𝟕: 𝐀 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞

"hum yaar bheeg jaaye, is chaahat ki baarish mein."

I cried silently while sitting on the floor, hugging my legs, my face buried in my knees.

I could handle everything but taunts. Since I was young, I was always taunted by my relatives. No matter how perfect I try to be, people always blame me for some or the other reason.

I heard the sound of the bedroom's door opening and closing. I looked up slowly with my blurred vision and found Nirwan ji looking down at me.

"Stand up," he said, while I hid my face again, trying to suppress my sobs.

"I said stand up," he repeated his words, and this time, I slowly wiped my tears and stood up.

I looked up at him with my tear-stained face and red eyes. He sighed and took two steps closer to me, "Are you a kid that you're crying like this?"

"I didn't like the way she taunted me, Nirwan ji. I don't know anything about cooking yet I cooked just for the sake of this ritual. But nobody cared for it except your mom. Even I'm a human and I feel hurt, I'm the new bride doesn't mean I'll listen-"

"Shh," he silenced me while I bit my lip. Did I say too much?

Did I cross my limits?

"My family is all okay except my bua. She only knows to speak rubbish and nothing else. Whatever she says to you in future, don't mind her words at all," he said, while I looked down and nodded slowly.

"And..." he continued, making me look up at him again.

"The food wasn't so bad. It was bearable," he finished, before walking out of the bedroom again.

My heart skipped a beat and pink tint crept up to my cheeks. He said the food wasn't so bad, so maybe it actually wasn't.

I fucking don't care about his bua. Keede pade uss budhiya ko!

☆

I slowly went to the kitchen and found the servants working there.

"Excuse me, actually, I want to taste the food I cooked. Can you please serve a little?" I asked with an awkward smile and they nodded.

They served me the parathe and kheer and I gulped before taking a bite of the paratha.

As soon as I chewed it and gulped it down, I felt my tongue burning.

This was spicy as fuck.

I immediately gulped down a whole glass of water, yet the spicy sensation was there.

Fuck, I made the masala so spicy, and the salt I added was not sufficient.

I sighed and took a bite of the kheer. I gulped it down, almost on the brink of vomiting whatever I just ate.

It seems like I didn't add sugar at all.

Hey Mahadev, this was actually trash.

Of course no one will praise my skills after eating this. Yet Nirwan ji said it was bearable. This is not something to even think of eating.

I stood up from the dining chair when I saw Anandi Malhotra walking towards me.

"Aakriti, I really apologise for the treatment you received today. She is Nirw's bua and she doesn't give a second thought before saying anything to anyone. It's okay if you're not a good cook, you at least tried your best and I'm impressed with efforts," she said while caressing my head gently.

I smiled, "Thank you so much Mrs-"

"You can call me mom, I'm not Mrs Malhotra to you anymore," she cut me off with a gentle smile.

I nodded, "Okay, mom."

She smiled before continuing, "Actually, yesterday, we were in a real hurry and many guests left due to that attack. And because of that, we couldn't do your muh dikhai ritual. So I've planned it for tomorrow."

I nodded slowly, "Okay. I'll be ready."

She nodded before walking away. I too made my way upstairs to our bedroom.

I opened the door and stopped immediately when I saw Nirwan ji on the bed. I didn't expect him to be in the room after this morning's incident.

This is the right time to apologise to him.

I slowly closed the door and took a few steps towards the bed, "Nirwan ji, I wanted to say sorry."

He looked up at me from his phone's screen, "For?"

"For upsetting you today in the morning. I'll make sure I don't piss you off again," I said, and he sighed while looking down at his phone again.

How can he be so unbothered? He could at least say a simple 'It's okay' and move on.

But he didn't respond. I kept standing there but he didn't utter a single word. I sighed and went to sit on the couch.

I took my phone and started scrolling, completely forgetting Nirwan ji's presence.

I didn't realise when I started laughing like a maniac watching memes, and I certainly didn't remember the place where I was sitting at the moment.

"Hasna band karogi?" Nirwan ji roared, while I flinched and immediately kept my phone aside, sitting up straight.

[Will you stop laughing?]

"I'm sorry, I forgot you were here," I admitted stupidly, while he ignored my words and continued doing something on his phone.

His phone suddenly started ringing and the next moment, he started talking over the call, making his way towards the balcony.

Why is he so rude? I mean, what was my mistake?

I couldn't hold my laughter looking at those memes, what's the need to be so angry about that?

I sighed and stood up. But the next moment, I forgot why I stood up when I saw it.

A cockroach.

Roaming on the floor like it owned the damn house.

I screamed on top of my voice and climbed the bed while jumping on it. I saw Nirwan ji walking inside the room from the balcony.

He rolled his eyes looking at me and went back to the balcony.

What the hell.

He went back?

Who will save me now?

I shouted even louder, and he finally came back while sliding his phone in his pocket.

He took off his slipper and crushed the cockroach under it, while I closed my eyes tightly.

"Neeche utro," he ordered, while I slowly climbed down the bed, embarrassment rushing through me.

[Climb down.]

"Pagal ho kya?" His next question made me gulp while I looked down at the floor, unable to find the right words to answer him.

[Are you mad?]

"Jab mai baat karu tab meri taraf dekha karo," he said, while I instantly looked up at him.

[Look at me when I talk to you.]

"Woh humein cockroach se bohot dar lagta hai-"

[Actually I'm really afraid of cockroaches-]

"Kha nahi jayega woh tumhein."

[It won't eat you.]

"Kha gaya toh?"

[What if it did?]

He glared at me with a done look, making me gulp again. What the hell did I say?

He leaned in closer, making my breath hitch, "Jitna maine socha tha, tum usse bhi zyada pagal ho."

[You're even crazier than I thought you would be.]

I bit my lip and looked down, my cheeks warming up at the closeness. My thighs were clenching because my legs felt weak to remain standing straight.

He took two steps back and walked out of the bedroom, leaving me dumbfounded.

☆

I applied the soft pink shade of the lipstick on my lips, before sticking a small bindi between my eyebrows.

I held the makeup brush before pouting and applying slight shade of blush on my cheeks, enhancing the look of my face.

Today is my muh dikhai. All the female members are inside and the men are asked to remain outside until the ceremony is done.

I've never attended a muh dikhai ceremony, so I don't know how it all happens.

I stood up and started wearing my lehenga. It was a light weighted lehenga with a little mirror work to enhance its beauty, chosen by Anandi Malhotra.

There was soft music playing downstairs, and I know I was late because I could hear the loud noises of the guests.

I was all ready when I realised I forgot to drape the dupatta. It's my muh dikhai so I have to simply wear it as a ghunghat and hide my face.

I took the dupatta matching with the lehenga, which too had mirror work on it. It was long enough to hide my face completely, and it looked really gorgeous when I wore it as a ghunghat.

I turned around to make my way towards the door of the bedroom when it flung open, making me flinch.

Nirwan ji walked inside and closed the door with a loud thud behind him. My eyes widened when I saw his condition; his lip was bleeding, and his shirt was torn from his left shoulder.

He seemed in immense anger, but I couldn't care less. His condition was already frightening.

"Nirwan ji, what happened to you?" I asked, taking a step closer to him.

"Who are you?" he asked, while I frowned in confusion.

I removed the dupatta which was covering my face, "Hum hain, Nirwan ji. Par aapko hua kya hai?"

[It's me, Nirwan ji. But what happened to you?]

"Fucking bullshit! Those bitches are denying me to enter my own mansion for the sake of this damn ceremony-"

"Nirwan ji, what happened to you?" I asked again, while he death glared at me. I gulped, but the question was not about what he would do if I kept asking him the same question.

The question was what happened with him and why is he in this condition?

The last time I saw him was in the morning, then all the men were asked to leave because there were only ladies in the house.

I stepped one more step closer to him and looked up at him, "Aap jab tak nahi batayenge, hum tab tak yahan se nahi jayenge."

[I won't leave unless you tell me everything.]

"Chali jao yahan se. Mera dimag kharab mat karo!"

[Go away from here. Don't irritate me!]

"Nirwan ji, please. Please tell me what's-"

He cut me off by holding both my shoulders and harshly slammed me against the wall. I gasped and winced in slight pain, but he remained firm.

He held both my shoulders tightly, aggressively pinning me against the wall. Our faces were inches away from each other, and I could sense the smell from his mouth.

Is he drunk?

Yes.

He is drunk.

The smell of alcohol and anything related disgusts me a lot.

Now that his face was so close, I could see it. There was a scar under his left eye too, a dark scar as if he got into a fight.

The cut on his lower lip was deep as well, causing it to bleed uncontrollably.

My gaze travelled down to his shoulder, from where the shirt was torn. There was a big, deep scar there too, and I felt a shiver run down my spine when I looked at it closely.

"Nirwan ji, yeh sab kisne kiya?" I asked, looking up into his eyes.

[Nirwan ji, who did this?]

"Isse tumhein kya?" he spat rudely, while I gulped while breathing heavily.

[Why do you care?]

"Please bataiye humein yeh kisne kiya?" I asked again, while he smirked.

[Please tell me who did this?]

He leaned his face even closer while I shut my eyes tightly, feeling nervous and weird sensations inside me.

I could feel his breath against the skin of my neck. I felt his lips on my earlobe while I quickly grabbed his biceps tightly.

"Aakriti," he whispered in my ear, making me bite my lip harder than ever.

I felt his arms wrapping around my waist while he pulled me away from the wall and closer to him.

His hands trailed up to my back, towards the strings of my blouse. He held the strings and pulled them open, making my breath hitch.

No, what is he doing?

He is drunk, Aakriti. He is out of his mind. Calm down.

"Nirwan ji, humein neeche jaana hai muh dikhai ke liye," I whispered while he kept hugging me and touched my bare back with his large hands.

[Nirwan ji, I have to go downstairs for my muh dikhai.]

"Pehle mujhe dekhne do," he whispered back before breaking the hug, and my blouse fell down from my arms.

[Let me see first.]

I tried to hold it back against my chest but he stopped me by holding my wrists. I felt embarrassment rushing through me when he looked down at my exposed chest.

I breathed heavily while closing my eyes tightly, as if he wouldn't be able to see anything if I closed my eyes.

I was never so exposed in front of anyone, I never felt so embarrassed and weird.

He was holding both my wrists tightly, and I could feel his lips against my chest.

His tongue; I could feel his tongue against my chest. He was trailing his tongue all over my breasts.

"Nirw-ahh-n j-ji...what are you doing?" I whimpered, opening my eyes which were containing tears.

Why is he doing this?

"Tum jaanti bhi nahi tum kitni khubsurat ho, Aakriti. Tumhari is khubsurti ko dekhne ke liye saat saal intezar kara hai maine," he whispered, making my eyes go wide.

[You don't even know how beautiful you are, Aakriti. I waited for seven years to see this beauty of yours.]

He is assuming me to be his first wife? But why is he calling me by my name then?

He is drunk. He probably may not remember this moment later.

"Nirwan ji, please let me go!" I said, trying to shrug his hands off my wrists.

He continued to lick everywhere on my chest when I heard the door knocking.

"Aakriti, how long are you going to take, beta?" Anandi Malhotra said from the other side of the door.

"Yes, mom. Just five more minutes! I will- ahh," I winced in pain when he bit my nipple.

"Are you okay?" Anandi Malhotra asked, sounding worried.

"Y-yes, mom, just five minutes more please," I said, while she replied with an 'okay' and left.

I looked at Nirwan ji, whose face was buried in my chest. "Nirwan ji, kya kar rahe hain aap? Humein dard ho raha hai! Yeh sab humein accha nahi lag raha!"

[Nirwan ji, what are you doing? I'm in pain! I'm not liking all this!]

His grip on my wrists loosened, while I pushed him slowly. I bent down and picked up my blouse, before wearing it.

I took my dupatta and instinctively covered my chest with it. I glanced at Nirwan ji who walked towards the balcony and pulled out a cigarette from his pocket before starting to smoke.

He didn't react at all when I pushed him. Is he really okay?

And what about his wounds? Should I bandage them?

Nobody knows he is here. If anyone gets to know he is in the room, they will think we were-

I won't let them know anyways.

I went outside the room and locked the door from outside, preventing him from opening the door and coming downstairs.

I wore my dupatta as my ghunghat and descended the stairs slowly, the moments with Nirwan ji flashing in my mind.

He looked at my bare chest, even though he might not remember anything later, he saw my exposed body.

He saw everything. And he even licked it all.

I hate these things so much, but I couldn't do anything to stop him when he was doing this himself.

Why?