And just like that everything was ok

image courtesy: Pinterest

She woke up with a gloom. Sat in the bed for a while. Then climbed down from their cosy loft and went into the kitchen. He wasn't around. She wrapped a shawl and stepped out of their small cabin and slowly walked towards the woodwork shelter. He was there spinning the wooden blocks on the knob, turning them into beautiful beads. She weakly walked towards him and planted herself on a stump in front. He glanced at her through his protective glasses and gave that 'grumpy oldman looking through a bifocal' kind of funny look. She just stared blankly back at him. By now he knew, that a frown was easy to tackle, the absence of smile was easily reversible, but her poker blank face with her wide eyes fixed numbingly into his, meant something was really wrong. She wasn't the kind who expressed pain very openly.

"What's the matter?" he asked looking back at his wooden beads.

"I don't know", she murmured in melancholy. "I don't quite feel right. Just wanted to be held."

He looked up at her again. This time she was staring at her feet. Looking like sorry child, shy and guilty of feeling weakness. "I have to finish this. I can't shut the spinner off in the middle. You understand right?" he asked her as lovingly as possible.

She looked up at him with her wide, teary, piercing eyes with a blank stare and simply nodded yes.

"Why don't you go back to bed and take some rest." he suggested, again cautiously sounding loving.

"What about supper? she asked "Don't worry about it I will make something." he assured.

She left his work station heavily and went back to bed and buried herself under the blanket, only sparing a portion of her face, so that she could stare out of the window.

He finished the piece in his hand with an unsettled energy. He knew there was no sense in working in such a distracted state of mind. He shut off the spinner and went to the cabin.

"Hmm, this should be easy" he thought. In the kitchen he lit up the fire and prepared a pot of rasam. She always made and kept rassam powder ready, all he had to do was add vegetables and water and make another pot of rice. The supper was ready in 20 mins.

20 long mins that she had been staring out the window, needing to, but unable to cry. unable to understand what was wrong, but feeling everything painfully incomplete. "He would have come if he didn't have work, if just shutting the spinner mid way was possible, wouldn't he? or did he not believe me?" Just when she decided to pinch herself to make the tears finally flow out, he came into the loft with the tray again.

Are you asleep? wake up wake up! he said and saw that she was already wide awake with the same blank face and her beady black eyes wide open staring at nothing. He kept the tray on window sill and scooted next to her in the bed. The waft of rassam filled her nostrils and she turned her gaze to him.

"Finally he is here and that too with rassam rice." she thought to herself and gave him a shy smile. They ate in bed and in silence, staring away at the window. she got up to clear the plates and tray.

"Let it be." he said and pull her back into the bed. "Didn't you want to be just held?" he asked her with a big smile.

She smiled back and snuggled back into the bed. He held her tight and she literally carved her space into him.

They both slept deeply through the day. He woke up late in the afternoon. He looked at her and she was still deeply asleep. Her face lit by the late noon sun, not blank like in the morning but with a rare peacefulness. He made a pillow fortress around her and went away.

In the evening she woke up to find pillows all around her and a short silly laugh escaped her mouth. Just as she was thinking of getting up he came back to the loft this time with the beautiful smell of Roselle coffee. He kept the tray on sill, pulled out the pillows and crawled under the blankets. Handed her, her cup and took his own. Stared out of their big loft window and skylight, sipped the coffee and gave out loud sigh.

She held her warm cup in both her hands, looked at him in half disbelief and half wonder. He looked at her face next to his shoulder and smiled, put an arm around her and pulled her closer. She smiled, sipped her coffee and once again she literally carved into him, her space. Together they sipped their coffee and watched the last of the day light vanish into the horizon. And just like that everything was ok.