“It’s okay. I won’t do anything. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
I hear the hint of regret in his voice—and I absolutely hate it. “No, I’m fine,” I reply softly.
There’s a moment of silence before he speaks again. “Okay. Get ready. I’m taking you to the mall,” he says.
His phone rings again, and this time he answers it. I lean against the door, squealing internally. Officially, this is going to be our first date.My first ever date.Is it a date, or am I just cooking things up in my head?
“Is it a date, Mr. Malhotra?” I ask quietly.
“It is, if you want it to be, Mrs. Malhotra,” he replies after a pause.
I run off, too excited to stand still. I think I’ll wear a black kurti—we can twin. Rudraksh hardly wears anything that’s not black. I asked him about it yesterday, and all he said was, “Colors left my life a long time ago.” And I don’t know why, but I understood that. If my life had a color before, it would’ve been black too. But not now. Not at this moment. Now, it's colorful. I’m surrounded by people who respect me, who adore me. At least, I think they do. I hope they do.
I quickly change, apply some light makeup, and tie my hair up. It’s hot—you can’t blame me. As I am done getting ready, I hear Maa calling me from the kitchen. Hastily, I rush to her, and she smiles at me as she stirs the pot. “Lunch is ready. Please help me set the dining table.”
I nod and take the plates out. Everyone walks in one by one. As we finish plating, Maa gestures for me to sit. “I’m going out with Rudraksh. Is it okay if I eat out?” I ask. I don’t want them to think too much or worry.
Maa smiles and nods at me. “You don’t need to ask me. Just inform me next time so I don’t prepare extra food.” I give her a small smile and nod.
I quickly walk up to Rudraksh’s office and raise my hand to knock. Giddiness making a home in my guts. But before I can even knock, he opens the door.
“Come on, let’s go. I was waiting for you,” he says and walks out of the office.
He takes my hand as we walk side by side. But then I stop. “How did you know I was outside the office? I didn’t even knock.”
He pulls me forward and keeps walking. “I could smell you. It was your perfume,” he says, maintaining his stoic expression. Is he a sniffer dog or something? I giggle, and he narrows his eyes at me.
The idea that if I were ever lost, my husband could find me by my scent makes me feel safe.
24
RUDRAKSH
I’ve never seen her this happy. We’re at a bookstore right now. I had some work here at the mall, so I thought it would be nice if she came along—we haven’t gone out after marriage anyway.
I recently took over this mall but haven’t had the time to go through the administrative changes. After wrapping up my meeting with the management staff, all my attention was on my wife. When I asked if she wanted to go on a shopping spree, she said yes. That was just a random guess—a stereotype, maybe. Most women do claim they like shopping. Can you blame me?
I expected her to walk into a clothing store, but instead, she walked straight into a bookstore. And we’ve been here for an hour.
An hour, that too, at a bookstore.
In my life, I’ve never met someone so fascinated by books. She told me I’d get bored and that I should get some work done. But I could watch my wife stare at a plain wall and still not be bored. She just makes everything better somehow.
After walking around for a while, she looked at me and said I should really work. That’s when I realized she wanted me to go. So now I’m sitting at a table in the store, checking myemails. I glance up and see her making a beeline for the romance section—and she’s been standing there for half an hour. No wonder she gets all shy and blushy when she’s reading. A small smirk makes its way to my face as I keep staring at her. My wife likes reading romance books. Great. Now I won’t have to read them to find out what’s in them.
I watch her pick up books and then place them back on the shelf—she’s checking the prices. I clench my jaw. I’ve told this woman countless times she can buy whatever she wants, yet she still worries about money. How much could a book cost? It wouldn’t even make a dent in my bank account. She picks up at least five books, but when she returns, she’s carrying only two. My jaw tightens. I look at her intently but don’t say anything.
“I’m done,” she says.
I get up from my seat, and we pay for the books and step out of the store. “Let’s have lunch,” I trail off, my words low as I tighten my hold on her hand in one and her books in the other.
“No,” she replies in a squeaky voice. I turn towards her, look at her, and narrow my eyes. “I had lunch with everyone else before we left,” she adds quickly.
“Okay,” I mutter, studying her. Nervous energy radiates from her body, and I shake my head. “I’m hungry. Can we grab something on the way?”
She nods, and we walk to the subway. I don’t prefer greasy food, so I order a wrap—something mild and not too spicy. As I take a bite, I notice Shivani looking at my wrap as if she’s never seen food before. I can practically feel her salivating. I offer her a bite, but she shakes her head and looks away.
“What’s your favorite animal?” she asks suddenly, out of the blue, and I snap my head at her.
