CHAPTER ELEVEN

I changed my clothes before I called Arnav to come pick me up. This time I selected another suit. I wore an A-line suit of red and purple. The leggings were the same rich purple as the dupatta, and the kurta was a rich, sensual red. I strapped on my favorite heels, the purple ones with the brocade straps and silver clasp. I did a quick swipe of just basic make up—a little day cream, thin lining of black kohl in my eyes and a thin coat of lip gloss. I let my dark brown, wavy hair flow loose as I usually did. I looked at myself in the mirror trying to flaunt my curves, which were tightly embraced by the dress, showing off my flat belly. I hoped Arnav would notice my body often. But he had never seemed to appreciate me in the physical sense. I stared at myself and found that red made me look good. The golden undertones of my fair skin actually glowed in it.

It had been less than half an hour since Arnav called. When Arnav reached the house gate to collect me, it had been almost exactly thirty minutes since he’d invited me to the mall. You couldn’t say the man wasn’t punctual.

“Thanks, Kriti ji, for coming with me.”

“You're welcome Arnav ji”

This time he played a song called Hero.

'I can be your hero baby,

I can kiss away the pain,

I will stand by you forever,

You can take my breath away,

The song was one of my favorites, and I felt like Enrique was singing directly to me. Like he was promising those things to me.

When he pulled up in front of the main entrance to the mall, he jerked his head toward the building.

“You go inside, I'll park the car.”

I nodded and slid out of the car. Once inside, I waited for him in the sweeping, artistic foyer of the shopping center. The place was busy today, there were so many people strolling from shop to shop. Some had come with their families, some were with their friends, and a few others were obviously couples. One of these couples caught my attention. The woman was so cute. She was wearing a beautiful blue colored saree and they were holding hands. They looked so happy. They looked like there was no place on earth either would rather be. They were lost in each other, so lost that they didn’t even see me. I on the other hand, couldn't keep my gaze from them. They were talking to each other and laughing in an intimate way that made me feel like a voyeur. I was so enthralled with them, with how happy they appeared, that I didn’t notice Arnav moving to stand beside me. As we watch, the man leaned down a little and gave his companion a peck on her cheek. The girl giggled and blushed. I looked away, the scene becoming too personal to keep intruding on. My eyes met Arnav’s and I quickly looked away avoiding further eye contact.

We stood there in a tense silence for a minute longer, then Arnav said, “should we go Kriti ji?”

“Yes, Arnav ji,” I glanced around at the different shops with dummies showing off their best collections in the display windows. “Where shall we go?”

“You pick. You must be better at this than I am.” He chuckled making a joke of himself.

“Lifestyle?” I proposed.

He replied and signaled for me to walk further into the atrium with him. Then we went shopping for shirts. The work was tiresome, since my grumpy husband refused to try any of the shirts on. He complained every time I asked him to model something for me.

“I never do this. Just ask Maa what she buys. It always fits.”

I threw him a very indignant look at this pronouncement and wondered what kind of person could possibly just wear whatever their mother buys them. Obviously this same level of disinterest is what led him to marrying a woman his mother picked out for him, too. I chose three shirts for him from among dozens of them. We were at the cashier when I saw a pair of sparkling, metallic red earrings hanging on a display next to the counter. The earrings were long and dramatic, enameled in red with black streaking through the crimson hue, and they were take-your-breath-away gorgeous. I fell in love with them at first glance and couldn't resist touching them and playing them over my fingertips. Arnav caught me admiring the jewelry.

“Nice earrings?”

I turned toward him and quickly dropped my hand. “They’re alright.”

“Then we must buy them.” Arnav pushed the shirts over the cash counter.

I protested immediately, “no...no need for it.”

Arnav cocked his head to one side. “Why? Don't you like them?”

“Yes,” I admitted. “I do like them but no, please Arnav ji, don't buy them for me.”

Arnav made a strange face. As if I was a riddle he was determined to solve. “Oh Kriti ji don't indulge in so much formality. It's okay if you like them. We will buy them. Discussion over.” He turned toward the saleswoman pointing to our pile of purchases. “Please include those with the shirts.”

She again gave a permissive smile and said, “sure Sir,” and bundled all the items together on the counter before her.

The earrings were off the display and bagged before I could protest further.

“Arnav ji, you didn’t have to do that.”

He ignored me, paid the cashier, and then took the bag from the counter.

“Really Kriti ji?” he asked in mock interest.

“Yup. I mean, whenever I go out my eyes fall upon every tenth object.”

“Your eyes may fall on every tenth object, but they only stay on a few things.” His eyes shined.

My cheeks reddened but I had to stop him. “Yes, but it was an unnecessary item. I already have so many earrings. My mother would have scolded me.” I looked down at the floor feeling like a small child.

“Well, I’m not Mumma. If you like something, ask for it.”

I realized that we were finally outside of Lifestyle. I didn’t know why but the blush creeping across my cheeks got deeper.

“Just like that?”

He nodded, “yes, just like that. I have a little bit of money. I can at least buy all the earrings you like.”

I was shocked. Was all that he had not enough for him? I didn’t peg him as the greedy type. But his comment made me wonder.

“Arnav ji, a little wealth? Is all this success you’ve had with the business not sufficient for you?” I was surprised at his self-deprecating tone. The man was damn rich. He laughed heartily.

“I’m just kidding. I’m happy with what I have. Being wealthy was never really the goal. I just love my work.”

I was surprised. One moment, this man was ambition incarnate, and the next he was brushing off his success as though it didn’t matter in the slightest.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes,” he assured. I saw his self-satisfied face. His tone had made it clear that he was joking. I was interested in that topic, but before I could ask him anything else, he raised an eyebrow and posited “Ice cream?”

“No. I just want to go home now.” I was busy trying to imagine how Arnav would look in the shirts we’d bought. “Do you have to buy anything else?”

He absorbed my look and replied after a little pause, “no. If you’re ready we can go. Stay here. I’ll go get the car.”

For all his teasing, I’d like to believe that he is a good person. My tension and hurts from the night before had abated and I decided the rest of the day would be a good one. When I was with him, I tended to forget some of my more existential worries. When he was away they would creep back, but while I was right next to him all the sorrows of reality seemed to drift away. I was even feeling hungry now, too.

That day had surprised me. I hadn’t expected my annoying, workaholic husband to make me feel good, make me laugh when I was feeling so sad. Not even Shreya had been able to do that today.

When I walked through the door at home, the sight of my best friend Akansha standing in my living room almost knocked the wind out of me. She wasn’t alone either. Her boyfriend Vihaan, stood by her side, flanked by Apoorv, Ayushi, and Shubhangi. I hadn’t seen any of them since my wedding day.

Akansha wasn’t just my best friend, I shared a bond so unique with her that it had become unexplainable for me. I swear, if Akansha had not found Vihaan, I would have kidnapped and married her Just because she was my own, personal crazy-ass ray of sunshine. I wanted to live with her. All the time, like 24/7.

Akansha and Vihaan had been together for the last four years. They met each other when Akansha was completing her C.A. To everyone’s eternal surprise, Vihaan was her junior in her office. She was his boss, older than him in age and also professional capacity. Initially, it was unacceptable to many people in Akansha’s life, but this is love. A little crooked, a little crazy, but that’s love. No one expected them to last, but within a year, these two love birds were so enthralled with each other that, we couldn’t imagine them apart. Not only did they love each other, but their compatibility, their understanding, and their acceptance of each other’s flaws had made their relationship strong.

Khanna or rather, Apoorv, was the first to shove past the others and pull me into a hug. He’d has been famously known by the name of Khanna Bhai since we were all in school. Wickedly handsome, he was one of the craziest friends I’ve ever had. Out of habit I high-fived Khanna when he let me go.

“How are you, dude?”

“I’m all good,” he added, his tone heavy with friendly affection. “Your husband is taking good care of your or what?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “What do you think?”

“Well! I would think he does. That'd probably be the reason he made the effort to call all of us and arrange this sort of get-together.”

Akansha interrupted, no longer able to contain her excitement, embracing me in a big, long hug. I clung to her, grinning ear to ear when she chirped, “how are you, baby?”

“I wasn't that good earlier today, but now that all of you are here, I couldn’t be happier,” I replied, then looked to Arnav and mouthed, “thank you.”

He just smiled. I pulled him from where he stood apart from all five of us. He stood beside me and I leaned into his shoulder, teasing him I said, “So, Guys, in case you hadn’t noticed this is the famous Zaayaka restaurant owner, and as you all know, he’s my husband.”

Shubhangi exclaimed, “how could we not notice him?” She was openly flirting with Arnav. Arnav laughed and he shook hands with each of my friends in his overly formal way, but with Akansha he made a subtle change. Covering her hand with his own, he said, “Hi saali ji, how are you?”

“I am all fine jeeju,” she replied in a pointedly familiar way.

“You people know each other?” I was as confused as I had ever been. I knew everything about this woman, and yet here we were.

An evil little smile spread across my best friend’s face. “Yes, we do.”

I was confused. Akansha and Arnav knew each other, but how? Before I could pop out the question, Arnav gave a harassed sigh and proceeded to surprise me for the second time today.

“Akansha took it upon herself to test my metal before our wedding.”

“What?” I had no earthly idea what he was talking about. “What kind of test?”

“I just called him from a bunch of unknown numbers to test what kind of guy he is. I decided that I like him and would not sabotage your wedding. Not only smart but also mannered. He was very polite. When I tried to flirt with him, he didn't reply with anything cheap and didn't show an ounce of interest. He did such a good job when I broke out my inner cougar and tried to come on to him all trashy like. He just said—she affected her deepest, most ridiculous voice in mockery of my husband—“Madam, I'm soon to be married so please don't waste your time here.”

My friend was an actual, real-life crazy person. I looked to Arnav expecting to see him sparkle or something. He had been loyal to me even before meeting me the first time. I felt proud of the man and his upbringing.

“What?” he said. “Don't look at me like that.” He laughed, “I had to end the conversation. I was busy.”

Maa was thrilled to meet all of my friends. “You people should come here more often, I feel like I’m thirty years younger with all of you.”

We were in my room chatting, discussing, making fun of each other and enjoying, when Arnav came in searching for taking his charger I called to him, “Arnav ji, are you busy?”

He denied, and asked in concern, “do you need something?”

I shifted making a place for him and requested, “join us, then”. He wasn’t comfortable but after I pushed him a little, he sat beside us. The next few hours passed as we all sat together and kept on chatting with each other. We all enjoyed with each other so much.

My face was set in a perpetual smile after my friends left, and after that day, I couldn’t ignore the fact that I was maybe, just a little bit, falling for my husband. He was so kind and caring, and he went so far out of his way just to cheer me up. He did so many things to make me smile today. My heart squeezed at the thought. As we were preparing for bed, I called his name.

"Thank you…for today."

He blushed. “You don’t need to say ‘thanks’. It’s okay.” He fumbled¸ “I just thought that meeting everyone may make you happy. And it was my responsibility to do that.”

I stared at him, my subconscious spirit jumping in excitement. My happiness actually mattered to him this much! If there hadn’t been so much distance between us, me at one corner of the bed and him at the other, I would have hugged him.

“Are you sleepy Arnav ji?”

He denied and stated plainly, “no, I’ll watch a movie.”

I was surprised. Was he into movies, too? Something else I didn’t know about him.

“Really? Which one?”

He shrugged, “I’ll just search for something classic.”

I wished him a ‘good night’ and laid down on my side of the bed, facing the opposite wall, to get some sleep.