Page 54 of No Other Love
Because no other love would do for us.
Twenty-Nine
Anika
Two days later…
‘You’re really doing this?’ I squealed with a smile dancing on my lips. Then I lost my breath as my husband scooped me up in his arms and I clutched him for dear life.
Vikrant carried me over the threshold and into our room.
Actually, it wasn’t our room, as in the room of the home he’d built for me. The romantic fool. But the Bridal Suite at Kahini’s, the five star hotel at the edge of town, overlooking the beach. The suite was actually a full villa, with its own private beach access. And we were walking toward said private beach now. Me still in his arms. A tinkling fountain shot water three feet in the air in the shape of a mermaid, as we crossed it.
‘Put me down, Vikrant. Seriously. This is an expensive Patola silk sari. If you drop me on the sand and it gets on the sari, I will never forgive you,’ I grumbled, holding onto him tight enough to cut off circulation.
‘I’ll…Actually I won’t be able to afford buying it for you soon,’ he said smugly. ‘But I promise I’ll get you ten of them the first year I can afford them. Deal?’
‘What happened to that giant ego you hid behind? This man who keeps telling the truth is very…bizarre.’
‘Bizarre?’ He dropped a quick kiss on my nose, and I wobbled in his grip. ‘I don’t appreciate being called bizarre, wife.’
“Vikrant, baby…” I fingered his hair. He closed his eyes and suppressed a shudder. His pitch-black eyes going dark as nightwhen he opened them. ‘Please, put me down? And tell me what your obsession is with carrying me everywhere?’
‘I am pro-equal opportunity, I’ll let you carry me too,’ he responded cutely.
But he did listen to my plea and let me down gently, caressing every part of me his fiendish hands could reach. My butt, my back, the back of my thighs, the dip at my waist. And he pressed me so close to him, my tits smushed against his chest.
It wasn’t supposed to behot,dammit. Why was it hot?
‘Why am I carrying you? I pushed at his chest. He still wore the kurta pajama he’d worn for the visarjan puja.
***
We’d just finished partying with the rest of the town that basically danced for like twelve hours (afternoon to sunup) and then immersed the Lord Ganesha idols in Lake Aronda.
His parents did not question my presence at home or during the puja and the return walk back through a sleepy town. They just gave me a warm embrace I was able to return with my whole heart. Enough that I bent down and touched their feet to get their blessings, which they gave with their whole heart. (Hopefully.)
But I didn’t mind doing that, because I looked at Vikrant who was right next to me. And he was watching me with single-minded joy. Incandescent and transformative.
Helovedme with his whole being. I was aware of it. It made it easier to love his parents with an ease I did not possess before.
Once we’d finished the ritual, every single one of the Pandits and one Chakraborty-Pandit had crashed and slept for a solid twelve hours.
After we woke up and we opened the outpatient clinic for a few hours, Vikrant ordered me to pack a bag and wear one of the saris Smita Kaki gifted me.
I decided to implement some Anika-isms since this was to be my home and decreed no one would cook that day – instead we ordered the most delicious food from a nearby restaurant that I insisted Aai and Smita Kaki choose.
They blushed crimson and had the best time doing it. Aai’s small smile when she caught me taking a picture of the moment was a memory I’d cherish forever.
We were slowly building a bridge built of mutual respect and love for the person we cared about the most.
After a feast of a lunch, Vikrant hurried me to get ready and then drove me out of town. And to this exclusive, fancy resort. That I was not sure he could afford. But finances were always such a sore subject for us, I did not want to bring it up now and spoil his decidedly romantic mood.
No one did romance like Vikrant when he decided to.
***
‘Because I let you do all the equal opportunity things when we first got married. No sindoor and mangalsutra. Which I amfinewith, for the record,’ he stressed. ‘But we never got to enjoy the little fun rituals too, did we? Like me carrying you over the threshold of our apartment?’