Talk of the Town

40 //

The alarm blares through the silence in the room and Miraya rolls away from Shray, trying to find the damn phone. Shray groans at the sound and nudges her with his elbow. “Switch off the damn thing!”

“I’m trying,” Miraya says, propping herself on her elbows to locate the device. 

“Well, make it fast,” Shray mumbles, pulling the sheets over him. 

“You do it then!” Miraya kicks his leg but he doesn’t even move. She realises the sound is coming from Shray’s phone, which is in the pockets of his discarded jeans. “It’s yours, you idiot.”

“Just switch it off, Miranda.”

Miraya sighs and fishes out the phone. Once she dismisses the alarm, Shray calls, “Come back.”

“Not you bossing me around the first thing in the morning. I can still choose not to marry you, you know,” she says, climbing back into bed.

Shray’s eyes open and a lazy grin appears on his face. “You love me too much to leave me.”

Miraya scowls at him but Shray brings her close to his chest and tucks her under his chin. “Don’t go to work today,” he whispers against her hair. 

“I should.”

“Please, Miraya. Let’s stay in bed all day.”

She runs her hands through his dark locks and smoothes the lines on his forehead. “I wish I could. But I have to go. I’ll stay the night today, okay?”

“I still don’t like it that you are leaving but fine.”

Miraya chuckles. When she looks at him, sleeping next to her, his eyes closed as if there is no more worry in the world, it feels quite surreal. She always imagined loving Shray but she had thought it would be just that. A figment of her imagination. Only in her head. A dream. Now that she is tucked in his arms, breathing the same air as him and wrapped in his warmth and smell, she feels like she has accomplished the greatest feat of her life. She had fought all the demons and won the war in her head. Shray was hers as she was his. 

It was beautiful. 

Pressing a kiss on his forehead, she untangles from him and heads to the closet. It is enormous. Everything is so neatly arranged. She realises with dismay that if Shray took a glimpse at her closet, he would probably call off their marriage. 

Miraya finds a white button-up shirt that she can style it appropriately to wear to work. After a quick shower, she walks out of the bathroom smelling like Shray’s green apple flavoured shampoo. She keeps an eye on Shray’s sleeping figure as she puts on her clothes. Just as she pulls on her jeans, he stirs. “Don’t you dare open your eyes,” she says, hastily tugging the material upwards.

“Are you naked?” he asks, a smirk lacing his voice. “Why would I not open my eyes, Miranda?”

“Because I said so, you idiot. Just for a few seconds. If I catch you peeking, you’re dead.”

“Fine, fine. And you said I was bossing over you.”

Miraya rolls her eyes and zips her pants. 

“Are you done?”

“Yes, you can open your eyes,” Miraya says, untangling the towel from her hair. 

Shray raises an eyebrow. “Is that my shirt?”

“Yes. So?”

He shakes his head quietly, leaning on the headboard and watching her with a fond smile. Miraya’s heart wavers when she catches how he is looking at her.