Connected: A YHM Story ✔️

Chapter 38 - The One With Adi's Outburst

Bhalla House - two days later, Friday, 8 am

"ISHITA! ISHITA!" Raman yelled, shuffling through their closet. "I'm getting late and I can't find any of my ties!"

Sarees and leggings and kurtis came flying out of the wardrobe as Raman angrily muttered under his breath, something along the lines of 'kapdo ki thaan' and 'madrasan' and 'mere kapde kharaab kar diye.' 

"ISHITAAA!!!"

"OH MY GOD, I'm coming, just hang on!" Ishita shouted back. She came storming into the room, muttering something along the lines of 'kud kud kumar' and 'murugan' and 'pranth.'

"What is it, Raman?! Can't you be even a little bit patient? I was in the bathroom for heaven's sake!" she huffed.

That's when Raman slammed the left door of the wardrobe shut and his eyes landed on his wife. Frustration changed to shock which changed to desire in the matter of a moment. For his wife stood in a pink bathrobe, moisture clinging to her skin, her wet hair tied in a loose bun, tendrils framing her face.

"Ab aise hi khade rahenge ya bolenge bhi ki problem kya hai?" Ishita snapped her fingers in Raman's face. [Are you just going to stand there or even tell me what the problem is?]

He blinked and cleared his throat, exasperation showing on his face. "I've been shouting for the past five minutes ki problem kya hai. Where are all my ties! I have a board meeting in half an hour!"

"Your ties are in the bottom drawer, Raman. You didn't have to empty the entire closet and mess up our whole room to find them!"

"I've been looking for a good 15 minutes and I couldn't find them. Tum hi nikal ke do." [You only find them.]

Raman threw the last pair of trousers on the bed and scooched to the right, giving Ishita room in front of the cupboard. She opened and closed a series of drawers until she found the drawer on the bottom right with all his ties. She removed the entire drawer and placed it on the edge of the bed, proving her point.

"See, they're all right here. Instead of looking calmly, look at what you did. It looks like a storm passed through here. Oh god, it's going to take me a full hour to reorganize this again. You really have no regard for anyone else around here do you?"

"Calm down, Jhansi ki Rani. It's not like you have to work today, right?" Raman grabbed black tie and began tying it around his neck. "You have the day off, so might as well make yourself useful."

Ishita gasped. "What the heck do you think I do at home if I'm not working? Do you have any idea how hard a working mom's job is? We are never not at work. Kabhi ghar ka kaam, kabhi clinic ka kaam, kabhi aapke aur Ruhi ke hazaar demand-" [I have housework, and clinic's work, and the thousand demands from you and Ruhi-]

"Madam, this is really not the time for a lecture. And don't take my kid's name to get out of doing your work." He continued struggling with the tie.

"Oh give me that!" Ishita swatted his hands away and began tying his tie properly around his neck. "Itne bade CEO ban gaye, lekin ek tie to bandhti nahi aapse." [Such a big CEO but can't even tie a necktie properly.]

She came so close that Raman struggled to breathe. He could smell her flowery shampoo, and if he raised her hands ever so slightly, he could probably touch her smooth skin too. His heart slammed against his rib cage and sweat beaded on his brow.

"Yeh lijiye, ho gayi aapki tie." [Here, your tie is done.] Ishita smoothed his tie and adjusted the lapels of his coat. She only realized how close she was to her husband when she looked up and met his eyes. The air between them grew tense and practically crackled with electricity. Her breathing grew faster and as scared as she was, she longed to be even closer.