A Journey to Trust and Heal

60- My favorite Couple

Our movie night got postponed as the girls had to leave soon as one by one they all got called by their parents. Nevertheless, they all managed to make me laugh and that was enough.

"I should also take my leave", Rudra said while trying to pick up all the files, he had brought to explain the process.

"Sure, it was nice meeting you", Tanya said with a smile.

Rudra nodded with a smile but his smile soon turned to a worried frown when he looked up at the clock.

"Is there any problem?", Raghav queried.

"Ah no! I was just wondering where my Mom was. She usually comes by this time to cook dinner", Rudra answered.

"Oh! She must have forgotten to inform you. As long as we are here, she would only come at morning for cleaning, like she did before Sia came to live here", Tanya informed him.

"Oh ok. I got worried for nothing. Looks like you too like your mother prefer cooking by your own hands", Rudra said remembering the time, my mom had given the cook leave as she wanted to cook for me.

Tanya smiled tightly in response, barely managing to hide the fact that she didn't liked getting compared to Mom or even hear about her. Rudra had unintentionally opened up the old wound which Tanya was trying to forget.

"No, she doesn't. Even if Tanya knows cooking, she doesn't actually enjoy it. This leave was granted because of me. I love to cook but barely manage to get a chance as the kitchen at our home is conquered by my father", Raghav explained with a smile.

An equally wide smile grew upon Tanya and my face, reminiscing the memories of Uncle shooing everyone out of the kitchen, to cook in peace.

"Girls in your family are lucky", Rudra commented.

Tanya agreed wholeheartedly while saying, "Gotta love the man who cooks for you", making Raghav blush.

"What about you Rudra? Do you cook?", Tanya asked teasingly, while glancing at me, not even trying to be subtle.

"Yeah", he replied simply, not bothering to react on her obvious teasing.

He soon left, feeling awkward because of Tanya's constant implications about us being a couple.

"Seriously? How can you embarass me like that? I can understand the elders but atleast you should know that a guy and a girl can be friends", I asked incredulously.

"Chill. I was just joking around. Who can know better than me that you can have guy friends without falling in love with them", Tanya said shrugging.

"God! Look at you. There's no need to look at me like that. Jealousy doesn't suit you. By the way, I was talking about Nikhil, remember the guy who married your brother", Tanya said to Raghav, rolling her eyes.

"I didn't even say anything", Raghav grumbled.

"You didn't have to. Looking at your face was enough to know what you were feeling", Tanya said.

"Whatever. Just so you know, I wouldn't have stopped you to be friends with a man even if he was straight and not married to my brother", Raghav said in a matter of fact tone.

"I wouldn't have broken my friendship even if you have stopped me, unless of course there was a valid reason behind that other than your jealousy", Tanya said cheekily and left the room before Raghav could counter back.

Raghav came and stood beside me, his hands in his pockects and asked me curiously, "Shouldn't my ego be hurt by her talks?".

"On a normal circumstances, yes. Anyone would feel angry or atleast a little hurt", I replied shrugging.

"Then why the hell, am I feeling proud ", he asked looking confused.

"You are feeling proud that she refused to agree when you ask her to not do something?",I asked with raised eyebrows.

He shook his head smiling and answered, "I am proud that she doesn't blindly agree with whatever I say".

"You are an ideal husband", I commented.

"Don't put me in such a high pedestal. I am sure that your sister can give you a list of my faults", Raghav said with a small laugh.

"And I am sure that she is in love with all those faults of your's", I said, laughing as well.

Our laughing session got interrupted when Tanya came back with pillows and blankets.

"What's this for?", I asked in confusion.

"For Raghav, duh", Tanya answered, making a face like I should have already known it.

"Umm, Are you angry with him or...?", I trailed off the question.

All these talks were fun banter in my mind. Did Tanya get hurt because of Raghav's words?

"What No! There's only one room stupid, which would be shared by us. So, Raghav has to sleep on the couch", Tanya explained.

"Well you two can take the room and I will sleep on the couch", I suggested as they were here for almost a month and I can't have Raghav sleeping on the couch in his own house.

"This couch is very comfortable. Tanya made sure of it, the last time we had come here. So don't worry. Besides, you need to have a proper bed to get a good night's sleep. Which is the main reason for us to come here", Raghav said plopping down on the couch to show how comfortable he was.

"Raghav, you only mentioned that the couch is comfortable. So there's no problem. I will sleep comfortably here", I said, cleverly taking his point to win against him.

"Even if that's true, one of us needs to stay beside you to monitor your nightmares and that can't happen if you sleep on this couch", Tanya spoke, clearly showing who got the smart genes among us.

"But...", I started but Tanya didn't let me continue.

"No buts, we will share the bed and Raghav will take the couch. That's final", Tanya said sternly.

I nodded with a defeated sigh.

"Why are you still lying on the couch? Don't to want to start making dinner. I thought someone was eager to finally get a chance to work in the kitchen", Tanya asked Raghav, mocking him.

Raghav made faces at her, but stood up nonetheless.

Despite mocking him, Tanya went to kitchen too so that he didn't have to cook everything alone, while I stood there staring at my favorite couple with a smile.