How to Woo Your Bride

31| Mushroom Love

A woman's mind is cleaner than a man's: She changes it more often. 

Oliver Herford 

Chapter 31:  Mushroom Love

   Thankfully, Riya didn't faint. She was just feeling weak and had a terrible cold. Madhan held her from behind, and Riya shook herself away and said she was fine. She only needed some sleep because she had a very long day.

   Once Madhan was sure Riya was comfortably tucked in bed, he left her room, closing her door as quietly as possible.

   That woman just gave him a heart attack. He felt extremely guilty for having bought her flowers that she was allergic to. He was going to ask her for the list of things she was allergic to, for future reference.

   Riya was probably going to sleep for another four hours. She sleeps like a log, he thought. There were a couple of times she would sleep at two in the afternoon, and wake up at eight in the night. He never stayed up to find out what time she would sleep that night.

   He checked the fridge to see if he had any mushroom left. His mother used to make him the best mushroom soup when he had a cold. Hoping it would help clear Riya's cold, he dialed his mother to ask for the recipe.

   "Hello," Reshma answered groggily. Who the heck would wake her up at this hour?

   "Give the phone to ma," Madhan replied, placing the landline in between his shoulder and ear.

   "It's four in the morning. I'm not giving it to her," she said irritably.

   "Reshma, please. Riya has a cold, and I need to make her mushroom soup."

    Reshma grumbled as she got out of bed and headed to her mom's room. She tried to open it but it was locked.

   "It's locked. Better luck next time," Reshma said and was about to hung up.

   "Please wait wait wait," Madhan said, hurriedly. "Get her cookbook and read out the instructions, please?"

   "No way."

   "Please? Your sister in law is sick. You don't want to be the reason why she's still sick do you?"

   "Okay. But you owe me triple time."

   Owing Reshma was the last thing he wanted to do. There were countless instances where he would get into trouble cause he owed her. He had to talk his mom into allowing her to get a tattoo. He managed to get her permission for piercing her ear, but when he asked if it was okay for a belly button pierce, he got beaten black and blue.

   Reshma let him off the hook since he took the thrashing for her. When he asked her if she ever tried asking her mom, she asked him what was the point of having people who owed her.

   "Double time."

   "Triple. Take it or leave it." Reshma said, yawning.

   "Grrr. Okay fine." Now Riya owed him one.

   "Call me in five." Reshma hung up to brush her teeth. She walked to the cupboard where her mom kept all her cookbooks and found the mushroom soup recipe. She read out the recipe and ingredients.

   It took about five tries for Madhan to get the soup completely correct. He had either put too much salt, garlic, or water. He looked at the mess he made in the kitchen and gave out a frustrated yelp. Under normal circumstances he was an amazing cook, This time since he wanted to make it for Riya, he got nervous and messed it up.

   Finally after an hour, the kitchen looked really clean, and the soup was kept in the fridge to avoid getting spoilt. When Riya called him, he would heat it in a minute and surprise her.

   He rubbed his forehead with the back of his palm, feeling triumphed with his work. He gave himself an imaginary pat on the back and sat on the sofa in the living room. 

  With the turn of events, he failed to notice some books on the glass table. He bent over to pick them up. Hadoop, the definitive guide, it read.

   Riya sure knew what she wanted to do. This was a great start, he thought. It was now his turn to keep his side of the deal. Taking out a pen and piece of paper, he started planning out a schedule for her. Being in the industry for several years, he knew exactly what she needed to know to get a job. Or more ideally, a job in his company.

   When she is ready, Madhan would send a referral to his company, asking them to recruit her under his tutelage. He knew she would be a viable asset.

   Four hours later, just like Madhan predicted, Riya woke up. She threw her covers aside and rolled out of bed.

  "Ouch," she said, bringing her hand to massage her head. Her headache felt like a migraine. She opened her drawer and took out an aspirin. She swallowed the pill whole and took a sip of water.

   She walked a bit disorientated, calling out to Madhan. Seeing him asleep on the sofa, she decided not to disturb him.

   Riya searched the fridge for something ready-made to eat. Her eyes lit up when she saw the soup bowl. "Aah, how sweet of him," she thought as she took it out. She put the bowl in the microwave and turned it on for one minute. The smell was absolutely delicious, but there was something that was bothering her. She couldn't put her mind to it.

   Once the soup was heated, she took out a spoon and scooped it into her mouth.

   It was as delicious as it's smell, she thought.

   She gobbled it up faster than Goldilocks gobbled the little bear's soup.

   However, instead of feeling better, she felt more nauseated.

   "Madhan," she called out weakly, walking towards the sofa. "What soup was that?"

   Madhan squinted his drowsy eyes but widened them when he saw Riya standing near the sofa.

   "Mushroom? Why? It was good wasn't it?"

   "Yes, it was really good. But -"

   Madhan braced himself. There's that but again.

   "I'm allergic to mushrooms too." She stumbled towards him.

   And there we go again, Madhan groaned inwardly, as he leaped up in time to catch her from hitting her head on the glass table.

Author's note:

Looks like Madhan has got a lot to learn about Riya :P But at least, he's trying! What do you think about the two of them now?! :D

Please vote and comment if you enjoyed the chapter! :) :D