Set in a random night after Shashank confessed his love to Apurva! 

Tu ka karat astos he sagla, Khadoos? Mala traas dyayla? 

Mala kahi zala tar tula traas ka hoto ha jast logical prashna aahe. 

Mi tula aadhi hi sangitla aahe tuza logic tu tuzya javal thevat ja. Mala aikavat jaau nakos. 

Thik aahe. Nahi thik aahe. Aata mi tula kahich aikavnaar nahi. Kahich… nahi. Aata tula maza aawaz toparyant aikayla milnar nahi joparyant mala aikayla milat nahi ki mala traas zalela baghun tula… traas ka hoto!

This man has become more stubborn than me. Have I really rubbed off on him? She paced back and forth, dialing his number for the ninth time in a row. When the call went unanswered like the previous eight times, she plopped down in a chair near the bed. 

Khadoos knows what this will do to me and still… and still… 

She slapped her phone against the bed while continuing her ranting. Her foot constantly tapped against the floor as her gaze mindlessly traveled around their room before it finally stilled on the wall clock striking 1 a.m. making her regret not taking his words seriously. She hated how foolish she was to think that he didn’t mean what he said. 

When he disappeared after dinner, she didn’t pay attention to his absence, presuming that he must be around. It wasn’t until everyone slept and she sat alone in her room that she realized that he wasn’t at home. She had been repeatedly calling him but the man just wouldn’t pick up.

She couldn’t involve any family member in the matter either. Things had finally started to fall into their places. Knowing that her family had dealt with a bit too much lately, she didn’t have the heart to give even a bit of stress to anyone – especially because of the conflict in her marriage – something that she desired to keep private for a change. 

That’s it. I can’t wait anymore. She rushed to the cupboard, grabbed her bag, dropped her phone into it and stepped out of Wada in search of her bummed-out husband. 

Tu fakta bhet mala, Khadoos mag dakhawte mi tula he je kahi tu aaj kela aahe tyache parinaam! She fumed, already planning what all she would make him do to compensate once she found him. 

Though she had stepped out of the house, she had no idea where to go. The first place that she could think of was the park where she had found him after Kukki had declared that he would take a transfer. 

Crossing her fingers, she hoped to find him there but when she reached the park, it was empty just like her heart that was empty without him.

She wouldn’t mind claiming that even though her heart was beating, her heartbeat seemed to be missing. 

Who cared if it was ridiculously illogical? Who cared if it was an exaggeration? Who cared if it made no sense?

Not like he was there to correct her! 

Not that she was going to admit it in front of him either! 

Not sure where to go next, she sat on the same bench in that park on which she had sat back then with him and staring at the empty space beside her just intensified her agony. 

Memories from that night came rushing back and she couldn’t help but miss him even more. Just a couple of hours. It had been just a couple of hours since she hadn’t been able to see him but to her, it seemed no less than an eternity. 

Despite realizing that he was deliberately avoiding her calls, she tried her luck anyway. As she dialed his number yet another time, she ended up hating that prerecorded message that she had been hearing. 

Aapan jya vyaktis call karit aahat, to vyakti uttar det nahi. Krupaya nantar pryatna kara. 

Aap jis vyakti ko call kar rahe hai wah uttar nahi de rahi hai. Krupaya kuch samay pashchat prayas kare.

The person you are calling is not answering. Please try later. 

“Nahi. Nahi karaycha aahe punha prayatna! Tula nahi bolaycha aahe na? Thik aahe. Mi hi nahi bolnar, ” she declared to her phone’s wallpaper – his picture clicked in Krishna’s costume from the last Holi. The costume that she had selected. The costume that she had brought. The same costume wearing which was porkatpana in his eyes and still… and still he had come down in it, in front of everyone. 

Abandoning his discomfort and unease, he had prioritized her desire and even though she never actually confessed it to him but her heart had saved that moment in its gallery. The gallery that was holding several other precious moments safe in it. The precious moments that she had lived with him. 

Khadoos. Her head hung down as she pulled her legs up and wrapped her hands around them. Resting her head on her knees, she contemplated where to go next. 

One thing was for sure… she wasn’t going to go back to the Wada without him. No matter what. Even if it meant roaming on the streets of Nashik the whole night in search of him. 

“Mazya prashnacha uttar milalela distay!”

At first, she thought her heart was playing with her mind, making her hear his voice even though he was not there. It wasn’t until she felt a tap on her shoulder and that touch – the very familiar touch – killed her every doubt. 

It was him.  She couldn’t make a mistake there. It was him. Her shoulder knew it. Her heart knew it. She… knew it. It was him. 

It was him. 

Shashank Kanitkar. 

And all that it took her was to raise her head and look at him for a long moment before directing her angry fists to land on his arm. 

Without uttering a single word, she kept hitting him and without uttering a single word, he let her do what she wanted to until a point arrived when he knew she would break down. 

It was then he held her hands, pulled her closer and circled his hands around her. 

“Mi navto tar traas zala?” he asked, knowing very well that she wasn’t going to be the one to break the silence.

His woman was busy seeking assurance and reassurance that he was actually with her by keeping her head on his chest which was allowing her to listen to his heartbeats. 

Oh, how genuinely she wished to tell him that if the melodies sung by him were her favorite songs, then the sound of his heartbeats made the best instrumental she had ever heard. 

While the former always managed to hypnotize her, the latter was of the calming kind.

What have you done to me, Khadoos? What have you done to me? Her hand that had fisted the pink T-shirt that he was wearing refused to let it go. She was incredibly glad that he didn’t try to make her do that either. 

“Mi navto tar traas zala, Apurva?” He repeated his question, quite calmly as if he already knew that she wouldn’t respond to his first attempt. As if he wasn’t expecting an answer right away either. 

“Tu dila!”

The corners of his mouth lifted as his wild cat was back to scratch him. “Accha mi dila ka? Bara mag kay karaycha aata? Kay shiksha honar ya nishthur navryala jyane tyachya ya ashya god bayko la traas dila?”

“Uchal mala!”

His jaw dropped. “Haan?”

“You heard me. Uchal mala! Tu mala uchalshil. Tuzi paath dukhel aani tu udya institute la jau shaknar nahi.”

“And you think that’s a punishment for me? Not going to the institute would mean staying at home with you. You think that’s a punishment for me? That’s what punishment looks like?”

“That’s what a date looks like,” she said, lifting her head from his chest, “Mr. Kanitkar!”

“Go on. I am listening. This is interesting,” he murmured, trying to figure out what she was up to. Certainly, his absence seemed to have worked in his favor. He comfortably managed to hide his excitement from her though. 

“Tu ek prashna vicharla aahes na mala! Tyacha uttar dyayla nako?” She grabbed her phone from the bench while getting up. “Tu udyacha ek divas mazya navi lihi aani mi… tuza uttar lihite!”

He could only let out a small laugh, hearing her asking him for a day when he had already written his entire life on her name. 

“Mag kay thartay? Detoys mala udyacha ek divas tuza?”

“Tu magitlas aani mi nahi dilay… asa aataparyant kiti vela zalay, Apurva?”

“Everything has a first time, Khadoos. Who knows-“

“I won’t let this have its first time, Apurva unless… “

“Unless?”

“Unless you want me to jump off the terrace! Premat paay modun gheil… asa premveer mi ajunahi nahiye, Mrs. Kanitkar!”

Amused, her eyes twinkled with a strange pride as he took her back to the day when Bhaskar’s crazy acts in his love for Vidya had fascinated her to the extent that she had walked up to her husband, demanding him to go crazy for her. 

Pride because even though they really were in the very initial days of their marriage and claimed to have no interest in each other, her heart knew even back then that he was her person. The one she could act weird with. The one she could act demanding with. The one she could be anything with. 

“Are you sure about that, Mr. Kanitkar?” She glanced at him with a mischievous smile. “Nahi mhanje aata thodya vela aadhi tumhi tumchi path modun ghyayla tayaar hota!”

“It depends on the attacker, Mrs. Kanitkar. Jumping off the terrace doesn’t seem like an attack I would or should willingly accept but,” he muttered, rising to his feet before he brushed his fingers against her waist, “if you are going to be the attacker, I don’t mind being the prey!”

“Haat jara…” The tickling sensation made her jump a step away from her. “Control madhe asu dya, Mr. Kanitkar!”

“Ka,” he chuckled, pulling her by her arm to himself, making their way back to their home, “kahitari hota ka… Mrs. Kanitkar?”

“Khup kahi hota, Mr. Kanitkar! Garjepeksha jara jastach kahitari hotay aaj kal!”

Her unfiltered confession brought a burst of melodious laughter out of him. Who had thought that one harmless prank that he thought he was doing would be actually taken seriously by his wife? He hadn’t.  

He was doing his regular probing when he had given her the ultimatum. For a change, she had been studying day and night for her exams for the past week. The stress and anxiety on her face had made him come up with a prank to distract her for the time being. 

Fights. Fights. And more fights. That was all that he had expected. That was all that he himself wanted. 

Not even in his wildest dream he had thought that she would actually convince herself to confess what his ears had been yearning to hear. 

“Apurva, mi kay mhanto…”

“Hmm?”

“Tu aatach saangun tak na je tu udya saangnar aahe te, haan?”

“Tari mhatla ajun paryant Shashank Impatient Kanitkar bol la kasa nahi!” She laughed, keeping her head on his shoulder while loosening her hold around his arm, suddenly too conscious about hurting it with her grip. “Kasa aahe na, Khadoos. Tujhya prashnacha uttar mi aata ithe hi lihu shakte pan… You know I never truly cared about marks before but this time… they matter to me. Ya prashnachya uttarasathi mala average marks nakoy. Mala chalnarach nahi aani mhanun… you have to wait, Mr. Kanitkar!”

“Gladly, Mrs. Kanitkar! Gladly!” 

“Arey… kay kartoys?” Taken aback, she questioned.

Moments ago, she was on her feet and now, in his arms. Either she was too lost or he was too swift. Otherwise, how she got no time to resist when he was picking her up had no explanation.  

“Goad wajan uchaltoy!” 

Her mouth fell open. Goad wajan. Did he really say that? She needed to pinch herself to be sure that she wasn’t hallucinating but she changed the plan at the last moment and pinched him instead. 

He yelped, hitting his head on hers, asking her what she was doing. And once she got confirmation that he indeed did say that, she shut her eyes and didn’t dare to open them no matter what he said. 

That night, the quiet road witnessed Khadoos Shashank Kanitkar turning into his wife’s eternal devotee, as he carried her in his arms, worshiping her love that was yet to be confessed but had already filled his heart with it. 

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