Our Arranged Love Story Point 5

Chapter 13.5

Did the nagging ever stop?

Nami, now awake, running on only 4 hours of sleep had set her alarm to greet Luffy and send him off to work. They had two whole undisturbed weeks for themselves- mostly for him since she still practiced her trade- and today marked the day that everyday life crept back again.

Soon a solid routine would be established and they had to get used to each other more. No longer were their parents there to vouch for them, they had each other. Now expected to be impartially loyal to one another as husband and wife, man and woman. That was the reality of married life.

i

To start the day, the wife's aim was to first use the loo, grab the morning newspaper at the door and make a cup full of coffee. Was not so much looking forward to the last bit since her coffee making skills were pretty shit but it still got her through the day. Might just end up drinking half.

On entering the bathroom, she came to a halt. Before her she found the toilet seat left up. Up.

By the looks of it, the husband had been here a while ago. Tub was wet from showering. And thankfully this time he didn't leave wet puddles all over the place and had made good use of the mat. But when it came to the toilet, Nami had to wonder. Time and time again, she had to remind him to put the seat down after use. Said he would next time, had even remembered a few times to but for some strange reason he forgot her specific instruction this very morning.

Nami continued staring at the indecency for a few seconds longer. Another strange thing happened; her face relaxed then she went over and put it down herself. Problem solved.

Usually she would get mad at the insignificant slip-up but just now she chose to brush it away. Why? Because it was a simple mistake.

It had reached a point where her 'harmless' reminders started to sound like nagging and her mom had specifically said that no husband likes a nagging wife. And additionally said that the reason for that is because it belittles them, makes them feel mothered. Therefore making them feel like a child.

Truth be told, she knew that Luffy showed signs of dislike and annoyance and had even given off the vibe that he didn't want to be in the same room as her, creating a distance. Bellemere had bluntly referred to it as: pushing him away. Nami, for sure, did not want that.

After giving it some thought, putting herself in his shoes, she figured that growing up in a household his entire life that lacked females and having to suddenly conform to meet her standards was going to take time. So letting it slide came easy. She refused to spend the majority of her marriage engaged in a ruckus concerning a dumb toilet seat. It wasn't worth it.

After all, they had such a nice atmosphere going on last night -complete with mutual understanding and premature discussions about their future- and had finally started getting along again; To have that go to waste by a shiny, white toilet who for some reason couldn't keep his mouth shut, would not be the greatest idea in the book.

There was going to be a lot of things she would have to put up with. He too. It was going to take some getting used to. Change was never easy. It was different and since both of them were in this together for the long haul, they had to welcome it with open arms.

i

After taking care of her teeth, she went to see to the other agendas: newspaper and coffee. Didn't have much planned for the day but she'll figure something out.

Luffy was in his room taking his time buttoning up his shirt when he heard the sudden sound of the toilet flushing.

He looked at his reflection and a horrified face stared back at him. He slipped up- again.

Didn't know why Nami made such a big deal about a toilet seat but knew that it mattered to her that he remembered to put it down. As strange as it sounds, he reckoned that it was important that he did so and had never sought to displease her; had even tried to, was getting so good at remembering too but of all mornings he just had to forget today.

Luffy's mouth dipped downwards remembering the sweet happenings of last night and any second now, she'll barge in here and scold him like it didn't happen. So he waited. And waited. But she never came, never called.

He brushed his damp hair from his vision with his fingers and grabbed the last essential for his outfit: A tie. Tried remembering the steps his dad showed him but was failing miserably.

Curiousity got the best of him and even though he might be willfully stepping into shark-infested waters, he wanted to see what his wife was up to; Blindly stepped into the living room and his ears picked up the melody of her voice.

"Morning handsome."

There she was looking as cute as ever and his face warmed. Felt so drawn to her and wanted to be close.

Just had to first fix this damn tie...