Bombay Romance ♡ COMPLETED

[ 57 ] Luka Chuppi ■

'Gauri, look; a special person wants to talk to you,' Amarnath smiles.

Gauri looks away from the newspaper to find Kamala standing beside her with big round eyes. She blinks at the little girl. Amarnath watches with interest, resting his cheek in his hand.

'Yes?' Gauri asks carefully. It is always difficult to talk to such small children. Older kids like Kiran are fine, but this is too tough.

'Will you play luka chuppi with me?' Kamala asks.

'What's that?'

Amarnath grins. 'English medium people,' he mutters.

Gauri glowers. 'What did you say?'

Kamala taps Gauri's hand. 'You count. I hide.'

Hide-and-seek, Gauri realizes. She definitely doesn't look forward to playing hide-and-seek with a four-year-old. 'Uh ... Baby, why don't you draw something? It'll be fun.'

'I want to play,' Kamala repeats.

'She doesn't know all that, gudiya,' Amarnath says teasingly. 'Come, we'll play. Go hide, go!'

Amarnath closes his eyes and begins counting to ten. Kamala runs excitedly and ducks behind one of the pillars.

'I'm coming ... ' he announces before beginning to look around. Gauri watches silently.

'Caught you! Hah!' he laughs as he lifts and throws her up into the air. His niece squeals in delight, floating in the air before landing in his arms again.

Gauri watches them for a minute, trying to smile. She finally gives up and goes into her room, feeling oddly disoriented. She puts her little suitcase on the bed and pushes it open. She unfolds her dresses and folds them up slowly. She repeats the process three times before dropping her dress into her suitcase and walking up to the window. She stares at the clear sky.

'Gauri,' Amarnath stands at the room door.

'Hmm?' she doesn't turn around.

Amarnath walks up to her. His arms weave around her waist. 'What happened?'

Gauri shakes her head. She is too disturbed to enjoy his surprise hug. 'Leave me, somebody might come.'

'Why did you come here? Are you bored?'

'You and your niece were playing. What shall I do over there?'

Amarnath wrinkles his forehead in confusion. Gauri takes a deep breath.

'Amar,' she starts. 'If we have a baby in th- ... '

Amarnath turns her around to face him, breath caught in his throat. He looks at her, down at her stomach and back at her, his eyes burning like the soft flame of a lamp. 'Gauri, a-are you ... '

'What? No, no!' she scrunches her face. 'Also, why do you look so happy? You realize we're not yet married, right?'

'No, I know ... but I-I just ... ' he smiles. 'You suddenly mentioned a baby ... I couldn't think of anything else.'

'I meant if at all we have one in the future ... '

He cups her face. 'Then I want a baby girl. Just like you.'

Gauri's eyes fill up. 'Will I become your second priority after we have a baby? Will you not love me the same way?'

Amarnath's smile fades. 'What? Why are you asking like that?'

'No, nothing ... ' She brushes his hands away. 'It was a stupid question. J-Just forget I asked you that ... '

'Gauri,' He lifts her chin. 'You think I'll ignore you if we have children? Why did you even get such a thought?'