You and I, plus 2 years of marriage!

Two Strangers… One Lockdown!

{4}

After a few seconds, the door opened and first thing I noticed was Atharva standing with a palette in his hand. He looked surprised and frowned at my sudden appearance.

‘Yes?’

‘Actually, I have a virtual meeting and it would be better if I have Wi-Fi connection. Would you please share the password?’

‘Well, I don’t have Wi-Fi here, but I do have a dongle. You could use it. Come in,’ he said and let me inside the room.

The room was filled with empty and half-done painting canvases. There were tubes and bottles of paints lying around with brushes in all shapes. Honestly, I had no idea that he was the one who had painted all the paintings hanging on the walls of the house. I had never seen him paint before although he had mentioned that he used to paint as a teenager and college student. Somehow, I did not ask him why he had stopped painting or rather I assumed that work life must have kept him away from painting. Suddenly, my eyes fell on the canvas on which he was working. And… it took my breath away! It was clearly a woman draped in a sea green saree. Her curves were lovingly outlined underneath the folds of the saree. He had not yet completed her face. It was hard to guess who she was.

Was he painting me?! Wishful thinking!

My heart almost skipped a beat at that thought but I restrained my mind to not venture beyond that thought. Atharva was still searching for the dongle in his backpack. The room was a stark contrast to the rest of the house. It was shabby and he was right that he could certainly not sleep in that room, although I did notice a single cot in one corner. When he turned around, he had the dongle in his hand.

‘Here, take this.’

‘Thanks. What is the password?’

‘Oh yes, let me text it to you. Tell me your number,’ he said picking up his phone from the table.

‘I have not changed my number, Atharva,’ I said looking straight into his eyes.

‘But I have changed mine and I do not have your number. So please tell me.’

There was not one bit of regret or guilt in his voice. It was as if he had completely erased my presence from his life. We exchanged numbers and he texted the password to me.

‘Nice paintings,’ I said unable to resist myself.

‘Thank you,’  he said with a genuine smile which set butterflies flying in my stomach.

‘Please feel free to use the kitchen. I don’t know how long I will be in here but in case you need anything, you can call me.’

I simply nodded and walked out of the room. Finally, the mystery of the room was over, but my mind was now occupied with his half-finished painting.

***

‘Where are you taking me?’ I asked with curiosity filling my voice.

Atharva blindfolded my eyes and made me sit in a car. It was my first birthday after marriage, and we were in Chennai because I had to attend an important meeting the next day. What I did not expect was that he would accompany me after taking leave from his office. I was super-thrilled to celebrate my birthday with him. He had kept all his plans a top-secret. Neither had he asked me for my choice of birthday gift, nor did he give away any clue about what he was going to gift me. I was in fact expecting something expensive given that this was his first big opportunity to gift me. Maybe a diamond ring? Or an iPhone? He drove for some time and I had no idea how long it took us because I had spent the whole journey in darkness. I asked him a thousand questions along the way, but he said nothing. After stopping the car, he came around and opened the door for me.

What he did next, took my breath away. Without letting me step out of the car, he easily picked me up in his arms and began walking. My heart was literally in my mouth!

‘What are you doing Avi? Please don’t drop me!’ I squealed like a schoolgirl.

‘Sssshhhh… don’t worry sweetheart, I will never drop you. By the way, you are not very heavy to carry.’

‘Now, where are we going?’

‘Just stay quiet for a few seconds and hear the music of this night.’

It was only after he said that I actually paid attention to my surroundings with my ears. I could hear the sound of the cool breeze and his heavy footsteps. When I moved my head closer to him, I could also hear his steady heartbeats. Instantly, I could feel his soft lips over mine for a brief moment and a smiled crossed my face. Slowly, he placed my feet down and something soft grazed my toes. When he removed the blindfold, we were both standing on an empty beach on a full moon night. The tides were high, and the mighty waves were crashing the shore. The entire beach was soaked in moonlight and when I looked up, I could clearly see the stains on the face of the moon along with millions of stars dotting the dark sky. The sound of the waves was soothing and exciting at the same time.

Suddenly, his arms wrapped around me from behind and I could feel his hot breath beneath my ear. I melted into him.

‘Happy birthday, my love,’ he whispered in his husky voice.

His voice made me weak in my knees. That moment, I felt we were the only two human beings in this universe. We stood like that for what felt life a lifetime contained in two whole minutes.

‘I love you,’ he breathed and kissed me on my cheek.

‘I love you too, hubby,’ I said and pulled at his cheeks playfully.

‘Now where is my gift?’ I asked him impatiently.

He turned me around and shook his head.

‘Do you even need a gift bigger than this?’ he asked looking around him with a smile of satisfaction.

There is no way I was letting him get away without actually giving me a proper gift. A trip to the beach certainly would never figure on my list of birthday presents!

‘Are you kidding me!? No way! I need a proper birthday gift.’

Once again, he blindfolded me and the next moment, I could feel something cold around my ring finger. My lips widened into a broad smile expecting to see a diamond ring on my finger. The moment, he removed the blindfold, the smile almost vanished from my face.

‘Hey what happened? Didn’t you like it?’ he asked with concern saturating his voice.

Probably, the expression on my face had given it away. It was a just a gold band with no diamond on it. Simple, yet elegant. But, very simple. Just like him.

‘Yes, I like it,’  I lied with a smile trying to mask the disappointment.

But he did not seem to notice the disappointment. He pulled me into a tight hug and held me close to his heart. I gave into his touch with a sigh. Once again, I held up my finger and looked at the ring. It was nice but there was no diamond on it.

To be continued...