The Sea Queen society was unworried and restful, as if no one was in the hurry to wake up and ready to get going into the hustle of the busy Mumbai life. The chirping of birds rang in the tranquil atmosphere when the colors in the sky fought for the first light of the dawn. But the curtains of the bedroom of the Maheshwari couple were still adamant on not letting any light in and disturb the couple, sleeping in each other's arms.

Naina stirred a little in her sleep, adjusting her right leg on her husband's both legs and shifted more on him, settling her head in the crook of his neck. But as she moved, her husband's day old stubble pricked on her forehead and she slowly opened her eyes. The darkness in the room but a dull light outside the window hinted to her that it must be dawn, and that there's still some time she can spend in her husband's warmth. She slightly moved her head to look at Sameer and saw some locks of her hair stuck in his stubble and a lone strand almost reaching to his lips. How didn't he feel the ticklish sensation with her hair on his face? She smiled, and gently moved all her hair from his face. It didn't matter whether she tied her hair in a pony, or braided them while sleeping, the hair near to her forehead and the temple would always be jumped out from their places, thanks to Sameer's stubble. She observed him if he was disturbed from the sleep, but she didn't find any such sign. He was indeed sleeping peacefully. Today, he didn't have any creases on his forehead while sleeping and she was happy about it.

The past three days were like a test of patience for her, regarding Sameer's extra careful behaviour towards her at nights. That day when he had cried like a child holding her and then in the evening they had kissed after more than 24 hours, she had thought that he would be fine by the night. He was fine though, as they had a random but good conversation with Papa during the dinner, and he was talking normally when he helped her in cooking and also during the dish-wash. He had also asked Papa if he could join him for the walk, but Papa himself had cancelled the plan for that night, stating he was a bit tired. When they had returned to the bedroom, he was actually reading the poems from Papa's old notebook and she was genuinely happy to see that shine and appreciative look in her husband's eyes.

Mr. Sameer Maheshwari was definitely impressed by the poem collection of Mr. Rakesh Agarwal...!!!

Of course!! Her father possesses that proficiency in literature and no-one could debate with him over that.

But what had bothered her was, when they called it the night and slid down the mattress to sleep, he hadn't even engulfed her in his arms. Though she had kissed him and expected him to continue for long, he had wrenched his mouth away and kept it short. She thought the evening kiss was enough to bring things back to normal, but she felt like going back to square one, with that kiss. Also, he looked extra protective of her, asking for little things again, like should he switch the lights off, is she comfortable, is she okay, if she needs something, as if he didn't want to trouble her at all... Okay, agreed she was on her periods, but this was something different. Because Sameer Maheshwari would pull her in bone-crushing hugs even in her periods. Sameer Maheshwari would capture her lips in heated and passionate kisses even in her periods. Sameer Maheshwari would arouse her to the threshold with his roaming hands and his seductive kisses on her neck, on her breasts and on her belly, even in her periods. But nothing of that sort had happened that night.... Not just that night... but the next three nights too...

On Sunday, when it was her third day, he had woken up earlier and had started preparing for tea and breakfast by himself. Papa had joined him later, and they extended their preparation for the early lunch too. As usual, he had refrained her from entering the kitchen and she was observing her husband and Papa from her favourite place, by sitting on the trunk. Later, he had left for an open audition with Aditya and returned quite late. And again, at night, they had just one brief kiss. The day before yesterday and yesterday went just the same. He would go for an audition in the morning, return home by evening and the nights would go cold. For him, he had the solid reason for their reduced physical intimacy that she was on her periods, but for her, it was an unknown worry about his hesitation if something had happened in that meeting, as it was only that meeting that had disturbed him so much. And all these things were fueling her sexual tension for not getting anything beyond a fleeting kiss from her husband. It wasn't that she didn't try to go beyond, but then suddenly Sameer would feel so sleepy and tired even for a makeout.

She felt the need to come come up with something for her husband's low libido. And as a result, yesterday, when she observed that her periods were over in the afternoon itself, she had taken a bath at night when Sameer and Papa had gone for a walk. She didn't want to have anything from her side which Sameer could use as an excuse, but again, Sameer and Papa had taken long to return and this time Sameer was indeed drowsy and fatigued, and she was vexed as why even Sameer wanted to go for a walk. On the contrary, she was glad to see the progress in their relationship though, while the night walks being one of the contributory factors. Sameer wouldn't join Papa daily, as he could never leave a lovely wife waiting at home and himself enjoy the walk. But whenever Papa would ask him or he himself volunteered, they both always returned with smiling faces.

She lifted herself on her left elbow and smiled looking at Sameer's handsome features even in sleep. Those silky hair falling on his forehead, those long eye-lashes, that slightly darkened stubble, those pouty lips, and those open buttons of his shirt... one second... he wasn't wearing the vest inside and had left the upper buttons open, unlike the past five days. And she noticed it now. How not to kiss him hard right away? She mused.

But she didn't want to control herself either. So conplying to her thought and desire, she licked her lips purposefully, dipped down, and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. And not just stopping herself there, she put the wet kisses on both his cheeks too and moved back to see his reaction. With the wet feeling on cheeks, and a featherlite soft feeling on his lips, Sameer shifted his head a little and Naina saw his eyeballs moving behind the closed eyes. And before letting him drown into the sleep, she kissed on his lips again while pulling his lower lip a bit. This indeed made Sameer wake up and he slowly opened his eyes, witnessing his extremely gorgeous wife hovering on him, and a wide smile curved his lips.

"Good morning Mr. Maheshwari," he could see a smile on his wife's face, but her voice was way too sensuous.

"Good morning Mrs. Maheshwari," he replied, looking into her dark orbs, with squinted eyes. "Kitne baje hai?"

Naina craned to look at the alarm clock on the side table and answered, "sadhe-paanch."

Sameer stifled a yawn and stretched his arms, "Itne jaldi kyun uth gayi? Aur mujhe kyun uthaya?" He sulked.

"Kuchh kaam tha..." She chuckled.

"Kya kaam tha?" He asked casually.

Yes! She wanted him to ask about it because she was desperate to answer this question since last night. And covering her lips in a sensuous smile, she bent down to kiss him deeply, keeping her left hand to support his head and resting herself more on his chest while caressing his cheek with the right hand. He gasped a little but that was too captured by his wife, who looked high on desires now. Unable to resist the pressure exerted by Naina on his lips, he finally responded to the kiss by opening his lips for her and she rewarded him by thrusting her tongue into his mouth. The passionate play of her tongue in the territory of his mouth infused his senses and he felt himself hardening down there. His hands disobeyed his resistant mind and unknowingly went on to hold her waist and he slid one of his hands beneath her top. Feeling gratified with his touch on her skin, Naina hurled her leg on his other side and straddled his midriff. She left his mouth and started putting the trail of open mouth kisses on his jaw, his throat and his neck. Sameer closed his eyes in indecision. His mind warned himself to stop Naina proceeding further but his senses had stopped listening to his subconscious, and they were reacting purely on the basis of physical need.

Naina drew back for a moment and looked at Sameer, who had his eyes closed. She knew she needed to work faster, before he could come up with some random and stupid excuse, so she began to unbutton the rest of the buttons of his dark blue night suit and as the last button was opened, she bared his chest for her view. Sameer had snapped open his eyes the moment he sensed Naina unbuttoning him, but his hands, again instead of stopping her, went on to stroke her waist and his eyes got focused on observing her. She was gawking at his bare chest and abdomen as if she was seeing this sight eons later. He found his wife unstoppable, but then he remembered something.

"Naina... tumhare periods..." he said, in daze of his arousal.

"Kal dopaher ko hi khatm ho gaye the Sameer," she whispered, "aur raat ko naha bhi liya tha maine."

And as if she decided to give him the proof, she moved back to sit right on his erection and he groaned loudly, dragging his fingers through his hair. She swayed her hips in back and forth motion and rubbed herself on his length to satisfy the throbbing sensation between her legs, moaning herself too. And resuming the ministration of her lips on his body, she again dipped down to kiss his muscular chest, starting from his collar bone. She roved her fingers through the small patch of hair on his chest and her eyes got fixed on the mole above his left nipple. She wanted to nibble it, as a punishment to him for making her yearn for physical love, but she suppressed the thought and again just kissed his mole, a wet kiss though.

Sameer was breathing heavily due to the pleasurable kisses from his lioness. He wanted it so badly but still wanted to stop her. He wanted to fulfill every wish, every demand of hers right now but still he wasn't ready for it. His mind was debating between needs and a promise to himself.

Control yourself Sameer...

His subconscious alerted him, lest he lose his control, as Naina moved down to his abdomen and flat belly, continuing with her kisses.

"Naina..." he held her shoulders to stop her, "woh... mai soch raha tha... tum uth hi gayi toh padh lo na... tumne hi kaha tha na subah achchhe se padhai hoti hai." He made a random excuse.

Naina rolled her eyes and moved up to face Sameer, still very much lying on top of him. She looked into his eyes, as if searching what made him come up with excuses to say no to lovemaking. She had let him sleep yesterday, even after knowing that there wouldn't be the barrier of her periods. Because if he had respected her choice and her wish to not make love at times, then she too had agreed to him, yesterday being one of such incidents. But today, she knew he was just making excuses and his throbbing length was enough to prove that. She wanted to ease him though. "Woh... aaj chhutti hai na... toh meri bhi aaj padhai se chhutti hai..." Her voice was gentle and low.

Sameer frowned, "chhutti? Aaj kaunsa tyohaar hai?" He tried to remember if there's any festival today.

Naina giggled, "tyohaar nahi hai buddhu... aaj 1st May hai. Toh it's a holiday..." She whispered near his ears.

Sameer pondered over the information and sighed as he had barely managed one excuse. But the next moment, something struck his mind, and his eyes widened in excitement. "Naina... aaj 1st May hai?" His voice turned chirpy.

Seeing a sudden change in Sameer's mood, Naina became perplexed, not comprehending why her husband has more mood swings than her. She laughed and as soon as she nodded, she felt his strong arms looping on her back and in a blink of an eye, their positions were flipped, with Sameer pinning Naina on the mattress now and him hovering over her.

Naina heaved in relief. Finally Sameer seemed to come in a mood and she was ready to surrender to him, to his passion, and to his madness. She gazed down from his face for a moment and saw his broad chest, which was enough to tempt her again. She raised her fingers and went on to touch him when his voice startled her, "Naina... sorry... lekin mujhe na uthna padega..."

And here he repeated the same jaap. "Kyuuuun...?" She sounded frustrated.

"Woh... woh..." he fumbled for a second, remembering, "jogging... haan... woh maine socha tha ki ek tarikh se roj subah jogging karne jaunga... toh mai nikalta hu thik hai..."

Naina was bewildered to see Sameer's behaviour. She had her mouth open in astonishment when she saw him rolling from her and she grabbed his collar by both her hands, pulling him to herself. "Mr. Sameer Maheshwari, agar abhi tum yaha se gaye na... toh... mai tumse baat nahi karungi... aur raat ko toh phir bass dekhna tum... paas bhi nahi bhatakne dungi to tumhe..." She almost threatened him for leaving her unsatisfied.

Sameer smirked, "achchha? Aisa kar sakti ho kya tum?" He quirked his brow and sounded mischievous.

She gasped at the audacity of him to literally throw a challenge at her. "Jee haan..." She asserted.

"Try karke dekhna thik hai..." He laughed and got off of her not before putting a sloppy and noisy kiss on her cheek.

"Sameer....." Naina tried to get the hold of him, but failed and saw him leaving the room.

After freshening up, Sameer returned to the bedroom and saw Naina sitting on the mattress with her legs spread, and clutching a cushion in her arms while resting her back on the wall. He saw her glaring at him as he entered the room, and went on to open the cupboard. He grabbed a round neck dark grey t-shirt, black track pants and a Turkish napkin.

Seeing him leaving shamelessly, Naina gasped and narrowed her eyes, "mai na baat nahi karnewali tumse..."

Sameer paused near the door and said, "I love you too," blowing a kiss in the air and left.

Sameer left for jogging at around 6:10 in the morning. It had served as a perfect excuse to put a halt to Naina's seductive assault on him. But it was already in his mind to start exercising regularly after that false audition and today he found the perfect chance to bring it into action. The way he had sore legs for the whole next day, had made him think that he needed to be physically fit. Even for being a struggler in the film industry, he might be preferred over other people given his physique and also to be prepared to stop such unexpected punches in the air. As he took a route to the nearby park, he recollected how he had pushed Aryan with so much strength and had stopped Aryan's raising fist in the air. This situation wasn't new to him. He had done this before with Kartik, Sharad and quite a few other guys, but this was for the first time here in Mumbai. He believed that his strength and that reaction was an outcome of his years of boxing during school-college days. But that would happen mostly when he would want to vent out his frustration and no-one was there to listen to him. But after he got married, he didn't need a punching bag, but just his partner, Naina, to share all his feelings with.

Share... Really?

Did you share about that evening, Sameer Maheshwari?

His subconscious asked him. He was actually thankful to Naina that she hadn't asked about what had happened in that meeting. But it was his moral responsibility to talk about it when he was in a better state of mind. He had felt bad that Naina was just making guesses about it and was careful to not barge in on the topic, but he didn't have the courage to speak voluntarily about it. He was afraid of the perception Naina would make of this industry after listening to it. He was aware how much she cares for him and what if she herself got scared about her husband working in this field. He wasn't very sure what Naina would deduce from this incident.

And as if this tension wasn't enough for him in these four days, then Naina's attempts for make-outs at nights were becoming overwhelming for him to handle. He just didn't want to put her in any uncomfortable situation during her periods. He had seen her in utter pain on her first day and that was kind of alarming for him. It had been 6-7 months to their consummation and he discerned that he had started taking her periods for granted. Though he would make sure that she takes proper rest during the day, by cooking himself with Papa, their nights were mostly spent in passionate make-outs. There were occurrences where they both had almost undressed themselves in the haze of the desire and later stopped, realizing they can't make love. He felt it wrong to disregard her state of discomfort and just exert his right of being a husband for his pleasure. So he had promised to himself on her first day this time, that he would keep it subtle during the nights. But today, what stopped him just an hour before was one more promise he had made to himself yesterday night.

He reached the park and checked for a small store near it, which he knew generally opens by 6:30 to 7 in the morning. But it was yet to open and he decided to take some rounds of the park instead of waiting. The fresh morning air and the greenery of the park had invigorated him and he actually felt so good. But this one still couldn't beat the feeling of the night walks with Papa. He was so impressed by Papa's poem collection that day. It had the poems of all the greats like Mahadevi Verma ji, Sumitranandan Pant ji, Harivanshrai Bachchan ji, Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' ji, Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji and many more. This was probably for the first time when Sameer was diving into his father-in-law's personal space, seeing his personal world. Listening to Papa's old memories was always fun, but that notebook had given Sameer an insight into Rakesh's school of thoughts.

Then why was he so bitter and a bit regressive in all these years?

Sameer had wondered and he was intrigued to know more about Papa. He wanted to go for a walk that night, but that didn't happen. It also couldn't happen the next two nights for some or other reasons, but yesterday he grabbed that opportunity and went for a walk with Papa.

He was keen to know more about Papa's interest in literature. So he had asked, shoving his hands in his night suit pants, "toh Papa, aapko agar literature itna pasand tha, toh usme hi aage kyun nahi padha aapne?"

Rakesh had just chuckled, he said, "ghar ki paristhiti Sameer. Hamare paas itne paise nahi the ki aage ki shiksha le sake. Bhaisahab ki madat se bass B.A. tak ki padhai kar paaya. Uske baad unhone bhi kaha ki iske aage woh meri koi madad nahi kar sakte."

"Phir?" Sameer could visualise the conversation between Jagdish Agarwal and Rakesh Agarwal.

"Phir kya... BA karne ke baad sab log sirf yeh raah dekh rahe the ki mai kab kamaane lag jaau..." Rakesh sounded a little serious. "mai Hindi Sahitya me MA karna chahta tha, lekin mujhe muft me khana khilane ke liye koi tayyar nahi tha..."

Sameer slowed down his walk and ultimately stopped. He was just staring at this elderly figure, who was pouring his heart out in front of him and was feeling so bad, whom he had thought he wouldn't live for a minute with. He was astonished with the kind of dynamics such middle class families possessed that time.

Rakesh turned to look at Sameer. He smiled, "kya hua?" Sameer just shook his head in no and resumed the walk. Rakesh continued, "Yeh sab toh bahot aam baat thi Sameer. Uss zamane me ghar me muft me khane wale kitne muh hai, sirf yahi dekha jata tha."

"Toh aapne kya kiya?" Intrigued, Sameer queried.

"BA ki degree thi mere paas. Isliye jo naukri mil rahi thi woh kar li maine. Pehle toh bass koi bhi chhota-mota kaam kar leta tha. Lekin baad me iss school me naukri mili, jo permanent thi. Toh bass, ban gaya khadoos librarian." Rakesh shared with a laugh.

"Toh, aap apna sapna poora nahi kar paaye Papa?" Sameer was feeling dejected himself listening to Rakesh.

"Mere jaise log sapne dekhte bhi nahi the Sameer," Rakesh smirked, "lekin librarian ke naukri ke bahane hi sahi, bahot keetabein padhi hai maine. Yahi toh chahiye tha mujhe."

Sameer smiled heartily and they entered the Sea Queen Society. But as they passed through the gates, Rakesh halted and so did Sameer looking at him.

"Kya hua Papa?" Perplexed, Sameer asked.

Rakesh took a few moments to speak. "Tumne ab tak Naina se baat nahi ki na uss meeting ke baare mein?" He questioned, looking into Sameer's eyes.

Surprise took over Sameer's face and he stuttered, "jj...jeee?? Pa... Papa...???"

Rakesh turned slightly towards Sameer, "dekho Sameer, hum sab jaante hai ki uss meeting me kuchh toh aisa hua hai, jiske wajah se tum itne pareshan ho... Lekin jab tak tum yeh baat Naina se baatonge nahi, tab tak shayad tum bhi iss se ubhar nahi paoge..."

Sameer looked down, not able to face Rakesh. He really didn't have an answer to this.

Seeing his silence, Rakesh continued while putting his palm on his son's arm, "Pata hai Sameer hum mard log kya galati karte hai... hum patni ko koi samasya na ho, isliye kayi baatein unse chhupate hai... Lekin asal me yahi unke liye sabse badi samasya hoti hai... aur phir woh hamari unn unkahi baaton me hi uljhi rehti hai..." Sameer contemplated the aptness which Papa was speaking with. It was of course coming from an experience. "woh tumhari jeevansathi hai Sameer... uska haq banta hai yeh janne ka ki uska pati udaas kyu hai... aur mai tum dono ka rishta ab samajhta hun. Usse baat karke hi tumhari pareshaniyaan sulajhti hai, hai na..." Rakesh added.

Sameer gazed at Rakesh, soaking himself in the warmth of Papa's fatherly touch on his arm, and nodded with a smile.

After returning back, when he had lied down on the mattress, he made a promise to himself that he would share about it with Naina the next day, and until then he wouldn't get intimate with her. Because that was the only way he wouldn't delay sharing it. And soon his all-day fatigue of the audition and the walk drifted him to sleep instantly.

After ten rounds of the park, Sameer stopped. He was panting heavily and sweating too. Wiping the sweat with the napkin, he walked to the small store again to check whether it had opened and true to his guess, it was. It was a book stall selling newspapers of various languages, weekly and monthly magazines and second hand books. He purchased two magazines and with utmost difficulty to open it then and there, he straight away ran for his home, with a wide smile on his lips.

Sameer found the door to be opened and he entered. He was taking off the sports shoes and socks, when he saw Rakesh Papa coming from the kitchen with a cup of tea in hand, dressed in a new T-shirt and trousers, gifted by him and Naina.

"Mere liye Nashta mat hi kar Naina, der ho jayegi..." Rakesh instructed Naina, who was probably in the kitchen, and sat on the sofa, taking a newspaper in hand to read.

Sameer looked at the wall clock. It was 7:20am. Keeping the magazines on the trunk, he queried, "itni subah ko kahan jaa rahe hai aap Papa?"

Taking a sip of his tea, Rakesh answered enthusiastically, "mai... arey woh yaha na koi Shivaji Park hai, Dadar mein. Aaj 'Gujrat Divas' hai na, toh uske uplakshya me dhwaj-aarohan aur parade hai waha pe 9 baje. Toh wahi dekhne jaa raha hu. Gadkari Sahab ne bataya tha kal."

Ughhh... here he comes with complex hindi words again...

It took a few moments for Sameer to comprehend that Papa was going for a flag-hoisting ceremony and the parade on the occasion of 1st May today, which is jointly celebrated as 'Maharashtra Day' and 'Gujrat Day'.

"Shivaji Park??" Sameer's eyes widened as he understood it. "Toh, Gadkari uncle aa rahe hai aap ke sath?"

"Aa... Nahi... woh nahi aa pa rahe hai..." Rakesh answered awkwardly.

"Kya? Toh aap kyu ja rahe ho?" Sameer frowned and commanded, "Nahi... Nahi... Aap kahi nahi ja rahe hai..."

"Kyunnn...??" Rakesh asked, uncertain of Sameer's denial.

Sameer sighed. "Papa, aapko pata hai na Dadar kitna door hai yaha se? Aur aise akele jane ki koi zaroorat nahi hai waha...." Sameer was firm.

Keeping his tea-cup on the centre table, Rakesh stood up, "haan... toh... usme kya dikkat hai... bus ya local se chala jaunga na... 10-11 baje tak aa jaunga."

Sameer rested his hips on the trunk and crossed his arms, "Papa, aapko kya lagta hai? Yeh 'Shivaji Park' matlab koi chhota-motha park hoga?"

Rakesh shook his head in yes first and then in no, disappointed with his lack of knowledge in this.

Looking at Papa's vague expressions, Sameer disclosed, "yeh koi normal park nahi hai Papa, bahot bada ground hai. Bahot bheed rahegi aaj waha pe... aur Goregaon ke aage aap gaye bhi nahi hai..." He took a deep breath and asserted, "Mujhe kuchh nahi pata, aap itne bheed me kahi nahi ja rahe... bass..."

Rakesh's brows furrowed in amazement looking at his son-in-law, who was so adamant to send him out in a crowded place. But he didn't want to miss the flag-hoisting.

Giving up on his argument with Sameer, Rakesh chose the second route, "Nainaaa... Dekh na, tera pati mujhe bahar jaane se mana kar raha hai..." he complained, keeping his hands on his hips.

Sameer rolled his eyes and shook his head at how swiftly Papa shifted to using Naina's pati for him. As Naina came upto the door frame of the kitchen, Sameer too jumped in, "Naina... Papa ko bolo woh itne door akele toh bilkul nahi jaa rahe hai..."

Naina looked at her husband first and then at her father. Both these stubborn men were again engaging in banter and were again putting her in the place of a decider. She had known this very well by the time that whenever they wouldn't find a valid point to continue the argument, they would call her and then she would find herself in a dilemma to choose sides. And she definitely didn't want to play with her mental peace now, so rolling her eyes, she went back to making breakfast without uttering anything.

Both the men looked at each other as if a supreme court judge, fed up with his job, just left the court without listening to the quarreling lawyers. Dissatisfied, Rakesh slammed the newspaper on the table and walked to the balcony. Sameer too joined him within a minute and saw him staring at some children in their school-uniform, who were ready to go to school to attend the flag-hoisting.

Noticing him beside, Rakesh reasoned, without looking at Sameer. "Mujhe aadat hai Sameer iss din school jaane ki. Iss waqt mai school me tayyari kar raha hota agar...." He left the sentence incomplete, sighing.

Sameer fathomed that Rakesh Papa was missing his school, his work. But he was concerned about Papa's safety and wasn't ready to compromise on that at all.

"Jaanta hu Papa... phir bhi aap kahi nahi jaa rahe hai... aur itni bheed wali jagah toh bilkul bhi nahi...." Sameer said softly.

Rakesh glanced at Sameer once, finding a concern in his eyes, and again turned to look at the children below. As they both stood in silence for a few minutes, they saw Shubham coming out from his wing and soon he too noticed them.

"Namaste tauji... hello Sameer..." Shubham stopped near the J wing and greeted them both looking up.

Sameer smiled back looking at him while Rakesh replied, "Shubham... office toh nahi hoga na aaj..."

Shubham gently smiled, and said, "arey nahi nahi... yahan paas mein hi ek school hai, wahi jaa raha hu. Woh aaj Maharashtra Divas hai na... toh usi avsar par har saal jata hu waha... abhi 8 baje flag-hoisting hai."

"Maharashtra Divas nahi... Gujrat Divas..." Rakesh tried to clarify.

Sameer bent closer to Rakesh and mumbled, "ek hi baat hai na Papa..."

"Haan... haan... jaanta hun..." Rakesh replied.

"Aap bhi chaliye na tauji... aap to tayyaar bhi lag rahe hai..." Shubham suggested.

Rakesh's eyes shone listening to the proposal. It didn't matter what the place was, he just wanted to be there saluting the national flag. "Mai... Mai jau Sameer?" Rakesh's voice and eyes resembled the excitement of a child.

Sameer chuckled looking at his Papa's happiness and said, "haa thik hai... jaaiye..."

Wearing a wide smile on his lips, Rakesh requested Shubham to wait for him, informed Naina about the same and left the house.

Sameer wanted to rush to Naina immediately but he thought of taking a bath first, having returned from jogging. As he observed, mopping the house seemed to have already done and Naina too had taken the bath. So better to go clean to her. He chose a simple t-shirt and a casual lower to wear at home, as there were no auditions today. Fifteen minutes later, he entered the kitchen and tiptoed so as to hug Naina from behind. Naina was preparing for methi thepla, and the dough was also ready by now. Sameer stood behind her and was about to hug her when she sensed him and turned swiftly towards him with a knife in her hand.

"Mere paas aane ki koshish bhi mat karna Mr. Maheshwari," She warned while pointing the knife at him.

Sameer jerked back for a moment but then smiled. He stepped forward towards Naina and gently took the knife from her, dipped closer to her in the pretext of keeping it on the countertop and softly kissed on her forehead. Naina went all quiet with the blissful touch of his lips. She would have loved to have it on her lips but even Sameer's forehead kisses would possess the capability of calming every cell of her body and soul as well. And she always loved it.

"Mai kuchh lekar aaya hun..." he whispered.

"Kyaaa??" She looked at him raising her brows, a part of her excited to know about it. She had expected Sameer to come to her as soon as Papa left, but instead, he had gone for a bath. And since then she was just waiting for him, waiting for him pacify her and make a cute face while saying sorry to her. She had anticipated to throw childlike tantrums and take time to accept his apology, but every plan of hers was seeming to go flat with just one gaze of him straight into her eyes.

Sameer sprinted to the living room and Naina guessed he would come up with red roses, seeing romantic Sameer to be popping out. But as he returned, he showed her the two magazines in his hands. She just raised her brows in a question to him.

"Tumhari kahani..." He shared in delight.

Naina gasped heavily after seeing those two magazines properly this time, realizing that they were 'Kadambini' and 'Grihshobha' magazines of May edition, for which they had submitted her story. She put both the palms on her mouth and almost jumped in happiness, "chhap gayi?" She almost screamed, her eyes twinkling.

Sameer pursed his lips, "aaa... maine dekha nahi abhi tak..." His voice reflected desperation, "badi mushkil se rok ke rakha hai khud ko... sath me dekhe?"

Naina nodded with a grin and as she quickly washed her hands, Sameer handed her Grihshobha magazine while he himself checked for Kadambini. They both avoided checking the index and turned the pages one by one, gazing at the title of the article first, then going through the content and the name of the person at the end. They didn't want to check hurriedly and miss it, hence they took their own time to go through it properly. They weren't looking at each other, because as they were slowly reaching to the last page of the magazine and still didn't find Naina's name, they were hoping that their partner would at least find it. Naina reached the last page of Grihshobha first, not finding her name. Her smile had already diminished and Sameer also hadn't screamed on top of his voice yet. She slowly looked at Sameer and found him checking the pages again. She got to know that her story wasn't printed looking at Sameer's agitation and she was now more worried about Sameer's reaction to it. She was indeed disappointed, but he looked more enraged.

Sameer reached the last page of the Kadambini magazine for the second time and he sighed.

Why was nothing falling in place?

He had now accepted that he had so much of struggle ahead, but he didn't want Naina to go through it too. Everything seemed to be so messed up around and he was tired of it. His frustration turned into anger, he rolled the magazine in his hand and was about to throw it in rage when Naina caught his hand.

"Sameer.... Vidya hai yeh..." she said, taking the magazine from his hand, and trying to calm him down.

"Kab tak sirf aisa hi chalta rahega Naina..." He sounded exasperated. "Sirf haar nazar aa rahi hai mujhe saamne..."

"Thik hai na Sameer... koi baat nahi..." Naina was gentle, trying to sooth him, "aur... kitni saari kahaniyaan aati hongi unke paas... nahi pasand aayi hogi meri kahani..."

"Maine tumhari kahani padhi hai Naina... aur mujhe pata hai woh kahani sach me bahot achchhi thi... usse yaha hone chahiye tha, inn kahaniyon ke beech..." he pointed to the magazines that Naina had kept on the platform.

Naina walked closer to him and caressed his cheek with her soft palm, "Sameer, yeh toh sirf pehli hi kahani hai na... aur pehli baar me hi kaise chhap ke aa jayegi..."

"Lekin Naina..." he tried to intervene.

"Sameer..." She didn't let him continue, "tum... tum chinta mat karo, mai likhna nahi chhodungi... maine toh dusri kahani likhna shuru bhi kar diya hai..." Sameer looked at her in surprise and she nodded. "Haan Sameer... mai kahaniyan likhti rakhungi... kyuki mujhe usse khushi milti hai... aur hum Magazines me kahani bhejte rahenge... aur, sirf yeh do magazine thodi na hai, baki me bhi bhejenge... koi na koi kahani toh pasand aa hi jayegi na..." She gazed at him in hope.

Her comforting touch on his cheeks and her positive talk brought a little smile on Sameer's lips. How can she always say such good things? How is she so positive and full of life? He was indeed so proud of his wife for dealing with this thing in such a way.

Keeping his palm over hers on his cheek, he turned his face slightly and kissed on her palm and then held both her hands in his. "Naina, tum itni samajhdar aur suljhi hui kaisi bann gayi? Mai tumhare 2% barabar bhi nahi hu."

She smiled, "Sameer, ab tak mai hamesha jeet'ti aayi hu... school-college me hamesha top kiya hai maine... lekin zindagi ke iss safar me thode dhakke nahi khaungi na, toh uske baad milne wali jeet ka maza mai kabhi samajh nahi paaungi..."

He smirked, "lekin Naina... zindagi me itne dhakke khane hi kyun hai..."

"Shayad hum zameen se jude rahe isliye," she voiced, "Sameer, college tak hum dono ka hamesha naam raha hai... tum toh waise hi popular rehte the sab ke beech, aur mai bhi topper reh chuki hu, GS reh chuki hai... Toh iss baar ek ordinary couple ke tarah jeekar dekhte hai... unki tarah mushkilon ka saamna karte hai... aur dheere-dheere kamayabi haasil karte hai... taaki hame uski ahmiyat samajh aaye..."

Heaving a deep breath of satisfaction, Sameer whispered, "I'm proud of you my wife..." and pulled her into a hug. Naina too embraced herself in the warmth of her dear husband and the couple spent a few serene moments in each other's arms.

Naina withdrew from the hug, his arms still captivating her and she innocently asked, "aur kuchh nahi laaye?"

"Aur kya chahiye tha?" He asked, remembering if he was supposed to get something for her.

Not much surprised at her husband's forgetfulness, she uttered, "Subah itna tadpaya mujhe, kam se kam ek phool toh laa sakte the na manane ke liye... lekin nahi..." She twisted her mouth in fake anger.

Sameer laughed seeing her cute face. "Sorry baba...." he said.

He wasn't sure if she heard his apology as Naina had entered into a different world by that time. Their fleshes were glued to each other, their faces were just inches apart, and her eyes were focused on his luscious lips. Keeping her one hand on the back of his neck, she moved closer to him eyeing his lips but he moved his head back and loosened his hold on her.

"Ek kiss toh de do Mr. Maheshwari...." She pleaded.

But Sameer had already gone into an alert mode seeing her coming close. "Naina... tumse... mujhe tumse kuchh...", he gathered courage to speak, but before he could complete, they were disturbed by the cordless ring in the living room and Sameer closed his eyes in annoyance.

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

Hey guys,

okay, so this chapter had become reaaallll long, so I had to spilt it in two parts. So the continuation of this chapter would be updated by Friday or Saturday, depending on the response.

Let me know in the comments, how did you find this one.