You're my dawn

8. Let's go, darling

"I can't believe you are mad at me for such a petty reason." She said in exasperation.

Arsh clenched his jaws feeling her glares at him.

"I told you to stay by my side-"

She interrupted him furiously. "-and listen to those boring conversations. For God's sake, I was at the party and is it a sin to want to enjoy a little?"

He was left speechless and she was irritated. After a few minutes of silence, she plopped beside him and wrung her fingers nervously.

"Did I embarrass you in my drunken stupor in front of your friends and colleagues?"

He turned towards her completely at the sudden change of her emotions from fury to irritation to nervousness.

She was looking at him expectantly to say no and he almost laughed remembering yesterday's happenings.

"You didn't, at least not in front of anyone but…"

"But what?" She looked constipated.

"You don't remember anything?" He asked, trying to act sus.

"N-no." 

He sat straight and leaned on the sofa while folding his hands behind his head and sighed. "That's nice."

Sehar had had enough. No more patient she could be. 

"Arsh, what did I do? Tell me." Pouncing on him she shook his shoulder furiously.

"Uff, calm down tigress, haven't you had enough of me last night?" He smirked, pushing her back gently.

Sehar looked at him horrified and crouched back as if his touch burned her.

"I didn't," she whispered to herself. "I didn't."

Arsh thought to drop the game but before he could clarify, she sprinted towards their room and bolted it. 

"Sehar, open the door." He thumped the door but she didn't respond. "Come on, let me explain."

"Go away," he heard her shout and groaned, stepping back. 

***

"Sehar, it's enough, now come out." The day had passed but the lady was still locked inside. "Sehar, look, I am sorry." He uttered while running his hands through his hair, and pacing in front of the door. This was for the thousandth time he was there to pacify the queen. "I cooked lasagna for dinner. Please." He waited for a response but getting none he angrily marched towards the dining table and looked at the beautifully set table with disappointment. Sighing, he blew out the candles when the bedroom door clicked open. He stood upright and turned to the left. She was standing there, looking at the decorated table with an awed expression.

"Wow, it looks so beautiful. Why did you put out the candles?" She strode towards him as if nothing happened and he looked at as her fresh as the morning dew form with a jaw hanging low.

"Arsh," coming closer to him she called him with a gleam in her eyes. "You did all this?" She asked and he bobbed, with a stupefied expression.

"Can you light the candles for me?" She asked and again he nodded while reaching for the lighter.

As she clapped gazing at the romantic set-up swooningly, he came out of the trance.

"You are fine?" He shot her a sharp quizzical look.

She stilled and then turned to face him. She dragged her gaze from his twitching chin to pursed lips, to prominent nose, to the crease between the brows to his eyes. Her eyes matched his stares and for the first time, she didn't look away. She matched the intensity of his stares with her own. Before she could get drawn into those black pools she clutched her fleeing wits and padded towards him, slowly, steadily. She stopped just an inch away from him. Standing on her tiptoes she put her hands on his shoulders and leaned near his left ear. She could hear Arsh getting breathless. With a smirk, she whispered. "Food is getting cold."

Before he could encircle his raised hands around her waist, she moved back swiftly, flashing him a pretentious smile. He clenched his teeth and took deep breaths to calm down his racing heart. He wondered what had gotten into her or if he was having an outrageous dream. 

"Arsh."

"Huh?"

"Do you want me to pull out a chair for you?" She teased and he was sure now that something had indeed gotten into her, maybe the alcohol in her system is making her bizarre. Even though it was a stupid assumption, he didn't have anything else to be skeptical about.

They finished the dinner in silence.

"You always impress with your wonderful culinary skills." She praised while holding his hand. Holding hands wasn't anything new but Arsh was still in the after-effects of her recent endeavour and felt slightly alarmed and tried to pull it away while pouring himself a glass of water.

"What happened?" She asked, shooting him a quizzing stare. 

"Nothing," he grabbed the glass of water and sauntered towards the living room. As she watched him, her lips twitched and a smile broke which she quickly hid and cleaned the table while glancing at him now and then and a mischievous smile flickered on her lips.

"Ah," she plopped beside him but he didn't look towards her and pretended to be involved in the soccer game playing on the TV. 

She held his arm. "Let's go, darling." 

His head whipped towards her. "W-where?" He hated that he stuttered but what could he do? She was still behaving as if she was drunk but in comparison to yesterday, she looked steady in her stance and confident in her dialogue and enchantress in her demeanour and it was difficult for him to resist her.

"To sleep, of course," she shot her brows up quizzically. "What did you think?" 

He searched for a reply. "Erm, uh-" 

She left his arm, scooted back and dramatically gasped. "Yesterday was a mistake. I don't plan to repeat it."

Arsh knew what she was implying. Did she take the prank to be real?

"Listen," he held her wrist to restrain her from leaving and tried to tell her the truth. 

"No, you can't convince me otherwise. I regret it." She pulled her hand from his clasp.

Arsh furrowed his brows. She regretted it. Even though she remembered nothing, still she regretted it. He couldn't digest that she was regretting their moment, it didn't matter if it wasn't real but for her, it was real because she didn't know the truth. 

He grumbled and shot her a glare. "Can you stop and listen to me?  I was just pranking you when I," he halted and took a deep breath. "When I suggested that you did crazy stuff in a drunken stupor. I am sorry" 

He avoided meeting her gaze otherwise he would have seen the mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Did I not then?" She asked, shifting near him. He shook his head and fixed his gaze on the TV. He felt her trembling body beside him and looked to his right only to get stunned by watching her shake with silent laughter. 

When she felt his gaze she didn't stop the chuckle and winked at him. "That was a fun game."

"What game?"

"Mr Arsh Malik," she rose to her feet and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I remembered yesterday's happening shortly after I closed the door." She looked down at his gaping mouth with a smirk. 

It took him a second to realize that his shrewd wife had played him the whole day. "Is that so?" He stood up with a jerk but she realized his intention and darted towards their room. He was hot on her heels. "Mrs Arsh Malik, it was very cruel of you to make your husband worry the whole day."

"It was even crueller on your part to lie." She shouted back with a giggle before shutting the door on his face.

Happy reading!!!