The Second Bloom • 18+

27. The Secret night meet (Varun's POV)

Everyone had already slept.

My wife with her sisters and me? With Vipul Bhaiya.

She doesn't even know how badly I'm missing her right now. How badly I need to hold her right now. She is just a room away from me.

I had seen her eyes blazing with fire and love while we performed the ritual of Holika Dahan together. Pure love.

God. Please do something and send her to me so that I ca—

The door of the room swung open suddenly. Someone walked inside, in the deep of the night.

Thief? Stalker?

I immediately sat up and lightened the candle. Vipul Bhaiya sat up too. But then his hand grabbed my shoulder as he chuckled,

“Varun ji,”

I saw the face of the intruding person and my jaw fell open.

Roma didi was standing beside the bed, smiling.

I sighed.

Didi chuckled, “Varun ji ko laga koi chor hain.”

I let out a soft laugh, “Sach mein laga hume.”

She smiled, sitting on the other side of bed beside her husband.

“Hume laga aapko apni biwi se milne ka Mann ho raha hoga. Nai?”

My eyes lightened up, ears becoming alert.

She laughed upon seeing my reaction. Her husband laughed too.

Then he patted my shoulder, “Jaiye, jaiye,” he pulled his wife close, “Aur humari biwi ko humare saath samay bitaane dijiye.”

Were they playing some prank?

“Par... B-badi didi?”

Roma didi chuckled, “Sabse pehle wahin gayin kamre se hum dono behno ko chhor kar, apne patidev ki yaad aa rahin thi unhe. Toh hum piche kyu rahein.”

I genuinely laughed, standing up from the bed.

“Dhanyawad, didi,” I thanked her gratefully.

She replied instead, “Subah ke chaar bajne ke pehle wapis aa jaiyega, warna Maa subah subah humare kamre mein aati hain, bhaari sharam ka saamna karna hoga aapko fir.”

I nodded my head and walked outside leaving them alone.

I crept into Malini's room like a thief in the night, my heart pounding in my chest. It had been two long weeks since I'd last seen her closely, held her, and I'd missed her like hell.

The room was bathed in silvery moonlight, casting long, dancing shadows across the floor. Malini was asleep on the bed, her dark hair spread out like a halo around her head. She was curled up on her side, clutching a pillow to her chest like a security blanket.

For a while, I stood there drinking her in - the way her long eyelashes cast shadows on her cheeks, the soft pout of her lips, the gentle rise and fall of her chest under the thin sheet. She was wearing a light cotton saree, and I could see the outline of her body through the almost sheer fabric.

I tiptoed to the bed, my eyes never leaving her face. She looked so peaceful, so innocent, so fucking beautiful. I gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face, my finger trailing along her cheekbone. “Malini,”

Her eyes fluttered open at my touch, blinking up at me in sleepy confusion.

“Varun?” she whispered, her voice rough with sleep.