Discordance

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Abhimanyu was working on his bed, his legs outstretched in front of him, but mostly he was waiting for his wife to come back so he could hug her and breathe her in. When the doorknob to their room turned Abhimanyu instantly went on high alert, almost like a golden retriever drooling all over at the first sign of their master returning home. He shook his head at his analogy and smiled to himself about his own stupidity only for it to be wiped off from his face when he saw her enter the room, her cheeks were flushed from the late night Udaipur cold and she had on a soft sweater that seemed to be dropping off one shoulder, leaving it bare and making his heart race. She looked so goddamn gorgeous!

"Hey, you're home, how was the dinner? Did you have a good time?" he asked, his brain immediately on the fritz the moment she looked in his direction. At her simple nod, he began to ramble on wanting to share every little thing he had done in the day and to keep talking to her. From the corner of his eyes he could see her drop her stuff on the couch and he tried to decipher her mood and to make sure that she really was ok.

"You know I spoke to my colleague and Mr. Shah's reconstructive surgeries shouldn't take more than two, isn't that great? I knew you were planning and budgeting for more than that but I think we can get away with two. I had his follow up this week and he has come along wonderfully! I should probably send you the paperwork from today." When she didn't respond he continued a one-sided conversation "They told me you couldn't make it because of some new kid's case you've taken on? Is this something I can help with? I can look at it if you'd like."

When she still hadn't responded or turned around, Abhimanyu was frustrated, all he wanted was to look at her. Pushing the covers off himself and dropping his computer next to him, he stalked over to her and stood behind her, he needed attention from her dammit.

"Monkey, are you listening to me?" he asked and for some reason her back went ramrod straight, it made him so nervous that he began to word vomit "I mean I know two surgeries is still a lot but I can probably convince the doctor to charge a little less than we normally do. I have been meaning to talk to dad about the number of pro bono cases I can do, but my schedule is almost always so tight it becomes difficult but we should work something out-"

His mouth kept moving and words kept coming out even as she turned to him and blinked her beautiful eyes at him, a storm brewing within them. She was wringing her hands in front of her and because she had been quiet for so long, not acknowledging him or how much he had missed her his brain was making him talk incessantly trying to overcompensate for her silence. It had been 24 hours dammit since he had seen her, talked to her, held her!

"I want you to kiss me" her voice was so soft and small that his subconscious mind refused to acknowledge what she had said.

He prattled on "Yeah I don't know it's not like I have time to add more but there has to be a way right, WAIT WHAT?" his world stopped spinning the instance his brain caught up to what she had said. He rapidly blinked at her small figure too lost for words and his little monkey had lost all the bravado she had because she was back to wringing her hands and refusing to meet his eyes.

"baby?" he coaxed in a soft tone and used a finger to tilt her chin up but she stubbornly refused to let him do it, instead falling into his chest hiding her face in it. He was sure she could feel his pounding heart under her ear.

Bringing his arms around her he lifted her up and walked over to the bed sitting down with a thud with her still buried into his chest, her legs crossed behind his back.

Slowly rubbing her back he asked softly "did umm did something happen with your brothers?" it didn't look like she would answer and he had almost given up hope when she shook her head mumbling a "no, it was fine. Great in fact."