Poles Apart

Chapter Fifty-One

The story's taking a different direction now (I think), it's not a bad one, I promise. Nothing's happening to Arjun and Arvi, but I've introduced some changes to their lives at this point. I'd really appreciate it if you could leave comments on what you think about it!

Arvi

"I don't want to go to work," I whine, tugging the quilt up to cover my head. "I like home. I want to stay at home."

Arjun laughs, jumping onto the bed next to me, and bundles me up, along with the blanket. "What are you? A school-going kid?"

I huff at the insult and sit up, backing up against the headboard. "I want to sleep!" I groan. "I don't want to work!"

Arjun looks at me, his features are half-amused and half-surprised. "You'll come back by five in the evening, won't you?" Arjun cajoles, cuddling me.

"No!" I cry, turning my lips down and sniffling into his chest. "Karthik's a tyrant boss! He'll have me working so much! I don't want to work! I'll stay at home; be a housewife!"

"Janaki, baby, I think being a housewife would require you to know how to cook," Arjun points out, his tone slow and soft, as though afraid I might blast at him.

I pout and pull away. "But we have help."

"But you'll still have to know the bare minimum," my husband reasons.

"But Junnu—"

"I think you'll like the job you're doing now better than being a housewife."

I glare at him and move away. "Who cares what you think?" I lie down on my stomach and pull the blanket over myself. "You go to work, I'm not going."

"Janaki," Arjun drags, tugging at the blanket.

I peek out of the blanket. "I don't want to work."

Arjun looks at me for a moment. "At this point, I'm really confused; do you actually want to quit or do you just want to sleep?"

"I'm lazy," I confess, turning on my side to look at him. "I don't want to quit."

"Well, let me drop you to work, and I'll pick you up at five," Arjun offers, holding up five fingers.

"Why?" I ask, warily.

Arjun clearly bites back a smile. "My mum would do the same thing when I didn't want to go to school," he says, and moves away from me before he adds, "back in kindergarten."

I sit up, picking up the pillow under my head to hit him. Even as I hit him, I can't stop laughing, despite the fact that he's comparing me to a kindergartener.

~.~.~.~.~

"Are you sure you don't want me to drop you?" Arjun asks when I tug at the car door's handle to open it.

I look at him haughtily. "Very sure that I don't want to suffer your presence any longer."

He feigns a look of pain, placing a hand over his chest. "You're hurting me now."

I laugh at his dramatics and blow him a kiss, and he plays along, pretending to hold the kiss in his hand and shoves it into his breast pocket, on the inside of his suit jacket.

"Bye, then?" I ask, visuals of spreadsheets and phone calls and pleasantries and corporate talk dampening my spirit already.

I should seriously consider becoming a housewife.

Sullenly, I start to open my car's door, but Arjun pulls me back by the elbow and makes me turn to face him. "Bye, Janaki," he whispers sweetly.

"Bye," I whisper back, as though even our byes are a secret that mustn't be heard.