Only Mine
Chapter 25: Timely Opportunities

The train swayed a bit harder, the air conditioning already turning the cabin cold enough to demand a thin blanket, and Naina folded her saree, stuffing it along with the blouse and underskirt inside her bag. She knew there would be hell to pay as soon as she opened the cabin door… Sameer wouldn’t take lightly to being pushed out like that. But what else she could have done? Every minute she spent with him she was losing her will to wait and her self-control both… She was worried that if he demanded a kiss she would agree, and then their first kiss would be on the train… Wouldn’t that be epic? A kiss without a love confession in the middle of nowhere in a moving train… Such things only happened in books… Dramatic first meetings and then kiss… But this was real life, and real love, so she still needed to figure out how to confess it to him… And also why couldn’t he just say that he loved her? What was he waiting for?

Sighing she opened the cabin door to find him right outside, leaning on the opposite side, his hands crossed, a leg bent at the knee. The posture wasn’t that of a pissed man, but of one who had already calculated his moves, and the smirk on his face was a declaration that it was his turn now. A shiver ran down her body, and something coiled inside her belly, as he straightened and walked up to her. She stepped back while he moved forward, until they were inside the cabin, and he closed and locked the door, never leaving her eyes even for a moment.

Her tone was a breathy whisper as she asked, “what are you going to do?”

He smiled, amused that she knew he was going to do something, and murmured, “change…”

She looked puzzled, “I just changed…”

“Not you honey”, he said in a deep tone, leaning a bit to look in her eyes, “me…”

She gulped, “you changed too…”

“Yeah, just the shirt”, he whispered, pursing his lips to blow near her ear, “have to change my jeans too…” Her eyes widened, and he stepped back a bit, his hand on his belt buckle, “And I am not a spoil sport like you… I am generous… So you… honey… you get to watch.”

Her eyes were so big and round that he felt they would just pop out any moment, like in the cartoons. Trying to control his laughter, he pulled out the extra bit of strap of his belt, as if ready to unbuckle. She made a squeaking sound, and squeezed her eyes shut, turning away from him for good measure. He edged close behind her, making sure to let his body brush against her, just barely enough, like a whisper of air, and was gratified on hearing her gasp. Continuing to tease her, he leaned, placing his chin on her shoulder, and scraped his finger-nail on the zip of his jeans, “can you hear it? I am…”

However before he could continue further, there was a knock on the cabin door, and the TC announced his arrival. Sameer cursed, quickly moving back, and adjusting his belt, and Naina heaved a sigh of relief. As soon as he opened the door, and the TC entered, she escaped citing that she needed to go the bathroom. But Sameer had spotted the color on her cheeks and the way her eyes had, just for a second, darted towards his zipper.

The TC checked the tickets, crossed off at the corner with his pen, and then returned them. Sameer spotted something interesting, and asked, “what’s that?”

“Hahahaa”, the TC laughed, “just something I bought from a fair for my kids.”

Sameer’s eyes lit up with an idea, “can I borrow it? I will return it safely to you when we reach Mumbai in morning. But just to assure you, I am still ready to pay the full cost.”

The TC chuckled, and handed over the thing to him, “it is hardly even 30 rupees. Here… You can borrow it. No need to give money, but please return it safely.”

“I promise”, Sameer smiled, “thank you so much.”

He knew he didn’t have much time before Naina came back, so as soon as the TC left, he quickly set to work. Just a couple of things here and there, and then he was done… Suddenly he felt something in his heart, as if he could hear her footsteps, which was absolutely impossible… But still he started to pull the pillows and bedsheets, waiting, and sure enough in just a few seconds the cabin door slid open and she was standing there.

Wow… what was that Sameer?

He had no idea how he got to know that she was coming… It was as if his heart sensed her. Was it possible? Nah… it was just a fluke. Surely… So he shrugged off the idea, and grinned at her, “ready to continue?”

“Shut up”, she reprimanded, “Let’s get the food, I am hungry.”

He chuckled, “naturally… I wish you needed something more than food for your hunger.”

She rolled her eyes, pulling out the bag of food, “can you ever think of something else?”

“Before I have you?” He queried, seemed to think, and then declared, “naah… the idea of having you is more appealing than having real food.”

She smiled impishly, “well then… I get to eat all the food myself while you fill your tummy with your idea.”

He shrugged, not the least bit afraid, “sure… if you can eat without feeding me too.”

She opened the tiffin, taking out the dinner Chachiji had packed, and made a huge show of spreading it out on the seat. He just sat there, leaning back on the seat, staring at the ceiling as if there was something very interesting there. She tore off a bit of roti, dipped it in sabji, and lifted it to her mouth, but didn’t eat… waiting… hoping… But he didn’t say anything. She sighed, giving up, and moved her hand to his mouth, “here… eat.”

He looked at her, grinned, and then obediently ate the food from her hand. “Ass”, she muttered with a smile. He chuckled, taking a bit to roti to feed her, “and you have got a fine one.”

She laughed, “which one? Behind me or in-front of me.”

He smirked, “both are fine honey… but the one behind you is for me.”

She couldn’t help but ask, “did they teach you flirting in that school of yours?”

“No”, he promptly replied, “I graduated flirting-101 when I was in kindergarten.”

She laughed aloud, wondering how he never failed to charm her with his answers. After dinner as they cleared, she sighed, “one thing bad about first class is that there are barely any food vendors. I feel like having chocolate.”

He pinched her nose, “you don’t need vendor for chocolates honey… you need boyfriend.” She frowned, confused and then squealed in delight as he pulled out an Amul bar, one dairy milk and a pack of gems from the bag.

“Wow”, she exclaimed, jumping up to wrap her arms around his neck, and hugged him tight. He handed over all the chocolates to her, extremely pleased with himself that he had thought to buy these for her.

He watched her open the Amul bar, and stared with interest as she took a bite, “aren’t you going to feed me?”

She quirked a brow, offering the chocolate to him, “bite… it isn’t melted.”

“Such a shame”, he commented, taking a small bite out of it.

She laughed, “bad luck lover boy.”

He smirked, grabbing her hand, and pulling her to him across the seat, “I know how to change my luck…”

She watched the glitter in his eyes with interest, and couldn’t resist asking, “how?”

Glad that she wanted to know more, he bit off a small bit of chocolate with his teeth and then took it on his fingers, rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger until it was mushy… “What are you…”, she started to ask, but he swiped his fingers on the side of her neck, smearing the chocolate on her skin.

“That’s how”, he murmured, “shall I?”

Her heart thudded with anticipation and she had no idea how to reply to him… yes, how… not what… because she didn’t even think of saying no. Unable to give a verbal reply she just closed her eyes and waited. He smiled, moving aside her hair with one hand, tilted his head to the side, and dipped. A small peck on her ear made her suck in a gulp of breath, and then his lips trailed down the side of her throat. The open mouthed kisses left a trail of fire on her flesh, and she clung to his shoulder, biting her lips to control the sound that threatened to erupt from her mouth. One long finger slid the neckline of her top a bit, baring her shoulder to his lips, while his other hand at her waist, seemed to gather her closer, until she was pressed flush to him.

“Sameer”, she couldn’t control the sighing moan when he nibbled at the curve of her shoulder.

He stopped, dragging in much needed breath, hugging her, burying his face in her hair, and hoarsely whispered, “you should say no… I cannot control every time honey.”

She stroked his back, trying to calm him, “sorry… I couldn’t.”

He drew back from her and smiled, “I don’t know whether to be happy about it or not… Well… One year to go…”

She queried, “for what?”

“Our wedding”, he replied, “I know date is not fixed but it should be after our college ends.”

She took another bite of the chocolate, “three things… first, we will not get married until you propose… second, we will not get married in summer, it has to be monsoon… third, are you really going to wait until we are married?”

The replies he had to the first two statements of hers dried on his lips as he heard her last question. He tentatively quizzed, “you want it before?”

“I haven’t thought”, she mused, totally serious, “we will definitely kiss before, but about other… umm… things… I don’t know.”

He was amazed at her practical tone… It was as if they were discussing some event and not an extremely personal thing. He suddenly recalled how she had termed the attraction between them in school, weird chemical disturbance. Yeah, his Naina was always the practical one. Wanting to know more he asked, “when will you decide?”

She shrugged, finishing off the chocolate, “I am still just stuck on the kiss… let’s see. Shall we sleep?”

He shook his head, “I suppose there is no other option. You let me know when you have finally decided upon the date and time for kiss.”

“Don’t tease me”, she swatted his shoulder, “I just meant… considering your repeated demands, I have been thinking about it a lot lately.”

He chuckled and stood up to check if the bags were stowed properly and then went to the opposite berth, “good… the more you think the sooner it happens. Now sleep… Good Night.”

“Good Night”, she smiled, flicked the light off, and lay down, her mind still occupied. How would she know what was the right time to kiss? She had just started to drift off with dreams of kisses and rains, when suddenly there was a strange sound. Her eyes popped open; it seemed like scratching sound… nails scraping on iron… a bit like screeching… But who would do that here? She looked across at Sameer who was sleeping with both his legs bent at the knees, his hands raised beneath his head… He seemed to be deeply asleep. She kept watching him, but he didn’t move at all, and soon there was that sound again. A flashing light caught her attention, and she looked up on the luggage berth above Sameer… Two small neon green dots were blinking on and off… They looked as if… as if eyes of some creature…

Naina… you idiot… what are you thinking… it is nothing.

She determinedly closed her eyes, but the next moment a cold drop fell on her hand. What was that? Water… But she didn’t have any water in her bag. Another drop fell, this time on her face… She wiped it, her heart starting to race with fear even though she kept telling herself that it was nothing. But the mental chanting didn’t help… She started to recall all ghost stories she had read or watched or heard. Oh God… Why was this cabin so small? Should she open the door? No… She wouldn’t dare to get up. What if, whatever it was, got triggered if she got up? No no… She should sleep… It will be gone… However before she could close her eyes, they got drawn towards the opposite upper berth again, and the lights were still blinking… The train passed some small station or junction, and the yellow light that filtered through the glass for brief seconds showed her a weird shape… like some creature…

She let out a small yelp, and shot up from her seat, moving quickly to Sameer’s seat, sitting near his legs, and shook him, “Sa…Sameer… wake up please…”

He didn’t move, and she bit her lip, trembling with fear and looked up once more… She couldn’t see the thing from here because it was directly above them, but she could still see the halo of neon light blinking on and off… Frightened beyond wits, she wrapped her hands around his leg, and waited, hoping he would get up…

Sameer pressed his lips a bit trying to control his smile. Wow, she was scared. He had almost got up to comfort her as soon as she came to him, but then he had lain still, thinking he should wait for a bit more… He wanted to see what she would do. She had called him once, but then had just sat holding his legs… Just a few minutes more and then he would get up for her… Be the hero, comfort her, and then show her the reason behind the lights. She would surely hit him, but maybe if he pretended that it hurt a lot she would kiss his wound again… However in the next few minutes, he didn’t realize when he dozed off thinking of how to reveal his prank. His head lolled to one side, putting pressure on his hand, resulting in his thumb pressing a small button on an object and the screeching sound reverberated again.

Naina squeezed her eyes shut, tightening her hold on his legs, pressing her forehead on his knees, her voice low because of fear, as she whispered, “please get up… I am scared.”

He didn’t move, and so she just sat there, hiding her face against his legs, trying to calm her breathing and her heartbeats. She didn’t know how long she sat there, but the train suddenly slowed down and stopped at a junction. The small jerk woke Sameer up, and he blinked his eyes open, slightly disoriented because of the sudden movement. He tried to move, but was hampered by something, and frowned, raising his head to check. The sight made his eyes widen with shock… Naina… Shit… Had he fallen asleep? Oh God… She must be so scared.

Idiot Sameer…

He tried to keep his voice soothing, and calm, as he called out, “Naina… honey…”

She immediately lifted her head, and stammered, “Sa…Sameer…?”

“Yeah”, he replied, moving the blanket aside, “are you okay?”

She didn’t reply, rather let out a small sob, and hurled herself on top of him. He quickly hugged her, afraid that she would fall, and cursed himself as he felt the trembles still wracking her body. “It’s okay”, he tried to calm her, “it’s nothing…”

She clutched his shirt, hiccupping, “no… there’s something on the seat above… and the sound… I saw it… please don’t leave me.”

Dammit… He hadn’t anticipated that she would be so scared. A little bit, yes… But this was too much. Once again he tried, “it’s nothing… I swear… let me turn on the lights.”

“No”, she held on tighter, “if we get up, it might attack.”

He stroked her hair and back, “it won’t Naina… it’s just a toy… I am so sorry honey… I didn’t know you would be so scared.”

She stilled on top of it for a moment, and then slowly raised her head, “a toy?”

He gulped, knowing she would probably hit him very bad after she got to know of his prank. But on seeing the fear in her big eyes, on feeling her shivering body he was even ready to tolerate her worst threat ever of a kick to the most sensitive part of his body. He honestly hadn’t wanted to scare her so much… And worse of all he had somehow managed to fall asleep, God knows for how long, leaving her sitting like that. Slowly he tried to explain, “yes… a toy… I took it from the TC when you were in bathroom, and hid it near my bag. That’s the green light.” He removed two objects from beneath his pillow, “here’s the remote to turn it on and off. And the sound was a pen… I scraped it on the metal.”

She frowned, checking out the remote, and pressed it, looking up to confirm and sure enough she could once again see the halo of green lights. It was still scary in dark, even though she now knew it was a toy. Looking back at him she asked, “and the water? I don’t have any water in my bag.”

He quizzed, “what water?”

Some fear entered her voice again, “I… I don’t know… something dripped on me when I was sleeping over there… liquid… and cold… Do you think it could be blood?”

He assured her, “Naina… there’s no blood… and no ghost… I don’t know what the water is…” He trailed off as he recalled something, “oohh… I got up to check the bags once before sleeping… And must have kept the bottle over there by mistake… Let me check…”

“No”, she stopped him once again, “maybe the lights were a toy… maybe the sound was fake… maybe you forgot a bottle of water… but I am still scared… I saw weird shapes… It could be a ghost.”

He rubbed her back, “there is no ghost Naina… there’s nothing here except you and me. I promise. Don’t be so scared… I am sorry; I really had no idea that you are so afraid of ghosts.”

“I have read horror stories”, she confessed, “seen movies too… but even after that I am always scared.”

He didn’t know what to say, and so apologized once again, “I am sorry honey.”

“I should punish you for scaring me”, she mused, “but that can wait until later… for now I want to sleep… but I don’t know how to… I am still afraid.”

He smiled, “stay here… sleep.”

She curiously quizzed, “like this?”

“We could try”, he suggested, “if you want.”

She thought for a moment, and then dropped her head on his chest, “okay…”

He tightened his arms around her, closing his eyes, a smile curving his lips. This felt so great… He knew he would have hell to pay later for his prank, but for now at least she was with him… Or rather… on him… It made him fantasize stuff. And he would have happily drifted off in the land of fantasies had Naina not been squirming on top of him. He liked it, but it made it the already difficult situation worse.

“Will you stop squirming?” He rasped, “it’s too good to ignore… And I honestly can’t sleep in this condition for the entire night.”

She irritably quipped, “it’s not my fault. This is a weird position to sleep in. I am not used to it. Have you ever slept on your stomach?”

“Tons of times”, he replied amiably, “but that is not an alternative here. I cannot sleep on you… so got any better ideas?”

She sighed, “can we talk for some time? Maybe I would be bit relaxed and fall asleep.”

He yawned, but agreed, “sure… what do you want to talk about?”

“Ask me anything”, she offered generously.

He thought about it for a minute, and then asked, “you are always so brave… you didn’t cry when your teacher hit you in school… you didn’t cry even I had frustrated you so much.  You weren’t even scared of the rubber snake and the caterpillar… but still you are scared of ghosts? I mean… they are not even real.”

“Of course ghosts are real”, she replied, “after our wedding I will take you to my village. You can listen to all the stories they have…”

He chuckled, “and they are just that… stories.”

She was silent for a moment, and then asked, “do you believe in destiny?”

“Yes I do now”, he answered honestly, “I believe in destiny after having you in my life.”

She quizzed, “but why would you believe? Is it real? Have you seen it?”

“No”, he replied, not sure where this was leading to, “it’s not visual, its experience.”

She smiled, “exactly… most people refuse to believe something they haven’t experienced… but things can be believed in or known or learned even by knowing someone else’s experiences. Our elders… Our ancestors… They believe in a lot of things that today’s generation doesn’t believe in. Maybe not all of them are true and valid, but they are wiser for a reason… They have seen more than us, they have lived more than us, they have experienced more than us. They believe that there is some supernatural power in some people, some places, some objects that we cannot explain… They believe that spirit lives on even after death, and these spirits live among us… I choose to believe them, even if I haven’t experienced it.”

He hummed, “maybe you are right… I always believe there’s magic in storm… So maybe there are ghosts and spirits as well. Who knows?”

She shrugged, “now can we talk about something apart from ghosts… The whole of talking is relaxing me and discussion on ghosts won’t relax me.”

He chuckled, “alright… tell me why the caterpillar didn’t scare you? All girls are afraid of caterpillars. Why aren’t you? Have you really picked up a caterpillar by yourself?”

She laughed, her body relaxing, “yes I have… at first it was just to show Arjun bhaiya that I am not scared of his tricks… so I learned how to touch those creepy-crawly creatures. But it came really handy when I had to rid Pralay of his school bully.”

“Tell me more”, he urged, interested in the tale.

She lay down once more, telling the story with a smile on her face, “there was a boy in Pralay’s school… grade 1… He always used to harass Pralay, who was in kindergarten then. One day I saw Pralay crying and asked him, so he told me about the bully. One of the tricks the bully used was to shove caterpillars down little boys’ shirts. I just found it too horrible thing to do… So the next day I went to the spot, and grabbed the caterpillar he was going to put in Pralay’s shirt, scolded the boy, and pretended to… umm… eat it.”

He let out a gasp, “what? Eww… you ate it?”

She pinched his waist, “no you ass… I pretended. Preeti and I had made a fake caterpillar out of rice… totally edible… mashed rice shaped into caterpillar, then dried in sun, and colored green… So when the bully was putting the real caterpillar inside Pralay’s shirt, I grabbed it, gave an earful to the boy, and then turned to the side… Pretended to stuff the caterpillar in my mouth… Actually I put in the edible caterpillar in my mouth, making sure the end of it was out, on my lips… And I sneaked the real one in my pocket. Then I turned to the bully, and I swear… I have never heard anyone scream so loud ever. I am sure it is still his worst nightmare…”

He laughed at the evil amusement in her tone, “good lord… you are scary… you just destroyed a kid for lifetime.”

“He was a bully”, she stated, “caterpillar was just one trick he used… He had also hurt other students, even girls… pushed them down from swings… I could have slapped him, complained about him to his parents… But I am sure many people would have already done that… I was just… innovative.”

He sniggered, “that you were…”

She flashed a magnificent grin, and declared, “now it is my turn to ask.”

“Alright, go on”, he agreed.

She looked into his eyes, and calmly asked, “on the day you played the caterpillar prank, why did you scold me without any reason?”

He sighed, “you are never going to forget that one, are you?”

“I told you I would keep on asking about it forever or until the time we are together”, she reminded, “luckily I really have you now for forever.”

He smiled, “yeah… you do… and I have you…”

She played with the buttons at his chest, “so are you going to tell me? Or will you find out some smooth trick to avoid answering?”

A smirk curved his lips, “when have I ever not given you an answer?”

She was irked, “see… you are doing it again… flash that sexy smile, use a question against mine, flirt with me, and then boom… Naina forgets everything… Sameer 1, Naina 0.”

He laughed, amused by her irritation at his tactics, and loving how she tagged his smile as sexy. Calming down a bit, he said, “there is nothing… nothing, that I want to hide from you. At that time there was a lot we never shared with each other, but now, I promise I will never hide anything from you.”

“Sweet”, she smiled, “but you still didn’t answer.”

He sighed, “the words you used that day… silly, childish, boring, stupid… That’s what I have always heard from my mother. All my tantrums were childish, my mischief was silly, my interest in music was boring, and of course I was always too stupid to match up to Rohan. That day when you used the same words for me, somehow they were overlapped in my brain with mummy’s voice… And I snapped… More so because, I… I had just started enjoying the equation between you and me… All I wanted was to continue the game of pranks, which is why I didn’t take a lot of time to think about any sophisticated plans, and also, I didn’t want to do any elaborate prank that could end up hurting you like my first one.”

She watched him for some time, and he wondered what was going on in that head of hers… She wouldn’t pity him; that much he had understood about her… Last time he had been hurt at the thought that he wasn’t perfect according to his mother; she had hugged him and told him that he was perfect for her… What would she do this time? Suddenly she smiled, and said, “you are silly… sometimes childish too… and even stupid…”

His brows furrowed in annoyance, but then she reached up and brushed a kiss on his cheek, “but you are my silly, childish, stupid person… mine… only mine.”

He couldn’t help but smile at that, and queried, “what about boring?”

“You are anything but that”, she promptly replied, “maybe after many many years of marriage I would tag you as boring, but even then you would be my boring husband.”

How did she do that? He mused… Just by adding ‘my’ to all those adjectives he had considered as offensive, she had truly taken away the edge of pain he felt every time when he heard those words. “You always know how to get through to me”, he muttered.

She grinned, “one of my many talents.”

“Come here”, her mumbled, and cupped her nape, encouraging her to stretch up, and as soon as she did, he kissed her forehead, “thank you…”

She smiled, yawned, and cuddled up, clutching onto his shirt, and mumbled softly, “good night.”

He could see that she was ready to sleep, and shifted a bit, adjusting her properly on top of him. Wrapping one leg on top of hers, to ensure that she wouldn’t slip off at all, he pulled on the blanket that he had pushed aside before, covering them, and then wrapped his arms around her. She hummed, as if she was comfortable, and he was himself surprised at the total absence of discomfort even though she had been sprawled on top of him for an hour already. Well… if this is how she liked to sleep, then he was ready to be a bed for her every night of his life. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, and dozed off with a smile on his face.

The next time he woke up was in morning when the train stopped at some junction, and he could hear people walking outside, and the holler of a tea vendor. He checked the time, and then sighed, hugging her once more, just soaking in the sensation. There was some numbness in his body, he needed to go the bathroom too, and his shoulder was hurting a bit, but still he just didn’t want to get up. He suddenly realized that from today afternoon he would be busy as there was the briefing for his assignment, and he needed to start working from tomorrow morning, and all this meant he would hardly have any time to spend with her. He didn’t want to lose a single moment of this morning.

After around fifteen minutes more, she stirred, stretched and yawned. He watched her with interest, enjoying the routine of waking up. She rubbed her nose on his shirt, and then blinked her eyes open, lifting her head to look at him. He smiled, “good morning honey.”

She yawned once again, and mumbled, “good morning… did I really sleep like this the whole night?”

He chuckled, the sound rumbling in his chest near her ear, “what can I say? I am a very good bed.”

She laughed, and then gently asked, “are you okay? It must not have been so comfortable?”

“I am fine”, he assured, “did you sleep well?”

She combed her fingers through his hair, arranging them properly, “you are much better than a soft toy.”

He grinned, “thank you for the compliment honey… Now, if you don’t mind, I really need to rush to the bathroom.”

She giggled, and then slowly slid off him, standing up, and stretching once more. He sat up, but didn’t get up or leave for bathroom. She watched him rotate his shoulders; stretch his legs, and sat down next to him, “are you okay?”

He smiled, “yeah… it’s nothing… Just need a minute.”

Her eyes clouded with concern, and she rubbed his back and waist, “I am sorry, I just slept like that the whole time. It must have been so uncomfortable for you… and… umm… I am not exactly thin.”

He laughed, “I prefer curves under my hand, and flesh when I taste…”

She frowned trying to understand, and then gasped in realization, pinching him, “you… always one track mind.”

“You were sleeping on me whole night”, he justified, “if I have any other thoughts than that then you should be worried.”

She shook her head, unable to resist laughing, “given how much you talk about kiss and that, I am sure I have nothing to worry about in future.”

Finally he stood up, “will that expedite your thinking process? I can talk more if needed.”

“I am already thinking a lot”, she informed with a smile, “now go… I will bring our toothbrushes and paste.”

He frowned, “I don’t have toothbrush.”

“I got you one”, she replied, waving him off.

He sighed at her apparent fetish of brushing first thing in morning, and then unlocked the cabin door. She followed him soon, and after brushing their teeth they had breakfast of bread-cutlet and tea. The TC wandered over to collect his toy; Sameer thanked him profusely while Naina scowled. Soon after that the train reached Mumbai, and this time Sameer didn’t need to be reminded to keep her in-front of him so that she won’t be nervous of crowd. As soon as they exited the crowded terminal, Sameer looked around, intending to hail a taxi, but before he could a man came forward and addressed Naina, “madam… good morning.”

“Rajendra uncle”, she exclaimed with a familiar smile, “what are you doing here?”

The man bowed, “I came to pick you up… Madam asked me to.”

“PB sent a car”, Naina mumbled, glancing at Sameer whose face had clouded with displeasure.

The man nodded, “yes madam… She has also invited Sir over for lunch.”

Sameer frowned, “me?”

“Yes sir”, the man affirmed.

She turned to look at Sameer, hoping he would accept, but he sighed, “I have to go to office Naina… and I need to shower and change. I would have loved to drop you home, but looks like it isn’t needed anymore. Will you just thank PB from my side?”

She thought for a moment, and then suggested, “let’s go to your place… I can wait till you shower and change, and then we can go for lunch at my place. You can directly go to office from there, it’s not far.”

He pondered over her words, it was doable… plus this way he also wouldn’t have to refuse PB’s invitation, which really seemed like a rude thing to do. Smiling, he nodded, and she grinned, instructing the driver to take them to Sameer’s house first. As planned he took a quick shower, while Naina, without even asking him, took charge to empty out the bag of snacks Chachiji had given for him and arranged them in the kitchen. Sameer had already informed his neighbor of his arrival, and so they had collected the milk in morning on his behalf. When Netra’s mother came to give it to him, he was still in bathroom, and so Naina opened the door to take it.

The woman frowned, she had seen the girl come here before too, but she had no idea who she was, and so asked, “who are you?”

Naina flushed, realizing that her presence here must look odd to neighbors. Hesitantly she replied, “uh… I am Naina.”

The woman still looked suspicious, “and what are you doing here?”

Just then Sameer came out of his room, dressed in a trouser and half-open shirt, “Sudha Aunty… This is Naina… my wife.”

The woman gasped, “wife?”

Naina had also gasped at the same time, and turned to look at him. He blushed a bit, mentally smacking himself, and corrected, “I mean… my would-be-wife. Our roka happened just few days back, and we are going to be married after our college ends.”

A delighted smile lit up the woman’s face, and all suspicion vanished. Stepping inside she kept the vessel of milk on the coffee table, and then held Naina’ hands, “how wonderful… Congratulations to both of you.” Turning a bit to look at Sameer, she declared, “Sameer… she is so beautiful… Remember to take good care of her always.”

“I will”, Sameer assured with a smile.

Then she looked at Naina once more, “and you… you need to come here more often so that we can talk. And you should meet Netra… She adores Sameer.”

Naina couldn’t help but like the woman immediately. Her initial suspicion had confirmed her genuine concern for Sameer, and now the excitement portrayed how truly happy she was. She radiated warmth, and Naina smiled, “I would love to talk to you… Sameer told me you make your own spices… I hope you will teach me too.”

From the bright grin on the woman’s face Naina was sure that she couldn’t have said anything better to her. In fact she was ready to teach right then, until Sameer gently informed that they needed to leave and he had to go to office.

“I like her”, Naina declared, closing the door once more as the woman left.

Sameer chuckled, carrying the vessel of milk inside the kitchen, “yes… she is good. And you can tell that Netra gets the hyperactive trait from her.”

She laughed, turning on the gas, and set the milk to boil. Then she turned to him, tilting her head, and grabbed the half-open lapels of his shirt, pulling him to her, “next time… don’t wander out like this… I would be seriously annoyed if someone else sees what’s only mine.”

He smirked, “open all the buttons and see properly please.”

“Not the right time”, she murmured, closing the buttons instead, “but someday… surely.”

Wrapping his hand around her waist, he softly said, “I might be very busy in coming days.”

She hugged him too, “I know… Don’t worry… We will find a way to be with each other. I won’t stay away… Promise…”

Her assurance made him smile, and he dropped a kiss on top of her head before going back inside to get ready. Naina arranged all the snacks, checked the refrigerator to ensure there were no spoiled vegetables but Sameer had taken care of emptying it before leaving. She placed all the boxes of sweets inside the fridge, and then covered the boiled milk. By then he was also ready, and was checking a notebook as he walked out to the living room with his bagpack. She just stood there looking at him, her heart warming up on seeing him dressed up so professionally; the plain cream shirt, perfectly pressed black trouser, hair set properly rather than his usual messy style, the flat wrist watch… He put on a pair of black socks, and then brought out his formal shoes that he had polished and kept in a box before leaving for Ahmedabad.  Tying his laces, he glanced up and saw her staring… He frowned, “what?”

She came up to him and brushed her hands over his shoulders, smoothing out the fabric, “you look sexy.”

“That’s a first”, he chuckled, “I had no idea I only needed plain shirts to make you drool. Maybe I should have revised my wardrobe in school, then maybe you would have kissed me or called me sexy, and we wouldn’t have been so confused about our feelings.”

She laughed, and confessed, “ummm… I did notice a couple of things then.”

Intrigued, he queried, “what? Tell me…”

“Later”, she declared, “we need to leave now, else you will be late.”

As she turned, he caught her hand and pulled her back against his chest. Gazing into her eyes, he placed something on her palm, closed her fist over it, and then lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her folded fingers, “for you…”

She opened her fist, her lips curving in a wide smile on seeing the keys and she squealed, giving him a quick hug in happiness, and then asked, “why are there three keys?”

He explained, “the front door, the cupboard, and the locker inside.”

Puzzled she queried, “why are you giving me the cupboard and locker keys?”

“Because it is important”, he said, picking up his bagpack, “if you want to keep something in the cupboard sometime, or maybe you need some money for household expenses. The passbook and bank documents are inside the locker, I also keep a small stash of money inside. Cupboard isn’t necessary to lock, but I do it still… just safety.”

She slipped on her sandals and followed him outside the house, still bit stunned that while she had just asked for access to his home, he was giving her the total right over everything. As the car sped towards PB’s home, Naina sat holding the keys, a sense of realization settling inside her that it wasn’t a mere tool to enter his home in his absence, but also a responsibility. Unknowingly or subconsciously he had tagged her as his wife in-front of others, he had given her the right to make decisions for him… Her life had changed so much ever since she had met Sameer all those years ago, and now it was going to change once more, but this time there was a huge difference – she was in control of it.

A gentle touch on her cheek made her look to the side… He seemed to be observing her, “are you alright?”

“I am happy”, she replied with a smile.

The lunch was a jovial affair as they regaled PB with tales of Ahmedabad, their roka. Sameer gifted her the saree he had bought from Ahmedabad, and Naina quickly packed up some sandwiches and fruit for him to take to office. When she handed him the small bag of food, he looked quizzically at it, “I just ate… What is this?”

“Your snack”, she replied, “I know you would be hungry immediately after office.”

He looked at her for some time, emotions dancing in his eyes, and then kissed her forehead, “thank you… I will call you at night.”

Once he was gone, PB queried, “so… did you tell him that you love him?”

Naina turned to look at PB, somehow not surprised that she was there and that she had understood, but still she asked, “how did you know?”

“I didn’t mean to pry”, PB smiled, sitting on the sofa, “but I did see him kiss you. As far as I know you, you wouldn’t have allowed that freedom to him unless you had realized your love for him.”

Naina frowned, pondering over the statement, and realized that PB was right… Sameer had held her, hugged her, flirted with her, but there had not been even a kiss on hand until she had accepted that she loved him… On that day when he had kissed her wrist over the bracelet, she hadn’t objected because she knew she loved him… And then she had demanded that he kiss her hands… In fact, she had stayed silent in his room, giving him the go ahead for a proper kiss if he wanted to do that because she had known she loved him… Her eyes widened… so that had been the obstruction… Whenever he had talked about kiss, she had not relented because she had not sorted her own feelings for him… And when she did, there was complete freedom for him in her mind… Well, they hadn’t yet shared a real kiss but still… something inside her told her that it would also happen real soon, and she would know the moment.

PB cleared her throat, and Naina looked at her, suddenly blushing at the thought that she had seen Sameer kiss her… A forehead kiss… But still… PB was her grandmother technically. She stammered, “uh… that… he was just thanking me for the food.”

PB quirked a brow, “I didn’t see him thank Revathi for the lunch she cooked.”

Naina gasped, “PB… why would he kiss Revathi?”

“Exactly my point”, PB smiled and patted the seat next her, “come sit… I need to talk to you.” Naina sat beside her on the sofa, and PB asked, “I know you love him… and I know you said yes for the roka. Still I want to ask, are you happy?”

Naina smiled, “yes… I am very happy.”

PB nodded, “then what have you thought about future?” On seeing Naina’s puzzled look PB elaborated, “there is still one year of your college… How do you plan to handle this relationship? He works part-time… So you need to prepare yourself for less time with him. I know you are intelligent and smart, but still I am saying this to you because I have seen relationships crumble by neglect. You need to think about this, because he probably won’t have this thought, and later on he might feel guilty of not being able to spend time with you.”

Naina turned to PB, sitting cross legged, “I understand that… I will not let our relationship fail ever. I know he will be busy, even in these vacations, and we won’t be able to go out on dates… That is why I asked for these…”

PB frowned at the keys Naina dangled in-front of her, “keys? What for?”

“His home”, Naina informed, “PB… if you agree… I want to go there on some days, so that he finds me there when he comes home. You know… sometimes he doesn’t have the time and energy to cook… I don’t want him to live off bread-omlette.”

PB prodded, “so you want to become a housewife for him? Cook, clean, wash… is that it?”

Naina shook her head, “no… I want to be with him… I want to help him achieve his goal… I want to be his partner in life… But right now that path is not clear to me… I don’t know how to do it. But there has to be a starting point. And I wish to start by being there for him at least in his basic life. Sameer doesn’t need flashy romantic gestures as assurance of my love for him. He needs family, care, support. And who says that dates can only happen in movies or restaurants? With Sameer a simple meal on his sofa means much more than a candle-light dinner at a 5-star hotel.”

PB was silent for a moment, and then grinned, “well, you can turn off the lights at his home and light up candles… That should make it candle-light dinner… right?”

Naina laughed and hugged PB, “thank you… thank you so much for understanding me…”

PB hugged the girl, feeling glad that she had moved on from the past and had started to think of future… This indicated healing. She hadn’t intended to demean her thought, but she needed to see her defend their relationship… And Naina had done it with so much grace that she had no doubt in her mind… She was assured that if needed Naina would move mountains for being with Sameer. The little girl that she had witnessed many years ago, arguing head-to-head with a boy with a sassy attitude and smoothly outsmarting him, was back. Sameer had managed to bring her back…

Drawing back from the hug, PB asked, “are you still stuck on forehead or did you actually test the kiss-proof lipstick?”

Naina chuckled, “no… haven’t tested that one yet… maybe soon.”

PB stood up for her afternoon nap, and remarked before leaving, “when you do I want details…”

The next few days were extremely irregular; Sameer’s work took him to places he had never been before, and it seemed that no one really knew what to do with the assignment. An idea had been placed on the table, and approved, but execution hadn’t been charted out. The person, with whom he worked, Chirag Deshpande, was also not really clear about what his boss wanted.

Friday saw both the men on the brink of frustration, as Chirag threw his helmet on the road, “Colaba Causeway… this is where they send us. What pictures should I take? Can you tell?”

Sameer wiped the sweat of his forehead, “I am as lost as you Chirag bhaiya. No idea what to do… I have been here once in evening, it was so crowded… But I don’t understand how anyone will write about it… And that too just by seeing the pictures.”

“Exactly my point”, Chirag sighed, picking up the dropped helmet, “Nandini and Aarti both have said that our previous photographs didn’t help them write anything. The snaps of Marine Drive were good but boss declared the article written by Nandini as rubbish. What should we do?”

Sameer looked around and spied a small cafeteria, “let’s have something to drink first, else we will die in this humidity. Then we can think…”

Chirag agreed and they both sat sipping on cold orange juice in the café. After a moment Sameer suggested, “do you think talking to sir would help? We can tell him our problems… The writers can back us up, hopefully.”

“Nandini might”, Chirag smiled, and then teased, “Aarti won’t… Unless you go on a date with her.”

Sameer pulled a face, “not happening… She is 5 years older than me, and plus… I already love someone.”

Chirag laughed, “I know… I was just teasing you because I know how much Aarti likes you… I am sure she would have already asked you out if she wasn’t conscious about her age. Anyways… let’s call it a day, I cannot think of anything here. I will set up a meeting with sir tomorrow, you join me.” Sameer nodded, and they both stood up to leave. Chirag offered to drop him at the local train terminal on his way, and Sameer agreed to it.

When he reached home, he was greeted with cool air, and a delicious aroma. A smile automatically curved his lips, “Naina…”

She walked out of the kitchen, “you are here… so early.”

He locked the door behind him, “yes… wasn’t a productive day. Why is the home so cool?”

She chuckled, “I covered the balcony grill with a wet bedsheet, and spread wet clothes all over the living room and bedroom…”

“Innovative”, he commented, sitting down to open his shoes. Naina brought him a glass of water which he gratefully accepted. She had already been here twice this week, once on Tuesday and once on Thursday. He hadn’t expected her to be here today, but was nevertheless glad that she had come… It wasn’t just that he got fresh cooked meal for dinner, or that he could hug her and talk to her… It was the overall feeling of the day that changed when she was here. He liked coming home to her.

She sat next to him, “what are you thinking? Is there some problem at work?”

He stretched his arms, “there is… but I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking how I like coming home to you.”

She smiled, “go freshen up… Have you had lunch? If not I will serve.”

He stood up, starting to unbutton his shirt, “isn’t that dinner you are making?”

She shrugged, “it just became lunch…”

He smiled as he watched her go back in the kitchen, and then went to the bedroom, eager to take a shower. As he wiped himself and pulled on fresh clothes, he was tempted to wander out without a shirt to just see her reaction. But he controlled his impulse, wanting to let her set the pace in their relationship… For now if coming here and having meals together is all she wanted, then so be it.

She had prepared kadhi-pulao, and he eagerly sat down to eat, feeling happy at the unusual hot lunch on a weekday afternoon. Over the meal, he briefly told her about the problem at work and that they planned to talk tomorrow to his boss. She licked her fingers and queried, “what was the place today?”

“Colaba Causeway”, he informed, and picked up the dishes keeping them in the sink.

She washed her hand, and then took out the glasses of lemonade she had kept there to cool, handed him over one, “that’s a beautiful place… I have been there many times.”

He sipped at the lemonade, “I have been there once… but the problem here is writing about that place… What would help the writers write?”

She handed over her glass to him, “here take this and sit in bedroom… I will just wash the dishes and be there.”

He obeyed, and went back to the bedroom. Keeping the glasses on the desk, he arranged a few pieces of clothes that were lying around, straightened the stuffed rabbit a bit, and frowned on spotting the journal with a red cover. That wasn’t his… He picked it up, and opened the first page – Naina Agarwal. She wrote a journal… He never knew that.

Maybe she has written something about you.

He started to flip the page, but then paused, frowning in confusion. Should he read it? Was it allowed? It could be her personal diary… And that would mean he was prying. What if she became angry? Feeling a little dejected he closed it, and leaned to keep it back.

But she is your would-be wife… she is yours… you can read it…

The mental argument and the assurance that she was his, won over his logical debate of not invading her privacy, and he opened the diary once again. The small book flipped to a page with a dried pink rose, and his heart skipped beats… Why had she kept this rose here? Did someone give it to her? Searching for answers he read through the text on the page, her neat handwriting spelling out a description that made him sit on the bed. Goodness…

Naina walked inside, and immediately saw the glasses, “hey… you didn’t drink it.”

He turned his head to look at her, “forget that… you tell me what’s this?”

She looked at the journal he was holding up and gasped, “you read my diary…!” Going up to him, she snatched it back, “how could you? Shameless person… Don’t you know you shouldn’t read anyone’s personal diary?”

“You are mine”, he declared, tugging on her hand, to make her sit, “and this isn’t a personal diary… You haven’t written anything about your life, family or me.”

“It is personal”, she huffed, holding the book close to her chest.

He sighed, “okay fine… I am sorry. I couldn’t resist it… I really wanted to see if you have written something about me… And I figured I could read it, but maybe not… Even I have a diary which you don’t know about.”

Interest widened her eyes, “you write a diary.”

He shrugged, “sometimes…”

Her lower lip pouted as she thought, and then asked, “umm… can I read?”

He smirked, “maybe… if you tell me about your diary, and the tale of this rose. Did someone give it to you?”

She bit her lip, and nodded, “yes… A boy from my college gave it to me last year on Valentine.”

His eyes immediately darkened, and his body became stiff, as he murmured, “you kept it safe…”

She could see his hand clenching on the fragile flower, and immediately took it from him, “careful… you will break it.”

“I will break the boy”, he snapped, “tell me who was it?”

She stared at him for a moment, and then started laughing, “oh God… look at you… The handsome and popular Sameer Maheshwari is jealous…”

He slid his fingers around her, cupping her nape, and pulled her to him, “stop laughing Naina… who gave you this?”

She gasped at the sudden possessive gesture, and wrapped her arms around his shoulder for support, as she softly assured, “no one… I just lied to tease you… punishment for reading my diary.”

“I don’t like this kind of prank”, he muttered, “use anything but this… I don’t do well with jealousy.”

She gazed in his glittering eyes, and gave in, softening beneath his hold, laying her head on his shoulder, “sorry… trust me… no one gave this to me. I found it.”

He loosened his hold on her, stroking her back, “found it? Where?”

“Marine Drive”, she informed, “someone left it on the parapet and I picked it up.”

He recalled leaving a pink rose too… Could it be…? No, it wasn’t possible… Too far-fetched… He queried, “why did you pick it up?”

She told him how she had found it, Chhaaya’s tale about the right person finding the rose, and how it had made her think and inspired to write. Amazed he took the diary from her hand once more, “I read the piece you had written about Marine Drive. Is that the inspiration you got from this rose?”

She nodded, “did you… umm… how was it?”

He held her shoulders, pulling her away from him so that he could see her face, and smiled, “it was beautiful… The whole emotion behind it, the way you saw Marine Drive as a place of hope and not just a tourist attraction… Your description of how it stays the same yet changes with the seasons… Amazing!”

A broad smile lit up her face, “really?”

He nodded, and then confessed, “you know… before meeting you at the theatre, one day when I was missing you a lot, I went there… And bought a pink rose… A man suggested me to leave it there for the right person to find it. I obeyed it, thinking what harm could it do, and anyways who can really track what happened to a lone flower… For all I know it might have fallen into the sea.”

She looked at him with surprise, and then at the dried rose, “could it be this flower?”

“I don’t know”, he shrugged, “there’s no way to know.”

She thought for a moment, “I have the date in my diary.”

He smiled, “but I don’t remember the date I went there.”

She kept thinking for another minute, and then sighed, “I guess there is no way… How wonderful it would have been to confirm… Just like the bracelet… Imagine… The tale of Mumbai would have come true.”

He tilted his head, “it came true nevertheless… Mumbai did bring the right person in my life.”

She smiled, and then slowly asked, “I would like to think this is the same rose… But we don’t know for sure who kept it there. Can I still keep it with me?”

“Yes, you can”, he assured, “I don’t have to be jealous of a rose… Besides, I can give you more roses anytime I want to.”

She grinned, “I have all the roses you gave me… and… ummm… the wrapper of the first chocolate you gave me in school.”

His eyes widened in elation, “you still have it?”

She nodded, blushing a bit, took the diary from him, kept the rose back in it and opened the last page, proudly showing the well-preserved wrapper. He touched the familiar chocolate wrapper, lightly, “you kept it… all this time… you saved it even then.”

“I couldn’t throw it”, she accepted, “didn’t want to. It made me happy… Do you remember you had told me that day that I could trust you? What I couldn’t tell you was that I already did… I don’t know why I always trusted you, felt comfortable with you… All these years I have never shared my food with anyone except you. You were always important to me, different for me, but I never understood.”

He had a silly grin on his face, “just you saying this now makes me immensely happy. And I want to ask you two things…”

Curious she asked, “what?”

He pointed at the diary, “can I read more of it?” She laughed, but then closed the diary and handed it over to him. He looked delighted, and asked the second question, “do you have your summer free to work with me?”

She almost shrieked in shock, but controlled herself, and hesitantly asked, “what did you say?”

“I asked”, he repeated, “do you have the summer free to work with me? This thing that you have written about Marine Drive is exactly what we want for our magazine. The two writers at our office couldn’t do that… Maybe because it is a profession for them. But for you, it is passion, and that is reflected in your writing… Let me show this to my boss tomorrow… I think he will agree, and then you can work on this assignment with me.”

Unable to comprehend, she stammered, “wo…work? I… Sameer… I just write because I like it… It’s not worth being published.”

“Let the experts decide that”, he gently persuaded, “I just read the Marine Drive piece and I can already tell that if there’s anything more you have written, it’s going to be just as good.” She kept looking at him unsure, and he held her hand, “okay… let me ask you something. You told me you have been to Colaba Causeway many times… Have you written about it?” She shook her head, and he asked, “can you tell me now what you think of that place?”

She nervously shook her head, “I… I can’t…”

“Come here”, he murmured, pulling her in his arms, “don’t think of it as work… Just think that I want to know… if you took me there, let’s say on a date, what would you tell me?”

Once again she leaned on his chest, feeling quite at home when he leaned back, resting against the wall, spreading out his legs, and adjusted her position so she was half-lying on him. She stayed there like that for quite a long time, cocooned in his warmth, her mind wandering down the colorful busy streets. She didn’t know when she automatically started speaking, “I would take you there a bit before evening… maybe late afternoon. The clothes, shoes, accessories – all these stalls are already there… Cheap stuff to buy, but some stalls have quite an impressive collection of trinkets. A small multicolored stall at the far end is owned by a 70-year old lady who has lost her son to a border encounter. He was in army, and now she earns her living through this stall… Her daughter-in-law also has a food stall in another lane. They both earn to manage their home and send the grandson to school. The boy is 15 years old, and he also wants to go into Indian Army, and both the women approve of this decision despite losing a family member. It is stories like this that connect the people there… Every one of them has their own story to tell… You may buy branded or exquisite things from the boutiques in the same area but you won’t find the heartfelt stories there. It is not just a shopping place; it is a mix of culture that represents Mumbai. And this fact is proven by Regal Cinema, one of the few functioning old school cinema halls… Can you imagine the fun to actually see a movie on a reel? A projector? There are no popcorns or fancy cold drinks… The only thing you will find there is samosa, cream roll and colas. Just before sunset, I would take you to the lanes behind Regal Cinema… Hold your hand throughout the street, see the lights at the far end, and when you finally reach the end you realize it’s only the beginning – because we have walked straight into the sun setting on the Arabian Sea. And the silhouette you see is not of people but the majestic Gateway of India.”

Sameer was amazed at the description. Had that place really held so many things? He needed to go there again, with her… He needed to see Mumbai through her eyes… He was now totally convinced that she was the perfect choice for this assignment. Stroking her hair, he said, “Naina… that was the most amazing thing I heard about that place. When I went there today I didn’t see or feel any of this. You are the one we need on this assignment to make it happen… the idea is there, but we failed to execute it this entire week. But you can do it…”

She straightened to look at him, “you really think so?”

“Yes”, he promptly replied, “Let me show this to our boss… Work with me… Just say yes honey…”

She searched his eyes, seeing the pride, assurance and hope there… It was a chance… To see him work, to spend more time with him, and also to see if really writing was her calling. Taking a deep breath she whispered, “yes…”

Overjoyed, he let out an exuberant “yay” and then cupped her face, tilting her head back and leaned to kiss her… Her eyes widened, and her hands gripped his t-shirt… Just half-an-inch from her lips, he stopped, closed his eyes, and then slowly pulled back. “Excitement”, he muttered. She chuckled and hugged him, dropping a kiss on his cheek. He smiled, holding her close, content at the moment even though he didn’t get the kiss.

They watched a movie and then prepared dinner together; Sameer called up Chirag and told him about Naina’s articles, while she stood next to him, nervously wringing her hands. Disconnecting the call, he winked at her, and said that Chirag had agreed to talk to the boss tomorrow. After dinner, they went for a short walk, and enjoyed an ice-cream. Later on he dropped her home with a kiss on forehead and a promise to let her know about the outcome of tomorrow’s meeting as soon as possible.

The chief editor and owner of the magazine, Mr. Anurag Dubey, was a man of unusual temper and preciseness. If an article was even a tad bit lacking from his expectations he would reject it. Sameer had very minimal interactions with him, but he knew of his reputation. And that is why on Saturday morning, finding himself inside Mr. Dubey’s cabin was making his throat go dry and the collar of his shirt tight. Chirag patted his shoulder, “don’t worry… if the article is really as good as you say then she will get the job.”

Just then Mr. Dubey came in with his cup of coffee, sat down, and asked, “why do you need to waste my time on a Saturday morning?”

Chirag spoke up, “sorry sir… we just need to talk about the new assignment about Mumbai city.”

“Go on”, Mr. Dubey waved a hand pulling a file to read.

Sameer wasn’t sure if he was listening or not as Chirag tried to explain the problems they were facing. The clear concise summary of the issue didn’t seem to impress Mr. Dubey, as he frowned, thumping his hands on the desk, “is that what you came to tell me? I expect efficiency from my employees. We gave you a plan, a timeline, a proper idea… What more do you need to make it work? If you can’t click proper pictures of the places it is your fault, if your intern cannot source enough information and materials it is his fault, and if the writers fail to bring me a decent article it is their fault. I cannot do your work for you… Next time do not come with a problem to me… And if you still have any issues, hand over the assignment details, I will find someone else to do it.”

Chirag quickly explained, “sir, we aren’t just stating the problem… We have a solution as well.”

That spiked up Mr. Dubey’s interest, “what is it?”

At a gesture from Chirag, Sameer stood up and handed over a page, on which he had copied Naina’s Marine Drive description. Mr. Dubey accepted the page with a scowl, read it, and then adjusted his glasses and re-read it. Sameer saw his eyes widen a bit, his lips eased, and then he looked up as he said, “this is good, though there are three typos… Who wrote it? Nandini… Or Aarti.”

“None of them sir”, Chirag replied.

Mr. Dubey looked at Sameer and asked, “you wrote it?”

Sameer swallowed once and then spoke up, “no sir… my fiancé wrote this.”

Mr. Dubey was silent for a moment, before asking, “when did you get engaged? Or were you already engaged and I forgot?”

Sameer couldn’t help the small smile, “my roka was done a week ago.”

“Hmmm”, Mr. Dubey lifted the article once again, “congratulations… Is this the only thing she has written? What does she do?”

“She is a student sir”, Sameer replied, “studies in H.R. College… She has written about many places in Mumbai.”

Mr. Dubey hummed, “very well… you wait outside. I will discuss with Chirag.”

Sameer nodded and went outside the office, exhaling a breath of respite, and waited, repeatedly glancing at the clock. Finally after ten minutes the office door opened, and he immediately asked, “what did boss say?”

Chirag smiled, “bring her in from Monday. She is hired only for this assignment… And I have requested sir to let her come along with us to these places so she can see it first hand, as that would help her get a feel and write better, rather than just seeing the photographs. Maybe, her perspective will help us with the photography too. I will draft up her stipend letter, but please know the amount would be less than what you earn.”

Sameer wasn’t even concerned about the stipend as he grinned, “wow… she will work with us. That means from coming week I will have to get my bike… Traveling in local train every day in this heat is not possible.”

Chirag chuckled, “I can see your excitement. And don’t worry. You don’t need to get your bike. Given that we will have a female staff with us, we get to take the company car. All you need to do is get her to office every day, and we will leave from here.”

“This is fantastic”, Sameer exclaimed, “can I go and call her now? Please… she would be waiting for any news.”

Chirag laughed, “yes sure… in fact, ask her to come over today if possible. We can brief her about the assignment, short list what places we need to cover, and make the plan for next week.”

Too excited to even reply, Sameer just left to call her, a silly grin plastered on his face. When he told Naina the news she let out a squeal of excitement that almost turned him deaf… He promised her to pick her up in thirty minutes, and PB invited him over for dinner later in evening to celebrate the occasion.

He collected his bike from home and went to pick her up; he was pleasantly surprised to see her dressed in an off-white churidaar, with one of the bandhej dupatta they had bought in Ahmedabad… She was also wearing the earrings and multicolored bangles that he had gifted to her. As soon as she came near him, he asked, “is that the lipstick that doesn’t smudge?”

She frowned in confusion, because he didn’t even comment on her dress, “yes… why?”

“Just asking”, he shrugged with a twinkle in his eyes, “you are looking so beautiful that you can’t blame me if I end up kissing you today.”

She laughed, waved at PB, and then sat on his bike, holding his shoulder. As soon as they were out of the society, she held him around his waist, and murmured in his ear, “you are looking pretty handsome yourself… and we are color coordinated.”

He glanced down at himself, noticing the light red shirt he had worn, and then at the rear-view mirror which showed her deep-red bandhej dupatta, and he grinned, suddenly too happy. On reaching office, he proudly introduced her to everyone as his fiancé, and was slightly amazed when Naina pulled out a box of sweets saying it was for their roka. Chirag went to offer some sweets to their boss, and everyone was surprised when he came out to actually wish the couple, even though it was just hardly for a minute.

Naina queried in a whisper, “is that your boss?”

Sameer nodded, “yes… the chief editor and owner.”

“I like him”, she declared, “he looks like an overgrown teddy bear.”

He laughed out at this description, “sure… why not… if only teddy bears keep growling and snapping the entire day.”

They spent around three hours going through the overview of assignment with Chirag, the locations they had finalized, and poring over a map of Mumbai to trace out the best plan to accomplish it. Based on the area they decided whether to go to two locations or one in a day, for instance, Dharavi would take up and entire day, but the shopping and entertainment circuit in Bandra could be clubbed with nearby attractions. Lunch was once more a surprise for Sameer as Naina had packed paneer paratha from home, and then Sameer showed her his desk and told her about the work he had done ever since he had joined. The other two writers came to meet her, and she was confused as to why Chirag and Sameer kept coughing the entire time Aarti talked to her. Later on when she queried, both the men just laughed and shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

The evening at PB’s place was another few hours well spent because PB had literally gotten a feast prepared. After eating an enormous amount of food, when PB asked Naina to get dessert, Sameer groaned, “I won’t be able to move if I eat anything more.”

PB laughed, “that’s okay… tomorrow is Sunday. You can stay here.”

Naina paused on the way to kitchen and looked back at the duo in living room; Sameer also sat up straight, and asked, “what?”

“You can stay here”, PB asserted.

Sameer felt his heart leap with hope, a whole night here would mean he would get to spend a lot of time with Naina, and maybe things between them would move a little further. He debated mentally for a moment, and then sighed, “it is a very… umm… tempting offer. But I guess the timing isn’t right.”

PB quirked a brow, “what timing are you talking about? You both traveled alone in train… First class, I may remind you.”

Naina frowned in confusion, but Sameer understood what PB was hinting at, and smiled, “yes we did… And I know what you are doing PB… But please don’t worry. I wouldn’t do anything Naina won’t want me to, and she is smart enough to know what she wants. So… I am not staying here tonight… But, there might come a time when I could sneak up her balcony to meet her.”

PB tilted her head, considering the proposition, and grinned, “I would be very disappointed in you if you never climbed up her balcony.”

Sameer threw back his head roaring with laughter, and Naina felt a fuzzy sensation settle in her stomach. PB stood up, smiling astutely and talked to her grand-daughter, “feed your man a good amount of dessert… He is starving.”

Naina brought out a bowl of halwa, sat next to Sameer, and asked, “what was all that about?”

His eyes sparkled, “you didn’t understand?”

She shook her head, spooning up a bit of halwa to feed him. He accepted, and fed her in turn, “she was just checking my intentions to sleep with you.”

She swallowed the morsel in her mouth, “we slept together on train… of course PB doesn’t know…”

He chuckled, “honey… she didn’t mean sleeping in literal sense. She tried to check if I would be lured at the opportunity to spend the night with you… a chance to do more… much more than a kiss.”

She gasped, “what? She was testing you… How… How could she…”

“She can”, he assured, helping himself to some more halwa, “we are young… and young couples are often impulsive… You have seen such examples at that park. PB doesn’t restrict you to do anything, because she trusts you. She trusted you with me as well, and she put faith in me because of you. She never stops us from going anywhere, she even teases about the kiss, but she is still your grandmother. She has all the reasons to worry about you and complete right to check the man she is entrusting her grand-daughter to.”

She was silent for a minute and then asked, “so according to PB, it would be wrong, if we… umm… if we are together before wedding.”

He wanted to say no immediately, but that wouldn’t be a completely honest answer. Keeping the bowl aside, he held her hands, rubbing his thumbs on the back of her palm, “I don’t know what PB believes, but she is one of the most open-minded elder I have ever met. The thing is that being parents or grand-parents isn’t easy all the time… PB tries to be your friend, just like Nanu is mine. But if I do something which is wrong in his eyes, he would immediately reprimand me. Uhhh… the day of our roka… when I saw you in saree, and noticed your waist, I… umm… I was staring and I wanted you. Nanu understood, asked me to stay in control, and then even teased me.” Naina listened to this with wide eyes, and her cheeks tinged with color. He smiled and continued, “just imagine, if someday we have a daughter, and she is in love with someone… Wouldn’t we do everything to know that the boy has good intentions about her? It’s a natural instinct… What I mean to say is that right or wrong shouldn’t be seen from the lens of family members or society, it should be defined by the two people involved in that relationship. You let me hug you, but not kiss you, because you didn’t feel it was right… That’s the feeling we need to be sure of ourselves, if and when we take any step forward.”

She processed what she heard, thought about it, and then gently asked, “since when did you become so intelligent?”

He grinned, “I always was… you never noticed me. God knows what you were doing all the time… always busy with pranks.”

She laughed, “oh really… as if you noticed me.”

“I did”, he assured with wide innocent eyes, “ask me anything about yourself.”

Pleased at this chance, her eyes lit up with mischief, and she asked some quick questions.

What was the color of my uniform?

White with light blue.

My hairstyle?

Easy… Two oily pigtails.

Was it same before haircut?

Yes, but the partition changed. Before haircut it was in middle, and after haircut it was to the side… I like the second one more.

What hair oil I used?

Coconut.

Did I wear earrings?

Yes. Small gold hoops.

Any makeup?

Naah…

What did I wear at the fair?

Seriously? Okay… pink-gold frock, open hair, light pink lipstick, eyeliner, there was something shiny on your eyelids as well, and strappy sandals. Oh… and you also put on a thin golden necklace and bracelet.

She sat back, surprised that he had noted all the details so well, and had also remembered them. Is there anything he didn’t notice? “Just two more questions”, she murmured, “is my height the same as school now or different?”

He chuckled, and in one smooth move, pulled her up along with him, grabbed her waist, and tugged her in his arms, “I would say we were always a good fit. I remember your head came just at my chest even then… perfect.”

Her face flushed at this assessment, and she tilted her head to rest on his chest. He tightened his hold, “what’s the next question honey?”

“You wouldn’t know that”, she murmured.

He chuckled, “try me.”

She looked up at him and asked, “is there any birthmark on my body?”

He drew back, staring at her for a moment, and then asked, “if I don’t know will I get to know?”

“Maybe”, she smiled.

He stroked a finger down her spine, feeling enthralled when she trembled at his touch, “I have seen your legs… once… there’s a mole on your shin.”

His answer reminded her of two things – first, that her legs were unwaxed when he had seen them; and second that there was a mole on his chest – and both these thoughts instantly made her flush scarlet. He stared at her face, curious at this reaction, and queried, “what happened? I was just talking about legs… nothing farther up north.”

She gasped, and tried to divert the topic, “ummm… okay… I get it… you noticed.”

He frowned, “what’s wrong?”

“I… umm…”, she tried to lie, but then blurted, “I remembered something.”

A brow quirked, “and what is it?”

“Nothing important”, she lied, and tried to pull away.

He tugged her back to him, “you know very well I won’t let you go unless you tell me.”

She gazed up at him, her heart beating fast. There was no way she was going to remind him about her unkempt state in school. And so she said, “you have a mole too… on your chest.”

His eyes widened, and it took him half-a-minute to ask, “you noticed?”

The nervousness she could see in his eyes made her confident… He must have wondered how she had felt on seeing him without a shirt. She smiled, “I had told you I was staring.”

“I was a dumb to miss that moment”, he murmured, “did you like what you saw?”

She laughed softly, “oh yes… very much. In fact, yesterday when you went for bath, I was hoping I would get to see again.”

He stood speechless for a minute, his gaze fixed on her sparkling eyes, and then he once again told her, “you always have the damndest of timings to say things to me. You are telling me that you wanted to see me shirtless, now… here…? What can I do here?”

She considered his frustration for some time and queried, “when will it rain?”

His brows furrowed, “what? Rain…? It is May… We will get rains in June. And why are you asking about rains?”

She stood up on her toes, and brushed a soft kiss on his jaw, “I was thinking… of another damndest timing of mine.”

He didn’t understand what she meant, and neither did she explain what she was thinking. He kept asking, but she distracted him by suggesting if he would like to choose her office wardrobe for the coming week. The trick worked… And as Sameer stayed busy in selecting jeans, skirts and salwar-kameez, she glanced at the calendar hoping that monsoon would come soon… Because staring at his frustrated expressions, she had somehow known it in her heart that she wanted her personal kiss in the rain moment…