Always and Forever
Part - 31: Seductive Revenge

The empty road leading down the hill was serene, beautiful, and looked extremely steep to Naina. She gripped the handle bar tight in nervousness. Poised on the top of the slope, with one leg on the ground to balance the cycle, Sameer grinned down at her, “ready?”

She bit her lip and shook her head, “nahi.”

He chuckled, “aree Naina. Tum bike pe nahi darti, ispe kyun dar rahi ho?”

“Bike pe konsa bahot baar bethi hun tumhare saath, aur waise bhi bike pe toh tumko pakad sakti hun na”, she immediately countered.

He took her hands off the handlebar, and wrapped them around his waist in a way that she was leaning sideways onto him, “ab thik hai?”

She clutched him tighter, and nodded. He took off his foot from the ground, and pedaled letting the cycle move downhill. It gained speed, and Naina squealed as cold mountain air rushed past them, whipping her hair, making her eyes watery. The momentum carried them quite far even after the slope ended, and Sameer stopped at a curve, his face split in a wide grin. It was a silly thing to do, totally unnecessary, but it had been a long time since he had done stupid things. Being a responsible businessman meant he had to be serious, reliable, and mature all the time. Sometimes he missed the carefree moments he used to spend with his friends. The last Mt. Abu trip had been wonderful, but most of the trip had been spent with the stress of bet. The only silly acts he had done was to play like a kid with Naina, which is why this time when he had spotted the slope he had wanted to enjoy the rush that kids often felt in acts like this.

She heard his thumping heartbeats and understood how much he had enjoyed; turning her head she placed a kiss over his heart, and then grinned up at him, “bahot mazaa aaya. Wapas kare?”

He laughed, and pointed to the slope behind them, “wapas upar tum le chalo cycle, main piche bethta hun.”

She frowned, “subah itna exercise kar sakte ho, itni si dhalaan nahi chad sakte? Huh… zara bhi dum nahi hai.”

His eyes glittered in mischief, “tum ruko zara… thode din baad apna saara dum dikhaunga. Shaadi hone do bas.”

She gasped, her cheeks flaming, and she pinched his waist. “Ouch”, he exclaimed, and then instructed, “chalo ab mujhe chodo aur cycle ko pakdo wapas, iss modh ke baad market aa jayega. Aise bethogi toh sab dekhenge.”

As they reached the market place again, he dropped her off near the lake where Chacha-Chachi were already waiting for them, and said he would be back after returning the cycle. Soon he returned with the others tagging along, and together they hired four boats to spend the late afternoon and evening. Chacha-Chachi chose a pink boat, while Swati and Munna selected a blue boat; Rohan had called dibs on the yellow boat much to Preeti’s amusement and Pandit accompanied them on the same boat. Sameer and Naina were left to sit on the white swan boat; as he helped her climb into it he couldn’t help but recall the school trip where even touching her hand was off-limits to him. He chuckled to himself, forget hands, at that time he was not even sure what he felt for her. But still, that day he had been so eager to go for the boat ride with her, he remembered telling her that he wanted to go with her and the way she had blushed at his statement was still imprinted in his memory.

The early afternoon warmth was stolen by the chill of the lake, but Sameer didn’t notice it as he basked in the amazing companionship. There was lot of teasing and funny comments going around in which even Chachaji and Chachiji contributed. Twice Sameer’s foot slipped somehow, and Naina had to keep on pedaling. His utmost amusement was to see Chachiji teasing Naina, “bhagwaan jhuth na bulaye beta achche se pedal maarna sikhle… Damadji ko fisalneki aadat lagti hai, tujhe hi sambhalni padegi grihasti ki gaadi.”

Naina instead of blushing turned around and replied, “fikar mat kijiye Chachiji… sambhal lungi, ghar bhi aur Sameer ko bhi.”

He glanced at her, one eyebrow raised, “tum kabse aise jawaab dene lagi?” She only chuckled and gestured to the temple in the center of lake, indicating that she wanted to go that way. He didn’t mind, as he also wanted to go there, and more so because it was a little away from where the other boats were.  They both folded their hands, and prayed as usual for togetherness and happiness.

As soon as she finished praying, he gripped her hand, “pavitra prathna khatam, ab toh romance shuru kar sakte hai na.”

She laughed and hit him on the arm lightly, “tumhe romance ke alawa aur kuch sujhta hai?”

He shrugged, “itne saalo ka quota khatam karna hai na.”

Her mouth curved in a frown, “matlab quota khatam toh romance khatam? Fir shaadi ke baad kya hoga?”

He had a thoughtful expression on his face, then suddenly smirked, “agar tum chahti ho ke main detail me sab kuch bolke samjhau toh keh do na, aise ghuma firake kyun puch rahi ho ke shaadi ke baad kya karenge?”

She gasped, and stammered, “ma..maine aise….”

He tugged her hand, pulling her closer, “chalo chodo… ab pucha hi hai toh bata deta hun.”

“Nahi”, she exclaimed. He ignored her objection, leaning towards her, “hum dono shaadi ke baad kuch din toh kamre se bahar hi nahi niklenge.”

“Sameer… chup karo. Sharam nahi aati?”, she tried to reprimand him.

His lowered his sunglasses, “tumse kaisi sharam? Aage toh suno… mera bathroom wala idea yaad hai? Waise hi thode ideas aur hai… hamara naya wala sofa toh bada hai na… aur fir hamare room ke liye jo lambi seat jaisi cheez order ki hai… kya tha woh? Haan… Loveseat.”

Her face had turned red with embarrassment; she tried to tune out his words, but at the same time couldn’t help the visions that formed in her head because of his explanation. Sofa… really? Wouldn’t they fall down? And was it even possible to make love on love seat? And why was it called loveseat?

He was still talking, and the next words caught her attention, because they were whispered really close to her ear, “fir main tumko kiss karunga…” Oh God. What was he talking about? Was he really describing the details?

She pleaded, “Sameer please… bas karo na ab.”

His eyes glittered mischievously, “itni jaldi kaise khatam hoga Naina? Mujhe toh bahot time chahiyega… mere khayal se ek-do ghanta thik rahega.”

She almost whimpered at the implication of his words, her mind flashing back to their rendezvous last night, and a shudder ran up her spine at the thought of bearing that sweet torment for couple of hours. His words were creating images in her mind that though still somewhat blur had a very profound impact on her body. She glanced around almost fearful that someone could see and know her condition, but thankfully there was no other boat around. Shrieks of laughter floated in the air from their friends on the faraway boat, and Sameer was still speaking… she needed to stop him somehow. The flood of imagination in her mind was causing waves of sensations in her body that seemed somehow too much to tolerate. Desperate to stop him, she had this vague idea of distracting him somehow, and without even thinking twice she placed her hand on his thigh, gripping it tight. He didn’t seem to register it immediately, because he was still whispering something in her ear, but the words were nothing more than a buzz for her as she focused on her mission. Slowly but surely her hand skated up his thigh, sneaking more towards the inside, and just after a few seconds she heard a choking sound and knew that she had succeeded.

Sameer had been murmuring about his ideas of suhagraat in her ear when suddenly he had felt her hand right next to the place in his body that always got into trouble with Naina’s smallest gestures. It was not any different now… Even though he was shocked that she was doing this daring stunt outdoors, even though he was hundred percent sure that she wouldn’t exactly touch him, it didn’t stop him from twitching and responding. He gulped as he realized that this was her way of extracting revenge of his actions.

He caught her hand to stop its wandering movement, and hoarsely whispered, “Naina…”

She had a lopsided smile on her face, and her eyes held a triumphant glitter. Without a word she gestured to go back towards the others and he obliged. He was still thinking about her bravado and planning his next move when suddenly cold water splashed on him, and he turned in the direction to see Preeti again scooping water in her palm to splash.

He tried to shield himself, “oi… kya kar rahi ho tum?”

Just then Naina also yelped, and he immediately turned back to her worried, only to see her wiping water from her face which Swati had splashed on her. Naina gasped as water hit her again, “Swati… paani bahot thanda hai.”

Munna laughed as he joined his girlfriend in mischief, “pata hai thanda hai Bhabhi… tabhi to daal rahe hai.”

Naina instinctively turned towards Sameer, and he immediately wrapped his arms around her trying to shield her from the cold water. Chachaji and Chachiji had joined the commotion by then, and were laughing at the plight of the soon to be wedded couple. Chachaji laughingly commented, “yeh koi naya reevaz lagta hai… shaadi se pehle dulha-dulhan ko thanda karna.”

Just for a fleeting moment Sameer thought how apt Chachiji’s teasing was, as he had really needed to cool down. Naina pulled back from his arms and started to splash Swati, Munna, Chachaji and Chachiji. Sameer followed suit splashing Rohan, Pandit and Preeti. After almost fifteen minutes they started to move towards the bank. Being all wet from water, they were all shivering from cold, and none of them had change of clothes.

He turned towards Munn and Pandit, “tum log sabko leke bus me jaao. Main abhi aata hun.” Naina wanted to ask him where he was going, but before she could open her mouth he had sprinted off from there. By the time he returned, everyone had tried to dry themselves the best they could, and were standing outside the bus again, except Naina and Preeti. He climbed inside the bus, and immediately Preeti quipped, “yeh le… aa gaye jijaji. Tu bhi na bekar me tension leti hai. Chal main niche jaa rahi hun.”

Sameer chuckled, “maine sabke liye chai boli hai. Woh peeke fir wapas chalte hai.” Preeti nodded and went outside.

He stood there admiring Naina who was flicking her wet hair with towel. She looked up and frowned, “wahan kya khade ho. Idhar aao, yahan betho.”

He obeyed her, and went and sat where she pointed. She used the same towel to wipe his hair, and he grinned at her gesture. It was… homely. Immediately he started to imagine Naina doing the same to him at their home after marriage. A few blissful moments later he remembered his revenge plan, and started to act on it. Lifting his hand he dragged his fingers through her hair that was hanging on the front from her right shoulder. In the process his fingers brushed along her skin, and over her breast.

She inhaled sharply, “Sam…Sameer kya… kya kar rahe ho?”

He looked up at her innocently, “tumhare baal ulajh gaye hai na… thik kar raha hun.” Her breathing increased as she struggled to understand if he was doing it on purpose. She quickly finished wiping his head, “uhh… ho gaya. Niche chalte hai.”

As she turned to leave, he grabbed her hand and stood up. Pulling her back to his chest, he pushed aside her hair, and dipped his head, scraping his teeth lightly at the point where her neck met shoulders, “aadat daal lo… boat pe jo harkat ki uski sazaa toh milegi tumko.”

She stood frozen to the spot as he quickly kissed her cheek and left from there. Naina grabbed the edge of a seat, trying to cope with the fact that she was in a very big trouble having riled the calm water of Sameer Maheshwari’s desires. It took her a moment to decide whether she should be happy with the fact or scared, but her last thought was that if he did such things to her then he wouldn’t be unaffected either, and plus he won’t get too many such opportunities in-front of family. She didn’t know yet, but clearly she didn’t have complete idea about her would-be husband’s sneaky talents.

“Naina… kahan reh gai beta… Jaldi niche aa”, Chachiji’s voice broke through her thoughts and she quickly went downstairs.

Sameer handed over a small glass of tea, taking the change to stroke her fingers as she held it. When she glanced at him, he winked. Preeti eagerly asked, “ab kya plan hai jijaji?”

Sameer smiled, “hum peechli trip ki yaadein tazaa kar rahe hai toh ek kaam hai jo ab tak baaki hai.”

Pandit enquired, “woh kya bhai?”

“Khana banana”, he responded.

Chachaji was puzzled, “hum khana banayenge?”

Sameer chuckled, “aap nahi Chachaji… Hum log. Peechli baar bhi hum sabne milke banaya tha. Thik thak hi ban gaya tha…”

Chachiji looked worried, “bhagwaan jhuth na bulaye beta, tum logo ko aata bhi hai? Aur khana banana hi hai toh tum log kyun karoge? Main, Naina, Preeti milke…”

Sameer interrupted, “nahi Chachiji… aap toh roz banate hai na ghar pe. Ab hamari baari.”

After returning the glasses, they moved towards the bus again. Naina was lost in some thoughts when suddenly Sameer grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to him, “kya kar rahi ho Naina… Sambhalke chalo… abhi gir jaati na.”

She looked up puzzled, and the others also looked at them. Sameer met Chachiji’s questioning eyes, “woh Chachiji… pata nahi kin khayalo me khoyi hui hai. Raste pe dhyan hi nahi hai.”

Chachiji immediately admonished, “bhagwan jhuth na bulaye beta… dhyan se chal. Damadji ne pakda nahi hota toh…”

Naina didn’t reply anything as she was perplexed with the happenings, and distracted by his thumb rubbing her waist. She was thinking about the cooking plan, but she knew she was not as lost as to fall down… In fact she was paying complete attention to the road. Then what was Sameer talking about? She opened her mouth to ask him, but stopped on seeing the crooked smile on his lips and he winked at her.

In the bus too he didn’t let her sit in peace, his hands sneakily touched her every moment, on her waist, her thighs, her hands. She almost sat on edge waiting for his moves, but suddenly he stopped. She had barely relaxed, thinking he was done, when he took a quick advantage of a pothole on the road, and brushed his elbow against her breast. On the pretext of showing her something out of the window, he licked her earlobe, making her shiver and close her eyes. She felt as if she was being subjected to something that was extremely pleasurable and yet tormenting. She wanted him to stop, and at the same time she wanted more. When his big palm slid warm and heavy over her waist, she thought that if there was no one around, she would have surely turned around and kissed him.

By the time they reached the lodge, she was so frustrated that all she wanted to do was hold his hand and drag him into a room. But instead she stood demurely, listening to all the plans being made, and the excitement in everyone’s voice. As they started to walk to their rooms to change, a warm palm nestled on the small of her back and she didn’t need to look to seek confirmation on the identity of the person it belonged to.

She resisted looking at him, but furiously muttered, “pareshan karna bandh karo, warna fir main bhi badla lungi.”

A deep chuckle escaped his throat, and incredibly enough his palm slid slightly lower, “I love you too”, he murmured and patted her bottom. She gasped in outrage, and turned, but he was already walking away, merrily whistling. She twisted her dupatta furiously, and mumbled to herself, “Sameer ke bachche… ab dikhati hun tumko.”

She took a bath, and changed into jeans and the same black top in which she had welcomed him from Delhi. She spent time in brushing her hair until it was smooth and voluminous. Even though it was not needed, she still spent time to line her eyes carefully with kajal, and applied a layer of blush pink lip gloss. In order to tempt him more, she picked out a pair of earrings that he had himself bought for her in college, and had liked it so much that he had demanded her to wear those several times. She also sat down and diligently applied rose pink nail polish on her fingers and toes both. Sliding a watch on her left wrist, she tossed her hair back from her shoulders, and smiled at her reflection, “ab pata chalega mujhe pareshan karne ka nateeja.”

Preeti eyed her sister up and down, “yaar tu khana pakane ke liye itna taiyar hui hai?”

Naina smirked, “haan”, and then thought to herself, ‘kisi aur ko bhi pakana hai… achche se.’

She deliberately left the room last; there was some pleasure in making him wait especially as she knew Sameer would be waiting. Picking up the pink cardigan, she slid in on, and then locked the room. As she walked to the garden, she took care to purposefully walk slowly, as if she was in no hurry, looking around, swaying her hips.

Sameer had been making arrangements of the things they would need to cook, with Chachiji supervising. Soon the girls also joined, except Naina. He kept looking at the pathway, expecting her walk up soon, but after a few minutes he had started to scowl. Barely refraining for asking Preeti, he started to help Rohan arrange the dishes on a table. Just then he sensed her, and his head snapped up so quickly that one could almost hear the whip in air.  For a moment it seemed as if all the air in the surrounding had been sucked away, and he felt breathless, his mouth falling open.

Oh God. She was wearing the black top… the freaking black top… And she was walking… no check that… strolling up toward him, the pink cardigan catching in the wind and fluttering away from her body giving him ample view of her curves. And what was that walk? Was she sashaying her hips? Or were her legs criss-crossing while she walked? It was different… His eyes trailed up her body, and fixed on her face as she came closer still… Holy hell… Pink shiny gloss, kajal, open hair… she wasn’t dressed to cook… she was dressed to kill… He swallowed audibly, and she smiled – slow and sensuous – and he almost did a happy dance, or rather a certain body part of him started to do the happy dance.

Chachiji came over, “bhagwan jhuth na bulaye beta, itna taiyar kyun hui hai?”

Naina pouted making Sameer’s heart skip several beats, “aisai Chachiji… aur koi niyam thodi na hai ke khana pakate waqt taiyar nahi ho sakte? Maine toh yeh top thand ke wajah se pehna.”

Swati also came up to them, “hum kya bana rahe hai?”

“Pata nahi… Sameer ne plan kiya hoga na”, Naina offered.

Rohan shook him, “bhai… bhai… kahan kho gaye?”

Sameer jerked and mumbled, “uhh… woh kiss…”

“Kiss?”, Chachiji exclaimed.

“Nahii…”, Sameer stammered, “mera matlab… umm… woh… kishmish bhul gaya… haan… kishmish… halwa me daalna hai na.”

Naina grinned at him, “koi baat nahi Sameer… aaj kishmish bina hi halwa bana lenge.”

He tried to focus on the task at hand, as a simple menu of roti, jeera-alu, pulao and kadhi was decided. For dessert they had been adventurous enough to think of preparing carrot halwa. So the boys were given the tedious task of grating the carrots, while Naina focused on preparing the kadhi and sabji, and Preeti & Swati were going to cook pulao and prepare the dough for chapatis. Naturally Chachiji wanted to help but she was made to sit down with Chachaji. They both sat on a swing, talking and happily watching the youngsters prepare dinner.

Sameer was diligently focused on the task of grating carrots, and since it involved sharp grater Naina stayed away from him. She didn’t want him to lose focus and hurt himself. When she was almost finishing her task, the boys stood up with their dishes full of grated carrots.

Munna enquired, “yeh kahan rakhu Bhabhi?”

Naina pointed to a table, “wahan rakh do.”

Sameer was the last to keep his dish on the table; he looked at Naina curiously and dared to ask, “tumhe wakai thand lag rahi hai?”

She smirked almost as if she was waiting for him to ask this question, “haan lag rahi thi. Par ab khana bana rahi hun toh itni nahi lag rahi. Ek minute…” She removed the cardigan as slowly as she could, and was gratified to see his eyes roving over her body. Placing the cardigan on a chair, she huffed, “kaafi garmi hai”, and proceeded to tie up her hair, in a high bun. He gulped on seeing the top stretch over her breasts as she lifted her arms up, and the hem slipped up a little giving him a tantalizing view of the copper belt buckle at her curvy waist. He cursed under his breath, and looked away, shifting slightly to adjust himself. She almost laughed out loud, but controlled herself at the nick of time.

She placed the halwa to cook on the gas, and handed over the stirring task to Preeti, Pandit and Rohan. Swati had kept the dough ready, so she went to help in making chapatis. Munna went to Swati to watch her work, while Sameer excitedly came over to Naina, “main bhi help karu peechli baar ki tarah?”

Naina looked up, slightly worried, “umm… rehne do na. Firse haath jal gaya toh.”

He frowned, “aree… zaruri thodi na hai ke iss baar bhi jale. Aur jal gaya toh tum davai laga dena.”

“Par…”, she started to object, only to be interrupted by him, “chup… main karunga.”

Defeated in-front of his determination, she let him help. Initially she rolled out a few rotis, and then passed on the rolling board and pin to Sameer, who gleefully picked up a small ball in his hand, dipped in into flour, and started to roll out just like he had seen Naina do it. He grinned, thinking that what if he hadn’t been able to do that last time, this time he would do it for sure – Sameer Jayprakash Maheshwari could do anything. Unfortunately, what started out as enthusiastic effort, turned out to be a disaster as usual; the chapatis he rolled were anything but round.

Pandit came over to look, “bhai konse desh ka naksha hai yeh?”

Preeti giggled, “fikar mat karo jijaji, meri rotiya bhi aisi hi banti hai.”

“Sach me?”, Rohan asked, his eyes wide. When Preeti just grinned and nodded, he mumbled, “lagta hai yeh kaam bhi mujhe hi sikhna padega.”

Sameer’s cheeks flamed in embarrassment as everyone laughed or teased, he glanced once at Naina to see her reaction, but she was just smiling at him… Smiling, not laughing. He relaxed, and smiled back at her. She blinked her eyes, as if reassuring him, “tawe pe rakh do… aur sambhalke, haath na jale.”

He carefully placed the misshapen chapati onto the hot skillet, and she helped him cook each one of them. Munna laughed, “bhabhi, itne dhyan se kyun bana rahi ho inn rotiyo ko? Inko thodi na koi khane wala hai.”

Naina didn’t reply, and Sameer thought to himself that his friend was right, who would eat these horrible chapatis. Later when everyone sat for dinner, Naina tried to sit with Preeti and Swati, making Sameer scowl. He wanted to call her next to him. What was she even thinking? What was the need to sit far from him? Did she think he would trouble her again? All the other times she had willingly sat next to him, but this time when she saw away he hesitated to call her fearing that he might sound desperate to others.

He tried to focus on dinner, and after a minute Rohan tapped on his arm and passed on a rolled chapatti. His brows furrowed as he accepted it, but then his eyes widened and he looked up at Naina who grinned and winked at him. Memories… She was also re-creating memories. He recalled how he had been unable to eat because of the burn on his hand, and the rolled chapati at that moment had made him realize that for the first time there was someone who cared for him. He bit into the rolled roti, and smiled back at her. She ate silently, however he couldn’t help but notice that she kept trying to hide her plate from everyone’s view. He found her behavior to be really strange, so under the pretext of getting water, he stood up and intentionally took the path behind her. What he saw almost made him stop in tracks… She was eating the misshaped burnt chapatis made by him. His heart gave a loud thump and he quickly moved away from there, lest he did something unacceptable like grabbing her and kissing her.

After dinner when everyone sat talking, Sameer sat unusually quiet, his thoughts going back to the previous trip. Had she eaten those chapatis that night too? He remembered Pandit asking who must be the unfortunate person who was served the chapatis cooked by him. Not even for once had he thought that Naina could have taken them. After all who would eat burnt rotis willingly? But now… after all these years he felt almost certain that it was her.

Naina watched him lost in thoughts and wondered if she had gone too farther in her efforts to tease him. She wanted to sit next to him for dinner, but then she hadn’t wanted him to see that she was eating the rotis cooked by him. She knew him, she knew he would make a big deal out of her gesture, he would feel gratitude, while for her it was the most natural thing to do. But now, seeing him so lost she decided to make the first move. Suddenly standing up, she declared that they should go and change for the night, “mujhe neend aa rahi hai, aur Chachiji aap tel bhi toh lagake doge na.”

Chachiji agreed, and they all started to gather everything, and clean up as much as they could, leaving everything else for the hotel staff to manage. She lagged behind on purpose while everyone walked and chatted, sure that Sameer would notice her absence, which he did almost immediately. He slowed down as she had predicted, waiting for her to catch-up, and asked, “kya baat hai? Itna dheere kyun chal rahi ho?”

She smiled, “tumse baat karni thi. Kahan khoye hue ho kabse?”

He hesitated for a moment before speaking, “peechli baar bhi woh rotiya tumne khai thi na?”

She wasn’t even surprised that he knew and had understood; she had somehow felt his silence was because of this reason. Taking a deep breath she nodded, “haan.”

His heartbeats began to race again, and his voice almost choked as he said, “thank you.”

Naina didn’t say anything for a minute, but as they reached the long corridor leading to their rooms, she enquired, “tumhe yaad hai college ke first year me maine pehli baar matar-paneer banane ki koshish ki thi tumhare liye tumhare birthday pe? Lekin paneer khatta ho gaya tha, sabji me masale ka swad bhi nahi aaya tha aur namak bhi zyada ho gaya tha.”

He smiled briefly but acted puzzled, “aisa hua tha kya? Mujhe toh yaad nahi aa raha… Haan itna yaad hai ke mera birthday bahot special raha tha, kyunki uss din main office ke meetings se pareshan hoke late college aaya tha aur mere saare dost cake ke saath mera wait kar rahe the, aur tum mere liye apne haatho se khana banake laayi thi… meri life ka sabse tasty khana.”

She grabbed his hand to stop him, and turned towards him, “exactly…” When he looked confused she elaborated, “meri pehli koshish aaj tak tumko apni zindagi ka sabse tasty khana lagta hai, jabke hum dono ko pata hai ke asliyat me kaisa bana tha woh. Jahan tak mujhe yaad hai tum pura dabba kha gaye the lekin kya maine thanks bola? Toh fir tumhari banai hui roti khane ke liye tumhara thanks bolna zaruri hai?”

His eyes narrowed as he tried to understand what she was implying. Yes… he remembered how she had tried to cook paneer for first time simply because he liked to eat it… and yes, he also remembered that the experiment had turned out so well in terms of taste… but still, she had cooked it for him, and that was all that had mattered to him when he had eaten it. Each over-salty morsel was evidence of her love, and the effort she put to make his day special. So, it indeed was the tastiest food for him. So… did she mean that she had found those burnt rotis tasty because he had cooked them?

His eyes glittered as understanding dawned in them, using one arm to hold her waist he pulled her to him, “samajh gaya… thank you nahi bolunga… lekin ek kiss toh kar sakta hun na?”

She almost gave in… yes, she did… how could she not when he was holding her like that, and his nose was touching hers, his lips just an inch away from hers. But, she also remembered how he had troubled her the whole evening, and also that they were still standing in the corridor, she didn’t want a repeat of this morning. So, she closed her eyes, knowing he would do the same and lean closer. She knew her guess was correct when she felt his breath on her lips, and she chose exactly that moment to tickle him. He gasped, cursed and choked, his hold on her loosening, and still amidst all these he managed to glare at her for disrupting the kiss.

She laughed, “bahot sataya hai tumne mujhe… itni aasani se kiss nahi hoga.”

He stood there, clutching his stomach and staring at her fleeing form, confused whether to feel irritated or admire her strategy of stopping him. Well… it looked like he needed to trouble her some more.

Naina changed into her standard night clothes – a light green patiala-suit this time, and went over to the verandah where Chachiji sat oiling Preeti’s long hair, at the same time enlightening the boys on how beneficial it was to apply oil daily. Sameer was already there, watching the whole process with fascination, but his eyes shifted to Naina when she came, and he smiled. She sat next to him, glad that he wasn’t upset with the kiss-that-didn’t-happen. However, soon she understood that he had not given up at all. His hands again found ways to touch her despite the presence of family and friends. She tried to evade his pursuits in vain, and started to feel fidgety, her mind clouding so much that she didn’t even register when Chachiji called her.

Sameer grinned at the effect he was having on her, and slowly poked her arm. She frowned, rubbing the spot, and he smirked, “Chachiji bula rahi hai.”

She looked at Bela who gestured her to come over, “aaja beta, ab tujhe tel laga deti hun.”

Naina bit her lip, an idea forming in her topper brain – she imagined a bulb lighting up inside her head just like it was shown in those new cartoons she had started to watch. Keeping her expressions neutral, she suggested, “Chachiji, aap pehle Sameer ko tel laga dijiye na.”

Munna and Pandit’s mouth fell open, and Sameer looked shocked as he stammered, “k…kya.. te…tel… nahi nahi… mujhe nahi lagana.”

Naina smiled sweetly, “aree… aise kaise. Tum hi toh keh rahe the ke tumko bhi lagvana hai. Aur ab sharma rahe ho. Tum hi toh kehte ho ke tum Chachiji ke bete jaise ho, toh fir kaisi jhijhak.”

“Par… maine kab…”, he started to speak but was interrupted by Bela, “bhagwaan jhuth na bulaye damadji, aapko bhi maalish karni hai toh mujhe batate na. Aa jaiye pehle aapke baalo me tel laga deti hun.”

He again started to object but Naina overrode him this time, “aapko pata hai Chachiji… Sameer keh raha tha ke usko kabhi kisine maalish nahi karke di… isiliye usko karwana tha aapse.”

This was enough for Chachaji and Chachiji to become completely emotional, and Bela called him again with love-filled tearful eyes. Sameer, though revolting at the idea of applying oil on his hair, simply couldn’t break Chachiji’s heart now by saying no. So, unwillingly, he found himself sitting in-front of Chachiji as she started pouring oil on her palm. He glanced at Naina, who was smiling amiably at him, but her eyes held mischief and triumph. He narrowed his eyes, silently promising himself that he would avenge this for sure. As he tried to rack his brain for a way to take revenge, Chachiji started to rub his head softly. He flinched at the thought of sticky oil covering his lustrous hair, his precious possession, and he was almost on the verge of yelling that he didn’t want it. Bela then started to rub the oil onto his scalp in a series of spirals that traced from the back of his skull to his forehead. His brows furrowed as sensations started to soak in, the pressure on his head made his scalp tingle; he glanced at Naina once who was eyeing her with one eyebrow raised as if enquiring if he liked it, a soft smile curved his lips and then his eyes fluttered shut. This wasn’t as bad as he had thought it would be… in fact, if he kept aside the tension of how his hair would look after the oiling, he thought he could actually enjoy this… There was a kind of simmering sensation on his head even after Chachiji finished, and his voice was somehow low and soft as he thanked her.

When Naina crossed him to take her place in-front of Bela, she looked at him, and he knew that she had understood that he had enjoyed it even though he hadn’t wanted to. Would he ever be able to hide something from his wife? He smiled to himself as he thought of future… and then sat down to observe Naina enjoying her head massage. Well… he had enjoyed it… but now watching Bela and Naina he realized that the gesture depicted the deep bond they shared. It was so… homely… yes, that was the word that he had started to repeatedly associate with Naina’s daily activities. Will they share things like this too after wedding?

When they all were finally departing to sleep, he caught her outside the room, and muttered, “bahot pareshan kiya tumne.”

She smirked, “jhuth mat bolo… maalish achchi lagi.”

He reluctantly smiled, “haan thodi bahot… shayad ab tumko bhi karke dena pade shaadi ke baad… par filhaal main uski baat nahi kar raha… uske pehle jo tum kar rahi thi woh keh raha hun main.”

“Maine toh kuch bhi nahi kiya”, she countered innocently.

He inched closer, but didn’t hold her, knowing that she would tickle him again to escape. So instead, he raised his hand between them, placing his palm on her belly, rubbing his thumb in slow deep circles near her belly button. Leaning down he slowly whispered, “tumko yaad hai na… aisa main kahan karta hun.”

Her breath hitched, and eyes glazed over as she registered his action and words both, immediately recalling how he would touch her between her legs. He felt elated, but managed controlled his reaction; however he let her know that he had understood her thoughts, “bilkul sahi socha tumne… aur ab kal main tumko apne saath honeymoon point pe le jaunga… socho zara wahan hum kya karenge.”

Color flushed her delicate cheeks, and he dipped his head further letting his lips barely touch her skin, knowing very well that it wasn’t exactly a kiss and it would leave her dissatisfied, “good night sweetheart. Achche se sona…”

Naina kept tossing and turning in her bed, frustrated because her body refused to cool down, irritated because she was sure that Sameer knew exactly what he was doing, and worried about the prospect of going to a place called honeymoon point with her family. She wasn’t exactly nervous about Sameer would do, because she trusted him so much that she wouldn’t think twice about going somewhere with him. She knew that the man who refrained from kissing her in college for fear of someone seeing them, wouldn’t grab her outdoors at some unknown locality where he couldn’t control the audience to their moments. But, what about other couples? She knew about couples spending personal moments away from home at some parks in Ahmedabad. Was honeymoon point some place like that? If so then how could they go there with Chachaji and Chachiji?

She needed to talk to Sameer… now… she had to tell him that they can’t go there. Turning over, she checked the time on the wall-clock, the dim moonlight showed 1am. Late… but still she could try. Wrapping a shawl around herself, she stepped out to the corridor, and walked over to the next room. She hesitated only a bit, before softly knocking.

Inside the room, Sameer had just started to fall asleep as he too had been frustrated with his own actions and Naina’s sultry acts in the evening. Just then he heard a soft hesitant knock, and somehow immediately knew it was Naina. Swiftly sliding off the bed, he hurried to the door and opened it, “Naina… tum yahan?”

She held his hand, and pulled him outside, “baat karni hai.”

He was worried, and immediately stepped outside, closing the door behind him, “kya hua Naina? Tum thik toh ho na?”

She twisted her hands in nervousness, and then blurted, “Sameer hum honeymoon point nahi jaa sakte.”

“Huh… kya?”, he asked puzzled.

“Tum zara samjho”, she pleaded, “hum aisi jagah pe Chachaji aur Chachiji ko kaise leke jaa sakte hai. Wahan pata nahi couples kya kya kar rahe honge… dekhkar kya sochenge. Kitna kharab lagega…”

He stopped her nervous rant by placing a palm over her mouth, “kitna bolti ho… aur kya bole jaa rahi ho. Dimag toh thik hai tumhara? Tumhe wakai lagta hai ke main koi aisi-waisi jagah pe Chachaji aur Chachiji ko leke jaunga.”

She removed his hand from her mouth, “toh fir tum mujhe aisa kyun bol rahe the?”

He clasped his own forehead in frustration, “hey bhagwaan… Naina main mazak kar raha tha. Hum dono hi toh ek dusre ko pareshan kare jaa rahe hai aaj… toh maine aisai bol diya. Lekin tumhari akkal kahan gum ho gai?”

Her eyes lowered in mortification as she realized that he was right… she had herself thought that Sameer wouldn’t do anything with her outdoors then how could he have taken their family at any such place. Wasn’t it obvious? Yeah, it was… in hindsight. She spared a fleeting look at his face, “uhh… thike… Good Night.”

As she took a step away from him, his voice sounded deep and low, “pakka? Kuch aur toh nahi chahiye…”

Inside his head he chanted, ‘say it… say it… say it…’

She turned back to him, biting her lower lip causing his blood to boil, but still he waited because he wanted her to voice it. Taking a deep breath, she demanded, “ek kiss chahiye.”

His face split into a wide grin, and he didn’t waste another moment before pulling her him, cupping her face and sealing their lips together. Their mutual soft moans were almost as if the parched earth had received its first drop of rain after a scorching dry summer. His hot mouth plucked at her lower lip, nibbled at the plump flesh, his tongue stroked the corners of her mouth with precision as if he knew exactly how she would react every time. Her fingers found purchase of his shoulders as she tried to lift and press up to him, tilting her head back further to help him deepen the kiss, heart pumping in thrill when a groan reverberated deep in his throat. His hands clenched at her waist as if wanting to delve deeper, seek more. God… she was ready. Humming in acquiescence she skimmed her hands up to his nape, clutching at the soft silky hair… only it wasn’t soft or silky but rather extremely oily.

Irritated, she wrenched her mouth away from him and pulled back, “uff… yeh tel”, she huffed glancing at her oily hands.

He panted for breath and chuckled, “maine toh pehle hi kaha tha mere baalo pe tel suit nahi karta… ab bhugto.”

She glared at him, and he smiled, pulling her to him again, nuzzling her temple, “mujhe bhi tumhare tel wale baal pasand nahi. Yaad hai ek baar tum school me itna tel lagake aai thi ke sab tumko ched rahe the… kya kya bol rahe the sab… pakode talne hai aur papa ki tel ki dukaan… Uss waqt tumpe jitna gussa jhootha ilzaam ka aa raha tha, utna hi gussa iss baat pe aa raha tha ke itna tel kyun daala hai tumne ke log tumko chede. Tab bhi samajh nahi aaya ke mujhe kyun farq pad raha hai tumahre baalo pe tel ho ya naa ho.”

She drew back her head to stare up at him incredulously, “sach me? Tab se…?”

“Farq toh pehle din se padta tha Naina”, he confessed, “warna tumse chewing gum ke liye sorry nahi bolta. Nanu ke baad tum pehli insaan ho jisse maine maafi maangi, aur uske baad mummy se.”

She almost stopped breathing at his words… how was it possible? He was actually telling her that unknowingly he had placed her at an important position in his life from the first time he saw her. He was affected by her from that day itself. If she had felt him around her, he had also reciprocated in ways she hadn’t known… even he hadn’t known… but over all these years he had looked back on time and understood why he had done what he had done at that time. Overwhelmed, she cupped his face and softly kissed his lips, letting him know without words how much she cherished what he had told her.

After they parted this time, he held her sometime, not caring that her oil soaked hair might spoil his t-shirt. Few minutes later, he reluctantly left her, “jao so jao. Good Night.”

She smiled and wished him back before turning to leave. He stood there until she had gone inside and he heard the click of lock, only then did he go back into his room. This time he fell asleep immediately with a smile on his lips.

Next morning was bit chaotic as everyone was late in waking up after the tiring boat ride of previous evening and then the cooking efforts. Sameer made sure that proper hot breakfast was available even though they were late. Since honeymoon point was famous for sunset they decided to go there late after lunch at around 3pm; and since it was the last day of their trip all of them wanted to spend the morning to relax, especially Chacha-Chachi. Munna took the opportunity to ask Swati out, and when she agreed they decided to go for a movie. Rohan also wanted to take Preeti out, and he was trying to gather courage to ask, but before he could Preeti blurted, “chalo na hum bhi kahin ghumne chalte hai.” Rohan looked surprised and the rest of them laughed. Naina delicately put forth an argument stating that since she and Sameer were about to get married it wouldn’t look odd to Chacha-Chachi if they went together, but they had no idea about Munna-Swati or Rohan-Preeti. Finally, to avoid detection they all decided to leave together and then part ways. Pandit grumbled for some time about being left alone by lovebirds, but then sportingly decided to go to another movie alone. Sameer asked Naina as to how she would like to spend the time, and she said that she wanted to buy gifts for everyone back home.

He took her to a large shop, where they browsed clothes for Deepika and Vishakha. As usual, Sameer spotted some stuff that he liked for Naina, and asked the shopkeeper to get some of them indicating her size. As the man left to bring what he had asked for, Naina folded her arms and asked, “tumko mera size kaise pata?”

He shrugged, “tumko bhi toh pata hai. Warna shirts kaise kharidti.”

She clucked in annoyance, “haan… tops, dresses ka samajhme aata hai… lekin uss din ghar pe woh sab kaise laaye the?”

He feigned ignorance, “kya laaya tha?”

“Wahi”, she stressed, but he kept pretending to not understand. Finally she stammered in a barely audible tone, “woh mere liye undergarments.”

He chuckled, adorably eyeing her blush, “tum bhul rahi ho shayad, ke ussi din kharidne se pehle maine hi tumhare geele kapde sukhane daale the. Toh tabhi maine check kar liya tha size.”

She almost facepalmed mentally. There was such a simple explanation to this, and all these days she had been wondering as to how he could have guessed the exact size by just touching. Unaware of the track of her thoughts he queried, “waise… ab toh tumko bhi mere liye exact size kharid sakti ho na?”

Her eyes dropped south to the zipper of his jeans for a moment, and the she looked up in his eyes, suddenly blurting, “nahi mujhe toh nahi pata chala. Isme bhi numbers hote hai kya?”

He was stumped at her words, gaping soundlessly for a moment and then laughed alound, “haan Naina… hote hai na…. tumhe kya lagta hai? Size 34, 36 ya usse bhi zyada?”

Her mouth fell open in shock as she tried to comprehend that even boxers came in sizes like this. He was still chuckling, “batao na…”

Her face flushed in embarrassment, “mujhe nahi pata.”

Before he could persist further, the shopkeeper returned with the dresses Sameer had asked for, and Naina quickly moved away from there. She needed some time for her color to return to normal, and her heart beats to calm down. As she stood browsing through some t-shirts on a stand, thinking if she could buy a couple of them for Sameer, she suddenly spotted a showcase behind the counter that displayed boxes of men’s underwear. Color started to rise in her cheeks again, and she hastily looked away trying to concentrate on the t-shirts. However, after a few moments, her curiosity won over excitement, and under the pretext of selecting t-shirts she kept glancing at the shelf, studying the brands and labels.

Squinting her eyes to see the small text, she found that even though she had only seen monochrome shades in Sameer’s cupboard, men’s underwear also came in different colors, and there were normal sizes like S, M, L and XL. However, soon she spotted some numbers like 90, 95 and even 100. Her eyes widened, as she was horrified trying to think that what in the world was a size 100. She almost ran away from there in fear, but at the nick of time she recalled Chachiji instructing Arjun once about buying a vest for Chachaji and she had mentioned, ’90 wala lena.’ Her expressions cleared as she immediately connected the dots and understood that those numbers indicated centimeters. It was nothing scary.

Meanwhile, Sameer had started to look around for her as he wanted her help in the final selection. He was confused to find her with a t-shirt in her hand, staring fixedly in the distance as if lost in thoughts. Perplexed, he tapped her on the shoulder, “yahan kya kar rahi ho?”

She jerked, and looked at him accusingly, “tum jhooth bol rahe the mujhse. 34, 36 nahi hota… waise numbers hote hai.”

He frowned, turning to look in the direction she was pointing, and his jaw nearly dropped down in shock. His Naina was standing inside a shop and scrutinizing a shelf of men’s underwear…!! Holy hell…! Immediately he looked around trying to ensure that no one had spotted her doing so, or was eavesdropping on their conversation. Grabbing her arm, he tried to tug her, “chalo yahan se.”

She pulled back, “nahi… mujhe janna hai. Tum mera mazak uda rahe the na?”

He groaned; her curiosity would kill him someday. Gripping her hand again in frustration, he furiously muttered, “okay… hotel wapas chalte hai, mere room me. Mere saare kapdo ke sizes check kar sakti ho tum. Lekin sirf meri size… Dukaan me khade rehke sab sizes dekhne ki zarurat nahi hai tumko.”

Blinking in surprise at his tone, she looked around, starting to blush again as she realized that they were having this conversation in the middle of a shop. He had started to drag her out, when she placed her other hand on his arm to calm him, “Sameer suno… umm… sorry… mujhe dhyan nahi raha.”

He stopped in his tracks, exhaling in relief that she finally understood. Some of his mischief returned, “toh… room me jaana hai?”

She laughed, “pehle jo shopping karne aaye hai woh kar lete hai. Rahi baat tumhare size ki, toh woh bhi jaldi hi pata kar lungi.”

He stared at her, surprised at her boldness, and incredibly enough color stained his cheekbones at the thought of her fumbling through his wardrobe to check the size of his boxers.