Sameer was sitting against the brick wall, his left elbow resting on his raised knee whilst his fingers were immersed plucking out petals from the scented rose. He seemed intimidating and feral through his posture and the murky sky added more flavor of dominance to his countenance.
Naina reached their meeting spot at precisely 12 Am, her fingers clutching each other tightly and her heart hoping to make everything alright between them.
She was decked in a simple skintight sage green kurti and white leggings with no extraordinary pieces of jewelry on her body. Just two silver jhumkis, a little pinch of vermillion, and mangalsutra around her sweltering neck with his gifted chain dangling softly on her chest.
Naina looked at her husband throwing away petals to the front side while running his fingers on the thorns, and her heart dreaded his menacing form.
"Sameer." His name came out as a soft-meek whisper, and he immediately stopped his assaults on the delicate flower, his calm yet stormy eyes raising high to meet with her shivering ones.
"Aagayi tum?" Sameer asked her with a sweet smile.
"Dekho mujhe..." Naina wasn't given a chance to finish the speech she prepared inside her mind to make her husband understand how it all happened.
"Mujhe kuch nahi sunna hai Naina," Sameer said patiently while tapping his index finger on the stem.
"Ek baar suno toh sahi." She tried to speak, but he showed his right palm covered with fresh sweat, and said derisively - "Main same reason sunke bore ho chuka hoon yaar, find something new, Naina."
Naina looked up at the sky out of annoyance, her hands resting on either side of her waist, and patience thinning as her husband wasn't letting her speak anything in her defense.
"Main sach me bhul gayi thi, mujhe bilkul yaad nahi tha." She said softly while gently blinking her eyes, and saw him frantically nodding his head, his dark orbs hooked to the broken rose in his hand.
"Roz ka bahana hai tumhara, nothing new. Main bhul gayi, mujhe yaad nahi aaya. I am sorry Sameer aisa next time kabhi nahi hoga...but." He abruptly stopped, looking again at his frail wife with blood-red eyes - "Woh next time kabhi aaya hi nahi itne saalon me."
"Tum toh aise keh rahe ho jaise main humesha yahi karti hoon. I am accepting my mistake...I know mujhe inform karna chahiye tha, but tum jante hona how careless I am." Naina said with a vexed countenance while joining her eyebrows.
"Bas, Main Careless Hoon, yeh bolke baat khatam?" Sameer asked her with a serene expression, and she shook her head.
"Improvement nahi lani khud me? Lifetime yahi chalta rahega? Main plans banauga aur tum use cancel karogi ya bhul jaogi because you are careless?" He questioned her in a stern voice, and she felt her heartbeats dropping down to such rates that she couldn't feel like breathing normally anymore.
"Woh suddenly guests gharpe aa gaye toh mind se slip ho gaya, trust me," Naina said in a low voice.
Sameer didn't react to her words and kept pricking his nails into the skin of rose petals with anger burning his insides. Naina sewed her eyes to restrain her emotions and added - "Dekho hum kal pakka jayege long drive pe, chahe kuch bhi ho jaye. I won't make any mistakes tomorrow, please baat ko yahi khatam karo."
"Baat Long Drive ki hai hi nahi yaar, baat hai responsible banne ki. You knew I had a bad day at the office, tum dupeher se janti thi mera mood kharab hai, phir bhi tumne ek call tak nahi kiya mujhe shaam ko mera haal chaal puchne ke liye. Ek message tak aaya nahi tumse." Sameer finally revealed the reason which had been tormenting his brain, and Naina descended her woeful gaze to her feet.
