The Love That Was Once Hidden

Chapter 14

It was a serene and breezy night. Owls hooted from a nearby tree while the crickets chirped making people aware of their presence. The stars lit up the sky, like pearls scattered on sand and two individuals lied next to each other on the terrace of their house gazing in astonishment at the beauty spun out by God.

"Shravan, think over this once more. If someone catches us together at this time, toh bawaal mach jayenga." Suman said, her eyes still fixated at the brightest star.

Stars are a creation so beautiful, so generous that they burn themselves in order to light up the world's dark nights. Stars taught her, lighting up the way for others and guiding them helps in the growth and development of oneself. She also learned that just how stars shine in the dark only, one needs to go through a few dark moments in life to order to come out stronger.

"No one will get to know. Chill." He interrupted her chain of thoughts, tearing his gaze from the sky to look at her.

"You're talking as if you've locked the terrace door." Suman gave a mock look at him before turning to look back at the stars.

"What if I tell you I did?" He gave a cheeky smile.

"What?" She whisper yelled, her fear for getting caught saved Shravan's eardrums from bursting that day, that's for sure.

"Just Kidding." He chuckled, "I just closed the door, so if anyone by chance does peek in here, they'd have to open the door and we'd hear the sound and hide behind that wall." He pointed to the wall behind the clothing line. They could've sat there, but the view of the sky was blocked by the canopy that was built to prevent the clothes from getting wet lest it rains.

"Are you mad?! That door only opens from the inside." She whisper yelled and Shravan look at her wide eyed.

"Oh god! Now?" She asked, despite the little bubble of happiness that started building up on being able to get their privacy after the longest 34 hours of her life.

"More privacy." He gave a smirk and leaned further towards her only for her palm to block his way and she giggled looking at how his smirk fell the minute she stopped him.

"Besharam." She giggled running away and he stood up running behind her.

"Sumo yaar, not fair." He whined.

"Everything is fair in love and war my love!" She whisper yelled.

"I'll get you now." He murmured but she heard him.

"Haan, toh pakdo na. What are you waiting there for? Shravan, I know you're slow in everything, confessing your love for me proved this theory big time, but you don't have to think a hundred times before coming to catch me now, do you?" She teased making him narrow his eyes at her.

'Accha, slow huh? Just wait and watch.' He thought and slowly made his way, each step like that of a predator and seeing him walking towards her with a devious look and a sly smile gracing his lips, slipped the smile off her face and she sprinted towards the opposite side of the terrace.

"Ouch!" Shravan exclaimed as his toe hit the metal leg of the bench making Suman widen her eyes at the sight and she ran to him, concern taking over.

"Are you okay?" She asked slightly worried because admit it or not, getting your toe stubbed by the leg of a bench during a winter night meant pain!

"Caught ya!" He almost yelled out in exuberance as he pulled her by the elbow and pushed her against the wall.

"You're such a cheater." She scoffed.

"Everything is fair in love my love." He reiterated her previous statement and she rolled her eyes despite the smile on her lips.

"Now, I think you deserve a little punishment for calling me a slow poke." He whispered huskily holding both her hands and pinning them to the wall on either side of her head.

Interlacing his fingers with hers, he leaned closer skimming his nose from her chin upwards along the jawline. As he stopped by her earlobe he leaned back looking at her, satisfied with her racing heartbeats and flushed face. Without a further warning, he slapped his lips against hers taking her by surprise and despite it being so sudden, Suman reciprocated within a second.

The kiss started off with small nipping of the lips till they fought for dominance with Suman finally winning as Shravan let her, enjoying the sweet torture he received. In order to catch their breaths, they parted but Shravan muttered something along the lines of "Your punishment hasn't been completed" and began trailing open mouth kisses from the corner of her lips to the base of her neck.

His hands that previously gripped her waist trailed along her spine till they reached the zipper of her Kurta. Once the zip was pulled down completely, his hands started caressing her smooth back making her breaths coming out ragged. In the need of more skin contact, she gripped the hem of his t-shirt and knowing what she wanted, stopped what he was doing and patiently waited for her to pull the t-shirt off him, a satisfied smile gracing her lips.

Suman started trailing wet kisses down his throat as her fingers simultaneously played with his nipples making him moan, his own hands clutching her back tight. Her lips continued their sweet torture as she continued placing kisses on his chest, this time her hands caressing his abs. Taking him by surprise, she bit the flesh just above his chest and she immediately soothed it by blowing slightly, a smile on her face feelimg happy at how this affected him.

"I think you've tortured me enough. My turn." He whispered roughly and something in his voice made her heart leap in nervousness yet she felt something pooling between her legs, making her anxious making her want more.

He cupped the back of her thighs, picking her from the ground and she immediately crossed her legs around his waist. He pulled her Kurta further down, revealing her cleavage and he bent his head down biting the flesh eliciting a moan from her.

"Sumo, we should stop. Warna mera control chootenga." He said breathlessly and Suman nodded her head against his chest as he caressed her back before pulling the kurta's zipper up.

"Shravan?"

"Hmm." He replied, his voice muffled as he had his face buried in the crook of her neck.

"How the heck will you get out of here?" She asked and Shravan broke the hug giving her an incredulous look.

"What?" She asked innocently seeing him looking at her as if she'd grown 5 more heads.

"Who asks such an absurd question in the middle of romancing? Poore romance ki dhajia bana diya!" He shook his head. Well Sumo was Sumo after all.

"I've spoilt everything? Oh hello, you were the one 'Sumo, we should stop. Warna mera control chootenga'." She mimicked making a face, "Kaika control? You've waited and controlled 12 years, you couldn't control another 12 minutes?"

"Ohh, so you're pissed off at the fact that I stopped?" He raised an eyebrow and laughed at her flushed face at being caught.

However, before she could answer they heard a vessel falling and turned to look where the sound came from, only to see a cat running into one of mamiji's steel pots that was usually kept for the washing of the clothes.

"I think we should sleep, I won't let you travel all the way home at this time as it is." She said and Shravan nodded his head in agreement knowing that even if he tried arguing with her, she'd have the last say.

"Sumo?" He called out as the two lied on the cold tiles next to each other, Suman's head using his right arm as a pillow.

"Hmm?" She hummed inhaling the faint fragrance of his cologne.

"I love you." He said and she smiled hearing it. No matter how many times he may have said it, it created that excitement and happiness as the first time itself.

"I love you too my Qutub Minar." She said dozing off peacefully in her happy place.

"Suman! Arey oh Suman!" Suman heard Manju's voice first thing the next morning. Opening them, she immediately closed her eyes feeling a rather unusual four times intensified sun light filtering through her curtains.

Oh crap!

Holy moly cheese macaroni!

Her eyes flew open wide as realisation dawned upon her that she wasn't on her cosy bed, rather on the cool titles of her terrace and what she mistook for a pillow was instead Shravan's arm!

"Shravan utho!" She whisper yelled, all traces of fatigue flying out the window.

Wait, there ain't a window on the terrace.

Ahh that can wait!

"Shravan! Yaar, you sleeping log get up!" She shook him but he remained still like an impudent donkey on the road, "wait not log. Itna lamba hai, he should be called a sleeping branch. Thank God one stops growing by 18-19, warna I wouldn't be surprised him competing against Mount Everest." She murmured but slapped her forehead realising how un-important whatever she was thinking was.

"Kumbkaran ke baap! Get the eff up or I'll push you down that ledge!" She whispered louder, yet that tremble on being caught was heard in her voice.

"Kya hai yaar Sumo? Let me sleep, and by the way stop calling our future daughter Kumbkaran, her name will be something like Tanya or Shreya. Definitely not Kumbkaran." He said and Suman resisted the urge to kick him in his gut.

"Shravan mamiji is here!" She said, and upon hearing the urgency in her voice, his eyes flew open and he sat straight causing Suman to laugh at his comical reaction to what she just said.

"You liar!"

"I'm not lying per se." She shrugged, "Mamiji is looking for me downstairs. We were supposed to wake up earlier so you could get out of here but that seems impossible now. The whole house must be awake." She said, her face contorting as she imagined any of her family members catching Shravan with her.

"Uff yaar Mamiji bhi na." He said, "Ab?"

"Ab kya? You'll have to jump from here." She said making sure no one was in their garden.

"Are you mad? Main lawyer hoon, circus ka bandar nai."

"What's the use of these too long for humanity legs of yours?"

"What has my legs got to do with me jumping down?"

"Shravan stop wasting time and jump or I'll push you myself." She threatened but before he could protest, they heard the terrace door clicking open and Shravan immediately went to hide on the other side.

"Suman, tum yahaan kya kar rahi ho?" Manju asked, "Hum tumhe sab idhar dhoodh rahe the."

"Woh mamiji, main bas raat ko thandi hava khane aayi thi, aur mistake se darvaza band hua." She made an excuse and mentally heaved a sigh of relief on seeing that Manju bought it.

"Waise aap yahaan?" She asked hesitantly.

"Main yeh mirchi sukhane aayi thi." She said and Suman took the tray from her hands.

"Arey main karti hoon na. Aap neeche jaayiye ." She said and Manju nodded despite being confused.

Seeing Manju's form disapearing, she signalled Shravan to come out of his hiding spot.

"Hum kahaan jaa rahe hai?" He whispered realising that she was leading him to the terrace door.

"Jupiter." Sumo said sarcastically, "Obviously mere room mein."

"Sumo yaar, we're on the verge of getting caught aur tumhe romance ki padi hai." He said making Suman halt in her steps and turn her head sideways giving him a murderous glare.

"Shravan, I'm telling you main tumhara kheema bana doongi if you don't shut your mouth. Aur ek baat batao, how the hell are you a lawyer agar tumhe yeh simple baat samajh nai aaraha hai that I want to hide you in my room till you can actually go out, kyuki nanu is taking a stroll in the garden." She asked pissed off at her dumb-and-hot-and-too-tall-for-humanity boyfriend.

"Tum aise baat kar rahi ho, jaise mere hazzaar girlfriends the, with whom I played midnight adventures." He deadpanned as she locked her room door, breathing a sigh of relief at no one spotting them.

"Jaise Delhi ke har ek ladke ki girlfriend bani hoon na main?" She sarcastically said clearly pissed off and Shravan looked at her, trying to make heads and tails of her moods from that morning.

"Sumo are you okay? Why are you so moody today?" He asked gently making her sit on the bed and he sat on his knees in front of her.

"Nothing." She said but Shravan didn't miss the pained look on her face.

"Sumo yaar, batao na. Please."

"Voh, actually I'm PMSing." She said, a crimson hue appearing on her face and Shravan shook his head in relief after knowing it wasn't anything serious.

"Sumo tum bhi na. Aur vaise, tum itna hesitate kyu kar rahi thi yeh batane mein?"

"Shravan, kaise batati? We've grown up like this, where periods are considered a taboo, where one isn't supposed to speak about it openly especially to men. And males look at it so disgustingly."

"Sumo yaar, before being your boyfriend, I'm your best friend aur best friends se kya chupana? Vaise bhi, yeh sab natural hai! There's nothing in it to be ashamed of, it's a part of reproducing. It's nothing disgusting, I, in fact, salute you ladies who go through this every month while we 'men' who claim to be so strong cannot imagine the pain, forget bear it." He said gently, "And yeah Sumo, your problems are my problems, you have to share these things with me, you know na, I can't see you in pain." He traced her cheeks with his thumb and she leaned into his touch, thankful to God for giving her a blessing in Shravan's guise.

"Anyway, mujhe ghar jaana chahiye. Meet you in the evening?" Suman nodded and he placed a kiss on her forehead before getting up.

"Shravan?" She called out and he turned his head, tilting it upwards as if asking her why she stopped him.

"I love you." She pecked his lips and giggled seeing his face brighten up.

"We'll continue with this later." He said giving a mischievous smile and jumped out the window, thanking his stars that Nanu had already gone in.

"Saare arrangements huye?" Suman asked entering Malhotra Mansion, astonished seeing the grandeur of the place.

The whole living area was decorated with white and blue hydrangeas while the main sitting area that would hold the bride and groom had an extra touch of stargazer lillies. The staircase was subtly done, garlands of white lillies laced on the railing with fairly lights sparkling in between the petals. The whole area was done subtle in colour, rich in flowers, and lights and gave an aura of grandeur and sophistication.

"Suman! Thank God tum aa gayi!" Vandy exclaimed giving Suman a quick hug while she laughed at her animated expressions.

"Vaise tumne abhi tak tumhari dress nai pehen ni?"

"Kya hai na Vandy Bhabi, I have to help out with the food, toh main baadme change kar loongi." She said pointing to the bag that held her dress and accessories. The initial plan was to dress up with Preeti and then come to the venue, i.e. Malhotra Mansion, with her family, but plans changed. Turned out, the truck that held all the mithais and food got into a minor accident that morning, and while the driver wasn't injured, everything the truck was carrying at that moment either got damaged or fell out. And so PCT had taken the responsibility and even though her ever so willing and enthusiastic employees were able to finish up with the mithayi, the food was still left to be made and so, Suman had to dress Preeti at home and arrived at Malhotra Mansion hours before the engagement.

"Oh haan! Okay tum kitchen mein jaao, I'll so long help mummiji in the garden. By the looks of it these decorators will run away if she has to guide them one more minute." She laughed making her way to the garden while Suman shook her head.

"Shravan! Finally!" Varun exclaimed seeing his younger cousin enter the house after a long day of blaring his voice in the courtroom.

"Yeh kya hai Shravan puttar? Apne hi bhai ke sagaai ke din tu kaam karne gaya? Ab chetti chetti chal aur taiyyar ho ja. Sirf ek ghanta bacha hai sagai mein." Kamini chachi said.

"Kya karu chachi? Yeh bohot hi important case tha. But don't worry, main event se pehle aaya hoon na." He smiled and ran up the stairs, skipping a step at a time. As he tried to open his room door, he frowned noticing it not opening.

"Chachi, andar koi gaya hai?" Shravan asked.

"Nai. Kyu? Band hai kya?"

"Haan. Never mind, I'll use the spare keys." He said as he opened the door and walked in, locking the door. The sight that greeted him was totally unexpected; Suman stood there, in all glory, her back facing him as she arched them trying to tie the dori. His eyes scanned her from top to toe and he felt his breath hitch.

Suman, who had been so busy concentrating on the task on hand, didn't realise someone had entered the room. She kept struggling with the strings while he seemed to be in a trance seeing her bare back on display. His feet, on their own accord, took him to where she stood and he bent a little his breath hitting her exposed neck.

She knew it was him. She didn't need to hear his voice to confirm nor did she need to see him. She just knew it. Feeling his warm breath on her bare back and neck accelerated her heartbeat, her whole body felt fuzzy and warm and she felt hard to breathe.

"Wow." He breathed out, his vocabulary finally hitting it and she felt her cheeks turn red at his compliment.

"Maarna chahti ho mujhe?" He whispered, placing his lips on the smooth skin of her neck and trailed them down to her shoulders. His hands grabbed her by her stomach and she held them feeling her legs giving up on her. Grazing his teeth on the skin on her shoulder, he slightly bit on it and soon blew on the area he bit making her lips tremble as she bit them suppressing a moan. His hands soon trailed themselves to her bare back and he played with the strings, his cold fingertips creating havoc inside her body. He studied her face in the mirror while his fingers were being trailed down her back. Her eyes were tightly shut, her cheeks were pink and she bit her lips. He tied the dori, slowly. Very slowly letting his fingers trail on her bare back longer than required.

However.

"Hayyo rabba Shravan! Yeh kya dekh rahi hoon main!?" Kamini Chachi's voice broke their trance and they immediately broke apart.

Shit!