All Strings Attached

Chapter Fifteen

Ahhh. Earlier than usual update today cause I really need the distraction and serotonin 😭 please vote and comment! I think you'll enjoy this one, mostly. Alsooo, what do we think of the pace?

Dhushyanth

"Reddy," Sita yells for me, distracting me from the intense tennis tournament.

I use my phone to call her to find out what she wants. "Why are you calling me?" She asks. "We're in the same house?"

"But clearly out of hearing range to have a normal conversation," I remind her. "What do you want?"

"I need you to come and take a look at this painting's placement for me," she says.

"Why can't I do it later?" I question, not wanting to leave the TV.

"Because the carpenter will leave later."

"We can have him come back."

"Reddy."

I sigh, knowing she's right. Why does Sita Cherukuri always have to be right?

"Give me a second," I say into the phone, and slip into my slides before strolling out of the room. "What's for lunch?" I ask as I walk down the stairs, seeing that she hasn't hung up.

"I don't know," she says. "What do you want?"

I hang up when I see Sita, dressed in a pink, cotton salwar suit, with her hair tied up in a bun, leaving a few strands of hair that fall on her face.

"Bayataki veldhama?" I suggest. "I'm bored of staying at home." [(Telugu) Should we go out?]

"Look at the painting first," she says, gesturing to the Radha-Krishna painting my father passed onto her.

"It's fine," I tell her. "What about this is something I should've looked at?"

"The placing and everything," she insists, "you'll have to look at it everyday, it'll annoy you if you don't like where it is."

A chuckle escapes me at the irony of this situation before I can acknowledge the humour factor myself, making Sita look at me, at once.

"Enti?" [(Telugu) What?]

"Nothing," I shrug it off, shaking my head. "This looks fine, I don't mind."

Sita gives me a dirty look, unhappy about the inside joke I have in my head. "Okay, go back to watching tennis," she grants my leave.

"What about lunch?" I decide to pester my wife until she speaks her mind.

She glances at me from the corner of her eye, refusing to answer my question. "Kitchen lo drawers sariga open avvatledu," she tells the carpenter, pointing to the kitchen— "Maala," she calls for the maid, who peeks out of the kitchen to listen to the boss. [(Telugu) The drawers in the kitchen aren't opening properly.]

"Carpenter ki ah drawers chupinchu. Raju ki cheppu payment cheyamani, inka number theeskoni pampandi, intlo panulu untaayi while we set up everything." [(Telugu) Show the carpenter those drawers. Tell Raju to pay him and take his number before he leaves, we're expecting other works for him.]