Bengal, Chatterjee Residence

Saudamini peered at him from the corner of her eyes. 

The iron metal clangs screeched as Anirban swung to and fro on the huge swing that was in their balcony, with a little smirk on his lips. And Saudamini could bet he was just pretending to 'read' the newspaper; the way he was eyeing her sometime ago could confirm that. 

And perhaps, she somewhat knew the reason behind that. 

The tiny red mark near his neck was difficult not to be spotted, and she had to cuss in her mind literally.

Why was he so difficult to be resisted?

The way he was—he was acting all mushy the previous night, being drunk, she had found herself slipping underneath from herself. 

Anirban had literally snatched her innocence away—she stole away her gaze from him, as if nothing happened, and tiptoed towards the balcony with a bucket of wet clothes. The gentle breeze guzzled with her long, damp hairs as the rays of the Sun made her squint her eyes for a while. She squeezed a wet saree from the bucket, jerked it for a few moments and spread it on the line. A short breath escaped her lips, feeling her husband's intense gaze upon her, but when she side-eyed, he looked down, curving up his lips.

Th—this man! He was deliberately doing all these!

But the worst part was, she had nothing to defend herself when she was her own culprit....

Saudamini breathed for a while, quickly scrunching the clothes one by one, feeling heat crawl to her cheeks out of embarassment. Oh God, only if she had controlled herself the previous night! 

What had she turned into for God's sake? 

She bit on her lip and was about to leave, when she felt a tug on her saree from behind, causing her to stop in her tracks and shift back for a while with a little yelp and before she could comprehend, Anirban's arm wrapped around her waist, yanking her close and she was there upon his chest in a jiffy with a squeak. 

Saudamini firmed her eyes close, circling her arms around him as she fell upon him, breathing hard. What was that for? 

She fluttered her eyes open in shock, blinking as she stared into those deep eyes full of mischief.

Oh gosh, those deep, brown mystical eyes of him! She had looked at them before too, but it seemed as if everytime they had something magnetic in them, something she could look into—until she drowned in them. What magic did they hold enough to lure? She panted softly, her cheeks flushed even more, realizing that what was about to follow—but; but deep down there was maybe, maybe a tiny bit of an urge to be confronted. 

Like that. 

It was getting tedious to stare into those pools of mischief anytime longer, making her avert her gaze but Anirban was swift enough to hold her chin and face her towards him, "God did one thing right, you know. Blessed you with an innocent face, isn't it?" He leaned closer and muttered, making her breath hitch momentarily. She kept on peering at him, as if a deer was caught in headlight. She tried to say something, but closed her mouth the next moment, still staring. And the fresh fragrance of sandalwood that hit her nostrils was working no less than an ambrosia. 

He would drive her insane someday, for sure. For sure! 

She gasped softly, feeling him tug her closer, as she rested a palm over his chest in reflex, her lips parting slightly and eyes widening.

Anirban's lips curved up into a smug smile as he pushed a strand of her locks behind her ear, "So much that one could never realize what can you be up to, isn't it?" 

Saudamini felt like jumping into a drop of water with her embarassment. 

"Ani...please let me go," She panted softly under the proximity, her cheeks flushing the brightest shade of red as she looked away, but Anirban held her wrist and hauled her further, "Why?" He bit on the corner of his lips in mischief, his eyes glinting, "Why should I let you go?" 

Oh God!

His thumb brushed over the corner of her lips as she looked on, the same smirking lurking on him as he slowly leaned forward to kiss her—when he felt a pinch on his arm, making him gasp furrowing his brows. Saudamini snickered immediately, leaping down from his grip, making the latter widen his eyes at her while rubbing his forearm, "Wait, you—" He jerked himself up from the swing, but Saudamini was fast to scamper back with a gurgle of giggle, as she clapped her palm, "Had warned you to have a grip on yourself, Mr. Anirban Chatterjee!"

"Mini..." 

But she took a few steps back and was about to dash away, when a knock on the door alerted them.

Anirban subtly rolled his eyes. Why did everyone want to disturb when he was in a romantic mood?

"Who's there..." Saudamini adjusted her veil, and opened the door, only to find their middle aged maid, Maalti standing with a tray of piping hot tea. Indeed, there was not a single day that the members of the house missed their treatment of royalty.

"Morning Maalti Maashi! All well?" Anirban brushed down his kurta, and walked into the bedroom with a grin, as the latter arranged the cup and saucers, "Morning, morning!" She greeted with a grin. 

"Give it to me, I will serve them," Saudamini smiled back, pouring the hot tea into the cups one by one.

"Oh, by the way, Chhoto Babumoshay, Master Subhankar has asked me to remind you about the get-together at his place tonight!" Maalti added with a smile, picking up the empty tray.

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Daamini's kitchen was whiffing with the delicious aroma of spices and the laughter of women. 

"Seriously...." Damini chuckled as she was grinding a paste of green chillies, "Don't get me even started about them! Only Tripti dear appeared saner than these two for real!" 

Saudamini giggled, cupping her mouth with back of her palm as she was making a dough out of the flour, while Tripti was ocassionally stirring the vegetable curry with a grin, "I still am, trust me." 

"I mean, Boudi, those two are bipolar at times I swear. One day they would try to break each other's jaws and next day, Ani Dada would lay curled up in Subho's lap." Tripti shrugged with a hopeless smile, "Neka shoshti dutoi (Dramatic peeps)." 

"Honestly!" 

And the trio burst into chuckles. 

"Aye Tripti, just look into the curry, I am coming after a while," Daamini wiped her palms with a cloth, and walked away from the kitchen. 

"I went through your family album last night." Saudamini smiled, while making small balls out of the dough.

"You did?" The latter chimed with a grin, twirling the ladle inside the curry pot, "I look cute in those photographs, don't I?" 

Saudamini chuckled, "Why not?"

Tripti giggled softly, "I know right! Baba always put the best photographs! I mean, it's him who maintains the album often, so yeah—but Dadabhai seems unrecognizable, isn't?" 

"My God yes! I mean, I understood after three to four times that it was him!" Saudamini amusedly glanced at her and Tripti's laughed, "I won't be surprised! Even I was after he returned from London!" She began stacking the flatbreads into the basket one after the other, "And even Vandana couldn't take her eyes off him-"

Saudamini stopped midway, raising her eyebrows into a subtle grin and Tripti bit her tongue sheepishly, "I mean...."

"I get you Tripti," She pursed her smile. 

"I mean, I did not mean that. And that day too," Tripti's smile faded for a while, "She's a bit that...you know."

Saudamini looked down with the same smile, nodding as she chopped the vegetables further, "Yeah. I did feel that."

"But you know what, I really never have seen Dadabhai getting involved with any girl as much as you, you know." Tripti tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and gazed at Saudamini, who looked at her abruptly while halting to chop, "Is it...?" She looked down again, inhaling a deep breath. 

"Yeah, the way he sees you is different," Tripti smirked teasingly, and before Saudamini could react, she fluttered away with the basket of flatbreads, and all she could do was shake her head.

Different.

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Saudamini's eyes narrowed as the hot oil cracked, while dropping the cut vegetables into the frying pan. She wiped a dash of sweat on her forehead with her wrist, and tossed the ladle to fry the vegetables. The aroma of burnt onions and garlic filled the kitchen, as she began to grind the whole spices.

And the familiar humming sound made her curl her lips up slightly, but she pretended to be busy.

Anirban started whistling mischievously, rubbing his hands as he entered the kitchen, raising a brow as he watched his wife 'busy'. And if possible, he started whistling a romantic Bengali song tune, that too a bit louder. 

Saudamini shook her head slightly, trying her best not to smile, "What happened Ani?" 

"What?" Anirban blinked innocently, shrugging, "I just came here to have some mango pickle!" He started whistling again, tip-toing as he unlocked the cupboard and brought down a jar. 

This man!

She continued grinding the cinnamon and cardamom, along with black pepper and dried red chillies. The vegetables were done frying, so she collected the ground spices and spluttered them over the pan with a searing cackle. She let out a deep sigh placing her hand on her waist, flipping the vegetables with the copper turner. Indeed, cooking was her passion, but hell the efforts! 

Feeling her eye itch from the smoke of the spice, she inadvertantly rubbed it with her fingers, sniffling. 

"Oh, what the..." Saudamini blinked hard, the corner of her eye began to burn suddenly, "Ouch!" She dropped the copper turner causing Anirban to flinch, "What happened?" 

The corner of her eye turned red, and it began to water as she tried to rub it more, "I...Its the spice-" She rushed towards the water jars, rubbing underneath her eye with a palm.

"Ayee wait wait wait! Stop!" Anirban held her shoulder, furrowing his brows as the latter blinked hard, "Wait!" He immediately washed his hands, collecting a bit of water in his cupped palm, holding her elbow and pulling her to a corner. Saudamini firmed her eyes closed, her vision turner hazy. 

"Keep your hands away..." He breathed in command, splashing the water on her face. Her brows thinned, as the cool water hit her face, "What did you do?"

"Arrey, I just rubbed my eyes with the spice in my fingers mistakenly!" 

"Is it burning still?"

"Ye-yeah..." Saudamini gazed at the ceiling, trying to blink away.

"Wait," Anirban found a clean cloth from the cupboard, and damped it in the water, rushing towards her, "Let me see." He cupped her cheek, wiping her eye tenderly with the damp cloth slowly. Saudamini sighed softly, relief taking over her as she tried to flutter her eyes open. 

Her breath hitched for a while, as he drew close spontaneously, pushing a strand of her hair from behind her ear while dabbing the cloth over her eye. His warm breaths lashed softly over her forehead, the sandalwood fragrance ruminating; and by now she could say that the fragrance was so quirkily addictive. Her half open eyes traced the contours of his face; brows thinned slightly, while his thumb brushed against her warm cheek as he leaned a bit more.

He was so close...

"Is it hurting anymore?" Anirban muttered, flickering his gaze towards her for a moment, making her blink for a while, realizing what she was thinking. She blinked her eyes rapidly, inhaling a deep breath, her cheeks flushing, "N-No! It's alright!" Licking her lips, she stepped back.

"Sure?"

"Yeah, absolutely!" Saudamini pushed back the strands of hairs behind her ears, her heart pounding against her chest, looking away. Oh God! It was so embarrassing! 

She dared not look at him, but picked up the copper turner and lit the stove again, her cheeks turner warm every moment.

But the latter kept staring at her, raising a brow.

"What?" She pretended to wipe the sweat from her forehead with the back of her palm, trying to look unbothered. 

"Nothing," His lips curled up into a mischievous smile, as he gave one last look at her and strode away from there. 

Oh God....why is it always her?

She breathed deeply, trying to normalize her racing heart, shaking her head.

★★★★★★★★★

A/N

🙈Kaafi late hogya update ;p

Signing off for today!

Nushkie