An empty apartment greets him upon returning home, and a glance at the clock tells him that she may still be on the way home from her pilates session. He changes out of his suit and into something more comfortable. He checks the list they have on the refrigerator and decides to start preparing their dinner before she comes home.
He is in the middle of chopping vegetables when the front door opens. He has memorized the time that it takes for them to reach the kitchen, and so he does not turn around until the count is over.
Still, the little sneak manages to surprise him by suddenly wrapping her arms around him from behind and saying with a giddy tone, "Jagiya!"
"You're here," he greets warmly, touching her hand with his wrist to avoid them getting dirty. "How was your workout today? You didn't exert yourself too much, did you?"
"Of course not," she answers him with a sweet kiss on his back. "You worry too much. How was your day? Did they agree with the changes and sign the contract?"
"Mhm, the lawyers are processing the transfer as we speak," he tells her, washing his hands because he needs a hug and a kiss. But when he turns around, the sight that greets him stuns him.
Her hair is short.
It feels like deja vu. It takes him back to when she showed up on their film set with the exact same hairstyle years ago. "What...?" he finds himself speechless, touching the ends gently to make sure it was real. "When did you do this?"
With her cheeks flushed, she replies with, "Just before coming home. I have thought about it for a while. But with the pregnancy and the hormones, my long hair was becoming a bit of a nuisance. Thought this was more practical."
The memory of a butterfly clip she had accidentally snapped into two and thrown across the room in her frustration resurfaces and makes him chuckle.
She seems to have remembered the exact same thing. "You know what I am talking about, right?"
He nods with a fond smile on his lips. He cannot stop staring at her and his silence stretches on for far too long that the hopeful expression on her face falls and her smile wavers.
"It will grow back," she tells him, her voice wobbling a little that it makes him frown. "I know that you like it longer. But..."
He immediately cuts her off, cupping her face with his hands. "Do you have any idea how beautiful you look right now?"
She blinks, stunned. "Oh."
He smiles, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. "It takes me back to when we worked together for the first time. You know my heart literally stopped when you walked into the room looking like this."
Her smile wavers for a completely different reason.
"And now, you have reminded me how I felt when I fell in love with you for the first time."
The expression on her face is both bright and relieved, and it hurts him to see the latter. He lowers his head and captures her lips in a long kiss, showing her how much she means to him.
"You're beautiful," he tells her afterwards, looking into her shining eyes. "Don't ever doubt it."
She melts into him, allowing him on a little secret, "You make me feel like I am. Every single day."
