chapter : 22
staking claim

heey!! well. this chapter? enjoye ;)

if we get the avg vote counts and comments, i promise to post the next chapter way before Wednesday, it's already written ;)

happy reading!

well someone suggested me to put vote targets so here we go trying this method as well. XD

65 votes

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k a b i r
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She is fucking angry?

The moment our house clicks open, she shrugs her shoulders and hurtles her way inside. She stomps her feet angrily making her way to her room.

I throw the car keys, settling myself on a beanbag, in the living room. I bring the laptop kept on the coffee table closer, placing it on the pillow over my lap. I was working when she had finally replied to my text messages and left immediately.

I try focussing but to no avail. My mind keeps wandering to the images of Noor and that pest. He keeps flittering around her. Keeps stealing glances whenever she isn't looking. I am pretty sure he had ulterior motives when he offered to drop her home.

Even today while they were voted badly, he still had a smile on his face. A chance to spend more time with my wife. The potluck went longer than it was planned, even then, he kept talking to her.

Seeing him be so unhinged with my Noor, I almost stormed into the room, wanting to separate his hand from her shoulder.

My Noor?

I am not even bothering to conceal my feelings.

She doesn't realise this but I can sense the way he looks at her. That's how I look at her. Stealing peeks whenever she isn't paying attention.

In the past month, she had managed to gently conquer and capture my mind, soul and...hea— No. Her being unapologetically herself, her silly habits, and her ready-to-fight attitude, have cast a spell on me.

I detest how she keeps her clothes unfolded in the cupboard, I detest how she has her snarky remarks always ready, I detest how she goes crazy for her favourite show and I absolutely detest the way she is pulling me deep into this trench of emotions.

I can't. I shouldn't. But, everything seems so easy with her. She makes the art of falling in love appear so easy. This petrifies me.

'Noor, why are your dirty clothes heaped on the chair?'

'They are good clothes.'

'Then keep them in the cupboard.'

'No. They aren't clean enough.'

'So dump them in the laundry.'

'Noo. They aren't dirty.'

'What do you mean?!'

'I have worn those jeans only once, those shirts I had only worn for some hours. So they can be re-worn but they aren't clean to be mixed with the other good ones in my closet.'

'Is that your logic?'

'It's almost everyone's logic. Can't help it when you are a neat freak.'

It scares me. Terrifies me. Makes me want to crawl in a foetus position and let this phase pass. It has me worried, uncertain and unsettled. It raises doubts within me. Makes me want to rethink everything.

I am drowning. I am being pulled to the bottom. My lungs are exhausted. My heart's palpating. My mind's numb. My limbs are kicking and wailing. Every effort goes in vain, with no futile attempts.

As much as I deny it, in my heart, I know that I have fallen, almost, but I am there. Irrevocably and Irreparable. I have lost the very organ that I deemed useful only for living purposes.

'Twenty questions? That's stupid. Let me sleep.' I had begun to get up but she clutched my hand and pulled me back on the sofa.

The leather flushed at my weight. She turned around, crossed her legs in the Indian Style and granted me all of her attention.

'I am bored.' She stated.

'Go watch television.'

'No, I want to play.'

'Something normal then.'

'Truth and dare? But trust me, you wouldn't be spared.'

'Twenty questions it is then.'

'Favourite colour?'

'I don't have one.'

'Everyone has one, Kabir!'

'Colours don't fascinate me.'

'Impossible. Kabir, the world's painted in thousands of shades. Hues that mix so well, that beautifies the surroundings. Enjoying the scenery or greenery or buildings or even those files you read in a robot fashion, there's colour in everything.'

'Well, I haven't ever thought of that.'

'We'll figure it out soon.' She assured me.

'Okay. Next, what's the one thing that scares you the most?'

My answer was almost instant. Unpracticed and slurped out of my mouth.

'Love.'

'I— You know what Kabir? Love's the scariest emotion but the easiest to experience.' She had smiled at me. Easing my disturbed heart.

'Okay next—'

'Aren't we supposed to ask each other questions? You have been taking my chance without a single hitch.'

'I thought you weren't interested. Okay, ask.'

'What's love for you, Noor?' I wanted to hear it. It made sense.

'Shouldn't you start with basics first? Colours, food, place etc?'

'I am well versed with the basics, wifey.'

She looked confused. Her expression then morphed from confusion to doubt. She thought I was lying.

'Are you?' She challenged.

'You love those stupid neon colours, that pop off everything and anything. That announces your presence even before you enter. It pokes my eyes, by the way. Food? You love it all. You are basically cheating on me with burgers and fries and obviously your coffee. Place? You love spending time at home, it's your space. You like seeing places but you always want to come back home. I am well aware of the basics, Noor. I need more, now.'

She was stunned into silence. Shunned by my answers. Blushed and gulped. Scanned everywhere except at me.

'Love, you asked? It's a perplexing and frightening feeling that has no discernible beginning or end. It just begins. Smacks you right on your face, hitting you and tantalising. It sucks the soul out of you but puts it back again together, without any apparent reason or explanation. You just sink and drown deeper into it but happily.

I had sat there listening to her words, it clicked with my doubts. Answered the questions I never thought of. The realisation of my feelings had hit me some weeks into our marriage. It wasn't a one-moment decision. I was long gone before I dared to accept it.

Noor Shekhawat Sood stepped into my world and turned it brighter with her blinding choice of colours.

The conversation that had knocked my senses back to its rightful place was with Jay.

'You are smiling.' Jay had commented the moment he entered my office. He was on site for some work and decided to grace me with his presence.

'I can't smile?'

'It's not that you can't. It's something you don't do normally. So what's the reason?'

'Why would I need a reason to smile.' I swatted my hand in the air, to shoo him away. Instead, he had rounded my table, bending to see me at eye level.

'Is the person outside the reason behind your smile?'

'Who is outside?' I tried acting nonchalant but him being Jay, how could he ever let me be in peace?

'Kabir Sood. What happened?'

'Nothing..'

He had straightened up, adjusted his suit and walked to the door.

'Okay then. I will ask her directly.'

'No!' I had run behind him. Pulled him back inside and scolded him for his audacity.

'Now, tell.'

'Uhm. We just fought.'

'And you are smiling?'

I recited the reason I was smiling despite our fight. In the morning, I was running late. I had accidentally stayed a little longer in my gym.

Our breakfast was ready by the time I had rushed to get ready. She was already eating by then. It took me some more time to get ready and decided to skip my food so that I could arrive on time for the meeting but she had dragged me with my necktie.

Reproaching me of not taking good care of my health, she kept on saying and taunting me. I had given her some replies back but she kept chastising me. Even though I acted pissed, her care had stirred me.

'So...'

'Okay. You win.' I had confessed.

'Wait. What? That means..'

'You were right. I always liked her. Now I—.'

'How did your cold heart finally warm up?'

'She just barged in. She questioned every rule I follow. She keeps fighting me. She pushed the wall I spent so much time building, she cares for me. She makes me feel things, I promised I would never experience.'

'Bro..'

'I know. And it terrifies me.'

Even then I couldn't utter the word, the emotion I had started to experience. The seed of this feeling has been sown, it is reaping and flourishing.

Since then I have been harbouring feelings for her. Increasing in amplitude with every passing day. She makes me feel a little more with every morning I wake up.

I really don't think she is fazed by these feelings. She has taken my words so seriously, and I don't expect anything else from her. It was me who had built this wall, and kept that condition. Forced her to maintain her distance. Put her off.

How can I expect her to have the same feelings as me? I had left no stones unturned to push her away.

Noor is an enigma, a mystical mystery. She possesses some kind of magical powers one that has successfully turned me into this confused creature. She is a person who makes you feel secure, who makes you laugh, cares for you so genuinely and pushes you to be better.

She is colour. She is the palette, one that can paint your blank paper on the easel into a masterpiece. She is the artist and the mind and the hues. She is everything. She makes life a better place by just existing.

We still bicker and taunt but her moving into our house changed things. Until now we knew each other on a professional level, but now? I know her personal life well. I know she wakes up groggy, how obsessed she is with coffee, and how much she loves her sitcom shows, I am aware of how indecisive she is over food, and how much she cares for her family and friends. Today, I know Noor like the back of my hand.

She makes those cute furrows in her brows when she is confused. How her full lips pout when she is disappointed or wants something from you. Her eyes flutter sweetly like she has a mischief up her sleeve. She loves her hair down but prefers to tie it in the office for work.

Once you know someone so well, how can you not let yourself feel something for them? It doesn't have to be romantically, but how can you stop your heart from caring for them a little more? I need to put a brake on my cardiac muscles because clearly they are pushing all the wrong signals to the brain but it feels like I am paralysed. I am just enduring this and well...enjoying it.

A loud thud sound of the door banging brings me back to the present. She enters the hall, in her night suit. A loose top and shorts. Her long legs in display as she enters the kitchen. She has kept her hair open, locks flying and waving.

Getting the plates out, she makes so much noise. It would have felt like a normal mistake but I know she is doing it deliberately. She knows the sounds of crockery clunking irritate me.

She rams the drawers close, and takes her sweet time choosing her culinary set, making those piercing sounds.

Her actions are so planned that it does manage to increase my temper. She is pouring herself a big glass of coffee at night when she knows that it makes it difficult for her to sleep.

My patience is really tested when she finally warms the food and mixes spoons of pepper and red chilli powder in the food. She exactly knows that I can't tolerate spice well.

From the very look on her face, I know she is doing all of this intentionally, all to extract a reaction out of me. And well, if that's her aim, she is fucking successful.

I quickly shove the laptop that rests on my lap aside, realising I haven't managed to squeeze in even a small portion of work.

This girl is a scourge.

"Can you stop doing that?" My voice booms amongst the sounds made by the spoons and plates.

"What?" She acts so innocent and smiles at me.

"You know what you are doing. Why the hell are you suddenly turning into Gordon Ramsay, sprinkling spices as if you are giving an audition? Funny, I don't think you even know how to cook in the first place."

We are in the kitchen, her stomach leaning against the island and I am on the other side. A marbled table top separates us. The island has an electric stove on it, where Ma'am is showcasing all her culinary skills.

"Is that judgement in your tone I hear?"

"It's not my mistake that you missed out on that skill."

"Well, at least I just don't have one skill to boast about."

"Why are you being so difficult!?" Exasperated and tired words. I should be the only one allowed to be angry. She is the one who didn't reply to my texts, she left me on seen, she has been behaving so rudely and I don't even know what I did to deserve it. And if these weren't enough, she had to take a lift from the man who has feelings for her.

"I am being difficult?" She strides, moving around the island and closes the distance between us. Cornering me against the kitchen island, she glares at me.

Her tiny frame squashes against my chest. Raising on her tiptoes, her fingers clasp one side of my V-neck. She pulls me down. Our noses abetting.

"You bother me so much. So fucking much."

Her warm breath mingles with mine, intensity radiates from her orbs. Her lips are puckered in a frown, her forehead wrinkled in anger.

"I bother you? Last I remembered you didn't talk to me the entire day."

"You make me so angry, Kabir." Whisper of words.

"Do you need a mirror? Because I am not sure if you are describing me or yourself."

"What were you doing with that Kimaya huh?" There it is. Her nose flares and her eyes fire up.

"What was I doing? She is Mr Shah's daughter, what does she have to do with your anger?"

"She was flirting with you. And you let her."

Her gaze pointy, demanding answers. There's an edge to her tone, condescending and disdainful. There's a swirl and a kindle.

Is she jealous? Wait. Is that what I think it is?

She is the one being jealous? Doesn't she even realise that I can't even fathom looking at anyone else except her? She has ruined me completely. All of this while she spends time with that man who clearly is waiting for his chance.

We have an angry staring game on, we don't move our eyes, we just look. Measured breathing and in the same exact position.

"Why are you looking at me this way?" She pointedly comments.

"I feel infuriated."

"And why is that so?" Scoffing at my audacity.

"Because, Noor, I can't figure out if I should scream at you or have you screaming for me." And that does shun her to silence.

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(warning: next chapter has a descriptive content that might not resonate with some. incase you aren't a fan of such scenes, please feel free to avoid those. smut is a part of story but does not make or break the entire story.)

thank you for reading.

royally yours,
meethi.