Marrying Miss. Insecure

Chapter - 59

Abhi stepped in, his footsteps instinctively quiet, as if not to disturb the air that still held the breath of her teenage years.

He didn't say anything-just wandered over to the window where the brass bells hung. His fingers brushed one gently, and it let out a soft chime, a delicate sound, like wind through memories.

Ekantha touched her bookshelf, a little collection of diaries she had left behind. She dusted them gently and opened a few with a small smile on her face.

All the words written inside held pain, agony, complaints-and most of all, loneliness. She could see all those moments: sitting at the desk, writing with a heavy heart, tears in her eyes. The tear stains in those diaries brought a strange sense of déjà vu.

She gently closed them and placed them back, safely, like they belonged there.

"I used to sit right there," she said, pointing at the far corner where a faded cushion still lay on the chair beside a small table with a cute little lamp. "And wrote words I never said out loud-feelings I never expressed, emotions I suppressed." She slowly ran her fingers across the table.

Then a pause. Not awkward. Just soft.

"I don't know why," she said after a moment, "but I feel like I can finally breathe in here. It's like my younger self left behind a version of safety for me to come back to."

Abhi looked around once more and nodded. "And she waited-for you to catch up."

She blinked, caught off guard by the truth of that.

"Do you want a minute alone?" he asked.

She considered it, then shook her head. "No. I want you here."

He didn't reply. He just walked over and sat beside her on the edge of the bed, letting their shoulders touch-not heavily, just enough.

"Kanna, freshen up and come fast! God knows what you ate since morning. Your favorite aloo pudina curry, guthi vankaya, menthikura pachadi, tomato pappu, pachi pulusu, and papad... along with Abhi's favorite gulab jamun. Everything is ready!" her grandmother called out, reading the menu of the day.

"Coming, ammamma. That's the washroom-freshen up and come," she told Abhi and stepped out of the room.

Within the next fifteen minutes, all of them sat at the dining table as Ekantha's grandmother and mother served the three of them.

Though Abhi insisted they all eat together, the ladies wouldn't budge and were hell-bent on serving him themselves-claiming he'd probably eat less if he served himself. He gave them a you-guys-are-impossible look.

The table was filled with colors and aromas that made Ekantha's stomach rumble despite her hesitation. It wasn't just food-it was memory. It was comfort.

Abhi took a bite of the guthi vankaya, and his eyes lit up.

"Oh wow. This tastes exactly like something my ammamma used to make," he said, looking genuinely surprised.

Ekantha's grandmother beamed. "Of course it does! We women of this region have a secret ingredient."

"Bamma garu, honestly this is really good. I could have this all day, every day," he said, earning laughter from everyone.

"Then maybe I should teach it to Ekantha too," her grandmother suggested.

"Bamma garu, to both of us? Maybe we can make it for each other?" he added, earning sweet smiles all around.

"Trying to gain brownie points, young man?" her grandfather asked.

Abhi touched the nape of his neck, trying not to blush.