Simran

******

I groaned in my sleep when I heard some giggling and some hushed whispers. Though it wasn't that hushed, otherwise it wouldn't have broken my sleep.

I shoved my head deeper into the pillow to quiet down those voices.

I didn't feel like getting up. I could feel pain searing in my eyes, my head throbbed, my body ached, and most importantly, my core felt sensitive. And as I took a turn on the bed friction in between my legs occurred, and I felt a sweet ache in my core, not agonizing but definitely inescapable.

'Why is that?' I wondered.

Soon, the voices around me grew a little louder.

"These are so cute."

"Look at that."

Then, some more giggling sounds cloaked my room.

What's going on?

"They look so expensive."

Okay, I needed to know what looked expensive and who those unfamiliar female voices scattering in my room belonged to.

Wait..., but I was naked...

The past night's flashes made me relive the memory with my eyes still closed, and that confirmed the reason behind that sweet ache in my core.

I pulled the quilt over me hurriedly, and then I felt my palm touching the soft fabric of cotton covering my body, which smelled like raw wood and timber. The fabric on me smelled like him, as if I was enveloped by his sturdy arms.

Oh, how much I wanted him instead of that piece of cloth hugging me.

If only I could tell him how much I wanted his body filling the spaces between the curves of mine.

I whined half asleep.

God! Where is my man?

"They are limited edition."

Wait! I had completely gotten off track that there was someone in my room talking about something expensive.

Were they talking about my limited-edition husband?

Was he on some kind of auction I had no clue about?

Because he was the only expensive and limited edition stuff in my room.

My eyes fluttered open in panic, and I felt almost ready to drag the person out of my room, whoever it was, gawking at my limited edition husband.

I pushed the quilt down my face, relieved that I was covered with my husband's T-shirt, which he had put on me when I was asleep. As I looked around, surprisingly, I found two female staff members standing closer to the foot of the bed holding a tray which had a glass of water. One of them was the house help who assisted in cooking and handled other house matters too; the other girl was someone new.

"Good morning, ma'am," one of them greeted me first, and I recalled her name as Goldie. Soon after, the other one greeted me.

"Good morning," I replied politely, yet whether the morning was going to be good or not was going to depend on what they were giggling about, and what was my husband doing?

I tried sitting up, and then a shrill pain shot up my forehead and some parts of my body. I hissed as last night's recollections tingled my skin. Blood rushed to my face as the memory got clearer with time. I recalled the screams, our fight, the tears, the way he held me closer, and how he devoured me in subtle ways, embraced me just like I always desired, until I had fallen asleep.

I wandered my gaze around, but there was no sign of Kiaan.

'Ibadat'

'Sajda'

'Ishq'

My heart pounded in my chest as I remembered how his eyes brightened with pure devotion when he had said those three words.

Kya vo sapna tha?

[Was that a dream]

"Ma'am, are you okay?" Goldie asked, concerned, trying to help me sit.

"I am fine," I replied as I finally sat back with my back attached to the headboard. My husband should have been there, but instead of him, another woman was helping me.

'You told him not to show you his face in the morning if he wanted your morning to be perfect, remember?'

My inner self never failed to remind me of all the things I didn't want to remember, and she did it again. Now, I understand why my husband wasn't in the room.

When I woke up a few hours ago, he was leaving for the gym, and we had a fight then. I hated how we fought, but it was necessary. Just because I let myself lose in his arms last night, didn't mean I had forgiven him.

Call me a hypocrite, a double standard person, but last night, my mind shut off when he expressed his feelings. It stopped working entirely when he peppered kisses all over me, awakening the dark desires in me.

But now that I was conscious enough, my decisions weren't going to be driven by anger or pain; they were going to be practical.

******

A few hours back

******

"You are leaving me again?"

I mumbled, struggling to open my eyes, and then I noticed him all dressed up in his gym clothes, his fingers curled around the strap of a duffel bag. It was still dark outside, and I had woken up because of all the noise; the constant sound of footsteps and the washroom door opening and closing.

"Baby, I have some work. Sleep," he replied so softly that my heart fluttered like a butterfly flapping its wings.

"Is it Rhea? Are you going to do something to her?"

His jaw clenched for a moment. I noticed how his hold on the strap of the bag got firmer, but his voice remained calm.

"Why are you bringing her up? I told you everything you needed to know last night..."

I remembered everything, but I needed to know more. I was greedy, and how could I not be? I was his wife, and he was with another woman on the night of our reception. Even if he was not doing anything immoral, it was still not right for him to be with her.

"You didn't tell me everything I am supposed to know, but enough to calm me down last night."

He took a deep breath, left the duffel bag on the armchair, and walked closer and sat down on the bed beside me. He took hold of my hand as he brought it to his lips and left a chaste kiss, while stroking my hair with his other hand.

"I was protecting you..." He murmured.

"Protecting me from what?"

"Not now, Firefly. We will talk about it later..." He spoke with conviction.

"By later, you mean when you have your excuses ready?"

"Simran..." He called my name, not firmly but neither softly.

Exhausted, I pulled my hand out of his clasp and turned my back to him, turning to the other side of the bed. He dared to call me Simran again. This wasn't fair of him to hurt me like that.

"Just go....get out of my sight."

He didn't move, not even for a moment. But then I felt a shift, and the bed was vacant of his presence in no time.

"Tell me what I should do to make your morning perfect!!" His voice came from a distance; he was ready to leave.

"You know what you should do....Don't show me your face if you want my morning to be perfect!!"

My voice had risen up, and anger in me made me burst at him like a volcano.

"You, anyway, are not going to tell me the truth, so why even pretend. I am used to living without you, and I will survive. So, just go."

Then I heard the footsteps fading away and the door shutting. There wasn't any explanation and nothing else from his side; he just walked away quietly. I would have dragged him back to our room and fought with him then and there, but I was too weary to even react, and I was still very much sleepy, so I did what I felt was right. I shut my eyes and let sleep pull me into its lap, singing a soft lullaby for me.

******

I pressed my temples as I muttered under my breath,'Since when was he this obedient anyway? And why did I even tell him not to show me his face in the morning?'

Before I could ask the staff if they saw my husband, Goldie said, "Sir told us to wake you up and give you this painkiller."

That's when I took notice of the medicine resting on the tray Goldie had been carrying.

It felt like all the suppressed emotions that evacuated my body last night had left behind a lingering ache that needed soothing, maybe a certain someone to soothe it.

"Keep it on the table, I will take it," I said, gesturing towards the table kept in front of the armchair.

I thought I would just take a quick shower first before having the meds. Besides, I actually needed them to go on with my day.

"But Sir told us..."

When Goldie insisted, I lost my mind, and I snapped at her.

"Goldie, I am not a baby. Go tell your Sir."

I wasn't rude or loud, yet not soft either. Something in me ticked at that moment, and I was triggered beyond my imagination. It was all because of my husband. Only last night, he claimed he would make things right, and now he had run away again. It was the audacity of that man, ruffling my feathers, that had me pour my anger on Goldie.

"If he asks, just tell him I have taken it," I said softly now.

He didn't get to dictate to me what I should do or when I should do it. If he wanted distance...fine...I will show him the real one this time.

"We...we can't lie," Goldie stammered with her voice slightly shaken with fear.

'He will kill us,' the other girl standing beside Goldie mumbled.

I lost my temper when I heard her.

How dare they talk like that about him?

"My husband isn't like that," I seethed.

Kiaan didn't go around murdering everyone. Yes, for some, he was ruthless, but not for everyone.

But at the same time, he needed to keep his mouth shut and stop threatening every walking soul as if that was his mantra to scare every human being.

God! I really needed to talk to Arjun about all the murders my husband committed. I couldn't let him go to jail. I had become a selfish, ignorant woman for him, but I didn't mind that at all.

"Just go, I need to be left alone."

At first, they didn't seem convinced, but then I gave them a displeased look, so they were bereft of any choices, and they had to leave.

I sighed and checked my phone. There wasn't a single text from him. It wasn't his fault, though. It was my fault that I was expecting anything.

Feeling dejected and defeated, I put my feet down from the bed. The moment they touched the floor, my eyes caught sight of a beautiful, enchanting bouquet of sunflowers glowing under the morning sunrays peeping inside.

I hadn't noticed them earlier as they were hidden by the frames of the female staff. Those were neatly stashed inside a ceramic vase in one corner of the room, brightening the space.

Now, I understand what those girls were talking about and gushing over.

An instant smile sprang across my features, and my earlier exhaustion began leaving my body as I walked closer to the flowers. I pulled them out of the vase and hugged them closer. The soft petals brushed against my cheeks, and I grinned.

I noticed a yellow sticky note pasted on the vase. I pulled off the note to see what was written on it.

To be honest, I did smile. In fact, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

So, my husband didn't run away this time.

That realization had me take a breath of relief. I kissed the flowers as I put them back and kept the note with me.

Then, I noticed a rectangular glass box kept on the table, which was placed near the window. I picked up the box, and I could see all sizes of chocolates inside, looking exquisite, shining brightly under the sunlight.

Even on that box, there was a sticky note.

At that point, my lips and cheeks were aching with a smile. My beast wasn't someone who expressed like that, but he did that all for me. He was doing everything contrary to his true nature. 

I desperately wanted to give in to his efforts, but that would have been too easy for him. He needed to know he couldn't just navigate this marriage as per his will, and that I had my say too.

But that doesn't mean I can't smile at his gestures in private, that I can't blush at the fact that he was trying to win me over. I kissed the second note too.

After I put the chocolate box back where it was, I walked to the walk-in closet, emptied a small earring box, and safely put those notes inside it.

Humming a tune and letting my lips burn with the widest smile, I stepped inside the washroom, only to get another shock. The entire washroom was decorated with sunflowers. My nostrils filled with the fragrance of rose and jasmine, and I noticed the bath prepared with rose and jasmine petals floating on the water. Just with that fragrance and the spectacular view, I felt stress leaving my body.

There was another sticky note, pasted on the mirror.

When I peeled it off and read the first two words, my heart skipped a beat.

My Yellow...

He never called me Yellow before last night; this was new, intimate, and more special.

I kissed this note too, giggling.

I was impressed by the way he was trying to win me over, to make me feel special. For me, every effort counts. But there was an issue; he hadn't realized one important thing yet, that the world was beneath what I wanted.

I wanted him, in his raw, true form and not the world. I wanted what the world feared, what this world worshipped. I wanted my beast all to myself.

And if to make him understand that, I would have to suffer too, then I would. So, I didn't have a relaxing bath. I kept the third note safely in the box, but I took my clothes and headed to Mom's room to take a shower.

My body might have fallen prey to the love he showered me with last night, but my mind wasn't going to succumb like that. If Kiaan wanted my soul, he would have to earn it, and these gestures would only bring a smile to my face, it won't make me shatter in his arms, just like we both craved.

******

Simran

******

"Good morning!"

I greeted everyone with a beaming smile at the breakfast table. Arjun, Nitya, Ishaan Bhaiya, Adya Bhabhi, and Sonia were still here and were to leave for their respective work or home after breakfast.

"Good morning, beta," Grandpa greeted me warmly, and so did the others.

Ever since that night of the reception, I could never truly understand grandpa and had started feeling that everything he said or did was to conceal his true motives. I was always careful of him nowadays. Moreover, I still had to talk about it to someone, maybe my husband. But not now, as I was angry with him.

I took a seat beside Arjun, not wanting to sit closer to the headchair, which I knew would soon be occupied by my beast.

When he walked in, I didn't have to look up at him; I could already feel his aura ensnaring me. I felt his gaze first, felt his presence first, and then afterwards I heard the scraping of the chair when he pulled it.

Kiaan sat on another head chair on the complete opposite of grandpa, his aura more powerful than anyone else there. It was so strong that even I felt like getting pulled into him.

Then I noticed grandpa staring in Kiaan's direction with a poker face. It was only for a beat, but I noticed how he looked uncomfortable, as if he felt suffocated by his own grandson's presence.

Something felt really weird about that exchange, but no one seemed to notice, or maybe I was thinking too much after the reception. 

Soon, grandpa was back to his normal self, smiling, talking, making faces over diet food.

As I was about to take a look at my husband, Mom's voice pulled all my attention to her.

"Sorry, honey."

She looked quite apologetic.

"For what, Mom?"

"We didn't know yesterday's pregnancy news was a prank by Arjun. We thought it was real."

In my pleasure of last night and avoiding the beast in the morning, I had completely forgotten about the false pregnancy reports.

But how brave of him to let his friend take the fall when it was all him, when he should have been man enough to take it all upon himself?

How convenient?

"You should have said something. We made it really awkward for you," Adya Bhabhi showed concern.

"We are really sorry, beta."

Then it was dad apologizing. I didn't like how they all felt guilty.

"Dad, Mom, please don't apologize. You all looked so happy. I didn't have it in me to disappoint you. I should be the one apologizing for not telling you all the truth on time."

"You can never disappoint us..." Dhruv Bhaiya said, smiling.

"Arjun, next time you pull such a prank, pull me in too," Di chipped in excitedly as she winked at me before having the bite of an apple.

"Of course, I would love that, "Arjun replied.

'If I have an idea myself,' Arjun mumbled under his breath, and since I was sitting right beside him, I could hear him well. Niti heard him too as she sat on his right. She gave him and me a curious glance, and I gestured that I would tell everything later.

"Simmi, what exactly were you about to tell us before one stupid lawyer pulled a prank on all of us?"

Namit Jiju asked me, but his mischievous gaze was cast towards my extreme left, where my husband sat far away.

"Yes, beta, what was it about?" Dad was curious too.

Well, I wish I could tell them what it was about, but that ship had drowned; it didn't get to sail, so there was no point in hauling that ship off the seabed.

Everyone had their undivided attention on me, and I rummaged my brain for a beautiful lie which wouldn't hurt their feelings, and I actually came up with something which was half-truth.

"It was about an article of one of my performances that found a corner in one of India's prominent magazines. I asked Arjun to get that magazine for me as I wanted to show that to you all."

"That's really great!!" Dhruv Bhaiya exclaimed with happiness while others congratulated me, except one man.

"By the way...when are you planning to turn Arjun's prank into reality?" Namit Jiju teased.

"Shhh...stop troubling her," Di hit his arm playfully, and he chortled, winking at her.

"There is no pressure, beta. You are way too young to have kids," Mom said, as always supporting me. The conversation was now directed towards Ishaan Bhaiya, shifting to London permanently, and how everything was going, when all of a sudden, I heard Mom ask, "By the way, what do you all think of Aaina?"

I gulped, my eyes were glued to the plate, thinking about the mirror and our me and my husband's reflection in it last night.

I inhaled a sharp breath as I remembered how we looked, tangled with each other, filled with so many unspoken desires for each other.

No man had ever touched me before, and what happened last night was the peak intimacy that I hadn't imagined to ever experience. My thoughts on intimacy were limited, but last night gave me an idea that my husband's imagination ran wilder and wider, which he intended to turn into our reality.

I knew now I would never be able to watch my reflection without imagining him holding me securely in his arms, naked. There wouldn't be a time when I would watch my reflection without thinking about his palm cupping my breasts, pinching my nipples, or his lips sucking on my neck, or his fingers buried deep in my cunt.

I clenched my thighs tighter as my breath laboured, my mind still reeling over that climax, my first ever orgasm that had me thrown out of this world, and then I was wrecked in my husband's arms only. He ruined me last night, and I had never thought ruination could be something I would ever crave.

But there I was wanting to be ruined once more, perhaps every night. I wanted my husband's lips on me...cascading down my throat just like last night, stopping over my nipples....

"Simmi..." 

Di called my name, a little louder. I looked up at her, confused, jostled out of my trance, and then I noticed everyone staring at me. 

Shit! How could I forget I was around family?

I was clenching my thighs, gripping the spoon tighter as my life depended on it, and my heart...well, it was racing too fast.

I could feel my cheeks heating up and wondered what was going on. Why was I under everyone's scrutiny?

Internally, I prayed no one noticed how I zoned out in the middle of the conversation, thinking about intimacy with my husband.

However, whether anyone had noticed or not, I knew one person did. I felt Kiaan's piercing gaze on me, burning holes in me, almost giving me a shrill headache, making the bristles on the back of my neck stand up.

I didn't have to look at him to be aware of what he was thinking. I felt his need the moment he joined us for breakfast.

"You didn't tell us what you think of Aaina?" Di asked.

Aaina?

I panicked.

How did they know about the mirror? Were they at home last night? Did Kiaan lie? Did they hear me?

Shit! Shit, what now?

Before I could stop myself, one word slipped off my mouth, "Pleasure..."

"Pleasure?" 

Mom's brows furrowed in confusion as she mirrored everyone's reaction.

"I am asking about the new staff member, Aaina. She recently joined the staff. Did you like her just like the others?"

Fuck! The girl with Goldie was named Aaina, as in a literal mirror.

Simran, take a grip on yourself. What were you thinking?

"Where are you lost, sister-in-law?" Jiju asked me, his gaze and tone curious as well as mischievous. A soft taunting smile graced his face.

"Yeah....Aaina and pleasure...I didn't get it." Saavi said innocently, looking at Dhruv Bhaiya for answers, but he shrugged it off as if he didn't understand, but, his curved lips already gave in the answer I needed.

I acted so outlandishly that I wanted to dig a grave there and hide myself from them. 

"She must be talking about the pleasure of View from the real Aaina, Chubby Cheeks," Arjun said to Saavi, smiling at his plate.

"Yeah, right! Pleasure of view," Niti added, smiling and then smirking at me.

Great! Simran Chauhan, you just gave away what happened between you and your husband last night. I was glad that at least the elders didn't pick on it; otherwise, I would never have been able to face them.

The head staff came just in time to take orders from Mom about certain repairs to be done, and I literally sighed in relief because I was pulled out of any further embarrassing quagmire.

"Have the plumber fix the kitchen sink today anyhow," Mom instructed the head staff.

"That's on my list, Ma'am,"

"And also.... get the bathtub drain in Kiaan's room fixed too."

My spoon filled with poha halted in the air. Breath knocked out of me, and I realized I didn't come out of the mesh of embarrassment yet; Instead, I was stuck deeper.

******

Author

******

"What happened in my washroom?"

When the query left Kiaan's mouth, Simran's spine straightened in worry and in slight fear. Not because she was scared he would find out, after all, that was her intention, but this was for a slightly different reason. 

As much as she wanted him to know she wasn't willing to give in that easily, she still felt uneasy about it coming out like that when they were surrounded by family and not alone.

She didn't want the family to notice the friction between them, yet she sat quite far from where she was supposed to sit, or one could say, he didn't sit beside her.

They didn't want their marital problems to come out in the open, yet they acted in a way that was crystal clear to everyone.

"There is a problem with the waterlogging in the bathtub. Simi had to use ours today. How do you not know?" Smita asked her son, as a puzzled frown settled on her face.

"He must not have taken a shower to know that..." Arjun cracked a joke, making others laugh, and only Simran and Kiaan were the ones sitting quietly.

Kiaan looked at the head staff as he said, "No need for it to be fixed...I will take care of that."

The staff was about to respond, about to take on the responsibility, when Kiaan gave that dangerous glare to him, and that poor man sauntered holding his life in his hands.

This wasn't about the responsibility of that task; this was about the cold feud between a married couple, in which no one was supposed to meddle if they wanted to be alive.

"Aunty, but I must say those sunflowers...they look so lovely. They are enhancing the beauty of that corner," Sonia gushed over the pretty sunflowers in the vase kept far from the dining table. Simran had handed the flowers to a staff member to put them somewhere that would go unnoticed by anyone, but the staff chose to put them right where anyone could see.

Simran was caught up in her mess again.

"I know, right!! I wonder who brought them." Dhriti exclaimed, staring at the flowers lovingly.

The more all that truth came out, the more Simran found it difficult to swallow the morsel of her breakfast down her throat.

"It might be someone from the staff, I guess," Ashok said.

Arjun then looked at Kiaan, sensing something. Dhriti casts a glance at Kiaan and Simran, too, getting an idea of what was going on.

Simran pushed the food inside her mouth, completely filling it so that she didn't have to speak to anyone and struggled to chew it all.

The air had begun to get hotter as everyone's eyes kept glancing between Kiaan sitting at the head chair and Simran, who had taken the farthest seat from him. This change in the seating plan didn't go unnoticed, and neither did how they hadn't said a word to each other, hadn't looked at each other. 

It was quite contradictory to the scene from last night. But no one dared say anything, for they didn't want trouble right in the morning.

"Now, who brought these?" Arjun, with quiet enthusiasm, pointed towards the chocolate box Kiaan had brought for Simran. 

Simran's eyes widened, and then she shut her eyes, feeling second-hand embarrassment because she clearly remembered she had told the staff to distribute it to others after breakfast, so that Kiaan would be gone by then and she would herself tell Kiaan she didn't like the way he was bribing her with gifts...but her every move was backfiring against her.

She wondered if that female staff member was Amir Khan from Ghajini with short-term memory loss to be making such a big blunder. She wanted to be angry, but more than that, she was flustered as the conflicts of her married life were now left bare for others to be spectators of.

Everyone took the chocolates, one by one, enjoying the rich taste of coconut mixed with the sweetness of chocolate.

"Simi, did you get it?" Saavi asked her.

"I can't have it. I am on a strict diet because of my upcoming performance."

"Kiaan, what about you? There is only one left." Dhruv said.

"Throw it away," Kiaan replied with clenched teeth.

While everyone savored the chocolate, Simran's appetite had died, and anxiety coiled in her stomach. She couldn't muster enough courage to even take a gander at Kiaan, whose rage was reaching up to her in waves, and she could feel herself burning in it.

She just wanted to dash out of the house. But there was more that awaited her shocking expression.

All of a sudden, Kiaan pushed his plate a little farther on the table. The plate made the screeching noise, and everyone's attention snapped to him now.

"Goldie!!" He yelled.

Simran was stunned, seeing him behaving that way. Goldie came running to the table and stopped a foot away from him in fear.

"What the hell is this? Is this how you cook? You can't deal with one job you are appointed for." Kiaan humiliated her. Everyone was staggered enough to speak anything. Even Simran couldn't process what was going on.

And then he said three words, "You are fired!!", that broke the barrier of Simran's patience and tolerance.

Goldie stood there frozen, her eyes almost glistening with tears. She didn't know she had just become the victim of Kiaan and Simran's cold war.

Simran turned to Goldie and said, "Goldie, take a few days off. You have been working really hard lately. Resume your work after a week, okay?"

"But Ma'am..." She was scared of the pay cut and that no one's words were above Kiaan's there.

"You need rest and need to give time to your family. Your pay won't be deducted, I am assuring you," Simran said firmly and then added something with a pinch of salt, "Don't forget you are a human and not a monster."

The words cut right through Kiaan's composure.

There was an eerie quietness at the table. Everyone sympathised with Goldie, but no one dared to speak between the beast and his fire. 

If this were only an individual's matter, someone must have spoken up, but this was a conflict between a couple.

Moreover, they knew, if the beast was dangerous, his wife was no less. The only difference was that the beast's fire was unruly, while Simran knew when her flames were to be ignited.

Goldie left from there after Simran's soft words of assurance. Her heart was still broken over the humiliation, over no fault of hers. Simran was fuming but chose to stay quiet for everyone's sake. And then Kiaan pushed himself off the chair.

"Where are you going?" Namit asked.

"I have some actual work to do, an actual office to attend, unlike other people."

Simran pushed herself off the chair, too. Now, everyone's eyes were on Simran.

"Dad, since you are going in the same direction for a meeting, can you drop me at the academy today?"

"Of course, beta. I will just grab my laptop, and then we can leave," Ashok replied with the warmth he carried for his daughter-in-law.

Simran didn't spare a glance at Kiaan even for once and walked out of the house, muttering cursing words under her breath over how terrible a beast and egocentric he was.

Everything that happened made Kiaan realize one thing. Simran had support in that house. His family stood between him and her. And if he wanted to make a place in her heart again, if he wanted to have her back all to himself, he would have to take that support away from her.

So that every time she looked up, she would find only him and no one else, every time she breathed, it was his scent she was enveloped with.

Right now, she was surrounded by choices, options that were many, and Kiaan didn't want her to have options; she wanted her to have only one, and that was him. And that was enough for a plan to begin taking shape in Kiaan's mind.

******

Hi Lovelies,

I hope you all are doing great!!🤗

Kiaan will have to do a lot more than just get flowers and chocolates for his firefly, don't you all agree? 🥹

What will both do now, as they are too stubborn to just fix and sort their issues? 🥹

Will there be another outburst, or will everything be fine? 🤔

Do share your views about the chapter. It would mean a lot to me. ❤️

P.S -> The next update will be out on Wednesday. ❤️

Thanks,

Shrishtee