43 | Distance Delights

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Do follow me buddies Ruhani_Gupta so that you don't miss out on any important announcement.

Also Please do Vote (The Star Icon⭐) and Comment. It motivates your author to write more.

An extremely long update to compensate you all for a late update!

Happy Reading!❤️

Note:

All the incidents in this chapter take place on different days and times.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Aditya's Pov

A relaxed groan escaped my throat as soon as I plopped my exhausted self over the bed. My body was stiff, my eyes were drooping, my neck rigid and my hands aching because of all the driving I had done in the past twenty-four hours.

My gaze shifted sideways and my lips twitched in displeasure as the sight of a half-empty bed came into the line of my vision, the view enough to sting my eyes.

Sighing helplessly, I picked up my phone to message my wife that I have reached home but before my fingers could type the message my lips curled up in a smile as her name along with her picture in the same navy blue lehnga flashed on my screen.

"I was just going to message you." I grinned soon as I answered her call and pulled that stupid cuddle pillow towards me, thus forcing myself to cuddle it for the next fifteen days.

"Why message, why not call?" She queried, a hint of annoyance palpable in her tone.

I couldn't resist chuckling at her question and hence, deciding to tease her, I remarked playfully,

"A certain someone said me once that her sleep is very very precious to her and given the fact that it's already past midnight, I thought she'd be fast asleep, dreaming all sorts of weird dreams. After all who would stay awake for so long and disturb her sleep?"

"Bol ab." I nudged when she replied in silence.

"I was awake." She mumbled, pretty much offended.

"Acha? Kyu?" I feigned oblivion and my eyes closed on their own accord as the picture of her getting all blushy-mushy flashed in front of my closed eyelids.

"You aren't as ignorant as you try to be." I could crystal clear imagine her protruded lips, complimented with ample frown lines on her forehead.

"Lae, that was a genuine question, why would I act to be ignorant." I pressed my lips to stifle my chuckle and placed the elbow over my closed eyes, my mind beginning to blank out with tiredness.

"I am not a kalyugi wife who'd sleep like a log without even confirming that her husband has reached home or not, given it's already two at night."

"Acha? Then what happened that day when we got rokafied?" I teased again, reminding her of the dialogue she threw on me after I came back home from our roka.

Silence.

"Uh, um that time we were new-new? Haan! We were new-new then, and not even husband-wife!" She exclaimed, more like asked and it took every inch of me not to laugh at her buffoonish reasons.

"Acha? And now?" I couldn't help but question in response.

"Now we are old-old!" She replied, giggling, and I rubbed a helpless hand over my face, unable to understand this antique piece, better known as my wife.

"Just in a month of marriage, we are old-old? In a year you'd be calling us retired-retired. And hence, every year, I have to remarry you to keep us new-new." I couldn't help but comment sarcastically, though it didn't affect her a bit as she giggled merrily.

"Maybe!" She spoke, while my jaws began to hurt at the innumerable times I've yawned and chuckled in the past five minutes, my body craving nothing but sleep.

"Acha sun ab, let's talk tomorrow? I am going to sleep now, and upar se I've to reach office at seven tomorrow." I managed to keep my eyes open and switched off the lights.

"Hanji hanji, go sleep. Good night." She added softly, "Today was very tiring for you."

"Hmm. Chal ab good night, I am keeping the phone." I yawned again.

"Hanji, bye."

Placing the phone towards my side, my gaze wandered around the room, settling at the empty space on the other side of the bed.

Sensing the sheer silence in the room, I couldn't help but wonder that even before marrying her, I used to be all alone in this room. But today felt different, very different indeed.

It felt immensely awkward and alien without her presence, without her mischief-laden gaze, her mild fragrance, her innocent complaints, her shy smiles, and her soothing waves of laughter.

Inhaling heavily, I snuggled closer to her cuddle pillow in the hope to find the same peace and serenity I feel when she's tugged closer to me, all wrapped around my body.

However, I shook my head miserably and chuckled to myself a second later, when absentmindedly I pressed a chaste kiss on this artificial, temporary wife of mine, her cuddle pillow.

Riya Kansal, you'll sure make me mad one day.

*********

Riya's Pov

"Good morning." Rubbing my bleary eyes, I mumbled groggily to my husband.

A hushed chuckle was what I was graced with before he remarked friskily, "It's Good afternoon ma'am. Ek baj gye, uthja ab."

"Good morning only happens when Princess Riya of Hoshiarpur wakes up." I boasted proudly, my eyes still closed, wanting to snooze for another hour or so.

"I am the one who drove almost fifteen hours yesterday, and you are talking as if you are the one who's tired. I should be the one to feel such exhaustion and enjoy such sleep." He revolted, a hint of jealousy apparent in his tone.

"Lae, sitting for seven hours in the car, using google maps, sitting on the sofa, talking with family, playing with avyuktha, and eating lots of food are a lot of challenging tasks, while you only drove for fifteen hours. Basss! Nothing much." I argued back, only to irk him.

"Impossible." He muttered helplessly making me giggle at his agitated self.

"Acha haan, hogayi meeting?" I queried, yawning for the umpteenth time in the last two minutes.

"Hmm. Just got back home from the office." He answered, yawning too.

"Fir kaam?" I questioned again.

"Baad mein. My head is aching badly, so I'll sleep now and work later." He explained while the sounds of the almirah opening and closing acted as a piece of background music.

"Yaar where's my peach t-shirt?" he asked, distracted, "Don't tell me you've thrown that too." He grumbled in annoyance, presumably rummaging the contents in the almirah.

"It isn't washed yet, wear something else. And eat some medicine for your headache, otherwise, you won't be able to sleep." I spoke, eyeing the empty space between the room window, while my fingers played with my nest-styled hair.

"Haan, I just took the medicine, when I came back home." He informed, "Because it's only after I sleep well that I can work peacefully at night." He yawned amidst his words.

"Oooooh! Night romance with your first wife." I cooed, wiggling my brows even though he couldn't see me.

At my frisky remark, he laughed heartily, "Of course, night-long romance with my one and only." He said dreamily, playing along, his voice sensuous.

Too much romance in my absence! Miss Phone Kansal get ready because you'll be getting a sibling soon, Miss Headphone Kansal.

"Tell me in advance okay when you both will get all cozy-mozy? I'll not disturb you at that time by calling or messaging you." I added, biting my lips to stifle the wide grin forming on my face.

"Naaah."He drawled with mischief,

"You can join us too. We can have you know, thr...."

"Oh God chiii Aditya! You are incorrigible!" I gasped in horror before he could complete the sentence.

"What? It will be fun, we can try." Naughtiness was evident in his tone, the cruel husband within him thoroughly enjoying my horrified response.

"Go now, sleep, you shameless man." I chided lightly, shooing him before he could extend this conversation more.

"Lae what shameless? You were the one starting it and vaise bhi we'll be discussing a lot such things one day. So let's make that one day today only, what say?" His wide, no filter mouth spluttered, least affected by my scoldings.

"Adityaa.." I whined, shaking my head in embarrassment.

"Acha acha, going, going." He answered but added almost immediately, his tone as sensual as it could be,

"You sure na vaise, you don't want to join us tonight?" He spoke the last word in a hushed whisper.

"God! Shut up and go!" I squeaked, shutting my eyes as the picture of what he intended to say flashed in the front of my eyes.

"Going going, bye." He was still laughing at my expense when I cut the call, embarrassed and petrified.

Paagal!

*******

"Riyaaa...Phone utha, massi ka hoga shayad." Maa called out from the terrace as I was busy watching television and munching chips, my forever favorite, masala flavor.

"Main ni!" I scowled, even though she couldn't see me.

"Hanji massi ka hai." I added briskly eyeing the incoming call on her phone, thus answering her unasked question.

"Utha le na. Baat kar, I am just coming in a minute." She scolded, annoyance palpable in her tone.

"No naa. You know I can't do this relative talking thingy." Frowning, I called rather loudly, thus putting forward my refusal to pick up the phone, even though it was for a minute. The next second, I heard her stepping down the stair in a rush, even though by now the phone has stopped ringing.

"Stop being stubborn all the time. Your tantrums are worse than avyuktha." She glared in disapproval, stepping inside the room with sun-dried clothes hung on her arm.

However her glares hardly managed to scare me, hence, being the Princess of Hoshiarpur I am, I kept shuffling the channels royally, songs to movies, serials to the news.

Don't worry, I am used to these types of glares, this is the everyday scene here.

"Haan didi, haanji I was on the terrace, that's why couldn't pick up the call." Maa voiced as soon as she dialed massi's number, her pitch ear-painingly high as if massi is sitting right in the next room.

"Dheere!" I whispered, gesturing her to speak slowly only to be awarded by yet another glare from her, thus refusing to lower down her loudy-loud pitch whenever she is on the call.

Nevertheless, ignoring the high-pitch elderly talk, I focused my attention on some stupid reality show, where candidates were more involved in fighting than doing the tasks assigned.

"Haan haan Riya aayi hui hai." My heart stopped beating altogether and my ears perked up in an instant as soon as I heard maa mentioning about me.

"Haan haan, baithi hai yahi." She added, eyeing me keenly.

Danger.

Without wasting a single second, I immediately got up from the bed to rush outside before the phone is handed over to me to have the age-old formal set of forced conversations with the relatives.

"Haan haan karvati hu." My steps hastened as I heard her gushing about my arrival as if she has forgotten that Princess Riya doesn't converse with anyone without prior appointments.

"Riya, le kar baat massi se." I shut my eyes in exasperation and my steps halted before I could cross the threshold of the room.

"Washroom." I mouthed, manoeuvering her with my innocent pout but one glare from her and the phone was in my hand.

Get, Set, Go and splutter hanjis a million times per minute.

Internally cribbing and grimacing at this electronic piece in my palm, I placed the phone over my ear and voiced, smiling as every other innocent child would do,

"Hanji massi, namastey."

And bye.

"Hanji hanji, kal hi aayi."

What else should I say next?

"Hanji, all well, how are you all? How are your knees?"

Good going.

"Ji ji, everyone is nice there. Nahi nahi, I've no problem there. Ji, Aditya is also good."

Say bye, please.

"Uh, hanji matlab Aditya Ji. Nahi nahi, hanji I know, it is Aditya Ji."

Saying hanji is better, because who would start an unending argument with these old generations.

"Uh, nahi massi bas aur to kuch nai, aap sunao."

Can we cut the call in between, after all, network issues?

"Hanji zaroor, aap bhi aana ghar ab."

"Haha ji ji. Lo mumma se baat kro."

Thank God.

Fretting, I hastily handed the phone back to maa and heaved a deep, relieved sigh at the successful accomplishment of this calling mission.

The next moment, I was sprawled on the bed, suddenly drained after sharing the same old set of conversations I have with every other relative, courtesy of my overly excited mother who leave no chance to hand over the phones to me.

*******

"Maa yaar how many times have I've to tell you that please stop watching these serials, at least when I come back home." Ayaansh bhai grumped as soon as he entered the room, his features morphed into displeasure.

"Why does he always come when only ten minutes of our serial is left." Maa muttered under her breath carefully, passing a glare at him with caution.

"Vaishally de remote." Standing at the edge of the bed, he extended his hand towards bhabhi who in return was busy sulking at this remote thief.

"Just two minutes please, you know this is the only serial both of us watch." I suppressed a giggle as her features turned more dramatic with her eyes flickering time and again towards the television, least interested in missing a single scene.

"No." Bhai shook his head firmly and took the remote from her hands, royally ignoring the sheer innocence swirling on my sister-in-law's features.

I wonder, why are all husbands so dusht and kalyugi?

"Repeat telecast dekhlena," Bhai uttered, settling on the bed as maa handed the glass of water to him while bhabhi was pissed enough to ignore his words.

However, before bhai could change the channel, he eyed the television carefully and exclaimed,

"Arey this female lead was dead haina? How did she get alive again?" His gaze switched to us, searching for an answer.

"She got a new birth." I answered, pressing my lips to resist the amused smile perking on its corners.

He nodded, scrunching his nose at the plot, and took a sip of water. A minute later, he extended the phone towards the television again to change the channel, but his movements halted one more time as he refused to peel off his eyes from the screen.

30 Seconds Later.

His lips twitched and his eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement as the male lead also graced the presence on the screen before he could change the channel.

"Lae, why is she treating him as her husband, her husband was someone else haina? That tall one, this one is a little shorter than him." He was baffled, his nose wrinkled in oblivion.

1 Minute Later.

"Hain? How come she has three children now, a few days ago she had none? Itni jaldi teen bacche?" He eyed bhabhi, probably to indicate that she took nine months to produce a baby.

2 Minutes Later.

"Arey, this female lead had a friend haina? That beautiful one? With that pretty blue-green eyes? Where does she go?" He beamed almost dreamily and absentmindedly eyed bhabhi in a question only to receive an offended glare from her.

"Ask her, she'll tell you." She glowered, "Beautiful one. Pretty eyes." I couldn't control my giggles when she mimicked him in annoyance, her tone low so that only I and bhai could hear. My giggles and her glares intensified when bhai chuckled, though it soon transformed into inaudible gulps after witnessing her pissed-off self.

3 Minutes Later.

"Lae batao, her great grandmother-in-law still looks so young, with only a strand of white hair on each side." He rolled his eyes in disbelief, as he watched the next scene.

"Aise hi bas, I don't understand why you people watch these shows. I can't even watch a single scene of this stupidity." He shook his head helplessly and changed the channel after the serial ended, while we woman shared brisk eye contact immediately at the hopelessness of this man who has been all curious for the last ten minutes about every single character of the show.

Men!

*******

"That's my cuddle pillow!!!" I exclaimed as soon as I answered my husband's video call to see him wrapped up with my one and only, the love of my life, my cuddle pillow.

"And that's my cuddle pillow!" He was quick to retort, pointing his finger towards me making my cheeks suffuse with color.

"Pillow-thief." I complained in a murmur, playfully glaring at him and he tightened his hold on my cuddle pillow, placing a light kiss over it just to irk me.

"Haan haan, go on and keep kissing my cuddle pillow there." I tried to conceal the offense seeping in my words witnessing him snuggling with anything but me, and added when he kissed it again,

"I am telling you, when I'll come back I'll not even let you touch me, go and kiss it then, not me." I huffed, pouting at the traitorous sight in front of me.

"Jealous?" He wriggled his brows teasingly, removing his t-shirt and getting all nakey-nakey.

"Oh Puh-lease, I have my cuddle pillow here, the ultimate original one." I boasted, draping my arms around avyuktha, who was sleeping peacefully beside me, his mouth half-opened.

"Point." He agreed before mentioning,

"But for me, you are my cuddle pillow, the ultimate original one. And we'll see how you refuse to let me touch you when you'll come back" He eyed me, a hint of playfulness and a drop of intensity adorning his features while I could only pass a teensy-tiny shy smile, my rational self unable to frame a coherent response.

"So, how was your day." I diverted the topic, playing with avyuktha's hair, careful enough not to wake him up.

"Umm...Okay okay." He answered after a brief thought, the light in his eyes fading.

"Kya hua?" I asked, suddenly tensed.

Sighing, he added,

"Nothing bas, I had a meeting with a prospective client who could pay a little better than my other clients, but I don't know, I feel it didn't go well as I expected it to be. So, I don't think I'll be getting this project." His tone was sullen, his words ending with a breathy sigh.

"It's okay." I smiled,

"Sometimes, we think that a certain thing is not going well but in reality, it is proceeding the way as it needs to be, to reach the right end. Vaise bhi, this way or that we've nothing to lose haina. If you get the project, then also it's good, if not, then also, because you'll get an experience, and a chance to improve next time." I blinked my eyes in assurance, though I wondered if it would have made sense to him.

"Maybe." He murmured, his fingers playing with the corners of the pillow.

"Oi husband, where's your smile? That dimpled one?" I squinted my eyes as if searching for it, letting him know that he was making me smile-deprived with this gloomy face.

He smiled instantly, partially fake, partially amused,

"Okay now?"

"Umm, I'll manage I guess." I dramatized,

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net