Chapter 15 You Belong with Me
DIVYA
The kitchen smells like soy sauce and ginger by the time I finally turn the stove off. For a moment I just stand there, staring at the pan like it might suddenly reveal whether this was a good idea or not.
Paneer chilli.
I poke one cube cautiously with the spoon. It looks… decent. Not restaurant-level impressive obviously, but also not something that would send a person running for medical help.
Which, in my book, counts as success. I wipe my hands on the edge of the towel and glance at the clock.
It’s almost twelve. Neel is at school. Aditya is at work.
And I am standing in my kitchen packing lunch for my husband. The thought makes me snort softly. If someone had told me a month ago I would willingly be cooking for someone and trying new dishes, I would have laughed them out of the room.
Yet here I am.
Carefully spooning paneer chilli into a steel container and arranging it next to two warm rotis wrapped in foil.
I pause before closing the lid. What if he hates it?
No. He liked the noodles. Actually, he said they were “beyond seven.” Which still makes me smile every time I remember it.
I snap the lid shut before I can overthink this any further and slide the container into a small cloth bag. Then I grab my keys.
The walk there takes about fifteen minutes. It’s warm outside, the afternoon sun hanging lazily above the buildings, and the streets are quieter than usual because most people are still at work.
I keep rehearsing what I’ll say.
I was passing by.
No.
That sounds suspicious.
I thought you might forget to eat.
That sounds worse. By the time I reach the building, I still haven’t figured it out. The receptionist at the front desk looks up when I step inside. She smiles instantly as if she recalls me.
“Hi,” I say awkwardly. “I’m looking for Aditya.”
She instructs. “Second floor.”
I thank her and climb the stairs. The hallway upstairs is lined with glass doors and shelves filled with books stacked in uneven piles.
The air smells faintly of paper and coffee. Voices drift from somewhere down the corridor.
I follow the sound. And then I see him. Aditya is standing near one of the desks, leaning slightly against it while talking to a woman I’ve never seen before.
She’s probably around my age. Maybe a little older. Her hair is tied in a messy bun, and she’s holding a manuscript in one hand while gesturing animatedly with the other.
Aditya laughs at something she says. Not the polite laugh he gives strangers. The real one. That I have seen and happen to like it too much. The one that makes his shoulders shake slightly.
Something in my chest tightens unexpectedly. I stop walking.
They’re clearly in the middle of a conversation. The woman nudges his arm playfully with the manuscript.
“See? I told you that ending was ridiculous.”
Aditya grins. “It was not ridiculous.”
“You asked the author to make the protagonist cry for ten pages.”
“He had emotional depth.”
“He had emotional exhaustion.” He laughs again.
The sound echoes down the hallway. I shift my weight awkwardly, suddenly feeling very aware of the lunch bag in my hand.
I wasn’t expecting…This. Not that they’re doing anything wrong. They’re just talking. Laughing. Like colleagues do. He probably knows her since a long time, definetly more than me. Still. For some reason the sight of it sits strangely in my stomach.
The woman says something else I can’t quite hear. Aditya shakes his head.
“You’re impossible.”
“So I’ve been told.” She smiles at him.
And something in my brain decides that is a very unnecessary amount of smiling. Before I can talk myself out of it, I step forward.
Aditya notices me immediately. His entire face changes. “Divya?” The surprise in his voice is genuine.
The woman turns around too. “Oh.” For a second I consider turning around and pretending I got the wrong building. But that would be ridiculous. So instead I walk closer.
“Hi.”
Aditya straightens. “What are you doing here?”
I hold up the bag. “I brought you lunch.”
For a second he just stares at it. Then his expression softens into something that makes the tight feeling in my chest loosen slightly.
“You did?”
“Don’t get used to it,” I say quickly.
The woman beside him watches the exchange with obvious interest.
Aditya clears his throat. “Divya, this is Rhea.”
Rhea waves cheerfully. “Hi.”
“This is my wife.” The word still sounds new when he says it.
Rhea’s eyebrows shoot up. “Oh wow.”
Then she grins.
“So you’re the famous Divya.”
I blink. “I’m… what?”
Rhea laughs. “Aditya talks about his wife all the time.”
Aditya groans. “That’s not true.”
“Oh it absolutely is.” She turns back to me. “He’s been unbearable since he got married.” My ears feel warm.
Aditya rubs the back of his neck. “Rhea is exaggerating.”
“I am not.” She leans closer to me conspiratorially.
“Last week he rejected an entire manuscript because he thought you wouldn't like the book."
“That’s not what happened.”
“It is exactly what happened.”
I look between them. Then at Aditya.
“So you’re rejecting people based on my likings now?”
He sighs. “I’m surrounded by bullies.”
Rhea pats his shoulder. “You deserve it.”
I can’t help smiling. The tension I felt earlier dissolves quietly somewhere along the way.
Aditya gestures toward the lunch bag. “What did you bring?”
I hand it to him.
“Paneer chilli.”
His eyes widen slightly. “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“You made this?”
I look away, “I know how to cook, Aditya.” I whisper, "Besides, I wanted to try...for you."
“Thank you,” he whisper as he steps closer and using his thumb he moves my face so that I meet his eyes, "you don't have to do this, I like cooking for you."
"Oh, this is very temporary, Mr. Gupta, I do not enjoy cooking anyways." He chuckles and guides us inside his office. As soon as we are seated on the bean bags placed in the corner of his office he opens the container.
Aditya takes a bite. Then another. He looks up at me. “This is really good.”
Relief floods through me so quickly I almost laugh. “Better than seven?”
“It's always much better.”
I look at him as he eats peacefully, offering bites to me in between which I deny because I don't seem to have my appetite. “You seem to like her.” I whisper.
Aditya frowns, "who?" He says mid-bite.
"Rhea," I mention.
“She’s a good editor.” He takes another bite. “Also very annoying.”
I lean at the wall behind us, "You laughed a lot.”
He pauses. Then looks up at me slowly. “Were you jealous?”
The question catches me off guard. “Of course not.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire. He raises an eyebrow. “You look like you are two seconds away from challenging her to a dual."
“That is not true.”
“It absolutely is.”
I cross my arms. “You were laughing with her.”
“That’s what people do when someone tells a joke.”
“Well maybe the joke wasn’t that funny.” I pout. I am being so stupid.
Aditya stares at me for a second. Then starts laughing again.
“Divya.”
“What?”
“You’re adorable when you’re jealous.”
“I am not jealous.”
“Sure.”
“I just didn't like it.” The words slip out before I can stop them.
He goes quiet. The teasing expression fades from his face. Instead something softer replaces it. For a moment we just sit there in silence. Then he reaches out and gently takes my hand.
"The only one I want is you, Divya." He squeezes my fingers lightly.
"I am sorry if that hurt you in any way, but trust me if there's someone in this world I had spend all my time with, it's you and Neel.
" I look at him, searching his face for any lies but the way he's looking at me, it seems like I am truly the only one he sees.
He leans in pressing his lips on mine, I taste the garlic from the panner chilli but there's literally nothing that can stop me from kissing this man. "You're all I want, my wife." He says as he rests his forehead against mine.
I smile, "I am sorry for being so..."
He laughs, "Oh I love whatever you were being," he smirks, "I am your possession, Divya, you have wrapped me around your little fingers." He winks and I swat his chest, chuckling.
“But, on all serious notes, I belong to you, my beautiful wife.” He kisses my forehead and pulls me to his side.
“Next time,” he says, “I’ll cook for you.”
I tilt my head.
“You cook for me every day.”
“Then I’ll cook something better.”
I smile.
“Now you’re just showing off.”