Karthik's POV

I enter our bedroom, where I see my wife lying on the bed in deep sleep a soft smile playing on her lips. I walk up to her in concern, keeping a hand on her forehead to check for temperature. It wasn't like her to go to bed before me she would always wait. I breathed sigh of relief as her body didn't seem to be burning. I half lay down on my side of the bed and softly caress her hair making sure she doesn't wake up.

"I am so glad you are already asleep. I will get more time to look at you, to have you near me, to know that you are with me. I am sorry that I pretend to be asleep every night before you come in, but I can't tier you more, you seem so exhausted with the day's work of being a dutiful daughter in law. I know if I were to stay awake, then you would be awake with me, ask me how was my day in office, lessen my burden by trying to talk to me and be a perfect wife as well. The only way for me to ensure that you have a good rest is for me to pretend.", I say to my beautiful wife while I look at her angelic face.

"Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary, it has been an entire year since we were bound in marriage. I am not sure if you remember (pause) now am being plain silly, of course you do, but speaking honestly I don't want you too because I know if you did, you will be waking up in the middle of the night to decorate our room to make me feel special just like you had done on my birthday months back. You hadn't slept and then worked the entire day to make sure the party was perfect and up to Goenka standards, all the stress which took a toil on your health. I remember you collapsing, lying on the floor as if lifeless, my heart stopped beating when I saw you like that. After that I decided not to add pressure on you, being the best daughter in law already took up a lot of your strength, I couldn't ask you to be a wife and lover as well.", I spoke to my sleeping beauty bearing my heart out.

"I wish I could spend tomorrow's day with the girl I feel in love with, with the woman I married. My sherni. My Naira not Naira Goenka. I wish I could see her dance freely the way she loves too. I want her to smile her real smile. I wish I could keep on talking to her about the most unwanted things, without having to think whether am bothering her unnecessarily.", I pray to the heavens holding my beloved's hand close to my heart.

"Stop being selfish Karthik. She has done so much for you. She cleared your misunderstandings, she gave you your family and parents back. It is not like she ignores you but the other way around. It is your choice to be away from her. Even if you are doing it for her it is your choice and she has done much more for you and for your family, from being the Singhania daughter, she has changed herself completely only for your family. You might have not asked her to but it is for your family that she has done it. Still you aren't satisfied", he rebuked himself, letting go of her hand in his grip.

End of Karthik's POV

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Naira's POV

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. I can't believe a whole year has passed by. I thought to decorate our room to surprise Karthik, like I did for his birthday. He had such a wonderful smile on his face when he saw the room as I woke him up at midnight. He was so happy like a kid who got his favourite chocolate. So I decide to do the same again. I lay down on the bed with my eyes shut lightly. I can see a bit through my slightly open eye lids. I hear the door open, though am not able to see properly I know it can be no one except my love. he walks up to me. I can see concern visible on his face as he checks me for temperature. I try my best not to smile seeing his care and succeed. That was a hard thing, he is the sweetest man a girl can ask for and it is impossible for me to keep the smile away from my face when he is close.

I expected him to fall asleep, but he didn't. He started speaking to me not knowing that I was awake. If hiding my smile seemed difficult, stopping the tears that threatened to stream down was an even harder job, but I managed to because I wanted to hear him out. I know he would stop talking once he sees me awake. He is going to put that smile on his face and say everything is okay and I don't feel bad.

It is almost uncontrollable as he tells me that he wants to spend tomorrow's day with his Sherni. That he misses the girl he fell in love with and married. I can feel his pain as he grips my hand in his strongly and protectively as if somebody would snatch me from him.

He calls himself selfish, chides himself for wanting his wife's time. That was the last nail to the coffin I couldn't hold back anymore. Thankfully he had left my hand so I turned to the other side to face the wall and not him and let the tears flow down wetting my cheeks.

"What much was he asking, was he even asking anything at all", I question my self

I had changed. I had gotten so busy in being perfect Goenka bahu. I hadn't danced for nearly 8 months now except for the few couple dances with Karthik at events but not the way I used to earlier. Freely and solo with the music of my anklets matching the rhythm playing on the CD. I loved doing my work on my own that was what I had always been thought both by my mumma as well as in the ashram, but that wasn't the Goenka way. Here the servants did all the work, so I had to give them instructions, which they never seemed to understand, so each task needed to be done more then 10 times, because I wanted things to be 100% perfect, so that maa, papa, dadi, everyone was happy.

I had done the same before our love confession. I had sacrificed my love for Gayu di, because I wanted Bua Dadi and the whole family to be proud on me. Just like they did on mumma and Gayu di. Even then it had been Karthik I had hurt and even now. Why do I give so much importance to the people who will only love me if I change and not to the man who loved me the way I am with all my imperfection, (pause) but he is also such a big idiot, just once couldn't he talk to me, tell me what is in his heart.

End of Naira's POV

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He had just began to fall asleep maybe 10-15 minutes ago. When he heard the sound of soft classical music. He rubbed his hears thinking he was dreaming, but he wasn't. He awoke to see from where it was coming. He then saw a player lying on a table at one end and a figure standing at the end of the room, whose face was though not visible he was sure was his wife, as he glided his hand on her side of the bed and found it empty, his doubts were confirmed. He switched on the lamp at his side of the bed and as soon as he did. He saw her dancing, like she used to, like she loved to, like he loved her to. Her true smile playing on her lips that he had gotten a chance to see very rarely in these past months. He didn't know whether it was reality or yet another one of his dreams but whatever it was, it was beautiful and he continued to stare at her in awe.

The music ended and she walked up to him.

"Happy Anniversary Mendak", she said coming to him kissing his cheek lightly. He wrapped his arms around her not wanting to let go. This was all probably just one of his imaginations but he didn't care. He held her close to his chest. After a while he felt her pushing him away.
"At least sapne mein mujh se dur mat jao", he said tucking a hair behind her ear.
She faced palmed listening to him,"tum ab bhi sapne dekhte ho, I am real, budhu, she tells him", he leaves her takes a step and stares at her as if she is a ghost.
She walks closer to him and bangs her little fist on his chest.
"Idiot, stupid, duffer, mendak", she continued calling names while she hit him while Karthik looked confused.
"Stop giving me that look like you don't understand anything. You told me you would never hide anything from me, but you hid your feelings. Why?", she said irritated.
"Am sorry for not being your sherni. I lost myself somewhere. I lost the girl you fell in love with, I wanted to be loved by others and tried changing myself for them but I forgot about the person who loves me the way I am. Now am only going to be his sherni", she said her voice cracking and eyes moist
"Aise banogi sherni, rote huye. Meri sherni, rotlu nahi thi", said Karthik
"Main nahi ro rahi", Naira argued
"Toh kya ankh mein kachra chala gaya", Karthik asked sarcastically.
"Haan", she answered back.
A smile came on Karthik's face seeing his sherni, who would never stop until she won the arguement.

They spent the night tightly holding each other close to their hearts.

"I love YOU", he told her as he closed his eyes. He emphasised on the "you" which she noticed. Telling her he loved her the way she was and she never needed to change.

Now Sherni and Mendak would be together forever.