Forever Love

51

    " Husbands and wives are designed to complement each other. When the man is weak, his wife is strong. When she stumbles, he is there to pick her up. Life is easier when two hearts and minds are committed to working together to face the challenges of the day."

---GARY CHAPMAN

         Abhinav seemed to enjoy their early entry into the newlywed mode of cohabitation. When he was free, he would pick Aaradhya up from the University. The two of them would go to the nearby market to buy a few groceries, affectionately walking home hand-in-hand.

Today as usual, a black Benz was parked in front of the building. Aaradhya recognized the license plate and pulled the door open with a familiar ease. She sat down and asked in a good mood. "Let's go home?"

Abhinav motioned for her to buckle her seat belt and lightly stepped on the gas pedal.

"Let's eat out today." He said casually, "We don't have any groceries at home."

Aaradhya's mood visibly dropped, sulking so blatantly that it was difficult to ignore. Her entire body exuded an aura of complaints, her eyes staring at Abhinav as if she was saying - you lier, you obviously told me that you would cook for me.

Abhinav became quite afraid of this and coaxed hurriedly. "Isn't it because I'm afraid that you'll be hungry? Then let's stop by the supermarket on the way. It'll take time if we ask for grocery delivery."

There are still many people at the supermarket. Most of the customers were from the neighborhood, including parents bringing their children who had just gotten off school. There were also couples on their way home from work. The atmosphere was noisy and exciting. The two of them mingled in with the crowd. Although they were both eye-catching, they didn't stand out too much.

"Do you eat sweet corn?" Abhinav was picking out vegetables in the vegetables section. "Should I make it into chat or add some minced garlic, veggies and make it into a soup?"

Aaradhya asked, "Will it still be flavorful if it's in a soup?"

"Should be fine."  Abhinav took sweet corn and put them in the shopping cart. "Let's buy four. We can steam it today and make soup next time. You can taste-test to see if you like it or not."

"Kay..👌🏻"

One thing Aaradhya really appreciates about Abhinav is that he wasn't proactive about deciding things on her behalf. He never forced others to agree with him. Although he didn't seem like it. Abhinav was the type of person who willingly let others make choices for him. Once someone surpassed the walls of defense he had put up and became one of his, his tolerance of the other person would reach nearly unconditional indulgence.

It was said that what's easily obtained is often not treasured, but feelings are something fragile and priceless goods that cannot be squandered nor sold as consumable products. It was precisely because Abhinav had given her full respect and freedom to do whatever she want that Aaradhya needed to keep her boundaries even more.

Aaradhya didn't even need any personal experience to understand that if Abhinav's patience was ever exhausted someday, he would immediately take away those privileges. She would probably never find someone like him again.

As they passed by the dazzling arrays of products. Aaradhya threw a handful of fresh spring onions and parsley into the cart. She turned towards the meat section and caught a glimpse of the counter. " Why don't we buy some chicken and make some cola chicken wings tonight?"

Aaradhya was full of blind faith towards Abhinav abilities. Every question asked received his answer of okay okay, en en. But the second after Abhinav asked to take chicken, he reached for his phone. "Let me find a recipe and see what else we need."

Aaradhya's jaw almost dropped to the floor. "You're looking for a recipe now?"

"Of course."  Abhinav flipped through a website without raising his head. "You asked for this, so if it's burnt you still have to eat it all."

After a moment of silence, Aaradhya said cautiously, "As a precaution, why don't we go grab two packs of instant noodles."

Abhinav was so amused by her expression that he couldn't stop chuckling for a while. He asked Aadhya to grab cola while he himself picked up a few ingredients from the spice aisle. He bought packets of star anise, fennel, cinnamon, cloves, etc. Finally, when he passed by the instant foods aisle, he actually bought a combo pack of instant noodles.

A moment later, Aaradhya walked over to him and noticed the instant noodles in the cart. The expression on her face was full of unspeakable emotions.

Abhinav was addicted to teasing her, smiling mischievously as he ridiculed," Is that really necessary, darling? It seems we can make a new emoji pack with your expressions. Let me see what you have gotten, two kgs of apples and grapes, you're still thrifty with running a household."

Aaradhya was accustomed to his teasing and retorted calmly. "Go look at your recipe. If it really gone wrong, I'll have apples and you can sleep hungry."

"How could you talk to me like this, you're looking down on me aren't you?" Abhinav smirked. "Looks like you haven't been beaten up by this genius cook yet."

Aaradhya couldn't bear it anymore. She reached over and squeezed Abhi's mouth shut.

The clean-freak Abhinav finally lost his mind and grabbed at Aadhya's cheeks as he uttered a cry. "You just touched parsley with those hands! And rubbed them on my face!" The two of them scuffled with each other the entire way.

They had delayed themselves at the supermarket for a while, by the time they returned home, it was already 7 o'clock. Abhinav changed his clothes and put on an apron. He first marinated the chicken. Then he the rice in a pot and chopped up the various vegetables and ingredients. Aaradhya followed Abhi around like a little tail, and Abhinav tried multiple times but failed to drive her out. Fortunately, the open kitchen had a lot of space. He wasn't afraid that the hot pots and oil would burn Aadhya, so he just let her be.

Aaradhya washed the fruits with dedication. Bathed under the warm light of the kitchen, she listened to the water splashing, the rice boiling, and the movements of the spatula colliding with the pan. She didn't need to raise her head to see Abhina's figure standing in front of the chopping board. The sound of his voice and the fragrance of the kitchen surrounded her like a dense net of dust, giving home like feeling, the more she sank into it the more addicting it became.

She finished washing the apples and grapes and drained them, then took a paper towel and wiped her hands.

"Did you wash them all?" Abhinav placed the plate of sweet corn in a steamer and glanced at the sink. "Take the fruit to the table. Wash your hands and wait for dinner."

Aaradhya took an apple from the bowl and dangled it in front of his mouth. "Have a taste."

Abhi came over and took a bite into his mouth.

"Is it sweet...?"

Abhi made an en sound.

Aadhya, who's eyes were filled with his face was too beautiful and Abhi couldn't hold back his admiration and took a peck on her lips. "You're also sweet."

Aaradhya was stunned.

The feeling of his soft lips touch was too electric and directly affected her nerves. She immediately turned and ran away from kitchen whilst her face turning red, hearing his chuckling.

11/11/2022

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Heyy lovelies .. how you all doing?? and how's the chapter??

Keep reading..Stay safe..love you all..♥️

See you all in the next update

Thank you all ...💕

___To be continued 🥀