Set in the pre-wedding phase. The wedding gets postponed for six months here and thus, everything that we saw Netra doing after Shashank and Apurva’s marriage in the show – she does it here before that. You’ll know the rest as you read.  

| Part Three |

His eyes bore into hers as her unexpected confession hit his ears. He was just messing around with her and was about to burst out laughing at how easy it was to make her nervous when she said the words he had never thought he would hear from her. 

Her gaze stilled at him for a second, realizing the blunder she had made. “Uhm… I didn’t mean it that way.” 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He gave her a nod, withdrawing his hands from the slab, creating a safe distance between them. It definitely didn’t feel like you didn’t mean it though. His internal commentary had begun but he had to quieten it and get back to work. “Chala, mi banavu aata kahitari tuzyasathi patkan?” 

“Anything that you can make before I die out of hunger!” 

He laughed at the comeback of her dramatic self. “Don’t worry, Miss Vartak. Not letting you die is one of the unwritten clauses in our marriage contract. I’ll take care of it.” He bowed in front of her, assuring her that she was in safe hands. 

She turned around, knowing the stupid grin on her face would make her look even more stupid in front of him. He is not serious. He does not mean any of it. See it as it is. She had to remind her idiotic heart that was on cloud nine after hearing those words.

“Aso! What are you cooking?” she asked, diverting herself from his words. 

“Mahit nahi. Baghto kay aahe aani kay banu shakte… before you die out of hunger!” 

She punched his arm upon watching him mimicking her. “Khadoos kuthla!”

He went to the sink to wash his hands when his ringing phone grabbed his attention. “Apurva, maza phone aantes, please? Mi aatach haat dhutle.”

“Of course! You’re the one who’s gonna feed my stomach today that makes you no less than an angel in my eyes…” She bowed in front of him with one hand on her stomach. “Anything you say, Mr. Angel Kanitkar… JUST FOR TODAY though.” 

“Ah, you didn’t have to add those three words. Broke my heart, Miss Vartak,” he said, dramatically taking his hands to his heart to show how painful it was for him, “if I cook for you our whole life… would that make me an angel in your eyes for a lifetime?“

Watching her smile fade had him intently staring at her. 

“Aayushyabhar mazyasathi swayampak karayla tu aayushyabhar mazyasobat asnaar kuthe aahe! Ek varsha. That’s it. That’s it.” She began taking her steps backward, firmly keeping her head down before she turned around and left. 

Wasn’t the one-year contract thing mutual? Why did suddenly she make it sound like it was he who was imposing it on her and if allowed, she would agree on not anything less than an eternity to spend with him? 

Ajab Rasayan. Truly and sincerely. Beyond his understanding. Then, now, and always. 

He pushed away those thoughts for the time being and started looking for what could be made for Apurva’s growling stomach. 

Kay bara aawdat asel ya mulila Maggi aani Pasta sodun? He got his mind working but couldn’t recall anything that could help him. Clearly, there had not been a single incident where she had blurted out her favorite dishes to him. You didn’t attempt to find out either. His heart taunted and he could only shake his head. 

Bhendichi bhaaji aahe. He put the lid back and decided on what to make. Just as he was about to start, Apurva rushed in with his phone. 

“Kon aahe?” he asked. 

She shrugged her shoulders, giving away that she didn’t check. Absent-mindedly swiping on his phone, she placed it to his ear, remembering well that he had washed his hands for cooking and wouldn’t touch his phone. 

Smiling at her thoughtfulness, he gave her a little nod, mumbling a thank you before attending the caller. 

Not even ten seconds had passed and Shashank’s face lost its charm that Apurva Vartak’s company had brought. 

Apurva was humming a tune, waiting for him to finish the call that he had not even started with yet. 

She frowned when he took the phone from her hand. “Arey haat dhutles mhanun phone aanayla laavla na? Mag?” 

“Asu de. I’ll wash again!” With that, he moved away at enough distance and put the phone to his ear. “What do you want now? I beg you. Can you please stop everything that you are doing? Please?” he urged in a hushed tone, making sure that his words wouldn’t reach Apurva’s ears.

“Stop what? Loving you? Had it been in my hands, I would have stopped myself long ago, Shashank Sir!” 

He pinched the skin between his eyes at the sheer frustration she was putting him through. Her mere voice was enough to unsettle him within seconds. 

Everything that he had managed to temporarily divert his mind from with Apurva’s help came rushing back with Netra’s call. 

“You didn’t ask me how I am. Oh, I’m sorry. She must have already told you, right?”

He looked at Apurva who was busy with her random dance steps, lost in her own world. Dammit. He should’ve muted the call till he moved away. Netra knowing that Apurva was with him was only going to take her madness to another level, he knew. 

“Netra, listen… Netra?” The call was already disconnected when he decided to warn her and there was no way that he was going to call her back. That was not happening. 

What if she… No, no, no. He harshly forced brakes on his thoughts, not letting himself even consider what his mind was suggesting. 

“Who was it?” Apurva asked when she caught him keeping his phone aside. 

He got back to the sink to wash his hands again. “You brought it from my room. Wasn’t tempted to check the caller?” 

“Nah. I would let you have your privacy, Mr. Kanitkar,” she said, getting herself comfortable in a chair, “tula sangaycha asel tar I’m all ears, and if not… mag mala aikaychach nahi!”

“I can’t quite believe this is the same Apurva Vartak I know,” he confessed, chuckling.

“It’ll take you ages to get to know me, Mr. Kanitkar.” 

“Is it so?” he asked, patting his hands dry with the kitchen towel. 

“Tu kay banavtoys?” She left her place and went to him, willing to help him. 

“Tu… rahu de, please!” He outstretched his palm toward her, signaling her to stop where she was. “Tula jevaycha aahe na lavkar? Mag krupaya madat karayla yeu nako aani ho…. Varan-Bhaat laavtoy. Sakalchi Bhendichi bhaaji aahe. Tyasobat polya takun deto. Chaalel na?”

She took a moment to think only to have her stomach curse her as brutally as possible. “Varan-Bhaat is certainly not my favorite pan aata… mazya potala kahihi chaalel. Tu bas de!”

“As soon as possible!” That was the last she heard from him after he threw himself into his chef mode.

While his whole attention was on the food he was preparing, her eyes stayed glued to wherever he went. It was the longest she had been without her phone. She didn’t even realize that her phone hadn’t managed to grab her attention even once since the moment she had stepped into the Wada. 

Even when he was busy cooking, she hadn’t felt an urge to get her hands on her phone. Even when he was utterly quiet, she hadn’t felt an urge to watch something on her phone. 

Her eyes were happy with the sight they were beholding. 

Mr. Kanitkar cooking for Miss Vartak. 

Around half an hour later when he served what he had made to her, he could only sit amused when she didn’t take even five seconds to put it in her mouth. 

“Aga garam aahe! Halu!” His warning came too late. He slapped his forehead, watching her having burnt her tongue.  

“Asu de re! I’m okay!” She assured, going for another bite. “Khadoos yaar, I’m impressed. This is so good.” 

“I knew you would like it,” he said, leaning back in his chair. 

“Itka confidence aaplya cooking skills var?” she asked, ready to start a fight. All that she needed was for him to say yes. 

“Ajibaat nahi. Mhanje mala mahiti aahe mi thik thaak jevan banavun gheto pan aata mi tyabaddal bolat navto!”

“Mag?” She managed to ask in between stuffing her mouth.

“Upaashi poti mansala saglach god lagta!” 

His statement made her pause and look at him for a good five seconds. 

“Kay zala?” he asked, bending forward to see that she had actually stopped eating. 

Her eyes went to her plate first and then to him. “Mala he… god nahi lagat aahe. Bhaaji thikhat lagtey aani Varan-Bhaat… varan bhatasarkha lagtoy!” 

And he banged his head on the table. 

“Arey kay zala? What is wrong with you today? Maghashi bhintivar doka aaptat hotas aata ithe!” She didn’t bother about the fact that she was almost yelling. He was driving her nuts. 

He lifted his head from the table. “Nahi kahi nahi. Maza zara doka chaalat nahiye aaj. Tu nako vichar karu. Tu jev!” 

She ignored him when her stomach demanded her attention and focused on the food that had never seemed so delicious before. 

Her Atti was a fabulous cook, she believed but something was different about what Shashank had made for her. 

What could it be? She wondered. 

Was it that she was hungry or was it that he was the one to cook for her? 

“Tula nahi watat tula swayampak yayla hava?” 

The question was quick to earn him a glare from her. Thank goodness, he asked after she had finished eating. He knew it had the potential to get her mad and he couldn’t risk her leaving the food in the middle because of it. 

“Ka? Mi mulgi aahe mhanun?” She retorted while standing up. 

“If that had been my mindset, why do you think I know how to cook? I’m not a girl, am I?” He followed her when she took her plate to the sink. “Apurva, cooking is one of the skills everyone should learn. What if you’ve to stay alone someday? Who is going to cook for you?”

“Restaurants!” she said as a matter of fact. 

“Let me take you back to the time when a virus had come and the situation was unmanageable. Five years? It was five years ago, wasn’t it? Could we order food from outside, Apurva?” 

“Atti cooked for us,” she responded. 

“Exactly what I am saying. Suppose you were staying alone, what would you have done?”

“I don’t waste my time on hypothetical arguments, Mr. Kanitkar!”

His palms pressed on the countertop beside her. He had already seen it coming. “Pan mi kay mhantoy-“

“Kaltay mala tu kay mhantoy te, Khadoos,” she said, keeping the washed plate and glass in the utensil holder before turning toward him, “pan sagla saglyanna nahi jamat, Khadoos. Cooking and I…. ashakya!”

“Kon mhanta? Aadhi sagla avghadach watata, Apurva. Tu shiku shaktes!” 

His confidence in her was amusing to her. “Mi nahi shiku shakat, Khadoos. Mala jamatach nahi!”

“Mi mhantoy na tu shiku shaktes!”

“Arey Atti sarkhi masterchef nahi shikavu shakli mala tar kon shikvel?”

“Mi!”

“Haan?”

Did she hear it right? He… wants to teach her how to cook? Wow, now that was interesting. She folded her hands across her chest while he looked away for a moment. Despite the realization that what he had blurted out was awkward, he wasn’t going to back out. 

Taking a step toward her, he nodded. “Mi shikvel. Aaplya lagnanantar!” 

Hyala lagna karaycha navta mazyashi aani aata lagnanantar kay kay karu he tharavtoy! Ya eka varshachya lagnaat mi ashi tar nahi adaknaar ki kadhi baherch nahi padu shaknar? 

Do take out extra two minutes to leave your comments behind after reading. <3
Much love.

I N D E X

Part One

Part Two  

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

Part Nine

Part Ten

Part Eleven

Part Twelve