The Unsaid

Chapter 9 - Restless

Chapter 9 - Restless

Pallavi sighed, threw the stack of envelopes on Prithvi’s desk and slumped in the chair. Stacks of paper lay unevenly before her. She glanced around the room. Every area was clean and tidy in all areas except for Prithvi’s desk; arranging that was the most daunting task for she had no idea how to organize it. She attempted to organize a few envelopes and papers but gave up after a few minutes. It would be better if she cleared those up with Prithvi, in case she misplaces something important.

It had been a week since their marriage, and she began to understand the Red Mountain aka Yerrakonda family. Prithvi’s day would generally start at 6:30 when he would go to the terrace for his morning exercises. He would return sometime after 7, shower, get ready and then sit at his computer until 8:30, after which he would climb down for breakfast. At 9, he would be out of the house. Her mother-in-law was the earliest riser in the family; she would be awake by 4, get ready and will be in the Puja room until 5:30.  By the time Pallavi went downstairs at 7:30, her mother in law would already be in the middle of the breakfast preparation. Pallavi would hang out with her in the Kitchen and try to help her as best as she could. It didn’t take much time to realize how hard Jaya worked. To add to it, she had this ultra clean routine where she would wash the utensils twice, wash her hands twice and would not tolerate mixing of containers that contain egg and vegetarian items. All in all, she had her own quirky methods and ways in the kitchen. Madhu akka seemed to be accustomed to those as she automatically followed the routine, though once Pallavi caught her cursing under her breath.  Speaking of Madhu akka, she and Amar bava seemed to be a happy couple. And Amritha and Rohit, with their cuteness, tantrums and naughty activities, would always keep the atmosphere busy, alive and jovial. So far, Madhu and Jaya kept pushing her offers for help, saying that she was a new bride and there were days ahead when she could handle the chores.

~

“Beep beep beep.” The alarm went off.

Pallavi pulled the blanket upto her neck, murmered something about being cold, turned the other way and continued to sleep. She felt something tug at her and sat upright. She glanced at the clock and then turned to Prithvi, who also sat upright.

“Didn’t the alarm go off?”

“It did.”

“Then why didn’t you wake me?”

Prithvi sighed. “First of all, my sleep is disturbed because of the damn alarm. And you end up snatching the blanket away all for yourself every night! How am I supposed to sleep?”

 “It’s not my fault if you can’t keep the blanket. And about the alarm, I wanted to wake up early so I could help out with the chores.”

“Then, why didn’t you wake up when the alarm went off!” Prithvi said, not hiding his displeasure in the disturbance of their schedule.

Pallavi glared at him grimly, opened her mouth to say something but held herself. She climbed down from the bed, gathered her messy hair into a bun and walked to the closet. “I plan to wake up at 5:45 everyday, by the way,” she said holding her clothes and closed the bathroom door.

As she showered, her thoughts went back to her days with Prithvi. He had his own quirky little ways. Like tapping with his index and middle finger on the computer table while he waited for a screen to load, Or throwing the towel on the right most edge of the bed in the same precise angle. The first day, she dried it out in the balcony properly. The second day, she had confronted him about it, to which he replied that that was just how he was and she needed to adjust! Hmm…this guy wasn’t easy to handle. Though she had the bad habit of snatching the blanket away for herself while sleeping, he never bothered to go downstairs and get another one for himself, nor did she ever mentioned that to him. Perhaps, he liked the ocassional accidental coziness just like her.