The sun rays peaked into Ashrit’s chamber, through the window , the golden rays fell on a delicate frame wrapped in the sheets. Noor was sleeping soundly without caring about what was happening around her. There was a wet cloth resting on her forehead, and Reshmi, Ashrit’s chachi, was standing near the bed. Her face was a mixture of worry and concern as she looked at Noor, who didn't even move in her sleep let alone to feel the cold sensation of the cloth.
“ Is she even alive?,” Reshmi muttered under breath, The maids, who heard her giggled silently.
Kalyani looked at her new daughter in law, her eyes filled with concern “ we should call the doctor! Don't you think pihu? She hasn't moved an inch in hours !!”
Pihu, who was munching on her salad, shook her head at her grandmother's concern. “ Why can't we leave her alone and let her sleep for more time?” She suggested only to get glared by her mother.
“ Just saying maa, don't you remember bhai said not to disturb his wife” Pihu said remembering Ashrit's words, Reshmi signed hearing her. She remembered what Ashrit said but still she can't leave a sick person on her own.
“ I know ,beta but still your Ashrit bhai's wife has to wake up and eat , so her fever goes down or else you know your brother,” Reshmi said, her voice trailing off as she gave Pihu a knowing look.
“ Come on mom, bhai is not that dangerous!” Pihu shook her hand in a dismissive wave. Reshmi raised her eyebrows at her daughter,
“ Acha beta, toh jab tum sare shaitano ne milkar piche d wing jaane ki koshish ki toh kya hua,? Yaad nahi?” Pihu gulped hearing her as those memories flashed in front of her eyes.
“ Yaar, mumma sorry haa, mai dobara aise koi harkat nahi karunga,” Pihu smiled sweetly at her mother, making her roll her eyes.
Kalyani, who was watching the exchange between the mother and daughter, signed at the daily drama.
“ Agar tum dono maa beti ka ho gaya toh hamari Bahu ko bhi dekh lo?” she said sarcastically, making the other two shut.
Reshmi cleared her throat and looked at Noor who still hadn't moved a Inch and was sleeping in the same position, “ kumbhkaran ki tarah soo Rahi hai,! Aise kon sota hai bala? Mujhe to lagta hai kumbhkaran ki behen hai” she muttered under her breath. The maids giggled again silently , trying to hide their amusement.
Pihu looked at Noor,the smile faded, as suddenly her eyes widened as if she realised something,
Vaise, yeh Ashrit bhai , Aachanak se bhabhi ki care kyu kar rahe hai? She wondered.
isn't he saying that she is just a replacement?
Bhai Jiya ki tarf bhi nahi dekh te the phir Noor ke bukhar par itne care kyu?
Kuch toh gadbad hai, she thought.
(By the way, why is this Ashrit brother suddenly taking care of Bhabhi?, she thought.
Isn't he saying that she is just a replacement?
Brother doesn't even look at Jiya, then why care so much for Noor?)
“Pihu!!!” Kalyani called her, Pihu came out of her thoughts hearing her dadi.
“ Ji dadi?”
“ Kuch kar na utha isse,”
Pihu nodded, “ji,”
Pihu walked to the bed and sat on the other side on her knees and then she tried to snatch the sheets from Noor’s hold. But Noor’s reflex was fast enough to keep the sheets in place. Pihu tried again but she remained unfazed.
Frustrated, pihu tried to shake her lightly,
Finally, not able to endure her abuse , Noor groaned pulling the sheets over her face,
“ Let me sleep, mumma, for five minutes. I didn't sleep all night” saying that she again drifted into sleep.
Pihu, Kalyani and Reshmi looked at her in disbelief.
“ Is she even real?” Kalyani muttered, amusement dancing on her face.
“ I can't believe Noor acts like this, yeh office Mai toh aise nahi hota hai ?” Pihu looked at her in disbelief,
“ One last try or phir hum sab yaha se chale jayenge !” Pihu said, making the other nod in agreement.
“ Jaya, jake ek plate chole bhature leke aana,” she ordered to a maid, nodding her head the maid ran from there.
A few seconds later the maid came back with a plate full of delicious chole bhature, which can make anyone mouth water, even pihu bit her lip trying to control herself from pounding on the food.
“ Bohot maan kar rahi hai kaane ke liye,” she shook her head “ par koi baat nahi, pehle bhabhi ko utha na hai,”
Saying that she kept the plate on the bed near Noor's face. Allowing the aroma to reach her.
Seconds passed,
Then, Noor's nose twitched,
Then her eyebrows dipped together,
And then— her feverish eyes fluttered open,
Pihu smirked, gotcha
Still sleeping, Noor inhaled deeply, letting the aroma in.
Slowly her head emerged out from the sheets reaching out for the bhatura. But even before she touched it pihu pulled away making Noor groan,
Finally, what felt like an Eternity, Noor sat up on the bed rubbing her eyes like a baby with a pout. Pihu and Kalyani awed seeing her.
“ She looks adorable,” Pihu said while Kalyani twisted her hands around her head, taking the evil eyes off.
“ Noor beta, yeh tumhara soup, yaha hai , fresh hone ke baad pee lena , theek hai?” Kalyani said to her , her voice soft and comforting.
Noor nodded and looked at the bhatura plate in Pihu's hand, Pihu who observed her smiled evilly before running from there making Noor groan in frustration.
Chuckling both kalyani and Reshmi too left the chamber followed by maids.
✧
It was almost two in the afternoon, Noor came out of the closet just after taking a bath. She was wearing a loose T-shirt and shorts which barely reached her mid thighs. She walked to the cupboard and took out her laptop, then she walked to the couch and sat on it comfortably.
As she unlocked the laptop by entering the password, a message popped up on the screen seeing it,Noor smrinked. And then started to send messages to someone, after that she finally opened her mails and her eyes widened seeing 100 messages from her best friend.
Noor gulped and muttered under her breath,
“ Mai toh gayi,!”
“ Hai bhagwan, mujhe toh pehle hi bata deni chahiye thi, aab kya karu?”
With shaky hands, Noor opened messages and immediately closed her eyes, not wanting to see the good words from her friend.
Noor pecked from one eye and saw the messages from her Bestfriend Disha. Her eyes widened as she saw the messages in capital letters as if Disha is practically screaming at her through the phone.
Disha : WHERE ARE YOU?
Disha: WHAT THE HELL ? WHERE DID YOU DISAPPEARED?
Disha : NOORRRRRR? WHAT THE FREAKING HELL WOMEN ?!
Disha : NOOR? I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU DIDN'T RESPOND IN FIVE MINUTES I AM COMING TO FIND YOUR DEAD BODY.
Disha : ANSWER ME DAMMIT .
Disha : AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED IN THE WEDDING?
Disha : NOOR KI BACCHI , JUST ANSWER MY DAM MESSAGES !!!!!
And the list goes on.
Noor opened her eyes and signed at her dramatic best friend. In the chaos, she totally forgot to inform her bestie about her Sudden wedding. Everything was so overwhelming for her —First the fight with her sister, then her sister ran away and she took her place, then the hate of her new family, Piyush betrayal and the sudden bipolar behaviour of her new husband.
Everything happened, so suddenly that she totally forgot about her best friend, and it's been 3 days since her disappearance and the wedding, so obviously, Disha was worried about her bestie.
Noor fingers hovered the keyboard before she finally replied to her bestie.
Noor : calm down women, I am Alive and stop screaming in text.
The reply was instant,
Disha : EXCUSE ME ?! YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN ?! AFTER GHOSTING ME FOR THREE FUCKING DAY?!
Disha : NO. FREAKING. WAY . CALL. ME. NOW. OR I AM COMING TO FIND YOU.
Noor signs, There is no Escaping now, she needs to tell the truth, though Noor doesn't want to talk about it right now Disha will never calm down until she hears the truth.
As she was typing down the reply, she heard footsteps approaching her, Noor looked up from her laptop and saw Ashrit coming inside the chamber.
Noor : I want to meet you in person. There is something I need to tell you , so Tomorrow At the cafe behind the office during lunch break.
Clicking on the send button, Noor hurriedly closed her laptop.
As soon as Ashrit entered inside the chamber, The scent cherry hit his nostrils making him close his eyes. He inhaled the scent, as if registering her scent in his mind so he doesn't forget it. Ashrit opened his eyes, his green eyes scanning the room for his wife. As soon as his eyes fell on her, his heart beat raced. There she was sitting on the couch with her phone in her hand and there was a frown on her forehead. She was dressed in a White T shirt and a shorts which barely reached her mid thighs, Ashrit gulped as his eyes roamed over her long milky white legs which were exposed to him.
Sensing a firey gaze on her, Noor looked up from her phone only to gasp, seeing Ashrit checking her out.
Her eyes widened as she got him red handed, checking her out. A shiver ran down her spine as she tried to pull her shorts down and attempt to make them longer but failed.
Ashrit's gaze turned dark, his jaw clenched as he shoved his hands inside his pocket. Noor's eyes widened further as she watched him taking steps towards her, her breath hitched when he towered infront of her, her grip tightened on her phone due to their sudden closeness.
They weren't that close, Ashrit knew about her nervousness, so he kept a safe distance between them but yet seeing him standing in front of her made her nervous. This wasn't the first time he stood in front of her, it happened way many times yet he makes her nervous.
Noor gulped and looked away, her fingers trembling as she tightly gripped the hem of her shorts, her heart pounding in her chest due to Ashrit's continuous gaze on her. Ashrit however was unfazed, his jaw tight and his shoulder muscles tensed as if he was battling with himself. The air between them thickened, silence surrounded the room.
Noor gulped as her eyes flickered to him. The way he stood tall towering her, his green eyes gleaming under the chamber's dim light — made her stomach twist with unfamiliar sensation.
Noor wasn't naive, she knows who men are, especially when she was in a relationship with piyush. Piyush was always high on his desires, he never hesitated before asking something or doing something he was always straight forward when it comes to his desires. But today it felt way too different from what she had with piyush, the sensation, feelings she felt was very different from what she left with piyush. Ashrit's gaze wasn't something that made her uncomfortable, it was something that made her nervous, it was something that made her heartbeat raise to an extent where she felt that it may come out , that makes her feel something different she never wanted to name.
Her heart raced, and she hated the way her stomach fluttered at his closeness. No. This was just nerves. Nothing else. Maybe she has a tiny little crush on him but she doesn't want to admit it, to her Ashrit is an arrogant Jerk —who only cares about business not about the people.
Noor stood up from the couch, avoiding making eye contact with him and tried to walk past him,but it felt as if his gaze had pinned her on the place making it difficult for her to move.
Noor gulped. From the corner of her eye, she saw Ashrit take a step closer. She moved back—only to stumble onto the couch.
Finally, gathering some courage, she looked at him into his eyes and her breath hitched when she saw his eyes.
His eyes were dark filled with hunger, possessiveness and a determination of not letting her go that made her breath hitched.
Out of nowhere Ashrit's phone rang, cutting through the thick tension in the room. Noor looked away,so did Ashrit. Ashrit cursed under his breath and grumbled something before turning back and leaving the chamber.
“ What the hell was that ?”
Noor finally felt that she could breathe peacefully. She was totally taken aback by the scene that just happened.
She can never imagine Ashrit looking at her as if he wanted to pound on her, she always thought of him as her boss, the tiny little crush on him says otherwise.
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