Betrothed

10 \ Flutters

Divya sat sipping her coffee, lost in thoughts of the happenings of her life. It was an unusually quiet Friday evening. Maharaja Pratham and Maharani Gayatri had to make a social appearance at a fundraising event organised by a hospital in Jodhpur. Kabir had left for Australia for a work related commitment a few days ago. Vikram was supposed to be working late. She had nothing on her calendar post lunch, so she had wrapped up early. Hence, she was the only one at home.

As much as she loved the calm and quiet, two hours into the evening and she missed the inhabitants of the home already. It was strange how she had grown to call this place home in such a short span of time. Maybe not the huge palace but their chamber, surely. 

Vikram and his family shared an endearing bond despite their situation being similar to her family back in Jaisalmer. Her parents had been married as a result of a long standing agreement between her maternal and paternal grandparents. However, inspite of the amount of time that had passed, they were still cold; only keeping up with the pretence in public. 

Divya sighed. Her initial apprehensions about the marriage were slowly shedding. Ever since their talk that night, she was looking forward to working on their marriage. She desperately wanted it to work. She wanted a shot at her happily ever after.

She pulled her knees closer and looked at the setting sun. The gazebo in the middle of this pond was gorgeous. Her mother in law had mentioned it a couple of times. She could understand what all the praise was about. There was a sense of serenity, of calm that washed over you. She was glad she decided to have her evening coffee there.

"You finally found my mother's most treasured place at home." 

Divya turned around to see an evidently tired Vikram making his way to her. Her eyes quickly glanced over the taut muscles of his forearm that peeked out from the folded sleeves. 

Okay, focus.

"I did. You are home early." she said smiling at him politely.

"Yeah, they rescheduled the meeting. Damn, I could have gone to Jodhpur for the fundraising." he said almost thinking out loud. 

Divya forced her lips from reducing into a straight line. He had just insinuated that he had much rather keep up with a public commitment than spend time with her. 

"Why yes, you could." she said biting her tongue from leaving a snarky comment. 

She watched on as he pulled the tie off and adjusted the collar lazily. Of late she had been noticing tiny details; tiny but sexy; about him. But remembering his words from a couple of minutes ago, she found herself looking away at the horizon. 

The two sat quietly, not uttering a word, taking in the gorgeous shade that the sky had turned into. She sipped the last of the contents of her mug and turned to him. He had his head thrown against the headrest, a few locks of hair framing his temple.

Just as she thought she had gotten away with the staring, he blinked his eyes open looking straight at her making her gaze away almost immediately.

"It is awfully quiet today." he commented.

"I know, I have been sitting in silence since the past 3 hours."

He pushed himself off the couch, muttering something along the lines of I better go change. To that, Divya found herself nodding.

She let out a long sigh once he had left. She had to find a way to warm up to him, to be like a usual married couple. How was she to do that?

-

"You up for a movie?" she heard him ask post an early dinner. 

"Sure, which one?"

"Let's browse in the theatre room."