"Offo Shubhamji... mai kar lungi na..." Preeti whined, bending her legs and keeping one hand on her stomach. "Bass Mummyji ko boliye mai 5 minutes me aa rahi hu."

"5 minutes me aisa kaunsa jaadu honewala hai jo dard gayab ho jayega... Tum aaram karo, aaj mai chai banata hu." Shubham clicked his fingers after adjusting the pillows behind Preeti's back.

Before Preeti could counter more, Shubham disappeared from their bedroom. She sighed and leaned on the backrest of the bed. She utterly regretted drinking coffee at 10 o'clock last night on the insistence of Shubham. She found it so sweet when Shubham proposed to have a coffee at night and chatting in the balcony while it was raining. She chattered about the latest movies released in the month, i.e. 'Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi' and 'Chaahat'. Shubham wasn't a very keen person about movies but yesterday, he was listening to her with so much interest, adoring her when she was talking about Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan, the heroes of the films, very enthusiastically. He had also laughed hysterically when Preeti gossiped that Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tondon were having an affair.

But the coffee backfired on her as it induced her periods to come right by midnight. She couldn't sleep peacefully and has been suffering from cramps since this morning. Thankfully it was Sunday morning today and there was no rush in the kitchen for breakfast and Shubham's tiffin. She generally works quite efficiently in the kitchen even during the periods, but today the grimace on her face due to pain was observed by Shubham and he forced her to rest.

She clutched a pillow on her stomach, closing her eyes and relaxing.

"Preeti," Shubham's voice fell on her ears and she looked up expecting the morning tea she needed so badly.

"Yeh lo." Shubham extended a hot water-bag instead and she was surprised. He had never done such things for her in her periods since their marriage. Periods was always a taboo for them to talk about. She would only inform him about it and then he would maintain a subtle distance from her in those 4-5 days. It was never more than that. But today, it was different. He was genuinely taking efforts to make her feel better. Taking the water bag that was wrapped in a cloth, she kept it on her belly, sighing content after feeling good.

"Chai bann gayi?" She asked with hopeful eyes.

"Ummm... haann... matlab... nahi..." Shubham fumbled to find words. "Matlab bann jayegi."

Before she could say something, they heard Tanvi's voice approaching their bedroom. "Bhabhi aap...." She stopped herself from completing after seeing Preeti resting with a water bag on her stomach and Shubham standing beside her.

She processed the sight and formed an 'O' when she realized it. Her gaze then shifted to her brother and her stance changed again, keeping her hands on her waist, "Bhaiya, abhi kitchen me aap the?" she asked.

Preeti straightened and intervened before Shubham could speak something, "Kya kiya inhone?" She feared for her kitchen.

"Bhaiya yaar..." Tanvi sulked, "poore platform pe garam paani gira diya hai... aur chai ka samaan bhi aise faila kar rakha hai." Tanvi almost complained about her brother to her bhabhi.

"Haan toh chai banani hai toh samaan ikatthha karke rakha maine," Shubham defended himself.

"Shubhamji... aap rehne dijiye... mai banati hu..." Preeti tucked his hand.

"Nahi nahi... tum aaram karo... aaj ghar ki saari mahilaon ke liye chai mai banaunga..." Shubham grinned looking at Preeti and Tanvi one by one. "Aur tum logon ko toh chai banana aata bhi nahi hai... mai batata hu badhiya chai kaise banate hai..." He walked to Tanvi and took her outside along with him.

Preeti slapped her forehead thinking about the mess she would be greeted with soon.

About 15 minutes later, Preeti joined Tanvi on the dining table, who was also banished from entering the kitchen by Shubham. He assisted Dadi to bring her and called his mother too in the dining hall. When all the ladies were settled in the chairs, he rushed to the kitchen and came back with a tray in his hand, containing four cups of tea, four stacked saucers, a bowl of biscuits and two plates with bread and butter. He kept the tray in the center of the table as Preeti made space there.

"Arey Shubham beta, aaj tune chai kyun banayi?" Nirmalaji was quick to ask as soon as she spotted Shubham working. "Bahu ne kya ho gayo hai?" She directed a pointed look towards Preeti.

Preeti knew this would come and she was actually ready with her smart answer, but before that she heard Shubham's answer, "Maa... woh... maine hi Preeti ko kaha ki aaj chai mai banaunga..." Shubham managed to answer while passing the tea cups to the ladies. "Mujhe bhi toh yeh chhoti-moti cheezein banana aana chahiye na."

Nirmalaji wasn't very pleased with the answer, but across the table, a smile covered Preeti's face. The way Shubham was speaking from her side made her forget her menstrual cramps. She sipped the tea and relished its taste with closed eyes. It was quite better than she anticipated. What added to her bliss was Shubham's next sentence.

"Aur Maa, mai toh soch raha hu aaj khana banane me bhi Preeti ka hath bata lu..."

Preeti almost burnt her tongue with the hot tea, but she was least bothered about it. All her focus was the sudden turnaround in Shubham's behavior. No... it wasn't actually a sudden change. She has been noticing these subtle changes in him for a couple of months. He was more considerate towards her, more expressive about his own feelings, his opinions, sharing more about his day at work. He was more indulgent towards her when it came between his mother and her. He was balancing between the two more efficiently, not hurting anyone from either of the two but still trying to understand more of her point of view in any given situation.

And all these things have been more prominent since last week.... since she did his haircut if she could guess it. She couldn't believe that she cut her own husband's hair... that too at home... In her dreamland, where she imagined Madhuri Dixit, Karishma Kapoor, Raveena Tondon and Shilpa Shetty to sit in front of her for styling their hair, she never imagined her husband, a man like Shubham would sit in front of her and she would ran her scissors through his hair efficiently. Well, she can now style men too.

But this week showed her one more unseen side of Shubham. Some 3-4 days before, she found an excuse of going to the general store nearby to actually meet Naina and Nirmalaji had stopped her and cross-questioned. She doesn't fear telling the truth that she is going to meet her sister, but then Nirmalaji always comes up with some comments on Naina and Sameer's ongoing life and she prefers to avoid listening to them.

She was surprised when Shubham intervened and said, "jaane do na Maa aur kitne sawaal karogi. Aur agar woh Naina se bhi milne ja rahi hai, toh woh behen hi toh hai uski." And with this, he had given her a nod with a sweet smile.

Preeti was liking all of it... no, she was loving it. The way Shubham had become more supportive of her had relieved her so much. Which wife on this planet wouldn't love a supporting husband? She had liked Shubham the day she met him during the marriage talks. She had found him humble, responsible and a simple person, what she had always wanted. But there were some traits of him she would have liked to be otherwise. She was still fine with it but when Shubham kept surprising her with these small and good changes in him, she couldn't fall more for him.

"Khana banane me madad?" Nirmlaji's question brought Preeti back to the present. "Beta tanne ke zaroorat hai rasoi me jaane ki?" She was still trying to put it in a nice manner, keeping a smile on her face. Even if she was the head of the family, she always talked decently to her son.

"Haan Maa, isme harz hi kya hai." Shubham replied casually, as if it was so simple to understand. "Mujhe bhi toh thoda bahot aana hi chahiye na. Aage chalkar agar Preeti koi kaam karti hai, ya koi job karti hai, tab kaam aayega mujhe yeh sab."

All the ladies relishing their morning tea on the dining table were stunned with this statement. Preeti's hand holding the cup had stopped midway, with her eyes at Shubham. Tanvi had just dipped a biscuit in her tea, which later got lost in it. Dadi sa had her eyes widened as much as possible and Nirmalaji had dropped the bread in her hand.

"Kya??" Nirmalaji asked, shocked.

"Ummm... Maa, aap woh sab chhodiye... abhi aap bass chai-nashte pe dhyan dijiye." Shubham covered the situation instantly. He needed to do it slowly, without hurting his mother's sentiments and beliefs. For today, he had done quite much.

After half an hour, Shubham was back to his bedroom and he took today's newspaper to read. He casually walked to the window for more light and busied himself in reading. Preeti sauntered in looking for him and as soon as she saw him, she rushed to him to hug him tightly. She was so small for him that her head hardly rested on his heart.

"Kya baat hai... aaj bada pyar aa raha hai pati pe?" Shubham teased her, pulling her closer with his arm.

"Ummm... Nahi... bass aisehi..." Preeti blushed.

Shubham smiled and his eyes fell on the balcony of J wing, where Naina was putting the washed clothes on the nylon ropes. Preeti too followed his gaze and together they saw Sameer coming from behind Naina and scaring her. Then they saw him turning Naina towards him, tickling and pulling her to his chest.

A laughter spurt from Shubham's mouth, "Kya hai yeh dono... yeh toh kahi bhi shuru ho jate hai... uss din bhi baarish me bhig rahe the..." He commented playfully.

Preeti laughed whole-heartedly on his comment. "Shubhamji... Romance ke maamle me Sameer ko koi nahi hara sakta... yeh toh Maan aur Sahiba ko bhi peechhe chhod denge."

The couple laughed again and went back to their bed to spend a lazy Sunday morning together.

*****

"Naina... chalo na... der ho jayegi..." Sameer hollered from the living room while wearing his shoes.

"Aa rahi hu," came the reply from Naina from the bedroom.

Sameer checked his wallet once again, counting properly how much money he has right now. It was the last week of June and even if Papa had contributed to their monthly budget by four thousand rupees a week ago, he wouldn't touch it, as he knew it was for Naina.

Naina strolled to the living room while buckling her wrist watch. "Papa, khana bana ke rakha hai, aapko jab bhi bhook lage, kha lena thik hai... hame pata nahi kitna time ho jayega." She instructed Rakesh who was reading the newspaper.

As Sameer and Naina got down the stairs, Naina mumbled, "achchha khasa Sunday barbaad kar diya... socha tha aaram karungi aaj..."

Sameer didn't reply as he was busy staring at the address he had written on a paper and Naina twisted her mouth recognizing he didn't pay attention to her.

"Sameer... tum sun rahe ho na... mujhe kyun bulaya hai Sir ne?" She tucked his sleeve.

Sameer kept the paper back in his pocket, "mujhe nahi pata Naina... Sir ne kaha apni patni ko sath me lekar aana... bass..."

After an hour, Sameer and Naina entered the location. They travelled by bus upon Naina's insistence, still they managed to reach within time. Sameer scanned the room and found the face he was looking for. They walked to the man standing in the corner with lots of sheets in his hand.

"Anil Sir!!" Sameer called for the man's attention and he looked up from the papers.

"Hey Sameer... Well in time, man!!" Mr. Anil shook hands with Sameer and gestured at Naina, "And Mrs. Naina Maheshwari, how are you?"

Naina was pleasantly surprised that Anil Sir remembered her name even after a long time. They greeted each other as well and Mr. Anil excused himself for a minute.

"Inhone mujhe yunhi bulaya hai ya inhe koi kaam hai mujhse?" Perplexed, Naina asked Sameer.

"Pata nahi," Sameer shrugged with equal confusion.

After meeting Shefali last week and discovering about Papa's library visits, Sameer had felt the urge to get a real quick assignment that could give him some money. No one had told him on his face but it was bothering him that he couldn't get as much work as he had anticipated. He wasn't able to fulfill Naina's basic needs, forget about getting anything for her as a surprise, or taking her to dates or movies. The white envelope in their almirah was constantly reminding him that Papa earned that amount even after his retirement and also had a job offer now for which he hadn't taken a decision yet.

He was baffled. He felt it should have been him, as the responsible man of the house, who should be earning and getting work. He believed Papa should rest and enjoy his post-retirement life even though it was a voluntary retirement. All these thoughts led him to take quick action. He realized he had lessened the commercial auditions while focussing on the film ones. And doing a tv commercial only could solve his urgent need for money. And so he had called Anil Sir the next morning, the one who gave him his first print ad and first tv commercial, the only one he thought he could trust.

After a short meet-up with Anil Sir, he told Sameer that he can't promise him of a tv commercial, but would certainly manage to get a print advertisement for him. And the day before yesterday, he called Sameer to inform about the same, adding at last that Sameer should bring his wife along with him.

Sameer was asked to get changed as informed by a spotboy. It was a 'Suitings and Shirtings' brand he was shooting with and there were three changes for him in between. His make-up started in a room and Naina stood outside waiting for him, still quite far to avoid any disturbance. The door of the room was left open and she could see him getting donned with makeup.

"Naina..." Mr. Anil's voice caught her attention and she walked to him, going out of sight from Sameer's room.

"Ji Sir," Naina replied politely.

"Yeh lines dekhna toh zara... kaisi lagti hai tumhe iss ad ke hisaab se?" He asked her while passing a sheet of paper.

Naina studied the paper as she found some lines written by a typewriter. Her mind took her immediately to the day when she had accompanied Sameer for the A1 cooker commercial shooting. She smiled and handed the paper back to Anil Sir, "achchha likha hai Sir... ekdum suit kar raha hai..."

Mr. Anil chuckled, "Naina, tumhari baat me confidence nahi dikh raha hai... pichhli baar kitne confidence se batayi thi tumne woh lines..."

Nervousness took over Naina for no reason and she looked in the direction of Sameer's room to see if he was out. She tucked her hair behind ear and adjusted her dupatta.

Mr. Anil followed her gaze, discerning she was looking for her husband and might be thinking if it cost any damage to his ad. "Naina, mai sirf tumhari rai jaan'na chahta hun, ki suitings & shirtings ke ad ke liye yeh lines tumhe kaisi lagti hai? Bejhijhak hoke batao."

Naina cleared her throat and looked at Sameer's room again, and at the same moment, Sameer came out, buttoning the cufflinks of his coat. His mere appearance was enough to wash away Naina's timidity. She now spoke confidently, "Sir, isme likha hai ki suit pehen'ne se hi ek aadmi gentleman dikhta hai. Lekin hamare bhartiya sabhyata me aaj bhi kitne aadmi roj-marra ki zindagi me suit pehente hai. Toh kya woh gentleman nahi kehlayenge?"

Mr. Anil pondered over her statement, "hmm... baat toh sahi hai... Toh tumhare hisaab se kya hona chahiye?"

Naina opened her mouth to speak but an assistant interrupted their talk and sought for Mr. Anil's attention regarding some papers in his hand. In the meantime, Naina took this opportunity to look at Sameer. A boy was showing him a hand-mirror and Sameer was setting his hair carefully, so focussed on it as if it was something very important. She giggled to herself.

Of course! Not a single strand of his hair should be misplaced here and there, rather it's only her who has the right to mess with his hair.

She scanned her husband from top to bottom. He was looking drop-dead handsome in that dark gray suit he was wearing. She found the suit nicely tailored, fitting perfectly on his body. The white shirt under the gray coat was shining brightly on his fair skin and all she could think of was how she would take the coat off, unbutton that shirt and jump on him.

She would have actually liked to go further with her imagination but a girl who came running towards Sameer broke it. She looked a part of the crew and had a black tie in her hand. What made Naina hold her breath for a moment, was when she enfolded the tie around Sameer's neck in a hurry, but not before instructing him about it. He had probably forgotten wearing the tie. Naina observed that Sameer smiled at the girl but stiffened when she started making the knots. The girl was just doing her work as it could be seen, but Sameer had immediately taken a step back, increasing the distance between them and keeping his eyes somewhere else throughout. He was also wondering what he should do with his hands, so ultimately he shoved them in the pockets.

Naina's heart filled with love and respect for Sameer, her eyes reflecting pride that this man was her husband. She heaved a deep breath of contentment.

"Haan Naina, kya keh rahi tum?" Mr. Anil voiced, as he cleared the queries of his assistant. "Mera matlab, tumhare hisab se kya lines honi chahiye?"

This was easy for Naina now. She stood poised, calm, "Sir, iss brand ki jo tagline hai, 'Real Gentleman'. Mere hisab se ek aadmi kapdo se nahi, uska bartaav se gentleman kehlata hai. Uska mahilaon ke prati jo vyavhar hai, ussise hame pata chalta hai woh kaisa hai... toh iski line hone chahiye, 'It's not the suit, but a chivalrous heart makes you a Real Gentleman.'"

Mr. Anil's eyes shone with appreciation for Naina, he smiled pleasantly, "Isiliye toh maine Sameer se kaha tha apni patni ko sath me lekar aaye."

"Matlab?" Naina frowned.

"Naina, tum jaise aaj ke generation ki soch hi toh hame chahiye... society me ek achchha badlaav lane ke liye. Aur advertisements ek zariya hi hai, jisse hum yeh kar sakte hai." Mr. Anil expressed. "Tum mujhe aise hi 2-3 aur lines likh ke de sakti ho? Ek English mein aur do Hindi mein?"

"Ji Sir," Naina agreed without any delay, with a bright smile on her lips after hearing Anil Sir's words. He then handed her an exam board with a plain paper on it and a pen, and told her to give it to him whenever it's ready.

Naina looked for a chair to sit down peacefully and write but after surveying the whole set she spotted only two chairs in the entire hall, one was reserved for Anil Sir and the other one was in the make-up room, which now was locked. Sighing, she focussed on the paper and pen in her hand.

Sameer joined her within a minute but he noticed his wife wasn't sparing a glance at him. He cleared his throat, standing with full attitude, but it didn't work. So he asked directly, "Kaisa lag raha hu?"

Naina lifted her eyes finally to her husband.

"Pakdo," she handed him the board and the pen and adjusted his collar. Feeling the fabric of the tie with her hands, she adjusted the tie too and whispered, "real gentleman," looking straight into his eyes.

Sameer smiled, but with knitted brows, while receiving this comment as he was expecting something mischievous from Naina. But her saying him a gentleman made him happy. He pulled her cheeks lovingly and left for the shoot.

After two more changes and 2 hours, Sameer's shoot was finally over. Naina was looking for a chair all the time but she couldn't get one and hence she was standing for the entire shoot. She had started feeling uneasy, she couldn't figure if it was because she was hungry or something else. But looking at Sameer, she ignored it.

When Anil Sir handed one envelope each to Sameer and Naina, Sameer was surprised. He was unaware of all the conversation between Naina and Anil Sir. But when he looked at Naina, she too was equally stunned about it.

"Naina ke likhe hue quotes hum prints me use karnewale hai," Mr. Anil informed looking at Sameer. "Aur yeh isi ke paise hai. Jaise pichhli baar diye the?"

"Le... lekin Sir..." Naina stuttered, "mai yeh kaise le sakti hu... yeh toh aapke writer ke haq ke..."

"Uski chinta tum mat karo," Anil Sir interrupted her, "usko salary advertising company deti hai. Yeh tumhare hai, aur tumhe milne hi chahiye."

Naina and Sameer smiled happily looking at each other and then at the envelopes in their hands.

*****

"Sameer... thoda dheere chalo..." Naina sulked, pulling Sameer's arm to slow him down.

Sameer looked at her frowned, "Kya hua?"

"Kuchh nahi, bass dheere chalo..." She replied softly this time. "Waise hum market me kyu aaye hai? Dekho, saari Ravivar ki bheed hai."

"Kuchh kaam hai," Sameer answered while looking at the shops.

After having lunch in a restaurant, Naina thought they would go home straight so that she can rest. But when they got down at the Andheri bus stop, Sameer booked an auto for Andheri market instead of Sea Queen Society. And now they were walking in the market for the past 15 minutes, crossing the crowd.

"Yahan chale?" Sameer stopped in front of a clothing store after reading its name Stree Paridhan. It looked like a decent but well-presented shop meant primarily for women's clothing. Not waiting for Naina's response, Sameer grabbed her hand and they walked towards the shop.

"Hum yahan kyun ja rahe hai?" Naina contemplated, completely clueless about what Sameer was upto. As they entered the shop, Naina saw various mannequins donned with latest dress designs. "Sameer mujhe koi dress wagera nahi kharidni, hum shopping me paise kharch nahi karne wale hai." Naina muttered, forcing Sameer to stop and answer.

"Naina tum shant rahogi thodi der..." Sameer admonished her, looking for someone to attend them.

A simple looking girl approached them and greeted Naina, thinking that the wife must have brought her husband with her for the Sunday shopping, "kahiye madam, kya lena hai aapko? Suits, saadi?"

Naina opened her mouth to deny but before she could, Sameer uttered, "ladies undergarments."

Both Naina and the salesgirl looked agape at Sameer, both for different reasons. The salesgirl was amazed because for the first time she had seen a husband not only accompanying his wife for innerwear shopping but also taking the lead without hesitating. Naina on the other hand was dumbfounded because Sameer was still determined on purchasing new innerwears.

The salesgirl was the first one to recover, "aaa... idhar aaiye madam," she requested by pointing towards a counter and left herself first.

Sameer took a step but Naina stopped him again, she had almost drawn his shirt out of his jeans by pulling it again and again."Sameer, humne toh problem ka hal dhund liya tha na... toh abhi naye kyun lene hai?" She tried to sound low, audible only to Sameer.

"Naina humne problem ko bass aadha hi solve kiya hai... aur naye sets toh tumhe lene hi hai..." Sameer asserted, to which Naina could only huff, smacking her forehead with her palm.

On the night next to the one when Sameer expressed his concern about the red marks on Naina's body, they mutually decided that Naina would keep the hooks of her bra open, so that she can sleep without its tight feeling; it was also manageable in the morning to get going quickly as she can just fasten them again. Sometimes, it would create funny scenes in the morning as her bra would get crumpled and show up outside of the top, but she would just laugh it away.

Naina thought the issue was resolved, but it hadn't it seemed. Why is her husband so stubborn?

They stood in front of the counter and the same salesgirl asked Naina, hoping it's only her who responds this time, "Kya lena hai madam?"

Naina swallowed and looked at Sameer. Can this get any more embarrassing?

She had always done this shopping secretly during some market visits or sometimes with Preeti. The same case for her Ahmedabad lifestyle too, even after their marriage. Sameer was here with her for the first time and she couldn't form a single word, forget a sentence.

She secretly prayed for Sameer to stay quiet now and let her take her time to speak, and thankfully he was. He was standing with his hands in his pockets and looking down at the floor. Naina exhaled a deep breath, cleared her throat, feeling as if she was going to confess a crime she commited, "b.. Bra... dikhaiye... th.. thirty two size," she finally voiced, adjusting her dupatta.

"Ji madam," the girl was about to leave when Sameer's instruction fell on her ears.

"Achchhe quality ke lana... jisse red marks na bane..." Sameer was soft while stating.

The girl nodded and left. She had never received such instruction from any customer, not even women.

Naina sighed the moment the girl went out of their sight and turned to Sameer, "tum mujhe sharminda karna band karoge?" she glared at him.

"Mai kaha tumhe sharminda kar raha hu?" Sameer shrugged, questioning so casually. "Aur mai pati hu tumhara Naina..." he added and Naina understood what he implied with it.

The girl came with a few boxes in her hand and started showing good quality bras to Naina, telling the fabric, price and company as per her job, while Naina was still uncomfortable as she kept looking at Sameer through the corner of her eyes.

Sameer finally recognized her discomfort. He wanted her to be casual about it just as usual shopping, but if she still wasn't at ease with it then he couldn't force her to be. And most importantly, she shouldn't restrain herself during the purchase just because of his vigilance. Hence, he turned around and rested his hips to the counter, crossing his arms, he gave Naina some relief.

Naina could now freely look at whatever was shown to her and she actually took an interest in it. She checked the fabric, the straps, the elasticity. She kept a look at the price too, but lenient. The current bras were indeed bothering her. Sameer was looking at the counter in between, but she had now relaxed.

"Madam, kuchh matching sets dikhau?" The girl asked.

Naina nodded pleasantly, not even looking at Sameer this time, and to her side, Sameer smiled in his cheeks. Some matching sets of innerwears were shown to Naina. She again scrutinized all of them carefully and picked two pairs of matching sets and three separate bras, this time some colored ones apart from white.

This boosted the confidence of the salesgirl, she continued exhibiting her marketing skills further, "Madam, aapke liye nighties dikhau? Aapke special nights ke liye, anniversary ke liye... Satin ki nighties ka naya stock aaya hai aur achchhe colors bhi hai... Sir bhi yahi hai... dono milke pasand kar lijiye..." The girl had a bright smile on her face.

Naina looked at Sameer only to find he was looking at her too. No, there wasn't any blush on Naina's face, her cheeks hadn't turned red, she didn't feel butterflies in her stomach. Neither did Sameer have mischief in his eyes or a cheeky smile on his lips. His crossed arms loosened and keeping one of his palms on the glass table, he slightly turned towards her.

They kept staring at each other and a tinge of gloom covered their faces. Special night? No, there was nothing special about their nights since recent times. They remembered how Sameer had once expressed his wish to see Naina in different colored nighties, when they gradually got vocal about physical intimacy. But their life wasn't permitting them to do anything. They couldn't even use the only pink satin nighty after coming to Mumbai. It was still lying idle in the suitcase on the almirah.

There were reasons for it. There was always an alertness about Rakesh Papa sleeping just in the hall; there was a consciousness of them getting heard as they lived in a flat system. But more than that, it was the pressure of having a settled life by getting some work, that was hanging on their head.

Though they both tried to keep the romance lively whenever they got the time; stealing short kisses when Papa wasn't around, hugging and cuddling each other, trying to dance in their bedroom while a romantic song is played on the cassette player. They also tried to add some spice to their nights while trying new moves sometimes, bringing passion in the lovemaking. But none of it matched the zest of their consummation night in Ahmedabad. Eventually, the experiments with new moves also lessened.

Currently, their nights were filled with the questions of the next day. Whether it will be good or bad, whether they would get any success or receive rejection from the world again. It was full of uncertainty.... full of struggle... rather daily survival... It had become routine life, even lovemaking. Just like any other couple who had spent 5-10 years together.

No, they can't let this happen to them. They can't let go of that something 'special' they had in their relationship.

But this wasn't the right time yet.

Naina kept her palm on Sameer's hand on the glass table and gave him a genuine, warm smile... promising him that the days would come soon when they would fulfill each other's fantasies. Sameer responded with a smile too and nodded, telling her that he understands the situation well.

Naina turned to the sales girl, who was expecting a positive response, "Nahi... abhi sirf itna hi lena tha... aap iska bill bana dijiye..." she spoke politely, keeping a decent smile.

***

Naina rested behind on the wall after changing to her yellow night dress. Sameer had gone for the night walk with Rakesh Papa after many days, so after finishing their dish-wash routine, she came to the bedroom, leaving the door slightly open for Sameer. She had felt uneasy for the whole day today, but she didn't share much about it. Clutching a pillow on her belly, she straightened her legs and closed her eyes.

She was startled when Sameer sat beside her with a jerk, shaking her, probably with deliberate intention. She looked at Sameer, her face was pale. She raised her brows asking him the reason behind the grin on his face.

"Yeh cheques toh tumne bhagwanji ke paas hi chhod diye... Almari me rakh do na..." Sameer showed her the two envelopes.

"Tch... Tum hi rakh do na Sameer..." Her voice was low, but she looked piqued.

"Arey? Papa ka diya envelope toh poore time haath me liye ghoom rahi thi..." Sameer remarked. "Aur ab maine diya tohㅡ"

"Sameer kya bachchon ki tarah baatein kar rahe ho tum bhi..." Naina said, snatching the envelopes from his hand. Now she was really miffed.

Sameer frowned and looked at her carefully. She looked troubled when they were out, her mood swings were coming on the surface suddenly and now she had a pillow on her stomach. His voice softened as he leaned towards her, asking her calmly, "Periods aaye hai? Lekin 2-3 din time hai na abhi?"

Naina sighed, "Aaye nahi hai... lekin shayad kal tak aa sakte hai..."

"Thik nahi lag raha hai Naina?" Sameer asked in concern.

"Pata nahi dinbhar se ajeeb sa lag raha hai... samajh me nahi aa raha hai... mere pair itne dard kar rahe hai, aur ab kamar me bhi dard ho raha hai..." Naina shared, her face grimacing with pain in her lower back.

"Arey pehle kyun nahi bataya? Mai nahi jaata na Papa ke sath..."

"Aur na jakar kya karte?"

"Apni patni ki sewa," Sameer sounded mischievous, trying to cheer his wife's pale mood.

He kissed her forehead, got up to open a wall shelf and left the bedroom. After 10 minutes, he came back with the hot water bag and placed it behind Naina, to give some relief for her lower back pain. Then he sat in front of her with a bowl in his hand, and took Naina's right leg on his lap.

"Aaaa... dheerrreeee..." Naina shrieked as Sameer literally squeezed her foot with his manly power.

"Sorry sorry sorry..." Sameer apologized, now softly applying pressure with his thumb. He took some oil he had carried in the bowl, spreaded on his palms and started massaging her foot gently now.

"Yeh til ke tel wala idea kisne diya tumhe?" Naina queried after feeling a bit relaxed now.

Sameer gave her an ear to ear smile, "Tumhe kya lagta hai? Yeh saare ghar ke nuskhe sirf tumhe hi pata hai?" He was trying to bring a smile to her face, which finally appeared after his comment. He of course didn't share it with her that he had learnt it only from her, when she would massage his feet with the sesame oil.

He continued massaging her foot with appropriate pressure at points.

When Naina finally averted her gaze from her husband, who was looking so cute, she looked at the envelopes in her hands... the cheques they both received from Anil Sir... just like last time after holi. She opened the envelopes and read the names and the amount written in front of it again. The amount was less than the last time, given that it was a print advertisement. But she wasn't bothered about the money at all.

At this moment, there was a whirlwind of emotions stirring inside her mind. There was happiness because Sameer had finally gotten an assignment as he had wished for; she had seen his desperation to get the work since a couple of weeks. She had a bit of satisfaction seeing the cheques of their names. But the rest of the emotions in her mind were mostly negative. It had fear, it had ambiguity, it had restlessness, it had guilt and a whole lot of skepticism and perplexity.

A few months ago, the same kind of cheque had rattled her system and her decisions. It was no different this time too.

Why does she deroute from her track whenever there's a cheque issued on her name?

There is definitely something about the money you earn by yourself. She was feeling it in her guts. It led her to feel proud and confident about herself. Even during the time they were running the boutique, she felt the pride in herself when she earned a customer purely with her sales skills. She felt self-reliant, independent.

Then why was it bothering her so much?

She kept observing the cheques, it gave her no answer.

Sameer saw her gazing at the cheques and he smiled. "Tumhe yaad hai? Pehle ad shoot ke time bhi hum aise hi 2 cheques lekar wapas aaye the," he now took her left leg on his lap and started massaging it.

Naina gave him a faint smile, which he probably missed to interpret.

The last time they came with two cheques, she hadn't even imagined she would get such an amount for suggesting four lines for a brand. She hadn't imagined that incident would lead to a discussion between Sameer and her, and she would actually start writing.

She was happy writing stories for the magazines. It was such a pleasant process. She would take her diary to write a basic plot of the short story. She would first develop the scenes and then dialogues. After two readings, and when Sameer would okay it, she would make a fair copy on the foolscap papers and then Sameer would post it by speed-post.

But how is it possible that everything goes well in their life? Not at all. Something or the other has to happen to mess it up.

Anil Sir's statement was constantly ringing in her mind, which was enough to raise her expectations from herself.

Tum jaise aaj ke generation ki soch hi toh hame chahiye... society me ek achchha badlaav lane ke liye. Aur advertisements ek zariya hi hai, jisse hum yeh kar sakte hai.

Till now, she had had two paychecks for two advertisements and one short story featured in the prestigious Kadambini magazine. It was too much for a person to fly high in the world of dreams, precisely termed in Hindi as 'chane ke jhaad par chadhna.'

But will it last longer? Longer enough to change her decision?

She was standing in front of a big wall where she could find no answer to this question. When Sameer was selected for a commercial by Anant Mahadevan and he said Sameer is a hero material and all, they both had gone crazy like little kids, dreaming of having a different life altogether than what they had in Ahmedabad. But when they came to Mumbai, they were greeted with reality. Ugly reality.

Could she afford to let that happen again?

Sameer, who was oblivious to all the turbulence happening inside Naina's mind, voiced in eagerness, "Naina, mai na kal hi bank me jakar dono cheques deposit kar deta hun... aur thode paise nikaal leta hun... Ek hafte me mahina bhi khatm ho jayega... Toh Papa ko bank me jaane ki zaroorat nahi padegi," bringing her back from her trance.

But he received a totally unexpected comment from her, which was certainly way too off-track and incoherent, forcing him to think if she heard him at all what he had spoken.

He frowned and was taken aback, when she saidㅡ

"Sameer, meri articleship ke liye mai firms me apply karna shuru kar deti hui..."

*******************

Hey guys, hope you're doing well.

So, how did you find this chapter? Please let me know in the comments.

I tried to write Nirmalaji's dialogues with her Marwadi dialect, but dude that's too tough for me being a Maharashtrian. I've still tried to give you the feel of how she speaks, authentic. Batana how did you find her dialogues? 🙈

Shubham is making such good progress. What do you think about his steps taken?

And what do you think about the phase Naina and Sameer are in?

What's your pov about Naina's dilemma and her confused state of mind?

Any theories?

Do shower your votes and comments to this story.

Happy weekend. :)