THE IMPERFECT PERFECTIONS

•Δ42~ 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦

☆ .♡‧₊˚ ☆ .♡ ‧₊ ♡‧₊ ☆ .♡ ☆ .♡‧₊˚ ☆ .♡

"Are you okay, Adi?" she asked softly, reaching out to touch his forehead to check for a fever.

Before her hand could make contact, he caught it mid-air. His  grip was  gentle but firm. "I... I'm fine. I just need to change," he said quickly with a strained voice.

Without waiting for her response, he strode toward the washroom, leaving her standing there in confusion.

Taniya frowned as she watched him go. Aditya usually removed his blazer and tie in the room before heading to change.

This abrupt behavior was out of character.

"What's his deal?" she muttered, glancing at the closed washroom door.

Her eyes fell on the bed where the book he had been holding lay. Picking it up, she flipped it open to the page that had been creased. As her gaze traveled over the words, the realization of what Aditya had read dawned on her.

Her face turned scarlet and a strangled gasp escaped her lips. "OH. MY. GOD!" she exclaimed, her voice echoing in the room.

She dropped the book immediately."No, no, no, no, no. He didn't read this! Please tell me he didn't read this!" she groaned, clutching her head in horror.

Her mind  replayed Aditya’s awkward stammering, his beet-red face, and his Olympic-level dash to the washroom. The realization hit her like a train.

“Oh, he read it. He definitely read it,” she mumbled under her breath andcollapsed onto the bed, burying her face in her hands.

“WHY didn’t I just bring a murder mystery? Or a soft romance? Anything but this!” she groaned, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling in despair.

After a few moments of wallowing in embarrassment, she shot up abruptly, horror dawning on her.

“Oh God… what if he thinks I always read this kind of—” she trailed off, “I mean I do but he doesn't need to know it” she completed her sentence, her face burning at the thought.

Meanwhile, Aditya was in the washroom, trying and failing to shake the vivid imagery from his mind.

No matter how much he tried to distract himself, his thoughts kept looping back to the words he’d read—except now, he was imagining himself and Taniya in that very scene.

He splashed cold water on his face, muttering to himself. “What’s wrong with you?” he whispered, looking down while his hands gripped the edges of the sink tightly.

Aditya seemed to have forgotten how human bodies work. It wasn’t wrong to feel this way about his wife—it was natural. But in his mind, these thoughts felt forbidden, something to be avoided.

His logic was clouded by his awkwardness around emotions like these.

In a desperate bid to calm himself, he turned the shower to the coldest setting and stepped under it, clothes and all.

The icy water drenched him, soaking through his shirt and trousers, but he didn’t care. He just needed the images in his mind to stop.

A soft knock on the bathroom door pulled him out of his internal struggle.

“Adi, your clothes,” Taniya called from the other side.

He cleared his throat, managing only a faint hum in response. She hung the clothes on the door handle and went downstairs to get him a piece of the cake.

Aditya stepped out of the shower, shivering slightly, and grabbed the fresh clothes. After peeling off his wet ones, he tossed them into the laundry basket and changed quickly.