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"It doesn't count if you are already planning your defeat," Jay said glaring at Anvika.
She sighed.
"Jay, what exactly do you want me to do?"
Jayran didn't stop glaring for even a second. He firmly rotated her chair and made her face him. Placing his hands on the backrest, he caged her with his arms.
If his wife was intimidated, she didn't show. Which in itself showed, both her trust in him and their love for each other. Because Jayran, he was told, was positively terrifying when angry. Currently he was annoyed.
Anvika Maurya merely raised her eyebrows.
"Are you trying to scare me into submission?" She asked, her lips twitching.
He pouted and strandled her. "Is it working?"
Grinning, she shook her head.
"Damn! Apart from you there is no one, absolutely no one, who doesn't get scared when I keep them caged. You know that, right?"
He spoke his words seriously, but his eyes belied his words for they were positively swimming with laughter.
Anvika played along. "Should I be worried? Do you usually go around caging women with your arms?" She tried to remain serious but her composure cracked the moment he pressed a kiss behind her ears.
"Jay!"
He laughed. "Only you, love. Only this one woman because no one is even close to your league. "
Anvika smiled.
Jay pressed another kiss, this time on her neck.
"Don't think I am changing the topic, my dear dear little warrior," he breathed on her lips, "Because I am not."
He straightened and pierced her with a look.
"So...why would you not participate in the dance competition?"
Anvika sighed and rested her forehead on his chest.
"Jay...Jay, I have not danced in ten years. Not since the last time on the college fest. I abandoned dancing, Jay. I sacrificed it. I...You cant just take back what you sacrificed. That's not how things work."
Her voice almost slipped to a whine at the end. She was being petulant...maybe...probably. Or maybe she was just being a stubborn mule.
"And that much gap means I dont even remember things. This isn't easy. Dancing, I mean. It is an art. I am not going to defile it by not doing any practice and just going on stage and doing it. I will lose the competition anyways."
"A load of…" Jay trailed off, his upbringing not allowing him to speak in such a cheap manner.
He sighed.
"It isn't sacrifice, Ann. What you are doing is called wasted potential. I swear, Charan wouldn't want you to do that. I don't even have to meet your brother to know this fact. So stop being a stubborn gift and get cracking, you idiot!"
Anvika just stuck her tongue out.
"If you want it so badly, tell your sons and daughters. There are 4 of them. There should be some use of having kids," she complained.
This earned her a harsh bite on her ear.
"Ouch! You sadist."
A smile twitched on Jay's lips.
"I'll show you what a sadist I am, you ungrateful brat," he said, getting up and giving her enough time to stand up and allow the blood to flow properly again.
"I swear, " she said backing away from him, "if you mess up my room you will be cleaning the house for one week straight."
With an impish grin, Jay charged.
Anvika squealed and fled out of the room. Probably didnt want to risk messing up her office.
Jay knew he could catch her in three strides if he so wished. She knew it too. But where is the fun in that?
So they play their game. Their very own Tom and Jerry game.
Anvika had successfully managed to place the sofa between them and was now standing there grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Ha! You think if I can't reach you directly, the tickle monster won't attack you?" Jay asked with a sneer. "You just wait! You have annoyed the god of awesomeness. You are about to feel his wrath."
Laughing, Anvika ran again, when he moved to her side of the sofa. Her squeals of laughter echoed in the house, just the way Jay preferred it.
He didn't let the game continue for too long. Just fifteen minutes. By then Ann had reached the backyard. So he tackled her down.
Ann was laughing so much, she stumbled on her own feet and they both fell down.
"Ow, Jay," but her words got cut off by her laughter. "Jay, stop. You…"
Jayran himself was laughing almost as much as she was. Because that's just how they were. Weird, insane, utterly stupid. But totally in love.
He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her forehead. Grinning she buried her face into his chest.
"Alright," she said.
"Alright?" He echoed.
"Alright. I'll participate. But you will have to do all the things that I normally do. Because I am NOT dancing without full on practice before. Which means removing the cobwebs from long learned lessons."
Jay grinned so wide, he was afraid he was going to split his face. He couldn't really explain how happy he was. He hated it when his Ann underestimated herself. Or made it seem like she was not really his equal. Or suppressed her talents because his grandmother thought a wife shouldn't be smarter than her husband. Such stupidity he has never heard. One would assume a learned woman like his wife would be above such thoughts. But one should never underestimate the strength of peer pressure. So great is that.
But he didn't say any of these. Because he knew she already knew these things. Just like he at times needed her to put him in his place when he started acting too much like a git, she needed him to give her a boost whenever she got plagued by her insecurities. And he took that job seriously.
And because both of them knew both these things without saying anything, he merely kissed her firmly, fervently, pouring all his admiration, respect and love for her into that kiss. And she responded in like.
It can be ten years or twenty. But Jayran and Anvika loved each other for more than their looks. More than their money. More than their youth. So for them, each day was a new story. And because she understood that, Jay loved her all the more for it.
"So...when do I get to see you dance?" He asked impishly.
She looked at him with a smirk. "I knew it. I knew, it wasn't just your sudden desire to see me win the best female dancer of the town competition. Of course you wanted to see me dance."
He grinned. "Is that bad?"
Ann rolled her eyes. "No you dunderhead. All you had to do was ask. Why the trouble of all this drama?"
Jay frowned. "It wasn't a drama," he told her firmly, "I do want you to win this. And I do think you are wasting such an excellent talent. This is just a plus. Don't do it if you are simply doing it because I said so."
Ann just smiled and kissed him again.
"Don't worry, your highness. That cup will be sitting on our shelf. Then you will take me to that date you promised." With a very pointed look, she flipped her hair and skipped away. Back into the house. And all Jay could do was grin.
Man, he just loved this woman.