A suspicious frown had marred the lines of the artist's forehead. Omkara was certain he hadn't incorporated any orange zest in the chocolate brownies he'd baked, yet a bite of it reeked of orange flavour. His eyebrows did a little jump of surprise at the unexpected yet delightful flavours that burst on his palate. 'Bless the person who had drizzled orange essence into the cake', he mused as he gulped the large piece that he'd helped himself with. The rest of the brownies stared at him invitingly.
"Fuck it," he murmured and gobbled up all of it but one; the only piece he'd saved for his little bird of a wife who was probably flying around the living room, awaiting the magic of Bareilly's infamous 'babaji ki prem booti' that she'd stealthily slipped into the orange juice that she'd made for Shivaay. "Chalo, at least someone is getting laid!" he said in a wistful tone with a shake of his head, carrying the last piece of the brownie for his chiraiyya.
***
"Yashomathi maiyya se bole nandhlaala... Radha kyun gori, main kyun kaala... Radha kyun gori, main kyun kaala..."
Omkara was quite surprised that Gauri, who used to sing bhajans during the morning prayer, was now playing the hymn at such a loud volume in the living room. He shrugged, however. This was Gauri – his crazy wife, who could do crazy, weird things at random times. He hoped she wasn't praying for Shivaay and Annika to do the deed with hundred percent success. Knowing her, he really wouldn't be surprised.
What, however, stunned him was the fact that he suddenly felt all of his muscles relax while still relishing the taste of the brownies in his mouth. 'That is one powerful devotional hymn,' he mused, as he walked to the hall. Surprisingly, he saw his chiraiyya as perplexed as him roaming the lonely halls of the mansion, staring at Shivaay-Annika's room, while muttering something all to herself. The hymn seemed to be playing loudly from Shivaay's bedroom. "What the actual fuck?" he muttered to himself, wondering why were the couple playing a devotional song before getting laid.
As the music faded into the background, Omkara's gaze roved over his wife, and what drew his attention was the soft, pale skin of her back playing peekaboo behind her thick, dark curtain of hair. Omkara walked to her, feeling slightly giddy, wondering why there was an unusual hop in his step. Since Gauri was with her back to him, he was even more tempted to reach out to her and touch her back with a gentle caress rather than calling out to her. before he could question himself, he extended his arm.
An extremely flabbergasted Gauri turned around to face him, and her eyes went wider when he winked at her. "Omkara ji, aap yahan kya kar rahe hain?" she'd asked him, and he'd silenced her with a finger on her lips. Then, tempted to touch her long tresses, he ran his fingers through her hair, slightly bothered by how she'd addressed him. He was starting to dislike the way she called his name with the 'ji' suffix, and had been meaning to talk to her about it many times. He wasn't really sure from where he'd mustered up the courage to finally blurt his concern to her, as he said, "Omkara 'ji' nahi... Om..." His fingers however refused to stop at her hair and itched to touched the skin of her shoulder again. Taking the liberty, he caressed her shoulder, continuing, "Tumhara Om..." And then, enunciating it further, just as he'd been dreaming, hoping and visualizing since several nights now that she'd moan his name when they would make love in the near future, he said it in a sensual whisper, "Om!"
Gauri was too quick to sense the unusualness in her otherwise prim-and-proper husband, who even shied to hold her hand outside the bedroom, and went only to the extent of kissing her cheek inside the bedroom. "Kya hogaya hai aapko... achanak?" He tried holding her hand in his, which she dodged, but the man was stubborn, and had quickly held her other hand in his. Well, that one trait would never change now, would it? Nandi bail would always be a stubborn buffalo!
