THE CROWNED

INVISIBLE INK

Ira woke up with a jolt, with no recollection of what had happened. All she had dreams of were now faint pictures and distant indecipherable stories. As she rubbed her eyes, and her vision adjusted to the surroundings around her, she registered that she wasn't in her room or her apartment. This place was alien and new to her. Ira being Ira, the first thing that had come to her mind was that she had been trafficked but then again who would keep trafficking victims in a bedroom the size of someone's house. She threw the duvet away and got up from the oh-so-soft mattress, it almost hurt to get up from it, it felt like she was floating atop a cloud. She began scanning the room, and as her eyes landed on the photo frame on the bedstand it was clear to whom this room belonged. Veer. It was veer. And to infuriate her even further, it was a picture of them on the day of their wedding. What a pretentious chauvinist!

As she was about to extract the picture from it's frame, a strong and firm hold caught hers in the act of doing. Ira instinctively turned around and there was Veer, in all his glory to face her.

"You! Why are you here? ", Ira enquired.

"Because it is my house? " Veer cocked up an eyebrow, he always had that haughty aura about him.

"Well then, what am I doing here? IN YOUR HOUSE?", at this point Ira was exasperated.

"Somebody roofied your drink and you fainted, me being the gentleman that I am decided to bring you home." Veer smiled one of infamous cheeky smiles.

"My friends were there, they could have helped me!"

"You mean the ones who were drunk out of their wits, I don't even understand why such a good girl as yourself hangs out with such wild girls." now that Veer spoke, Ira found it more and more incomprehensible as to why she was ever in love with this man.

"That is not something for you to get, they are my friends. And I am not your re-", before she could finish the word he cut her off, "But you are bubs, you are my responsibility."

"Bu-", again he cut her in the middle, "No buts, you are my responsibility."

Ira put her index finger in between them and shoved him a little," Keep your distance."

"Whatever for? You don't like it?", he smirked. She flushed all red and replied, "Not a bit."

"If you say so, Ill keep my distance but what will you do of this charm that's so goddamned contagious."

"Contagious like some disease? Because it sure as hell makes me ill."

"Oh! Somebody's got a tongue now. We will put it to good use later.", Veer winked at her. It took Ira a moment to understand what she was hinting at but when she did even her ears started glowing bright red, "Pervert!"

"Don't put words in my mouth bubs, I never said anything.", he took their wedding picture from her hand and fit it back into the frame, putting it back in it's place.

"Why do you have it? And even if you do, why frame it and keep it beside your bed.", Ira couldn't help but ask. No, Veer wasn't unnecessarily cruel during their marriage, but he wasn't the perfect husband either. He had never shown her the romantic love she had craved for, and whenever it had reared it's head out in the open, Veer had always shoved it back in it's dull dark corner. He was more a friend than a husband, more cold than he was loving. He had always been clear with whom his heart resided. He hadn't cheated on her but he hadn't been exactly faithful either. What painful wasn't her memories of their marriage but the reason which beheaded it's head. 

"I keep it because being married to you was one of the b-"

"Don't say things that you don't mean Veer. Best thing? It wasn't, you know it wasn't."

"For me it was, I didn't realize it back then but yes it was. You were a terrific friend and an even better lover." Ira knew what he was hinting at, that night, that night when they had almost done it. Veer was more drunk than usual and Ira being Ira was carrying him around the house, supporting him like she was his cane.

Flashback

"Oh! I am rather heavy aren't I?", Veer asked as he flasher a cheeky smile, he was drunk, very clearly. He was stumbling, hiccupping and babbling gibberish. Ira was carrying him up the stairs to his bedroom so that he could sleep rather than destroying half the house. It didn't help that his six feet four inches frame had almost engulfed Ira in the process. He wasn't lean either, he was a bulky man, his arms almost the size of her thigh. Sometimes Ira would get lost while looking at him in a shirt. 'How does it contain him?' she would wonder and she would only stop staring when Veer would clear his throat.

"No you are not. ", she huffed at they reached the first floor. She slowly led him to his bedroom and made him sit on the edge of the bed. He had cut his face a little, near his lower lip so she brought out the first aid box and started putting some antiseptic fluid on it to clean it up. He hissed and said, "Blow on it Ira!"

Veer was sounding like a whiny brat but she didn't want to prolong this interaction further so she did exactly as he had asked her to do. "Bubbles.", he smiled from ear to ear as he poked her cheeks. "Bubbles, Bubble. Bubbly. Bubs. Bubs?",his eyes lit up.

"What?", she asked him.

"Can i call you bubs? Please Please Please Ira.", he made the most adorable eyes.

"Sure, whatever you want."