Bonds of Trust

The visitors - Part I

Two weeks had passed since that incident and Ovi was doing really well now. Perhaps, the fact that she was just a child, memory not being her strong forte or perhaps with the utmost love and affection of her papa, as always, Ovi simply forgot about what had happened.

"Veera, listen", an annoyed Saheer groaned dropping himself on the couch besides Veera. He placed his laptop on the table in the front and glanced towards her.

"Hey Saheer, aren't you a sunshine today?", she said with a sarcatic smile sensing his annoyed mood.

Saheer scowled at her.

"Yeah, sure, laugh at my expense, dusht aurat (evil woman)."

Veera chuckled at his words. Irritating Saheer was now close to becoming her favourite hobby. Somewhere, Saheer too loved to see her getting more comfortable. Though she irritated him , he had now grown used to it.

"Tell me, what happened?", Veera asked, now sobered up from the bout of laughter.

"Today, my team got to know that I am married and they want to visit us. Basically, they want to meet you. God, this is so annoying.", he shook his head.

Veera's insecurities started kicking in at his words.

'Is he annoyed because he doesn't want me to meet his friends? Is he wondering if I would embarrass him? Is he still not comfortable with people knowing about me being his wife?'

Seeing Veera caught up in a turmoil of thoughts, as was evident on her face, Saheer was confused.

"Hey Veera", he gently shook her hand drawing her out of her trail of negative thoughts.

"Saheer if you want I can leave home for the time they come. This way you would not need to introduce them to me and you will also not be embarrassed because of me.", Veera rambled in a nervous tone.

'Damn, she completely misunderstood.', Saheer thought. In fact, Veera's trail of thoughts concerned him. The woman who seemed all smiles and confident now stood in front of him so meek, so lost in her trail of thoughts. He sincerely felt the need to assure her.

"Veera, hey", Saheer called out gently. This was the most gentle tone he had used with Veera till date. Veera gazed at him with vulnerable eyes.

"Please do not misunderstand me. I accept and respect the fact that you are my wife. Though, we may not be the most conventional couple, though we may be spouses just on paper, have I ever disrespected you?", he questioned.

Veera shook her head in negation.

"Exactly. I am not embarrassed of you, not at all. Man, you are a smart hacker. I cannot exactly afford to be in your black-list, you can simply make my digital identity vanish with just two or three clicks.", he joked. Veera smiled at that.

"Want to know what's irritating me? People.", Saheer groaned once again.

"Huh?", Veera gazed at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"What do you think Veera? Am I a sociable person? The fact that people are coming here and I would need to entertain them is such an annoying thing. Ahh.", Saheer complained like a small kid.

"Yaar (dude), Saheer same. Even I do not like the idea of dealing with people. Ugh.", Veera now shared his irritated mood.

"Leave it, time to play perfect hosts. Lets start getting dinner ready.", she took the lead.

"Yes, lets do this. I will start with taking out the ingredients, you join me."

Saying so, Saheer began walking in the direction of the kitchen when Veera took ahold of his wrist.