"I'm actually thinking about how horribly everyone died in the movie." Poonam too turned and laid on her side to face him.
For a few seconds Rohit gaped at her without saying a word. He was just about to tell her how beautiful she is but before he could word his feelings Poonam unknowingly ruined the moment. She stared at his face, trying to read his expressions while he tried to conceal his disappointment.
"Were you going to say something?" She asked and Rohit looked her in the eyes.
How was she so good at reading his expressions! Rohit was a little stunned.
"Yeah... I was going to say... Let's never watch a horror movie again." Rohit flipped on his back, once again facing the ceiling.
Poonam felt a little disappointed when he turned away. Then, she too turned away to the other side and shortly dozed off to sleep.
...
Somewhere around early in the morning, Rohit slowly blinked his eyes open to see what was weighing on his torso. A smile crept up on his lips as he opened his eyes to see his wife's arm snaked around his waist, her soft face snuggling around his bicep.
He couldn't help but smile at her innocent looking face. But then it dawned upon him how alluring she was. She was so close to him that he could feel her heartbeat through their skins. Rohit wanted to resist but his hand impulsively went and caressed her cheek. She was so soft. Rohit slightly got up and pecked her on her cheek. It was childish but Rohit couldn't resist her cuteness.
He laid back down and beamed like a child. And then his gaze stuck to her lips. Those were slightly parted. And he felt this immense urge to kiss those lips. Again, how was he to resist the temptation? He slowly leaned closer to her face. His eyes leaned over her lips and then even the slightest feature of her face. Rohit just couldn't stop admiring her. With a hand he cupped her face, he was just about to close the distance between them when Poonam snapped opened her eyes. For a few seconds she stared at him with baffled eyes.
Rohit flushed realizing what he was about to do and pulled away. Poonam too pulled away and hurried to the bathroom. Her heart raced and so did his.
Their early morning encounter created a little bit of awkwardness between them. But for how long can they go on with the awkwardness? They were in fact spouses and this was only natural for them to feel this attraction. Someday or other, they have to take their relationship to the next level. This is only expected.
But it wasn't that easy to just take the next step for our shy Poonam.
"Yaar, Sheena...! Are you trying to help me or what?!" Poonam whined as she talked to her sister on the phone.
"Sis, you have definitely called the wrong person to ask for a solution from! I can only teach you how to do your husband in bed—"
"Sheena!" Poonam scolded.
"Hahaha! Why don't you call your darling mother-in-law?"
"What do you think? —I would have called Mumma. But uncle's not well, they might be at the hospital right now..." Poonam chewed the fingertips of her right hand, "Whereas, Maa told me to call her in case I needed her help but... I don't think I should..."
"Hey, I have no idea how to cook many things but I can tell you how to boil eggs!" Sheena joked.
"Haha! Not funny! I know how to do that too! Only boiled eggs won't do for breakfast. Yaar, Rohit is so used to having those lavish breakfasts. I don't think, he would be good with only chai and poha..."
"Hey, if he likes a lavish breakfast, he must tell his mum to cook. And as she's not around, you should just feed him whatever you can. You know what I mean...?" Poonam could almost imagine Sheena wearing a teasing smirk as the latter passed on a double meaning remark.
Poonam rolled her eyes, "Sheena, you're disgusting!" Poonam heard her sister laugh on the other end of the phone call, and shrugged. At the same time, Rohit stepped into the kitchen.
"Hey!" He greeted. Though he flashed a meek smile as he stepped in, his voice was rather bland.
"Hey..." Poonam too flashed a small smile as she awkwardly greeted him back.
"Were you talking to your sister? Did I disturb you?" He went to the fridge and fetched a bottle of water for himself.
"Not at all... We were almost done with the phone call." Poonam still held the cell phone to her ear.
"Yeah?" Rohit paused and then out of nowhere asked, "What were you two talking about? If I may ask...?" He leaned his back on the fridge door after he closed it.
"Nothing... Just... the usual things... Oh! I totally forgot to ask. What should I make for breakfast?" Sheena was still listening from the other end of the call.
"Make anything you like." Rohit took a few steps towards her, "Look, you really don't have to bother yourself to make me something extravagant. Just cook whatever you can. I'd eat anything." Rohit said with a smile.
"See, my dear sissy, he would eat anything!" Said Sheena on the phone that was still pressed against Poonam's ear.
"Sheena, I'll call you later!" Poonam disconnected the call immediately. She hadn't noticed that she was still holding the phone to her ear and the call was still on.
"All good?" Rohit asked as he looked at Poonam, whose face suddenly turned red and she stared at him shocked in the eyes.
"Would you tell me what exactly would you like to eat... for breakfast?" Even her own words have started to sound fishy to her. Sheena, what the hell did you fill in my mind!
...
Poonam hadn't known Rohit would ask for something as simple as Aloo-parathas for breakfast. It was simple to make yet Poonam had to try twice to cook the paratha right. And like that she managed to make a few parathas that were of any shape but round.
What a catastrophe! This girl couldn't even make a perfect round paratha! Her mother-in-law would be singing these words if she was there. Luckily, her first, not-so-well-accomplished effort was not going to be judged by her in-laws. But what about her husband? Would he make a fuss about the parathas not being the right shape? Poonam would probably loss it if he did.
However, unlike what she expected, Rohit smiled as she put one of those parathas to his plate.
"Poonam... Can you tell what continent is this? I doubt if it's on earth." Rohit looked at her face and was amused by her reaction. Poonam puckered her lips in a pout as her husband made fun of the uncanny shapes of the paratha.
"It's fine! You don't have to eat it if you—"
"No...! How can I not eat it? It's not everyday you get to eat a continent!" Rohit laughed. But Poonam was pissed. She worked hard and tried her best to make those perfect. She doesn't deserve to be laughed at just because she couldn't make it in the right shape! Poonam stood up and bent down to grab the paratha from Rohit's plate when he held her wrist to stop her, "Hey... I was just kidding, alright? Let me try them. They actually look more interesting in these shapes."
"If you have to make fun of it then don't eat it! This is the first time I tried making them." Poonam still had the pout on.
"Alright... Alright... I will not make fun of them, okay? Now, can I have them?" Rohit let go of her hand and Poonam went back to her seat. A frown still on her face.
Rohit tore the paratha from the side and put the morsel in his mouth. Poonam looked at him, curious to see his reaction. She couldn't help but shot, "What do you think? Is it good?"
