Rishita was having a good day. Dev didn't reject her semi burnt toast and OJ, which is a good sign. She'll wean her Dev off of his fafda jalebi in the morning habits soon enough. That much calories can't be good for his cholesterol levels. It's affecting his stamina already. How come he's always too tired for anything? Rishita huffed irritated. She really didn't want to die an old maid.

No. She's in a great mood today and she's not letting anything ruin her day.

"I think aaj I'll make pasta for Dev. Mere haath ka Italian khayega uss Dhara bhabhi ka parantha bhul jayega. Maybe uska bhi sada hua mood thik ho jaye aur hume bhi thoda time mil jaye saath spend karne ke liye." Rishita thought happily, humming a song under her breath as she entered the pantry.

*****

Shiva awoke disoriented as he felt an unfamiliar weight restricting his movements, and it took him a moment to figure out what it was. Only when he realised it was a real person sticking to him, he started remembering the events of the previous night.

He turned to look at Raavi, as soon as he registered her presence, while she slept away peacefully, sticking to him like the chipkali she is. Her head was on his chest, an arm loosely thrown across his torso. Their legs somehow entwined with each other during the night and Shiva noticed the absence of the usual pillow fortress. He stared at her, lightly tracing a finger along her face. He touched the lips, he had the good fortune of sneaking a taste just the previous night.

Her nose bunched up adorably as a lock of hair fell on her cheek and Shiva touched it mesmerized, gently tucking it behind her ear.

For weeks all he's been trying to do is curb all these weird feelings that erupts every time that Maami ki behen ki beti is near him. He's supposed to be Shiva Pandya. How can he melt that easily over some girl?

But then, she is no ordinary girl, is she? She's his Chipkali, his Chudail. His wife, his Raavi. This girl had always been on his radar. They spent their entire life trying to one up each other. He told anyone who would listen about his hatred for her, how he is her #1 dushman.

But nothing could have ever prepared him for the chills that froze his heart as he pulled her out of that silken noose around her neck. Shiva shuddered from the memories of that wretched day, dread filling his heart at the thought of losing her .

He turned to look at her face again and slowly felt the knots in his heart ease, tranquility replacing the fear. She looks so peaceful, so innocent that he wants to keep her hidden away from everyone, shield her from every pain.

Shiva knew he was falling hard. And he had no idea how to stop. The thought of falling for this woman sent his heart into a frenzy, but he dare not walk away in case he missed a single moment with her.

Maybe that's why he couldn't refuse her last night, when she oh-so innocently asked him for a hickey. He dare not refuse, just in case he never got another moment with her again.

He sighed. He really needed to talk to her. Especially after his stunt last night. Sure, she's his wife and frankly she was the one who started it, but it was him who let it escalate this far with nary a word of protest. He owed her an explanation. And they needed to figure things out and how to proceed from this point.

Shiva looked at the time on his phone to see they were running a tad late. He carefully disentangled himself from Raavi before going into the bathroom.

*****

Raavi huffed as she sat up in bed the moment Shiva left the room. She had been up for ages when he finally woke up. She was hoping for a repeat of last night's shenanigans and when he touched her face she thought maybe he'll wake her up with a kiss, but her hopes were dashed when he moved away instead. Apparently her dear husband wasn't in the mood for it.

Sampling Shiva's skillful lips last night stirred in her a primal urge to possess him. Raavi blushed remembering his hot breath on her neck as she gingery touched her lips in a daze.

She felt butterflies in her stomach as she played the scene on a loop in her mind. But those butterflies weren't anything compared to the gigantic moths she felt fluttering in her stomach last night. She desperately wanted that feeling back. And Raavi Shiva Pandya gets what she wants.

Enough with this cat and mice chase already. She wanted him and she's pretty sure her husband wanted her too. She didn't simply imagine what their kiss was doing to him last night, did she? Nope he is definitely attracted to her. But then, why did he move away the first chance he got? Was she wrong again? Just like how she assumed that Dev was in love with her.

"Itna mat soch Raavi! Sochne se kuch ni hoga. Pehle pakka pata laga ki Shiva attracted hai ya nahi tujhse."

Raavi thought to herself as she got up and started getting for the day.

*****

Rishita arranged all the ingredients she got for the béchamel sauce and was just switching on the stovetop when Raavi entered humming under her breath. Rishita frowned. Raavi looked way too happy for someone who was just married off forcefully to her worst enemy. Curiosity piqued, she watched Raavi rush around the kitchen from the corner of her eye.

Raavi shot a quick smile at Rishita before getting started on making paranthas for Shiva. She kneaded the dough, rolling it out and started cooking paranthas at top speed. She really wanted to get back to Shiva as soon as possible. Everyone says the quickest route to a man's heart is through his stomach. And when her man is a foodie like Shiva.....well it's best to take that advice to heart. If not his heart, at least she'll make her way into his pants. She chuckled as she flipped the parantha.

Rishita looked startled at Raavi. Why does she look like she slept with a hanger in her mouth?

"Raavi?"

"Haan Rishita?"

"Tum aaj itni khush lag rahi ho? Pehle itna khush nai dekha tumhe."

"Kya Rishita. Khush rehna toh acchi baat hai na. In fact mujhe lagta hai sabko khush rehna chahiye. Tax thode na lagta khush rehne ka!" Raavi replied still chuckling. She didn't even look up from her work while responding.

Rishita harrumphed as she added the butter distractedly to her too hot pan when suddenly something caught her eye. She dropped the ladle and focused all her attention on the purplish bruise on Raavi's neck.

"Raavi tumhare neck mein kya hai?"

"Kya hai Rishita?"

Raavi finally looked up, her brows furrowed as she clutched her chain in confusion.

"Mera mangalsutra?" Raavi asked confused, wondering if Rishita had finally lost her marbles.

"Nahi Raavi mangalsutra nahi. Woh neck pe chot kaise ayi tumhe?"

As soon as she said that Raavi gasped, her hand shooting up to cradle her neck as she turned beet red in embarrassment. With all her thoughts consumed by her husband, she completely forgot about her plan of proving a point to Rishita. When did this thing turn from being about annoying her crazy jethani into being about getting it on with that eye-candy she called her husband?

Raavi quickly gathered her bearings and smiled blithely at Rishita.

"Kya Rishita. Yeh kaisi baatein pooch rahi ho? Tum badi ho na mujhse. Yeh sab baatein tumhare saamne thode naa bol sakti hu. Ab pati-patni ke beech bandh kamre mein ab kya hota hai tumko toh pata hi hai na." Raavi replied shyly, eyes downcast.

"Lekin main toh - "

Rishita stopped in her tracks, her eyes widened comically as realization struck her, and she turned to look at Raavi still blushing. She shook her head and blinked her eyes rapidly, hoping against hope she misunderstood.

Raavi barely bit back her laughter at Rishita's bulging eyes, and started cleaning up the mess & plating the food.

"Waise kuch jalne ki smell aa rahi hai. Sambhalo thoda sa Rishita." Raavi couldn't help but quip, sneaking a look at Rishita's thunder-struck expression.

Rishita gasped in shock and outrage . "How dare you! Tum kis tarah se baat kar rahi ho mujhse!?!"

"Arre isme bura maanne waali kaunsi baat hai? Aise hi aag lagti rahi toh haveli jal jayegi. Chalo tum apni aag sambhalo. Main chalti hu. Bye."

Raavi stood up, collected her food and skipped out of the kitchen before Rishita could get another word in.

Rishita fumed as she stood there alone, her good mood from this morning evaporating into the acrid stench of her jealousy. No wonder Raavi could smell the fire. Anyone in a 10 mile radius could smell that charred smell getting stronger by the minute. Wait a moment! Getting stronger?

Rishita was startled out of her dazed stupor when the burnt fumes reached her nose and she began coughing violently. She hurriedly shut the stove off, staring in dismay at the lumpy burnt concoction in the pan. She waited too long and now her roux is totally ruined.

"To hell with pasta! Iss Dev ko toh burnt toast hi naseeb hona chahye! Kisi kaam ka nahi." Rishita mumbled sullenly before dragging her feet out of the room.

..................to be continued

Apologies for the errors.

Reviews are much appreciated.