Simple Desires

We have a lifetime ahead

"Mai dhadkan tu dil hai piyaa, mai baati tu mera diyaa, hum pyaar ki jyot jalaaye...
Mai raahi meri manzil hai tu, mai hu leher aur sahil hai tu, jeevan bhar saath nibhaaye..."

Armaan

After a torturous and tiring day full of rituals and ceremonies, I finally get a chance to enter my room. No, scratch that! Our room.

As soon as I enter the room, my eyes look for Khwahish and find her beautiful self sitting on a chair in front of the mirror, fiddling with her hair. I involuntarily heave a sigh of relief at her presence, I'm dying to talk to her or even just sit with her in silence. She was so close to me all day, and yet we didn't get one moment of peace together. And now we have a lifetime to share together.

"Hey princess," I say softly as I remove my shoes and sit on the bed.

My voice startles her and she looks at me wide eyed, but as soon as she realizes it's me, she blinks in relief and gives me a small smile. Then she looks towards the mirror again and resumes fiddling with her hair, pulling out pins from her hairdo and putting them at our dressing table.

I walk towards her and stand behind her.

"Did I tell you how stunning you looked today? You took my breath away, princess," I compliment her as I keep my hands on her shoulders. Her muscles seem tense under my hands and she looks distracted as she gives me a meek smile.

"You looked very handsome too, my friends couldn't stop gushing over you," she giggles lightly, and the sweet sound feels like music to my ears. She smiles at me through the mirror and brings her hand up to remove more pins.

"Wait, let me help you," I gently stop her hand and motion for her to keep it down.

"No, no!," she says rather quickly, then adds, "there are just too many of these pins, it's too messy, I don't want to bother you. Maybe I should call Khushi di for help."

"You're not bothering me, princess, I want to help. Now just sit and relax, while I free you from these," I motion towards her hair accessories and she nods slowly in reply.

I pull her shoulders slightly behind so that she is well rested against the chair. Then, I move my hands over her eyes, gesturing her to shut them and just relax. She reluctantly agrees.

I get to work as I slowly remove the accessories and pins, and soon enough there are at least hundred of them sitting at our dressing table.

"That's a lot of pins for a head to carry, I would get a headache from all these," I joke and her gentle laughter makes my heart skip a beat.

Once I am done with her hair, I help her remove her necklaces, earrings and other jewellery, and as soon as she gets out of all of them, she heaves a visible sigh of relief.

"Better?," I ask her and she smiles warmly at me as she nods. I kiss her head and she shuts her eyes to savour the moment. I place my hands on her shoulders again, in an attempt to massage her tensed muscles, but as soon as my hands touch her, she bolts up in surprise.

"I-I need to take a shower," she stutters, not meeting my eyes.

"Of course princess, I just wanted to help you relax. The washroom is that way, take a shower and have some rest, you must be tired."

"Thanks," she says with a tiny smile and walks towards her luggage.

"You need my help with that?," I ask her, pointing to her large suitcase.

"No, I packed for first couple days in this smaller one," she points to a smaller travel bag beside it and starts taking out her clothes for the night.