know how to fix this." After placing the tap back in its place, Narain turned it and turned it to either sides but the shower did not turn off.

He banged the tap in exasperation but the water spray was inextinguishable. He stood back and let himself get drenched under the shower in an effort to cool his mind.

Watching him, Anuradha laughed a bit. "Hey, what are you doing? Using the opportunity to have a shower?"

He glanced at her, with a smirk. "Why waste the water?"

"Good, good." She suppressed a laugh and turned her face away. "Okay, leave that tap. Try to open this door at least if it's possible."

Stepping away from the bathtub, he headed towards the door, wiping his wet face with his hands. He shook his head a bit to get rid off the excess water, and unknowingly the water from his hair sprinkled onto her face and hair.

He tried to open the door but when it did not work, he tried checking if there was a way to open it through the gap in the door. But it was not possible unless it was unlocked from the outside.

Soon, he gave up and started calling out at the top of his voice, "Nila!"

When he heard no response over the volume of the shower, he started banging on the door, hoping Nila would hear.

Anuradha joined him in banging on the door and calling out to Nila in unison.

Unfortunately, Nila did not hear them in her deep sleep, also due to the volume of the water spray in the bathtub.

Giving up at last, Narain headed towards the bathtub again. "She must have slept."

"Yeah, I'm the one who told her to close the door. I should have let her leave it open. But she was just trying to come in and play with the water with her feet whenever she could while we were trying to fix the tap." Anuradha sighed.

"Thank you very much," spoke Narain in frustration, through gritted teeth.

"What if she had slipped and fell while she was splashing the water everywhere with her feet and we were not looking? That's why I told her to go out and close the door," Anuradha tried to explain in guilt. "I didn't expect she would lock us in like this."

Narain remained silent.

"You can't open the door anyhow?" asked Anuradha in disappointment.

"No." He paused. "If it was my apartment or somewhere else, I would have just tried to break open the door at least."

"Then, why don't you try to break it open now?"

"First of all, the tap is broken. Do you want to show our friends that we've broken their bathroom door as well when they get back later?"

Anuradha remained silent and averted her gaze.

He ran his hand through his hair, wondering what to do when he decided to try to fix the tap once more, patiently this time. He squatted down outside the bathtub and removed the tap again.

Anuradha moved closer to see what he was doing.

He checked it patiently and tried to fix it this time but though the tap stayed in place, the shower did not stop even after turning it to both sides completely.

He stood up suddenly and turned to see Anuradha standing right before him. She practically jumped back nearer to the bathtub and water from the full force of the shower into the bathtub splashed more onto her and the front of her dress again. She stepped back and away from the bathtub with a frown.

Frustrated over the fact that he was locked into the bathroom with her and the shower refused to turn off, Narain banged his fist on the tap. It moved inwards a bit with the impact and the shower turned off.

"Phew, finally! You did it!" exclaimed Anuradha.

Narain turned back in shock and realized that the shower had turned off.

"Good job, man! You said you're not a plumber so you don't know how to fix it but you managed to do it after all." Anuradha glanced at him.

"Well, I didn't know it was waiting for my anger." His eyes did not leave the shower tap.

Anuradha giggled. "Yeah, maybe your anger has its charm."

"Charm?"

"Yeah, maybe. Or maybe it just didn't want to make a grumpy man more angry."

"Hmm hmm, maybe. It's annoying just like you."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you."

"Annoying is not a compliment."

"When I said you're so bad at the beach, you said thanks like it's some big compliment. So I'll take your 'annoying' as a compliment too."

"Your mind has lost some screws."

"If that is so, even yours has lost some."

"If I continue talking with you, my mind will surely lose all its screws."

"Good one, then my mind will have more screws than you do. But I'll lose all the remaining screws if I have to deal with you longer."

Amused, Narain glanced at Anuradha and the two of them burst out laughing, realizing what a silly argument they were having.

As his eyes shifted away from her face towards the bathtub, he accidentally noticed that her white nightdress was wet in front and thus transparent over the front of her body. Anuradha looked down and upon noticing the transparency of her wet nightdress all the way down till her navel, she felt exposed before him and turned away, folding her arms and trying to cover her front with her hands.

With his eyes fixed on the bathtub, he pulled off his wet sleeveless nightshirt over his head and extended it towards her. "Here, wear this."

She glanced at him. So movie style! "No thanks." I can stand with my back to you.

Losing his calm, he just threw his nightshirt over to her shoulder without looking at her and seated himself inside the wet bathtub on one end. She caught his nightshirt quickly before it slipped off her shoulder and hesitated for a moment before pulling it over her nightdress. It was dark and thus, made her feel more comfortable instantly.

"How long do you intend to stand there like a statue?" Narain ran his hand through his hair in an effort to dry it.

"How long do you intend to sit inside here?"

"Why do you have to counter a question with a question? Can't you answer it first?"

"Even you didn't answer my question. And I don't know, that's why I didn't answer you. When can we get out of here? It's so late and I'm so tired. I just want to go to bed and I can't and that's so frustrating, you know."

With a bland voice, Narain replied, "Even I am tired and frustrated. But there's no point standing there. You'll just get even more tired. You could come and sit here." Narain gestured towards the other end of the bathtub with a bored expression.

Anuradha hesitated reluctantly before going over and seating herself at the other end of the wet bathtub, hugging her knees. Her eyes fell on his bare chest and she quickly averted her gaze. They were feeling a little squeezed and Narain shifted his legs around, trying to find place and get into a comfortable position.

Anuradha glared at him. "How long will we sit like this?"

"Until Nila wakes up?"

"When will she wake up? Usually she'll wake up in the middle of the night only to go to the bathroom. She just went to the bathroom a short while back. Will she wake up soon?"

"I. Don't. Know. We have to wait and see."

"If she doesn't wake up soon, she'll wake up late in the morning like usual. And I'll be late for work. And without any sleep tonight, tomorrow's going to be an awful day!"

"Why do you talk like you're the only one with all the problems in the world? Even I will be late if she wakes up as usual."

"You are used to sleeping very few hours at night. I am not."

"Hmm."

"Talking about that, one night I had heard you talking something in your sleep when I woke up in between. What happened? Was it a dream or do you always talk in your sleep?"

Narain glanced at her with a grim expression before averting his gaze in silence.

"What happened?" asked Anuradha, noticing the graveness in his face.

"Nothing. That is how I am."

"Okay, Mr Mysterious."

"Yea, Miss Inquisitive."

Anuradha rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. As Narain watched her with a bored yet amused look, she broke into a smile and tried to suppress it. He looked away with a small smile turning one corner of his lips.

"We really like arguing for no reason." She voiced the thought that crossed her mind.

"Yeah."

"Like Uncle and Aunty." Anuradha smiled a bit, remembering the elderly couple whose golden anniversary party they had been to the day before.

Narain glanced at her to ask who, but realized that he didn't have to since he knew who she was talking about. "But we are not like them."

"Yeah, they fight because of their love. But we fight because of what? Hatred? Definitely not love."

Narain smiled a bit and agreed. "Definitely not love."

"What do you feel when you see them? Isn't their love so beautiful? Like when I see the way they look at each other itself, I feel something deep inside my heart. A kind of warmth. The love for each other in their eyes just makes me smile. It's like wow, such beautiful true love stories do exist in real life. What do you feel when you see them?"

Narain averted his gaze, with an expressionless face. "What is there to feel? They are just lucky."

Lucky? Anuradha watched him in confusion for a moment before pondering over what he had said. "I know right. They are just lucky actually."

Silence lasted for more than a few minutes before Narain spoke.

"Once, someone asked me to promise her that I would never stop loving her. I gave her my word but I did not think of asking her to promise me that she would never stop loving me. I didn't feel the need to ask. When she wants me to never stop loving her, I thought... she would never stop loving me either. But she.... I never stopped loving her. Never. No matter how helpless I felt at one point, no matter how hurt I was, no matter how angry I was at one point, no matter how guilty I felt, I never stopped." Loving her.

Anuradha watched him, momentarily stunned by his confession about his love for his wife. "Did she stop loving you?" The question slipped from her mouth before she could stop herself.

The moment his fiery red eyes met hers, she regretted her question.

"No, it's okay. Don't answer me!" She pleaded instantly.

He averted his gaze and she heaved a sigh in relief that he had not flared up on hearing her question.

Another long couple of minutes of silence stretched between them.

Back to his calm self again, Narain suddenly felt a catch in his calf muscle due to the uncomfortable position in which he had been sitting. Holding onto the side of the bathtub, he brought himself up to a standing position and stretched his leg to release the cramp in his calf muscle.

Anuradha watched him in silence but remained silent, deciding not to ask anything in case he looked at her with his fiery eyes or called her inquisitive again if she did.

He stepped out of the bathtub and paced to and fro a few times before returning to the bathtub. The bathtub was still wet from the shower's water spray earlier and so were his feet. He seated himself again in an uncomfortable position. He got up to change his position when his leg slipped and he started falling backwards. He reached out his hands to hold on to the sides of the tub before he hit his head but one hand accidentally hit a soap bar perched on its stand.

Instinctively, Anuradha reached over and cradled his head in her arms before his head hit the hard side of the bathtub. Their eyes locked for a moment and they froze in that position.

Narain was directly below her and she was above him. Their eyes were merely an inch or two away from each other's. They could feel each other's breath on their lips; that was how close they were. As they stared at each other in silence, their faces unknowingly moved closer. Their wet lips were about to touch when the soap bar, which had been trying to balance at the edge of its stand after Narain's hand hit it, fell between their faces, jolting them out of their trance.

Narain turned his face away at once and Anuradha gasped before letting go of his head instantly and moving back to her end of the bathtub. His head hit the side of the bathtub and he held it in pain before seating himself up again.

He looked away to the side still reeling in disbelief over what had almost happened between them. You promised your wife you would never stop loving her! What were you doing, Narain? You almost kissed Anu! Something was happening to me. I couldn't understand it myself. She is igniting sinful desires within me like no one has. This is wrong!

Anuradha bit her lip. What happened to you, girl? Are you stupid? What will he think of you now? How could you even think of kissing him? I don't know. I never felt like that before. Whatever it is, it felt good for a moment. But it is wrong!

Narain rubbed the area behind his head where he had hit the side of the bathtub before glaring at Anuradha.

"Is it still hurting?"

"No, it's feeling so wonderful," he answered sarcastically. "If you want to help, either you should help properly or don't help at all. Hadn't you helped, I would have held the sides of the tub in time and prevented my head from hitting the side. And if you wanted to help properly, you could have waited till I was in a safer position instead of letting go when I was completely unaware."

"Sorry."

"Whatever." He turned his face away.

"Do you think Nila might wake up looking for us?"

"We'll be lucky if she does. But we can't say, she is used to sleeping on her small bed alone so she might be fine there."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too."

There was another long silence before Anuradha rested her head on her hand on the side of the bathtub, feeling exhausted. Her eyes closed on their own and she drifted off to sleep.

Seeing her sleeping soundly, Narain rested his elbow on the side of the bathtub and let his head rest on his hand.

When Anuradha's head began to slip off her hand, Narain glanced at her. He hesitated for a moment before moving closer and supporting her head with his hand.

As he too fell asleep in an awkward position, her head shifted closer feeling the warmth of his hand. Feeling her soft hand near his head, he too moved his head onto her hand in his sleep.

Soon, her head lay on his shoulder and his head lay on her arm and they were sleeping comfortably with their heads close together on one end of the bathtub while their legs were towards the other end. The wet clothes she was wearing stuck to his wet body like it was glued. But the wetness or the proximity did not disturb their sleep as the warmth they received from each other's bodies helped them acquire a good night's rest.

***

Late in the morning, Nila woke up from her sleep as the sunshine from outside poured into the room near her face. She opened her eyes and looked around, clueless at first. That was when she remembered how she had fallen asleep late the night before while waiting for Anuradha and Narain to call her to open the door.

She sat up with a start and looked around to see the bedroom empty. Are Papa and Mama still inside bathroom? Mama and Papa didn't call me to open door or come out to sleep yet?

Nila ran towards the bathroom door. It was still locked from the outside. She unlocked it, feeling worried as she heard no sound from inside. She cautiously opened the bathroom door. There was no sign of anyone inside the bathroom and no movement at all.

Where did this Papa and Mama go? Did they get to open door and go out even though I locked it? Nila turned to head back out to the living room to see if they were there when she stopped in her tracks.

She slowly tiptoed towards the bathtub just to check if they were there by any chance. Her mouth fell open upon seeing the sight before her.

Anuradha and Narain were stuck together from head to toe and asleep comfortably inside the tub with his head on her arm and her head on his shoulder near his chest.

Papa and Mama is sleeping just like Daddy and Mommy sleep last time. But why is Papa and Mama sleeping inside tub? Why they didn't call me to open the door so they can sleep in bed? They like sleeping in tub? Who will sleep in tub? So funny this Mama and Papa! Nila burst out laughing.

Disrupted from their sleep, Narain and Anuradha opened their eyes at the same moment and were shaken on seeing their proximity. When had this happened? We had been sleeping so comfortably all night. Like this? So close? Seriously?

Hearing Nila's giggles, they looked up at her before jumping up onto their feet from their lying positions. They glanced at each other feeling embarassed before turning away.

They felt a pull on their closer hands and turned back to see their hands interlocked once again like it had been after the dance at the party.

They glanced from their interlocked hands to each other's faces with a slight frown. This was not the first time their hands had remained interlocked without their realization. Their hands let go but remained just millimetres away from each other's. The fact that they did not feel strange when their hands were interlocked was confusing them. In silence, they turned away from each other.

Narain headed towards the door with a frown before turning back to Nila, "Nila baby, please don't ever lock any door again on your own. If you want to lock, you ask Mama or Papa first, okay?"

"Okay, Papa." Nila nodded in agreement.

Narain walked out through the door.

"Please don't even close any door without asking. Who knows if it might get jammed?" Anuradha added as well before walking out of the bathroom with Nila.

***

Ready for work, Anuradha quickly headed towards the kitchen, muttering, "I'm so late today! When will I reach there if I leave now? I'm totally doomed."

Narain walked in behind her, dressed for work as well.

She drank a glass of water and was about to leave when Narain inquired, "Is ten minutes enough for you to reach your office?"

"Ten minutes? Are you kidding me? It will take at least twenty to twenty-five minutes to reach there."

"I'll drop you in your office in ten minutes. Shall we grab a sandwich and go?"

Anuradha turned and glanced at him in shock.

"Don't waste time thinking now."

"Can you drop me there in ten minutes?"

"Any doubt?"

Remembering his speed when he had driven her home after work the evening of the elderly couple's golden wedding anniversary party, Anuradha shook her head no.

"Then, what are you waiting for?"

"Nothing. Let's grab a sandwich and go now."

To be continued...

A/N: Hey peeps! Hope you liked the chapter.

How was their night in the bathtub? Waiting for your comments on this chapter. ;)

A big thank you to neha12056 and smiley020 for your suggestions for this chapter once again! I hope I have written it well enough. I wouldn't have been able to write the moments in this chapter without your suggestions.

Please vote, comment and share. :)