Chapter 09 : The unofficial first date

"Stop teasing my wife."

Rayansh’s voice cut through the laughter, calm and steady but there was unmistakable mischief dancing in it. His expression was serious, almost too serious for the line he had just delivered. It made Shrija and Riya look up at him with wide grins, while Anya slowly turned her head towards him with the same look one reserves for unexpected plot twists.

“Ohohoho! Possessive husband alert! Did someone say ‘my wife’?” Riya immediately gasped, clutching her mangalsutra dramatically and giving teasing looks to her brother-in-law.

"Nothing infront of the OG Daksh Dubey." He returned the teasing look she gave him, smirking.

"Badmash." Riya blushed at the comment and twisted his ear lightly.

"Ouch! Violence on a groom. Is this what married life looks like?" Rayansh winced and ducked away from her grip.

Anya, standing by dusting off the imaginary dust on her saree, hid her amusement behind an expression that almost passed for indifference — almost. The quiet smile tugging at the corner of her mouth gave her away just enough for Shrija to catch it.

“Acha? When did we reach this comfort level? I blinked and missed a whole emotional arc.” Shrija said dramatically, arms flailing, glancing between the two like she was watching her favourite series and someone skipped an episode.

“Relax, Professor Sahiba. She’s harmless, at least in public.” Rayansh looked at stunned Anya and nudged her lightly with his shoulder.

“Good thing I’m not.” Anya arched an eyebrow, her voice cool as ever.

“Oh? Hidden claws?” Rayansh grinned, tilting his head.

“Let’s just say, public places are the only reason you’re still breathing.” She gave him a slow side glance.

Riya lets out a dramatic gasp as she overheard them while Shrija who was now sipping her tea snorted into it.

“Noted. Wife bites. Only after sundown.” Rayansh clutched his chest in mock fear.

“Depends on the moon.” Anya didn’t even blink as she said coldly and grabbed her purse.

Now it was Riya and Shrija who howled with laughter, leaving Rayansh shaking his head with a smile, half-annoyed, half-impressed as he walked behind her.

Outside, at the car, Anya stood waiting as he unlocked it. She didn’t say much. She never did. As the beep of unlocking echoed, she reached to open the passanger door for herself at the same time his hand reached the handle.

Their fingers brushed which made their eyes to look up and find eachothers. It was a brief touch but it was enough to make both of them freeze for a second. They stared into eachother's eyes for a moment. His, curious and unreadable. Hers, surprised but calm.

Knowing he wouldn't back off she sighed softly and pulled back her hand.

He opened the door for her wordlessly, a quiet gentleman moment that didn’t ask for appreciation but hoped for acknowledgment. She slipped in without a word.

His eyes lingered on her briefly before he walked around to the driver’s side with a small spring in his step — like he'd just unlocked a secret level in a game he didn’t even sign up to play.

Opening the door for her. Check.

He grinned as he settled down on his seat. She closed her side door after adjusting her pleats and reached for the seat belt. He quickly closed his side door and turned to look at her buckling up her seat belt. He sighed and turned to buckle up his seat belt.

Buckling up her seat belt. Uncheck.

Silence settled between them like a third person. But it wasn’t heavy — just uncertain. Like a song waiting for lyrics. He turned the ignition on, started the car and rolled the steering as he effortlessly pulled out the car from garage.

"So, are you a serious shopper or a window-browsing kind of person?" He asked as he pulled out the car from their house premises.

"I shop for what I need." She adjusted her purse on her lap and looked straight ahead.

"Right. No detours into 'just looking' territory, got it." He nodded, glancing sideways. "So basically, I’m the entertainment."

Her lips twitched. Almost a smile. But she quickly masked it looking outside the window.

“You talk too much.” She said plainly.

“And you talk just enough to keep me confused.” He replied with a grin, as he pressed on accelerator to speed off.

And that was how their first post-wedding shopping trip or I can say unofficial date began — in silence, in sarcasm, and with two strangers pretending to be normal until they reached their destination, mall.

As they pulled into parking lot, Anya looked at him through the corner of her eyes as he was fidgeting. He put on a black mask on his face, large tinted shades to cover his eyes and finally, a cap on his head. He put them all on in swift succession like a magician layering disguises. All the while she wanted to scream at him for his criminal-friendly get up.

“Chori karayla allo ki kay?” [Are we here to steal something?] She murmured to herself as she opened the door to jump out of the car before he could reach it.

“Which shop do you want to go, first?” He asked as he caught up her long strides.

“Clothes.” She said as they passed the security check.

“That will be second —” His words were cut off as she walked directly towards the escalator making him blink, surprised.

How did she know her way around this mall? Does she know this place? Maybe she looked around and decided to go to second floor.

He walked confused, behind her, because the place they got married was in Pune and he had assumed her to be a Pune resident. But looking at her confidently walking away he knew they have a long way to go.

“Welcome ma’am.” The employee greeted as soon as Anya entered a clothing shop while he followed in tow. “Welcome sir.”

“How may I help you?” The employee asked turning towards him as Anya directly walked towards the woman section.

“I’m with her.” He pointed towards his wife as he followed her. Removing his shades he clipped them on his shirt's pocket.

She was flipping throught a rack of Kurtas, then picked up a set of Kurta and efficiently judged the fabric quality then looked at the price.

"The material and pattern are not worth the price tag." She muttered under her breathe and sighed as she saw few more and found one for her liking.

“Yami, haa bagh?” [Yami, how’s this?] She held it and pasted to her front as she turned to show her sister only to realise it was her husband this time who accompanied her for shopping.

“It’s nice.” He replied to not make already awkward situation awkward to which she just cleared her throat and kept it back looking at the price tag.

“You should buy it.” He said as she took few steps forward.

“It’s not worth it.” She said as they walked slowly.

“Because I said it was nice?” He thought way to loudly making her look at him with frown while he stared at her clueless.

“Not because you said it was nice.” She assured him as she again looked at another kurta set, that was lying in front of her and also checked the price tag before picking it up.

“How’s this one?” She asked holding it in the same way as before making him smile and he thanked his mask for carefully hiding it behind it.

“Good.” He said as he took it from her and gestured her to select few more. Feeling oddly proud.

If it had been any other day, he would have thrown tantrums to go for shopping because he couldn't risk his exposure to public. Once his fan encounter had turned chaotic— it was so bad that he had almost lost his sister in the crowd when only the two of them had gone for shopping. To avoid such things, today he made sure to cover himself from head to toe in such a way that no one would recognize him not even an Eagle. If said.

He didn’t want to waste such a good opportunity to spend time with his wife even if they were strangers as she had addressed them before he wanted to know every single thing about her and make her feel comfortable around him. Even though it was his sudden decision to marry her he wanted to give them a chance and prove that sudden decisions could bloom into something beautiful too and not always the planed ones have to be.

“Won’t you shop something for yourself?” She turned to ask him, breaking his chain of thoughts after she was done selecting few Kurta sets and Saree for herself — ofcourse after confirming with him — to which he just shook his head in negative.

“Okay.” She replied and walked towards the men section making him frown.

“I told you I —” He started only to get interrupted by her.

“But I want to buy something for myself.” She lets out as she made her way towards the baggy t-shirts.

Later on, she went through the rack of sweatpants and selected two of them. She then moved towards a stand, where hoodies were hung. He quietly followed her with a cart almost full of clothes. She pulled out a hoddie and held it in mid-air like she was pasting it to his front while he was looking around.

“This is it.” She murmured smilingly at the brugdeny colour hoddie as it went well with his skin tone and decided to buy it for him. While he looked at her confusedly as she quickly pushed it into the basket she was holding.

“I’m done here.” She announced as they made their way towards the counter to pay.

“I know you can but let me.” He scanned the QR code on his phone before she could pay or say something to him making her frown at him.

She lets him pay not wanting to make a scene at the counter and made a mental note to pay him back for the same. As the cashier put the bill in one of the bags she quickly grabbed it, not giving him a chance to hide the bill like he had secretly paid the amount a moment ago.

“Give me your phone number.” She voiced out as they stood into the corridor walking out of the shop.

He simply passed his phone for her to type her number in it. She inserted her number and gave him back his phone as she waited for him to dial her so that she could get his number. He smiled at it and saved her number as ‘Wife’ and dialled her. She rejected it and saved his number as ‘Veda Manus’.

Yaha bhi rejection. [Rejected, yet again.]

But paying her bill. Check.

“Do you want to buy anything else?” He asked her as she did something on her phone for which she just nodded negatively.

“Let’s go.” He turned on his heel while she frowned and later on looked at his back with shock.

“Wait.” She quickly walked towards him and stopped right in front of him.

“Did you block me on GPay?” She narrowed her eyes at him as she kept her hands on her waist along with few shopping bags. They got few unknown glances at them as those people passed by them.

“Did I?” He sounded innocent but she could clearly see through his mask that it was anything but innocent. With free hand he removed his cap for a brief second to pass his fingers through his hair. Basically, to shove away the nervousness her stare was giving him.

“You are impossible.” She huffed and turned to leave. He quickly wore his cap and held her back by gently curling his fingers around her wrist. Feeling his hold she turned her neck to look at him with a frown but his eyes — he was looking over her shoulder.

“Damn it. Run!” He exclaimed as he pulled her along with him in attempt to hide.

“Ray.” They heard few voices behind them as he aimed to find something that could hide them perfectly.

She was confused by the sudden shift in his demure but let him drag her alongwith him. She stumbled over something that made her turn back. Her eyes met his shades that were lying on the floor mere distance away from them, now.

“Your shades.” She hissed and forcefully made him pause his steps.

She wiggled out of his grip and reached for the shades on the floor while a crowd run towards them. She quickly picked them up and ran towards him. She slipped her hand in his and pulled him alongwith her. He tightened his grip on her hand as they continued running.

“Who are they?” She whisper-yelled at him as they entered a Boutique.

“Crazy animals.” He muttered as his eyes were still behind her figure while she glared looking up at him.

“Aren’t human beings’ animals as well.” He yanked her deeper into the Boutique making her sigh tiredly.

With her, he hurriedly walked towards a narrow gap near the end of the section—barely a hideaway. There was no door. No real cover. Just dim lighting and tight space. Revealing it to be trial room area. He sighed in relief to find something that could hide them perfectly but it was short lived as all the three rooms were occupied. He stopped at the end making her hit his back as a small hiss escaped from her.

He looked over her shoulder again and before she could say something about his sudden act he panicking dragged her towards the little space that was at the end of trial room cabinets. The space was not very spacious neither there was a door so they just had to squish themselves inside the little space.

“Why are they after you?” She asked softly not wanting to pull the trouble.

“Because I’m — devastatingly handsome.” He said as he covered her figure by his. Shielding her completely.

Her back was now completely pasted on the wall while her front was mere distance away from his front as his back was also pasted to the other side of the wall. They could feel eachother's breathe and might be also able to hear the rhythms of eachother's heart perfectly.

“That doesn’t answer my question at all.” She whispered, frowning, looking at the distance between them.

“Shh!” He kept his forefinger on her lips as they heard few footsteps closer towards them.

If the mere touch of his fingers that had brushed while she opened the door, earlier send a chill down her spine then now it was sending strings of chills down her spine as his warm finger gently pressed against her cold lips.

Feeling her hot breath fanning on his skin he stared down into her chocolate brown eyes as they captivated him. His clutch on the shopping bags in his other hand, tightened.

She stared into his midnight black orbs, feeling an inexplicable pull—like a magnet to metal. She clutched the bags and purse in her hands. She gulped down hard before gently removing his finger from her lips that unknowingly burned her.

Not moving his gaze from her eyes he just let his hand slip away from her and pasted it on the wall exactly few centimetres away beside her face. His gaze flickered for a mere second when he heard footsteps. His eyes caught a faint mole below her lips towards her right jaw, which he had missed previously.

“Gaye?”[Did they leave?] She cleared her throat after few seconds as she heard footsteps fading away and softly asked.

His eyes had again found hers. Wanting to pull away from such proximity she tried to look behind her shoulder while he slowly pulled out his hand that was pressed against the wall.

“Nahi gaye.”[Not yet] He replied still in haze of their proximity.

“Gaye!” [They left] She pushed him a little and was careful to not hurt his back taking in the amount of space there was around them.

She squished out from the congested space creating safe distance between them while he intakes a sharp breathe as he too moves out of the congested space. Avoiding his gaze she nervously brushed the strands of her baby hair from her face and tugged them behind her ear. He took out his shades and put them on and also adjusted his cap properly.

"Chalein?" [Let's go?] He extended his hand to her.

She briefly looked at his hand and then up at his face. While his gaze was fixed on her. She gave him a small nod and interlocked her pinky finger into his making him smile. And a small smile erupt on her face as well which she quickly masked.

Together they peep against the wall as they reached at the start of the corridor to find if anyone out there was searching for them. A lady passed by them giving a weird look which made them straighten themselves and awkwardly smiled at her. Sensing no danger around them. They acted like nothing happened and walked out of the mall. Hands still interlocked. I mean pinky fingers still interlocked.

⭐

"Wanna eat something?" He asked turning towards her while he was lightly tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as they were stuck into very famous Mumbai traffic.

"No!" She nodded positively. Longingly looking at something outside the window, which she had spotted few minutes ago.

He followed her gaze and frowned looking at what had attracted her. He saw her sticking out her lower lip making sad eyes and frown erupt on her forehead. He chuckled and clicked his fingers in front of her eyes making her look everywhere but him. Thinking he had noticed it.

He looked behind his car and then, pulled up the car at the side making her frown more. He cautiously opened the door and walked towards her side.

"Let's go!" He said as he opened the door for her while she looked at his face, confused.

Looking at her confused face he pointed his chin behind him, in the direction she was previously lost in. Few seconds passed as she looked at him with unreadable eyes but from inside, she was shocked and freaking out. She didn't move an inch, he left the door open for her and made his way towards the stall. She sighed and hurriedly unbuckled the seat belt, closed the door and ran behind him catching on his steps. He smirked and locked the car.

"Bhaiya, two samosas please. And a chai." She jumped a step forward him and placed her order before any other person could.

Through the corner of her eyes she saw a boy who was already standing there glaring at her because she placed her order before he could. From his pov she suddenly jumped out from nowhere.

"What will you eat?" She turned towards her husband who was looking at her amused sensing the situation.

"A chai will do." He said while she stared his face under the dim street lights.

"Don't wanna eat something?" She asked as he adjusted his shades besides her.

"No. I'm not hungry." He simply replied as he adjusted his cap to cover his face more as he left his mask into the car. But his stomach betrayed him as a small grumbling sound echoed through it.

"Liar. You must have not eaten anything after lunch. It's almost eight now. You should eat something." She scolded him softly as she looked at the time on her wrist watch.

"Bhaiya, one more chai and two samosas." She turned towards the stall vendor and placed another order despite his protest.

"One will do." He sighed wanting to interrupt her but she had already placed the order.

"If you don't want another one. I'll eat it." She showed him her thirty-two and turned towards the vendor who dipped the samosas in oil to fry.

So she is a kid.

With tuff exterior!  His inner conscience added.

He remembered the conversation that took place the day before when the entire family was sitting in the lawn. Specifically, the words that were exchanged between his sister and her about being a kid at twenty-five. He stifled back a chuckle as she carefully looked at the vendor who was now removing the fried Samosas from the pan.

The vendor passed her two plates which she enthusiastically took and gestured her husband to sit on the small bench nearby them. He took the two glasses of tea that another vendor had passed towards them and walked towards the bench where she was already sitting.

As he sat on the tiny wooden bench, their knees almost brushed, the plastic plates slightly bending under their weight of Samosa and huddling under the faint glow of a flickering streetlight, the world around them bustled and blurred. The honking traffic, the sizzling of samosas, the distant chatter—all faded into a soft hum as the two of them shared that humble meal.

Anya’s fingers brushed against his as she reached for her glass of chai. This time, neither of them pulled away. She slowly picked up the cup and sipped her chai in silence, her gaze fixed on something far away—perhaps a thought, perhaps a memory.

Rayansh, sitting beside her, glanced at her from the corner of his eye, waiting for her to speak. She didn't. And considering the space between them she hadn't moved away either.

He watched the way she blew on her samosa before taking a small bite, the way she neatly tucked a hair strand behind her ear, the way she subtly leaned a little away when their elbows brushed.

"Will others eat if we take few for them?" She suddenly asked him as she blew on her Samosa before taking another bite of it.

"They won't mind eating it. But if we buy today, they won't be able to eat." He said while she frowned munching on her bite.

"I have been threatened to return home only after 11 pm." He waved his phone in the mid-air.

"Are you really scared of that threat?" She asked frowning as she took another bite.

"No risk." He replied as he raised his plate to finally eat it. But before eating it, he slipped one of his Samosa into her plate.

"Trying to bribe me?" She teased when she saw the Samosa into her plate.

"Just sharing with the person who clearly has the bigger appetite." He replied giving her a slight nod.

More like - just an attempt to spend more time with you.

After that silence engulfed around them as they continued eating their delicacy. And it wasn't the empty kind. It was the kind of silence that settles only between people who, maybe, just maybe, are beginning to understand each other.

Rayansh leaned back a little, sipping the last of his chai. Anya, sitting beside him, finished the final bite of her samosa with quiet satisfaction.

Then, without a word, she leaned in towards him. He froze on his place looking at her centimetres away from his face without a warning.

What? Is she going to punch me? He panicked looking at her extending her hand towards his face while her fingers were curled into a fist.

She pulled out her thumb and wiped off the tiny smear of chutney and sauce from the corner of his mouth. Just once, soft and quick. No eye contact. No smile. Just a gentle swipe and she was back to sipping her tea like nothing happened.

But for him, everything had.

His hand flexed slightly against the paper cup, unsure of what to do with the warmth that suddenly bloomed in his chest. He looked at her, wanting to catch her gaze. But she was already looking away, the faintest tint of crimson brushing the tips of her ears and her cheekbones shining under the dim light making it look like she was trying her best to not blush.

She didn't thank him. She didn't smile. But she didn't retreat either - and in her silence, something softened.

And for Rayansh, that was louder than anything else she could've said.

Maybe, this unofficial date didn't end in fireworks.

But maybe - just maybe - it was the beginning of a spark.

A/N

This the longest chapter I have written till now. Hope it didn't bore you.

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