Tujhse Hain Raabta

Awkward Silences

The next morning, Kriti saw Arnav packing a lunch bag in the kitchen. She was all dressed up to go to work and had to leave in thirty minutes. As Arnav's eyes fell on her, he wished her a good morning which she returned with the same icy tone she had since yesterday.

"Here is your breakfast. Hope you like it." It was avocado on toast with coffee.

She thanked him to which he nodded.

He settled on the chair opposite to her with a plate. "The weather is nice today, isn't it?" He was making small talk, breaking the silence, something Kriti always seemed to do. Unfortunately for Arnav, she wasn't in a mood to talk.

"I don't know. I haven't been out yet." She internally winced at her own response. If Arnav was mad, he didn't show it. The rest of the breakfast passed without a word.

Kriti put on her heels and got ready to leave when a lunch bag was forwarded to her.

"This is your lunch. Make sure you eat everything" He basically ordered her like a parent. Nevertheless, Kriti thanked him. He stood near the doorstep as she waited for the lift doors to open up. His gaze was fixated on her while she kept her head down.

"Drive safe, Kritika. Have a good day." She mumbled a you too and got in the lift ready to start her work day.

Stepping into the office, she was greeted by her colleagues. They showered her with congratulations and some of them wanted to see photos and hear all about her 4 day marriage life. She politely answered the questions and deviated on the certain privacy invasive ones.

When lunch time came around, she sat at a table with a few of her close colleagues. Even after years of working in the same company, she hadn't made any close friends here. One out of two of her best friends was from college who now took up residence in a different city. She regularly kept in touch with her through video calls and such. Her other best friend was Saanvi Roy. Though she worked in the same company for over two years, they didn't become friends until she left her job to take up her passion, designing. A year later, they were the best of friends.

She opened her lunch bag to find that her husband packed lunch for a village. Apart from packing chickpea curry and chapatis, he also packed her a gluten free cookie, trail mix and a small portion of fruits. Kritika was deeply moved by the efforts he made but also, this was a lot for her. Her startled face had her colleague asking her for the reason for it. She shyly mentioned that her husband had made the lunch and packed her bag and a chorus of awws followed. She didn't expect him to cook breakfast and definitely not lunch. It was nice having a person cook for her. She diligently started to eat as her husband instructed her to.

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She was welcomed by a warm cup of coffee when she got home in the evening. Guilt started to surface within her. Arnav was doing everything nice she had never expected her future husband to do and yet here she was serving him the silent treatment. She thought about caving in for a second but the thought of him asking for separate rooms and then acting like nothing was wrong buried her want to be normal.

"Is the coffee good?" Kriti internally smiled at her husband's attempt to make small talk. He was bad at it. She just nodded and got back to scrolling her phone.

"How was your day?" Another attempt. She was starting to feel bad but a part of her brain told her not to put her foot down. 

"It was good. Normal." Her short replies didn't falter Arnav's determination. He went on about his day. He told her about how he spent two hours at his fathers workplace helping him out and then set his room up. Kriti, though giving no reply, listened to him with focus.

"I'm going to go set up my room." She got up and put her mug in the sink. "What do you want for dinner?"

"How about we cook together?" He offered, surprising her. He made breakfast and lunch already. It seemed unfair to ask him to make dinner too.

The hesitation on her face had him speaking. "I like cooking Kritika. It relaxes me."

"Alright." she disappeared into her room and started to organise it. She hung up clothes, cleaned out a corner for her yoga mat and workout gear. Her room was mostly done except the decorating bit. Looking up at the clock, Kriti stepped outside to prepare dinner. Arnav was sitting on the recliner watching TV. It brought a smile to her face.

They both decided to make Palak Paneer for dinner.

"You cut the Palak, okay? I'll take care of everything here." As Much as she was mad at him, she didn't want Arnav standing for too long. He took more of the workload today already.

Forty five minutes later, two plates of steaming food were ready. Kriti took her plate and forwarded to the couch.

"What are you doing?" Arnav asked.

"Sitting on the couch."

"Why?"

Confusion reflected on her face on her husband's question.

"We're having dinner. We should be at the dining table." More confusion made its way to her face.

"Um no, you can have dinner wherever you want."

"But a dining table is the best, isn't it? What would you even do sitting on the couch?" She wanted to laugh at his questions. They seemed so childish as well as adorable.

"I could watch a movie, a TV show, anything." She set down her plate on the centre table. "Have you never eaten a meal while watching TV?"

"Well, growing up we never put on TV while eating. We were always at the table, eating and talking. The few times I did watch TV while eating, it was when I was having a boys night and we ordered take-out."

"You could start now."

"I think it is best that we have dinner here. We could talk." Who was this man and what had he done with her husband?

"We spoke in the evening." She stated, beginning to reach the end of her patience.

"I want to talk more. Come and sit here." He patted the chair next to his.

"Buddha," she murmured under her breath taking a seat.

"You know," Arnav's lips twitched, "your buddha husband isn't hard of hearing."

She turned red and shoved in a bite, biting down the embarrassment. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Did you like the lunch?"

 "Yes. Thank you for that." He shrugged it off as to say it was nothing.

"I'll do the breakfast tomorrow," she said.

"Kritika, I wake up early and as I said, I like cooking. You already have a job and that is enough work. I know I said I help out at my father's shop but it isn't compulsory for me to. Let me do this."

She nodded but quickly added that she'll be the one to make dinner. The earlier tension between them eased for the time being only to resurface while going to bed. Arnav wished her a good night and Kriti returned it but it sounded distant without his name attached to it.

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