Atharva glanced at Iram the moment those words came out but she did not look startled. Or like she was going away from him. Instead, her lips remained curled in a soft smile.
“What was that song he smiled to first?”
Atharva chuckled. “You won’t like it.”
“Tell me.”
“Shola jo bhadke.”
Her mouth dropped open, the grin transferring straight to her sparkly eyes — “You played flirty songs to our son?!”
“I didn’t realise when the record turned. But he had a blast.”
“Ada has a whole playlist to dance with him.”
“She stole that from me.”
“I told her… some of the stuff.”
“Why did I think she would listen to me and let you be?”
Iram slowly reached his desk, her hands on the back of one visitor’s chair. “Thank you.”
He remained silent, not about to ask her something that his eyes were capable of communicating.
“For taking care of everything here behind me,” she enunciated. “Are you tired?”
You can’t imagine how much.
“I’m fine.”
“Did you eat?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
He smirked, feeling that thrill pass down his spine at the return of her investigation tactics.
“I can’t remember.”
“I’ll heat up the pizza. We also ordered pasta and I saved a white sauce box for you…”
“I am not hungry, Iram. Just give me ten minutes here and I will come up.”
Her tongue came out to wet her upper lip, then her lower lip went between her teeth as usual. He thought she would turn around and leave. But she pulled the chair and sat down. Atharva did not have the energy to ask her why she was hovering or deal with the consequences of his cutting words. So he just closed his eyes and pushed his head back. One breath. Two breaths. Three breaths. In, out, in, out. Thoughts coming in, circling his mind, going out. In, out, in, out… soft fingers on his forehead.
His eyes snapped open.
She was standing beside his chair, her face close to his head, thumbs jamming into his temples. How had he not sensed her coming closer?
Atharva stared up at Iram, his mouth dropping open as her fingers buried into his hair.
“Ten minutes,” he stated, quietly pleading for her to give him ten minutes of nothingness. He couldn’t do emotions tonight. Not the bad ones, not the good ones.
“Ten minutes,” she repeated, jamming her thumbs and rubbing tight circles on the warm skin of his temples. His muscles became water. Without thought, his head fell forward and she caught it on her chest. Her fingers didn’t stop working. They broadened their area of ministration, going from the back of his head to the back of his neck. He felt her nose bury in his hair and he did the same into her chest, fisting his hands by his side lest he embrace her and pull her into him, inside him. In the state he was in tonight, he wouldn’t put it past himself.
“Why are you angry at me, Atharva?”
