Page 74 of Made in Mumbai

Last night he had read about pregnancy problems. Nausea was apparently a first trimester thing.

“I don’t vomit still but… it’s just become a habit. Oh wow…” she moaned, closing her eyes and throwing her nose up in the air. “Make more of that please.”

“What? Coffee?” He smirked, taking a sip. “You didn’t have in the morning?”

“I can’t.”

“But you are allowed 200 mg per day…” he bit his tongue. Now she wouldn’t let him live this down.

“How do you know that?”

“General knowledge.”

“G.”

“Fine, I read up. But I need to know all this because we are living together. If something happens, I should know what’s going on. Like last time…”

Instead of making fun of him, she walked towards him and flung herself into his arms. Thankfully his cup was on the platform. “Thank you,” she whispered into his neck. He circled his arms around her, bracing her back and taking all the weight she had held on her toes. A second, two seconds, and then his mouth dipped into the waves of her hair, his lips touching her bare shoulder. His eyes closed. She sniffled.

“Are you crying?”

“Hormones,” she pulled back, rubbing delicately in the corners of her eyes to keep whatever little makeup she had intact. “You can’t make fun of me though.”

He chuckled, rubbing a trail from the side of her nose — “I won’t. Now, are we ready to go?”

“Yes. You leave with your tiffin, I’ll follow in a rickshaw.”

“Why?”

“We can’t let anybody at the office know we live together!”

“And who will be there at 8?”

“You never know! What if Leo is early. Or what if the watchman tells everybody. Or what if…”

“Ok, Maya, zip it. I am not spending my morning fighting with you over this. Get your things together and let’s go.In my car.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!”

Gautam glanced around, zeroed in on her bag with her wallet and phone, and grabbed it.

“Give it back!” She lunged.

“Be careful,” he laughed, running around the counter and towards the door.

“Gautam!! Come back! I’m going to kill you.”

“Get the tiffins, I’ve got everything else,” he hollered, walking out of his house to angry animal grunts coming from the cutest mouth that claimed it was next in line for Sangeet Samrat.

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