Sunday,

Iti and Shiv's bedroom

Iti woke up and rubbed her eyes to get the sleepiness away.As she sat on the bed still wrapped up in the blanket she could feel the chilly weather.

This was totally opposite of Mumbai because in Mumbai she had to use AC every single day otherwise it would be hot but since coming here in Udaipur Iti hasn't even dared to turn on the fan for even once because of how chilly it was.

She couldn't wait to get ready,have her breakfast and snuggle into a cosy chair reading her unfinished book,she could video call her family later on to talk to them and then again continue to read her book.

This felt like a perfect day for her.

Her gaze then landed on the other side of the bed,which surprisingly wasn't empty as it has been since the past few days.

Shiv was sleeping peacefully without any worry,snuggled up into the warm blanket with just his face visible,he didn't seem like the imposing and intimidating personality he showed himself to be.

He might be tired because of yesterday's game,she concluded and decided to quietly get ready for the day.

She quietly made her way into the bathroom,had a warm and relaxing bath and then changed into yet another beautiful yet light saree and draped another shawl around herself to protect her from the chilly morning.

She got ready and Shiv was still sleeping,she decided not to disturb him and leave the room letting him sleep peacefully.

"Good morning Nanisa Hukum"Iti said immediately as she spotted the elderly lady sitting in the living room.

"Good morning beta"Nanisa Hukum said kindly with a warmth in her voice which made Iti feel at ease instantly.

"Pratap abhi tak so rahe h?"Nanisa Hukum asked and Iti nodded her head at that.

"Aaiye,aap hamare saath bethiye"Nanisa Hukum said and Iti nodded and joined her in the living room as she occupied the other sofa.

"Toh aapko kal ka match kesa laga?"Nanisa Hukum asked.

"Kaafi acha tha"Iti said not knowing how to frame it in other way.

"Acha h,wese bhi hum bht busy rehte h party ke kaam se isliye kayi baar Pratap ka match dekhne nhi jaa paate,woh bolte nhi h pr upset ho jaate h jab koi nhi aata unka match dekhne ke liye....abse aap chali jaiyega jab bhi unka match ho tab,unhe accha lagega"Nanisa Hukum said and Iti nodded at that.

Well she had never thought he felt anything.The way he portrays himself seems to be too practiced,it was as if his emotions are always in control,he never let's the other person know what he is feeling.

But then offcourse he was a human being,he was bound to feel something.And offcourse if he is doing something he might want his family or someone close to him be there to support him.

"Good morning Nanisa Hukum"Shiv said as he too approached the ladies and settled beside his grandmother who smiled at him and greeted him back.

"Acha hua aap bhi aa gaye jaldi se......Iti aaj aapki pehli rasoi krne wale h hum,itne din se soch rahe the pr hume laga aapko thoda adjust hone ke liye time dena chahiye,pr ab hame lagta h ki sahi waqt h aapki pehli rasoi krne ka"Nanisa Hukum said making the colors vanish from Iti's face.

Her gaze instantly for some unknown reason went to Shiv who too stared at her.

"Ji Nanisa Hukum"Iti said as she got up from the sofa.

"Aapko sirf kuch meetha banana h Iti,phir usse ekling ji ko bhog lagana h"Nanisa Hukum said with a smile and Iti tried to reciprocate it as she nodded her head at that.

She made her way towards the kitchen and sighed deeply.

She can't cook.

She has never even entered the kitchen at her home for even making maggie.

There were so many people at her home that's why she never felt she should learn to cook,both her parents cooked brillantly and so Iti has always just sat down and eaten the dishes made by them.

Also even her mother or anyone else in the family ever asked her to learn to cook.

She can't even make a normal dish and here Nanisa Hukum has asked her to cook a sweet dish.

She was completely going to fail and maybe this time Nanisa Hukum would definitely get angry and scold her for not even being able to cook a simple sweet dish.

A smile crept on her face when she instantly got an idea.

Google.

The solution to her every problem.

She can just watch the recipe on YouTube and make it, atleast she will make something edible maybe?

She instantly looked for her phone and sighed in sadness when she remembered that her mobile phone was in the living room where Nanisa Hukum and Shiv are currently sitting.

She can't even get it,what would they think of her?

They would definitely get to know that she is using YouTube or some other thing.

She could have called her mother too if only she had her phone with her,her mother surely would have had the most simple recipe she could have cooked as a beginner.

Why was her luck so rotten?

If only Nanisa Hukum had told her this a day earlier Iti would have definitely seen a lot of videos and read a lot of recipes.

She heard footsteps and saw Shiv entering the kitchen.

He will know now that she can't cook.

Ways to embarrass yourself Iti.

She quickly took a utensil and kept it on the stove so that he thinks she knows what she is doing.

"Aapko kuch chahiye tha?"Iti asked so that he can leave soon.

"Paani"Shiv said as he stood near the kitchen counter.

Iti turned and grabbed the water jar and filled a glass of water for him and forwarded it to him.

Shiv thanked her and left the kitchen.

Iti spotted her phone kept on the counter.

This was definitely not here a min ago!

Did he brought it?

How?

Did he knew she needed help with the cooking?

Did he by mistake kept it here?

But why would he carry her phone in the first place?

She should worry about it later,she should worry about her cooking for now.

Iti immediately opened YouTube and searched how to make Aatte ka halwa because amongst the many jars of powder she could identify wheat flour the best,plus it seemed easy to make.

The recipe rolled in and Iti played the video keeping the mobile's volume low so that nobody heard her.

Finding the stuff was a lil challenging but because the kitchen was so well kept she didn't find it that hard to locate all the ingredients.

"Now add powdered sugar into the pan and mix it"

The next instruction came and Iti immediately pulled the sugar box and emptied the same amount as asked in the video.Her eyes solely focused on the video as she kept stirring her own halwa.

Finally when it was done,it didn't seem that bad when looked at it, obviously if the same thing would have been cooked by her mother the delicious aroma would have travelled all across the kitchen and living room but Iti can't expect the same to happen when she has cooked it.

She just simply garnished it with the almonds and cashews and sighed in relief.



Finally she was done.

She didn't taste it because it was to be placed infront of the god first and then only they all could taste it.

So she did just that and then served them into three lil bowls for the three of them.

The househelp laid down the breakfast and the trio settled down to have it.

"Arre wah!dekhne mein toh bht badiya lag raha h"Nanisa Hukum said making Iti feel a lil proud of herself.

She won't lie,she has followed the instructions correctly and the halwa did looked good.

She can't expect praise for it but it surely would be edible and good to some extent.

Shiv took the first bite and Iti waited patiently for him to say something or see his reaction.

But nothing came,he ate it with a straight face making her eyes fall down.

She wanted some praise!

She had cooked for the first time after all!

"Kesa h Pratap?"Nanisa Hukum asked and Iti eagerly stared at him.

"Bht accha h"Shiv said making a smile appear on her lips.

"Hum bhi chak kar dekhte h"Nanisa Hukum said but Shiv stopped her immediately.

"Aapko meetha khana allowed nhi h Nanisa Hukum"Shiv said as he forwarded his hand and took the bowl of halwa from her plate.

She widened her eyes at him in surprise.

"Arre pr chakhne toh dijiye kam se kam,hamari Bahu ne pehli baar kuch banaya h"Nanisa Hukum said but Shiv shook his head in denial at that.

"Nhi,aapki pichle baar ki reports bht kharab aayi thi, doctor ne saaf mana kiya h aapse kuch bhi meetha khane se"Shiv said looking at her making her sigh.

"Ab unhone hame paros diya h,waste ho jayega woh"His Nanisa said trying a different tactic but Shiv shook his head in denial at that.

"Hum khaa lenge,waste nhi hoga"Shiv said as he took a bite from the other bowl also making her sigh.

"Iti yaha aaiye"Nanisa Hukum said as she called Iti near her.

Iti did as asked and stood beside her chair.Nanisa pulled out a set of bangles and made Iti wear them.

"Yeh Pratap ki maa ke the,abse aapke huye.....bhale aapke pati ne hame halwa khana na diya ho,hame aapko shagun toh dena hi padega na"Nanisa Hukum said the last part narrowing her eyes at Shiv who ignored it and again took a bite of the halwa making her roll her eyes at his antics.

"Hame ek zaruri meeting se Jaipur jaana h,aap dono naashta kijiye"Nanisa Hukum said making the duo nod.

"Aur aap,apni biwi ko unka shagun dijiyega"Nanisa Hukum ordered and Shiv nodded his head at that as he took another bite of the halwa.

Once Nanisa Hukum left Iti again sat on the dining table beside him and decided to herself taste the halwa.

Before Shiv could stop her she took a bite and immediately spit it on the tissues kept there.

She stared at Shiv in disbelief.

How can he eat it?

It was too salty.

She had by mistakenly added salt instead of sugar.

"Chodiye isse,mat khaiye"Iti said as she took the bowl from his plate and even took the spoon he was about to eat.

"Wapas kijiye usse Iti"Shiv said but she shook her head in denial.

"Nhi,yeh khane layak nhi h!mat khaiye aapka pett kharab ho sakta h isse"Iti said but he simply took the bowl back from her and ate yet another spoonful of halwa.

She widened her eyes at his behaviour.

Was he mad?

"Chodiye usse Shiv,yeh khane layak nhi h"Iti again said and tried to pull the bowl back from her.

Why was he hell bent on eating this awful halwa?

"Shiv mat khaiye na usse!"Iti pleaded this time but he didn't listen and ate the last bite of the halwa too.

She kept staring at him as he gulped down water to get that taste out of his mouth.

"Itna kharab tha,aap kese khaa sakte h isse?"Iti asked as she saw that he had actually eaten both the bowls of the halwa,one his own and the second one which he had taken from his Nanisa's plate.

Nanisa Hukum.

Thank god he had denied her from having it,she would have scolded Iti a lot for making such a mistake.

"Thali mein jitna bhi ho woh sab pura khana chahiye,annaa ka apmaan nhi krte"Shiv said and Iti really liked his morals but not this time.

"Annaa itna bura ho tab bhi nhi?"Iti couldn't help but ask making him chuckle.

"Jesa bhi ho khaa lena chahiye,bht logo ko yeh bhi naseeb nhi hota"Shiv said.

"Aisa khana kisi ko naseeb na ho toh hi accha h"Iti said making him laugh again.

She felt embarrassed suddenly.

What would he be thinking of her now?

She can't even make a simple halwa correctly.

"Hame khana banana nhi aata,pr hum seekh lenge....aap dekhiyega agli baar hum pakka accha halwa banayengey aur aapko Nanisa Hukum ko khane se rokna bhi nhi padega"Iti said because she knew he had purposely stopped Nanisa Hukum from having even a bite of the halwa.

Just to save her from the elderly woman's scoldings.

"It's okay,iske baad aapko koi kuch banane ke liye nhi kehnewala h"Shiv said with amusement in his voice.

"Nhi hum sach mein seekh lenge Shiv,agli baar pakka accha banayenge"She yet again said.

"Aapko seekhne ki zarurat nhi h,iss haveli mein bht saara staff h,woh h yeh sab krne ke liye"Shiv said looking at her who looked down at her plate.

"Thank you,agar Nanisa Hukum khaa leti yeh halwa toh pakka hame daant deti"Iti said making him smile.

"Aapke liye nhi kiya tha humne yeh,hum nhi chahte the hamari Nanisa Hukum aisa halwa khaakr bimar pad jaye"He said purposely to tease her and that worked because she stared at him with a cute frown on her face.

But then that frown vanished too.

"Sahi keh rahe h aap"She said making him smile

at her antics.

"It's okay Iti,hume bhi khana banana nhi aata koi badi baat nhi h ismein"Shiv said as he got up as he was done with his breakfast.

Iti stared at his retreating figure and couldn't help but smile.

He was nice.

Very nice actually.