9 | the shy avyukt Vardan
"She tried to hide the photo. He posted it." ???
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We were standing in the middle of the garden, surrounded by flowers.
Avantika stood a little far from me, and I also made sure to give her some space.
Ruhi looked at us in irritation.
"What are you both doing? Stand a little closer."
Even Siya got frustrated.
"You two are husband and wife. At least stand properly together."
Keeping Avantika's comfort in mind, I quietly took one step closer to her.
But even then, there was still distance between us.
Then suddenly-Avantika moved on her own and came to stand right beside me.
My shirt lightly brushed against the edge of her saree pallu.
My heartbeat instantly sped up.
I straightened immediately and started staring ahead like a statue.
Siya and Ruhi both held their heads dramatically in frustration.
Then Siya rolled her eyes.
"Are you standing for a passport photo or what?"
I got confused.
Now what was I supposed to do?
"Kamar pe haath rakhiye," Siya ordered. (Place your hand on her waist.)
Slowly, I moved my hand behind Avantika near her waist... but still kept a little distance without actually touching her.
Avantika looked at my hand once, then at me, then quietly looked forward again.
Ruhi immediately spoke again.
"Now look at the flowers."
Without thinking, I turned and looked at Avantika instead.
At the same moment-she looked at me too.
For a few seconds, both of us just stared at each other before awkwardly looking away.
Siya sighed loudly.
"Jiju... you're supposed to look at the flowers, not Didi."
After all the photos were clicked, everyone sat together checking them.
And unfortunately-Ruhi had captured the exact moment when my hand hovered near Avantika's waist while she looked at me from the corner of her eyes.
The second Avantika saw that photo-she instantly snatched the phone.
"This one doesn't look good."
I looked at Ruhi while she desperately tried taking the phone back.
But obviously-she failed.
Avantika immediately ran upstairs with the phone.
Siya burst out laughing.
"Didi is impossible to catch. She never lets her bad photos survive."
Ruhi suddenly looked at me suspiciously.
"Bhai... there's nothing weird on your phone, right?"
I had given her my phone during the photoshoot because last time, when photos were clicked from Avantika's phone-I only received selected pictures later.
So this time, I had handed over mine directly.
I walked upstairs toward the room.
Avantika sat on the bed, scrolling through the photos quietly.
Thankfully-everything dangerous had already been hidden earlier.
The right moment she noticed me, she immediately handed my phone back.
"You use Instagram too?"
For a second, I froze.
I did use Instagram... but technically, Ruhi's account was logged into my phone.
I stayed quiet for a moment.
Avantika quickly started explaining herself.
"I only saw it because I was closing the gallery. I didn't touch anything else."
"Haan... I just started using it recently," I replied casually.
The moment I said that, she immediately asked for my ID.
I told her the ID.
I had created the account a long time ago but never really followed anyone.
"Ooh," she said softly. "You don't even follow anybody."
Then she looked at me teasingly.
"But the flowers were nice."
She kept her phone aside casually.
Without wasting another second-I immediately followed her account.
"But I can follow you."
For one awkward second-both of us went completely silent.
Then she quietly accepted my request and followed me back too.
"But how did you know my ID?" she asked suspiciously.
I hesitated slightly before answering.
"Uh... Ruhi told me."
Avantika nodded slowly.
"Ooh. Haan... she follows me."
Then she followed me back.
Later, I walked downstairs while scrolling through my phone.
And that's when I realized something.
Avantika hadn't deleted the photo.
The same photo she had practically run away with earlier.
For some reason-I kept staring at it again and again.
Maybe because it didn't look posed.
It looked real.
Soft.
Domestic.
Dangerously beautiful.
After staring at the photo for almost five whole minutes like an idiot-I finally posted our first picture together.
My first post.
And after hesitating for a few seconds more-I uploaded the same photo to my story too.
The exact photo Avantika had tried hiding earlier.
Barely one second later-my story showed "Seen."
And before I could even react-I heard hurried footsteps coming downstairs.
Avantika appeared in front of me, breathing slightly fast.
Both hands were on her waist while she tried to look angry.
"Delete it. Right now."
Honestly? She looked way too cute trying to act angry.
I somehow stopped myself from smiling.
When glaring at me didn't work-her expression softened slightly.
Then she pouted.
"Please delete it... your office employees follow you there. And anyway, what will you even get from posting this?"
Before I could answer-Ruhi casually walked past toward the kitchen and spoke without even stopping.
"If Bhai had his way, he'd probably get the photo tattooed. Posting it is still normal."
Avantika instantly went quiet.
And somehow-even more pink.
But the funniest part?
After that, she completely forgot to ask me to delete the story again.
Nearby, Siya silently watched everything and then walked dramatically toward us.
"At least tag your wife properly, jiju."
Ruhi immediately joined too.
"Exactly. And what's this boring caption, huh? Just 'Wifey'? First post with your wife and only this much effort? Write something romantic like 'baby' or 'sweetheart'."
Even Siya started laughing now.
"Wait... does that mean jiju never posted stories before? Were you waiting for Didi to follow you first?"
Avantika's entire face turned completely red.
Without saying another word-she immediately turned around and escaped upstairs again.
Behind her, both Ruhi and Siya shouted dramatically together-
"She's blushing!"
I shook my head while trying not to laugh.
Then I pretended to scold both of them before quietly tagging Avantika anyway.
A few seconds later-my heart almost stopped.
She reposted the photo.
Not the story, but still-the moment I tagged her, she saw it instantly.
Which meant-she was definitely staring at it.
A few minutes later, I quietly walked upstairs.
Near the bedroom door, I stopped.
Avantika sat in the middle of the bed, holding her phone carefully.
The song from my story kept replaying softly from her screen again and again.
Either-she was still deciding whether to upload it.
Or maybe... she still couldn't decide what caption to write.