A Love called Myra: Raj and Meera

Chapter 11

Meera

Our wedding was beautiful but there was a lot more media there than at our engagement! It was crazy. The teachers and principal from my school were there  and I received a million congratulations. I had sent out the invites after Ram left so he hadn't gotten one but the teachers brought me a letter from him. It was just a card congratulating us. No explanation or anything of our sudden break-up. Anyways, he's getting married next month. But I need to forget that old bag of lies.

 Raj is the best husband I could ask for. He is amazing! I asked him to be conservative for some more time and he let me have my space. Raj and I hadn't had our suhaag raat as agreed but he was always flirting with me. Every day, at promptly 6, I would hear his car come in and I would stand next to the door waving him in. He would come in and the first day, I was taken by surprise when he hugged me but I accepted it. He is my husband after all.

His place is not extremely big but it does tend to get lonely. I help around the house. Sometimes my mother-in-law comes to visit. For the first month she said there are all these traditions I need to follow so I've been dressing in sarees every day because of her orders. She is just as nice as her son. I see that the good looks run in the family. He has her eyes and nose. She is a very pretty woman even with small wrinkles. But I'm still a little scared of her. Who isn't scared of her mom in law?

I know all the workers. We have a maid who comes at nine and leaves at five. The gardener comes about two times a week. I found out that Raj loves gardens but he has no time to take care of them so we have the gardener. When I'm done cooking for the day, I go out and tend to the flowers. I've learned quite a bit from the gardener. Shyla our maid is In her 50s and has been with Raj since he was a child as his nanny. 

He wasn't the only actor in his family. His father and mother had also done some acting. His father was one of the goldie oldies that my mom would've seen when she was my age. His mom had been busy working on sets with other things before acting in a few movies herself. She was actually the person who took care of the clothing department. Raj and his older sister grew up with Shyla. Shyla was like a second mother to them. So many people were around Raj and I wonder if we would have time just for one another.

But the first three days after our marriage were for only one another. I dressed myself in a new saree given to me by my in-laws – a beautiful mixture of blues and greens. We went out together to some post-marriage rituals the first day before heading back home. That night, I could feel his stare as I loosened my hair from its updo and removed my jewelry. I turned around to find him quickly shift his gaze and start talking about the episode coming up for the serial he directed. Just random stuff about work. This whole time, he's been trying to get to know me better and asks me about everything I like. The serial he directs is one of my favourites. He keeps wanting to know more about me so he wants to take me out.

The next day, we went out together. He was nice enough to try my favourite flavour of ice-cream which he absolutely hated but then there was this one thing that had made my eyes go big yet again. It was after we had lunch at his favourite restaurant when we headed for ice cream. I had somehow ended up having a bit on my nose and on my cheek. I'm a messy eater. He wipes it off and licked it off his finger. It was a nice move but it reminded me so much of Ram. I felt dull the rest of the evening. He used to do that every time we went out for ice-cream. Raj noticed how dull I was and we headed home. 

He suggested we watch a movie that night. A Bollywood movie which had taken up a lot of time. We were still watching and it was past midnight. I could feel the sleep hitting me but I was so absorbed into the movie. I knew I had laid my head on his shoulder and then his arms were around me. It was so warm and comfy. I couldn't care about anything else. I was in his arms and then sleep overcame me.

We woke up the next morning to Shylaji walking in. My saree had slipped slightly and I was laying in his lap. The saree covered the both of us. He had his own head rested against the sofa. I was startled at first. Waking up to a brand new place isn't so easy. I noticed where I was and quickly jerked my head back to find that my necklace was stuck to his shirt and he helped me take it off. We changed out of the clothes we had been roaming around in all of yesterday. My light orangish saree seemed extra sheer with the light coming in.

Today was the last day we spent together before he headed back to work. I turned away to pick out a saree to wear that day and when I turn back, he's taken his shirt off. My eyes of course became big again and I edged my way to the washroom where I breathed a sigh of relief. He still looked like the actor he was, very... very hot. I knew my face was pink and I wouldn't need to apply blush. I walked out bumping into him. He asked me what I wanted to do today. I wanted to spend some time doing what he likes.

He introduced me to his world of gardening. The gardener was also here that day. We were planting a new type of seed today. There was a way to pack the soil in. Raj saw that I wasn't doing the job right. He came around to help me. He had both his arms around me, directing my hands to where they needed to be placed. I turned to look at him and his face was so close to mine. I blinked a few times and he turned towards me feeling the light brush of my eyelashes against his cheeks. He moved back slightly as the gardener chuckled from behind us. I smiled at him as he moved onto another pot. 

We also cooked dinner together that day. Shylaji had left everything we needed and told us about where it all is before leaving. He told me that he loved kheer (indian dessert sort of like a rice pudding) After we made dinner, he went to wash up. I was just about done making the kheer. He had come in complimenting me about how good it smelled and his face was right next to mine but this time he was smelling the kheer. I turned off the stove turning around to find both his arms blocking my pathway and his face was directly in front of mine, eyes closed and he was inhaling the smell. It was too funny. I had begun to laugh and he caught me pressing me towards him before I fell back and could touch the hot stovetop. My eyes grew big as my cheeks grew pink. We quickly got out of that position and had dinner together. It took me a minute to catch my breath and act normal again after having been pressed up against him like that. 

 I had received a call from the academy reminding me that I was going to Ram's wedding as a group. I told Raj that night. He was enthusiastic to go to the wedding of a 'friend' of mines. I didn't exactly tell Raj about Ram yet. He'll find out one day. All I could do was tell God to bless Ram and his Sita. The Sita that I thought I would be. I had no idea I would be married when his wedding came around. It all happened so quickly.

That night, I laid in bed beside Raj wearing my home saree, the  simplest jewelry and a few bangles with my hair loose. He said I looked beautiful and continued to compliment me. He loved my wavy hair, the way my eyes popped, my embarrassment at little things, and my simplicity. He kept going. He loved me naturally for me and nothing more and we haven't even known each other for that long. He told me about this one time how he had caught me at school when I was taking care of the kids and said that it was that moment that he realized how beautiful I am on the inside and not only the outside. He knew I had the ability to love beautifully and that's why he had wanted me so badly. 

I felt tears prick in my eyes and he teasingly asked "Are you crying? I did make a promise to make sure that you never have to shed a tear when you're with me." He moved a stray hair behind my ear and moved to kiss me. I felt my eyes get big and my cheeks flush but then I turned my face. "No Raj, it's... it's too soon." I don't know what I was feeling. I held onto the hand that had caressed my cheek. He moved to my forehead and kissed it. "Goodnight Mrs. Raj, I'm going to miss you tomorrow when I'm at work. Hey wait, a minute, I just had an amazing idea. Why don't I take you with me? It'll be quite boring so bring something to keep you entertained. You can meet everyone and see my work." He was so excited, I couldn't say no and what more it would be an amazing experience to do that.

The next day, I was dressed in a saree that Raj himself had chosen for me – a green number so I made him wear something green too. He is too hot! He doesn't change by himself. He doesn't care if I'm there or not. He'll have his clothes on and off in an instant. And that instant is like torture for me because I get a rush of feelings that I shoo away with all my might. Sigh, and so began our marriage life.