Destiny's Game

Ch. 23 A Date

"I will take the couch. You can take the bed." They both said simultaneously.

"Are you sure?" They asked once again at the same time. After staring at each other for longer than one ever could, they burst out giggling.
"You can take the bed." Abhi said, grabbing a pillow and a thin blanket for himself. Naina, who saw him doing so, held his wrist to stop him. "We can share." She stated to which Abhimanyu gazed at her shocked.

"No. No, it's fine. You sleep on the bed, I will take the couch. I don't want you to have an uncomfortable sleep on your first night here."

Naina watched him quietly as he settled on the couch. Was this the same person who had thrown a bucket of cold water on her when he saw her sleep on his bed? She pulled the comforter over her to sleep, but the sleep seemed to be far away.

Abhimanyu, who noticed that she was awake, sighed. He could guess from her expression what was going on in her mind. He, too, was thinking about the time when he threw water at her. That must have been so humiliating for her; that was so disrespectful of him.

But, he will make it up to her. She is his wife, his better half, which means she deserves the best treatment from him. Saying this to himself, he closed his eyes as sleep consumed him.

On the other hand, Naina couldn't find sleep; constantly, she kept tossing and turning around on the bed. She remembered their first night together and how chaotic it had turned out to be. Abhimanyu had misunderstood her intentions of marrying him. Yes, she needed money, but that was for her father's treatment. It was wrong, yes, but at that time, she could only think about her father, the man who had raised her. In front of him, she saw nothing except her dad, which led her to take a decision such that her life would be impacted forever.

Due to her one decision, she was now someone's wife and someone's daughter-in-law.

The morning arrived soon, waking them up. Abhimanyu was the first one to wake up since he had work today. Before dragging himself to the bathroom, he caught a glimpse of his wife sleeping soundly. And to say he was awestruck at the sleeping beauty in front of him would be an understatement.

Soft raven tresses fell on her face elegantly, framing her sleeping face beautifully. Her closed eyes revealed her long lashes, which caressed her cheeks perfectly. Slowly, his eyes trailed along her adorable button nose and landed on her full lips. They were parted slightly, almost as if they were inviting him to kiss her.

Abhi, what the fuck are you thinking? Ogling your wife while she is sleeping? That's fucking creepy, dude!

So, with difficulty, he averted his gaze to clock and panicked, seeing that it was nearly the time for the morning Pooja. Quickly, he grabbed his towel and pulled out his clothes from the closet.

Approximately 15 minutes later, he was out of the bathroom and saw his wife wake up.

"Good morning." He greeted happily.

"Morning." She wished back, hurriedly moving towards the bathroom to take a shower as well. Soon, she came out in a crop top and ripped jeans as he stared at her in surprise.

Apparently, she looked good in anything, not just traditional.

He thought, watching her apply sindoor on her hairline.

I wish I could do that.

Naina smiled at him, unaware of the fact that he had been watching her for a long time. Abhimanyu cleared his throat. "Are you free tonight?" He asked, concealing the nervousness he felt behind his almost cold tone.

"Yes, why?" She questioned back curiously.

"I-I was thinking if we could go on a date. Is that okay with you?" He said, rubbing his hand on his neck awkwardly and hoping that she would say 'yes'. It was his first time asking someone out, and he was unsure of what to feel about it and how to respond to rejection if she did say no.