The Marriage Contract

53 - Surprises and Dares

"I so do not like surprises." Akshara groaned as she stood at the edge of the beach, in her bikini, arms folded against her chest, frowning.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun." Abhimanyu responded, shaking his head in silent laughter at Akshara's dramatics.

"Yeah, uh uh, no thank you." She replied, turning around to make a run for it. Only Abhimanyu slipped his arm around her waist, locking her in from escaping and turned her around to face her fears.

"Come on, Akshara. I dare you. No, scratch that. I double dare you." Abhimanyu grinned devilishly, kissing the tip of her nose with ease.

"Hello, Ma'am. Hello, Sir. I need you both to first wear your life jackets after which we will get started on the basis of parasailing." The employee informed them, handing Abhimanyu and Akshara a life jacket each.

Abhimanyu grabbed his eagerly and dawned it on, whilst Akshara wore hers reluctantly, warily.

Once they were both strapped in, Abhimanyu held Akshara's hand tightly as they made their way into the warm Indian Ocean and towards the yacht awaiting them.

"Abhi, you are going to pay dearly for this." Akshara growled as Abhimanyu helped her climb onboard the yacht.

"And I'll gladly take any punishment you give me." He grinned, climbing up after her.

Once they were settled onboard, the staff helping them with this excursion told them to buckle in and strap up into the parasailing equipment which was quite sturdy for Akshara's tiny little body.

"As you both know, parasailing means you will not only be in the air, but also be coming down and being drenched in the water with a surplus of force. But please don't be scared —" The excursionist continued to explain the workings of parasailing as well as the safety features but Abhimanyu and Akshara were too busy bickering amongst themselves to pay any heed to the instructions.

"I think he's talking about you. No need to be scared." Abhimanyu whispered.

Abhimanyu nudged Akshara teasingly only to have her glare at him in return, throwing daggers at him with her pointy eyes and scrunched nose.

"Watch me cut your rope lose the moment we are in the air." Akshara growled like a tiny tigress.

"Oh please. You are stuck with me for life now." Abhimanyu paused at his own words as Akshara's eyes softened at the acknowledgment and her heart race.

Abhimanyu cleared his throat before adding, "We're married, remember? I wifed you up. I even have the ring to prove it." He then brought up his middle finger and stuck it out for her for proper sound and effect, earning a stomp on his foot with hers.

"Well, be ready for me to vomit on you. Because suddenly, the shrimp I ate for lunch is making me feel very, very, very nasty." Akshara warned, sarcastically.

Abhimanyu's upper handed smile turned into a hue of shock at Akshara' s warning. "Wait, what..." Before Abhimanyu had a chance to respond, the excursion staff raised his thumb at the two of them, before letting them fly up in the air.

"Aaaaaaaaaabhiiimanyuuu!" Akshara's scream was jilted half way as both her and Abhimanyu were held by a single rope, let free in the warm breeze of the Maldivian sun.

Akshara's grip tightened on Abhimanyu's hand hair as his larger hand engulfed her smaller one, in protection. Akshara closed her eyes, squeezing his hand tightly, breathing in and out just as Abhimanyu tried to suppress a tiny chuckle of amusement.

He rubbed gentle circles on Akshara's hand with the pad of his thumb in order to calm her down. He looked down onto the water flowing beneath them, and the yacht and the giant water bungalows looking nothing more than the size of a pea in front of him.