"Naina always wins." Or so she thought. For the minute she raised her blouse, her head got stuck and she couldn't see anything. Panic struck her, arousing her fear as she screamed with flailing arms, "Help! I can't see anything!" Boyish laughter broke out, echoing in the dungeon. "Stop laughing and help me!"

"You asked me to just watch," he said and she could picture him folding his arms and smirking at her. "Cute bra."

"Youuuuuuu---" Naina launched herself in the direction of that voice, but Ahanay dodged her and she caught air. Unlike Ahanay, the air was not strong enough to hold her and she stumbled forward, diving straight into the pool of water. With her arms tied to her blouse, unable to see anything or scream as water gushed into her mouth, Naina realized that she was drowning.

It sent her reeling back to her childhood when her father held her head inside a bucket of water, his hands like the claws of a tiger around her neck. It was an hour after Pari had died and Ohas, Naina and her family had been branded an outcast. Her father had dragged her by the hair inside her house as Naina screamed and kicked, trying to bite his arm off. Her mother's begs were a distant cry and all around her, she saw the round, owl-like eyes of her neighbours watching her.

Adrenaline pumped in her body as a new vigour to break free from her father's clutches enlivened her, but all died down the minute he shoved her head in the water. He wanted to kill her, she knew that, but her body had gone limp. She had opened her eyes in the water and saw nothingness, a nothingness that sucked her into the vacuum. Her mother's begs had gone mute, her neighbours' eyes had disappeared and her father's grip no longer hurt her. It was a shame that her head was pulled back up before she could submit to everlasting peace.

"Why didn't you fight back?" a familiar voice rasped as she found herself out of it all. Ahanay hastily untangled her arms, removing her blouse and she met his eyes, those focused, frowning eyes. The wet strands of his dark hair fell over his forehead as he squeezed her arms tightly, urging her to say something. His rough touch with his fingers digging deep into her skin was comforting to her, drawing her from the depths of her past and propelling her into the present. He stooped to look straight into her eyes as his lips curled upwards in a devilish, mock smile. "Nothing? Anything along the lines of- thank you darling for saving me from four feet of water should suffice."

"Thank you, darling," she repeated sarcastically, wriggling out of his grip and taking a step back from his naked closeness. Because of the pool water that reached her breasts and his abdomen, neither of them could see each other. Yet, the mere thought of him naked invaded her mind, over and over again, assaulting her senses. After all, she had held him in her hand, that growing, huge thing that both frightened and excited her.

"You dropped something," Ahanay said suddenly, stretching his hand out with a closed fist.

"What?" She leaned ahead, peeping in and water sprayed on her face through that fist, burning her eyes. "What the heck!"

"You're slow," she heard the impish smile in his voice and the second she recovered from the harassment, she launched towards him like a rocket. In two seconds, she had climbed on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck in a grip that threatened to strangle him. But Ahanay was stronger and swifter and just as little Naina celebrated her little triumph, he flipped her over him and tossed her in the water, a move that she couldn't fathom how he pulled off till the day she died.

Underwater, Naina quickly grabbed his ankle, not letting it go.

"Naina---" she heard him warn and as he turned around, she came face to face with the hulk in between his legs that sprang ahead and slapped her forehead. With a muted scream that caused water to fill up her lungs, she swam as far away as she could, struggling to come up.

"Gosh, you did that on purpose!" She yelled, her chest heaving up and down as she rubbed her forehead. "Youuu, just you wait." But this time, her short legs made her wade in the water like a penguin whereas he had already reached the other end of the pool. Leaning against the edge, he folded his arms and smirked at her clumsiness. Exactly like she had pictured earlier. Taking in huge gulps of air and changing from a penguin to a gasping fish, she finally gave up, thoroughly exhausted.

"What even is this pool? Why-why is it so big like your---" Suddenly, bubbles erupted around her bottom, hot steam rose upwards and the water warmed like lava as her eyes turned wide. "I swear, this isn't me. I'm not fart---"

"I doubt. You had those issues from the day I married you."

"It was once!" She cried out, turning redder at his deep laugh that reverberated in the entire room. His laughter travelled up her semi-naked body, making her feel excitedly ticklish. Shaking her head as if that would make those feelings go away, she pointed, "Look! The bubbles are everywhere. Is this pool a . . ." Ahanay raised the remote in a surrendering way, his head down as he still laughed. He had to stop laughing. Each burst of laughter made her shiver, it somehow had an easy ticket to enter her body and fill her up with strangeness. "Jacuzzi. All this while you had a jacuzzi kept hidden away while I was rotting in the room next door."

"I didn't know you were miserable here without me."

"It was so boring---" she caught herself at seeing the smug look that deepened on his ridiculously, handsome face. It was the wetness that made him more attractive, his drenched hair, the gloss of his lips and water sliding down his hard chest. Naina craved for a towel to wipe away all of his male beauty so she could speak without stuttering or worse, croaking. "I-I wasn't miserable at all without you. In fact, I had the time of my life."

"Weren't you rotting earlier?"

"I was like an overripe fruit. I enjoyed myself too much and got spoilt."

"Too bad," Ahanay hummed, tapping his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "I was going to take you on a trip to Italy with me."

She clicked her tongue. "We all know where you took me when you promised the Maldives last time."

"Alright then. I'll just send my assistant."

"Wait, really? You were really, really considering taking me?"

"A minute ago. Not anymore."

"To hell with you!" She shouted, swimming as far as possible from him, but not getting out of the water. How could she? The jacuzzi was so damn good that in some minutes, she was fast asleep.

*

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