Raman was so immersed in completing his presentation that he did not notice the tray of food which slid on the coffee table in front of him. It was the clearing of her throat that grabbed his attention and he lifted his gaze from the screen of his macbook.

"Tum sach me yahan ho?"
He asked unable to believe she had returned from her parents house.
Ishita blushed seeing the joy in his eyes on finding her there. She looked away hiding her excitement from him and whispered "Khana" pointing at the food in front of him.

"Ummmm smells amazing!"
He inhaled the aroma deeply
"Par mai khaaun kaise? Mere donon hath busy hain presentation banane me. Ab mai kya karun?"
He frowned.

'Nautanki'
She thought shaking her head at his antics. She very well knew what he was hinting at, she served the food on the plate and occupied the space beside him on the sofa.

He smirked and she read his mind
'Bhooka rakhne ki saza'
he must have said.

'Mere liye saza ya aapke liye maza?'
She squinted her eyes at him.
He chuckled reading her thought.

He then quirked his eyebrows and signalled towards the food with his eyes reminding her that she was supposed to feed him. Wearing an annoying look on her face, although she was more than happy to feed her loving husband with her hands, she tore a piece of the roti with three fingers, picked a cube of paneer and a generous amount of the palak gravy with it and extended it towards his mouth.

"Mmmm.... Jitni amazing khushboo hai, usse zyada amazing taste hai iski. Aisi palak paneer khaane keliye toh mai roz tumhare taane sunne ko tayyar hoon"
He winked and she hit his arm playfully.

"Aaaaa"
He opened his mouth wide ready to munch on the next bite. She repeated her previous action enjoying the look on his face everytime he tasted the delicious food.

When she finished serving the roti, he found some gravy remainig on the plate. He asked her to smear it on her fingers and let him lick them.
"Seriously!?"
She rolled her eyes.

"Seriously"
He replied.

"I am not doing that Raman"
She said putting the plate away.

"Pleaaaaaaaaseeeeee"
He pleaded with a puppy face.

"Ramannnn"
She groaned.

"Ishita"
He mimicked.

"Aap na....."
She began.

"Sudhrunga nahi"
He completed.

She switched her gaze between the plate and him, he was still giving that puppy look, and she finally gave up, smearing the left over gravy in her fingers. Hungrily he licked initially but soon the lick turned intense and seductive. She had a hard time controlling her erratic beats and warming sensations in her body. She pulled back her finger when she could not take the sweet torture anymore and fled with the tray to the kitchen.

"Urp"
He burped out aloud when she returned after putting the vessels away.
"Phew... finally koi aur awaaz aayi meri pet se. Warna bhook ki wajah se itni awaazein nikal rahi thi pet se ki mujhe dar lagne laga ab padosiyon ki neend na kharab ho jaaye"
He commented.

Although his comment was in a good humour, it made Ishita feel guilty for keeping him hungry for so long.
"I am sorry Raman"
She apologised sitting beside him.

"Mujhe sorry kehne ka mouqa kab dogi Ishita?"
He asked.

"Kis baat keliye?"
She could not recall.

"Adi ko lekar maine jis badtameezi se tumse baat ki, uske liye"
He sounded remorseful.

"It's ok Raman"
She shrugged it off.

"It's not ok Ishita. It's not at all ok. My ruthless behaviour towards you is not ok. Blaming you for no fault of yours is not ok. Treating you like a door mat is not ok. Insulting you in front of others is not ok. Taking you for granted is not ok. Hurting you for little things is not ok. And letting my actions go just like that...is not ok at all"
He almost screamed.

"Raman calm down"
She held his hands firmly
"Aapko apni galti ka ehsas hai, yahi mere liye kafi hai"

"Par mere liye ye kafi nahi hai Ishita. Mai hamesha tumhare sath yahi karta hoon. Aur tum mujhe aise hi maaf kardeti ho. Aisa hi chalta raha toh mai apni galtiyaan sudharunga kaise? Please Ishita mujhe apni galtiyaan sudhaarne ka mouqa do. Let me apologise to you properly"
He expressed sincerely.

"Ok"
She nodded her head in approval giving him the opportunity to empty his heart. She realised that somewhere she too was responsible for his unchanging attitude of venting out his frustrations at her. By not resisting, in a way, she was letting him hurt her. Having realised it and seeing how determined Raman was to change himself and how apologetic he looked, she felt she should let him pour out his guilt in words so that it could lessen the burden that weighed his back.

He took her hands in his, bending ahead kissed on her palms gently and looking intently in her eyes said
"I am sorry Ishita. I respect you a lot but......"
He paused.

The pause took Ishita's breath away. His statement reminded her of the most dreaded nightmare she had.
'I am sorry Ishita. I respect you a lot but...I love Shagun'
His words from her dream the previous night echoed in her ears crushing her heart into pieces. She pulled back her hand before he could speak further and jumped on her feet.

"Ishita?"
Raman was confused at the sudden change in her behaviour.

"Mujhe neend arahi hai. Good night" she said without looking back at him and switched off the lights. She was so scarred by the dream that she did not have the courage to face it in reality.

Raman was still trying to figure out what triggered this switch of attitude in her.
"Are you ok Ishita?"
He asked following her.

Keeping her back to him, she curled up on the couch and pulled the duvet over her head.
"Ishita talk to me"
He requested but she did not budge.

"Ishita please"
He begged.

"Please Raman. Let me sleep"
She replied from under her duvet muffling the sobs that were overpowering her speech.

After his failed attempts of making her talk, he finally gave up and lied down on the bed. While his mind worked on discovering the reason behind her sorrow, she shed silent tears in the fear of her worst nightmare turning true.

'I need you in this painful moment
But I don't want you to know I am hurting

I want to cry in your arms
But I dont want you to see me shed tears uncontrollably

I want to flee away with you
But I dont want you to go away from your loved ones

I want you to hear me
But I dont want to tell you what's bothering me

I want you to love me
But I don't want you to be forced to do that

I am loosing myself in these sickening thoughts
Your love can only heal me!'
She recited in her mind.
'Love? Does he love me? Or he loves....'
She could not convince herself as she painfully asked
'Tu mere paas toh hai na?'