Incandescent

Chapter 24

Arnav's fingers moved fast but quietly across the keys in his laptop so as not to wake his sleeping wife. He had also considerately dimmed the screen light so she wouldn't be disturbed. He'd come home close to midnight to a sound asleep Khushi and quietly used the guest room to quickly shower and came back to bed. He was tired but he hadn't really been sleepy so he had thought of checking some mail.

He turned and looked at her in the almost dark room illuminated only by the light from the pool and his laptop. She had pushed the sheets down to her waist in sleep and not for the first time, he noticed that she still wore the saree she had worn for the function at home today. He immediately recognized the saree. It was one of Elan's special created especially for her. It was a simple saree in pearl white with white on white pearls and embroidered motifs. The blouse had beautiful blend of intricate silver thread embroidery, net fabric and a deep, deep cut which seemed to beckon to him. He knew why she wore it and he knew she was sleeping in it because she had wanted him to see her in it but fallen asleep waiting.

The day had been exhausting and in the mayhems he had missed the baby shower. Now he had a family that was displeased with him and a hurt wife. There had been an emergency the night before and he had back to back conference calls totally unexpected at the time. It had taken all of the night before so he had spent it there and when there was a short break, he had showered and went back to work. It had been a crucial deal he had been working on for months but unfortunate that the client decided this day to come down from Milan for a meeting. He simply couldn't have avoided it.

She must have waited for him a long time and fallen asleep without her knowing. He hadn't wanted to wake her up. She had been working too hard the past week, not with much help from him. He turned to his laptop but suddenly had no wish to work so he shut it down and gently put it on the night table. He eased himself down beside her and fought the urge to draw her to him.

She was cuddled up into a ball on her side with her legs drawn closely to her chest. She was beautiful and she looked elegant even in sleep. He snuggled a little closer feeling the need to feel the heat from her body against his skin. And soon, the exhaustion took him over and he fell asleep.

It was somewhere around early morning that Khushi stirred and found herself pressed to a hard body. She suddenly opened her eyes and saw that her stirring had woken him up too.

"Khushi," he whispered, his eyes lighting up with a smile.

One would expect anger from her but what she did was totally unexpected. She wrapped her arms around his waist, gathering herself closer to him, snuggling against his firm chest. He put his hands around her and silently rubbed her back as they lay in silence.

"Khushi, sweetheart..." he didn't know what to say, only that he had to say something. "Why did you come back here and not stay at Shantivan?" He asked.

He had talked to Payal and she had told him Khushi had refused to stay at Shantivan that day even after they all insisted. She did not even listen to her parents and was adamant about returning to the penthouse. Garima and Shashi Gupta had refused to stay there without Khushi but after Nani's interference they agreed reluctantly with Khushi promising to come back early in the morning.

"I didn't feel like it. I wanted to be here when you came back home. I knew you wouldn't come there today."

She knew him so damned well. She also knew that he would have wanted her here and that's why she was here.

"I know I couldn't make it to the function today but you know it wasn't intentional. I have talked to Aakash and Payal and they understand. Payal knows about this deal so she's excited with the news... we will visit together tomorrow..." he said.