Short Story

Made For Each Other – That Awkward Moment When…. (Part – 4)

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Read the links below, they are the previous parts to this story.

Preeti almost bumped into Sid. She was all flustered and he could see panic in her eyes, which slowly turned into comprehension and before he knew it she raised herself on tip toes and gave him a peck on his cheek. “It was barely few minutes since the plane landed and she already picked up some French habits”, he thought utterly confused. They had not even held hands since they got married, why would she suddenly kiss him? Now it was his turn to panic.

Sid’s greatest fear had come true. He had hoped to keep his marriage uncomplicated till he figured out what had happened to him since he came to Paris. This was love, this was passion that was lacking from his life all these years.The transition that had taken place in his life in just a few days had shattered all his presumptions, prejudices and predictions about how his life would turn out. He was in love finally. After having years of his life being followed, fantasized and even stalked by many girls, he had finally fallen for her. Since the moment he laid his eyes on her perfect marble skin, he knew he wanted her.

Sid was attracted to every part of her – the full lips, blushing cheeks, deep blue eyes and above all, her voluptuous body. He had music blasting his ears, the song playing was  Paradise by Coldplay and indeed he was in paradise because he was definitely looking at an angel. Looking away from her was the hardest thing he ever had to do. But he had to look away if he did not want to be beat up in a foreign country. The woman he was looking at had gracefully risen from her seat and was enraged making her beauty even more desirable. She approached Sid and started firing him in her mellifluous French. Sid did not know how he should tell her what he was feeling. All he wanted to do was to compliment her impeccable beauty, just a silent, harmless observer.

Finally he had managed to convey to her what he wanted from her and surprisingly she had accepted his harmless request. On their very first encounter both of them were nervous, it was their first time after all. Never before had they been a part of something so platonic, so divine. With her help Sid had managed to find a nice loft with a spectacular view. Every day he would have a different setup for them. Sometimes everything was scarlet, sometimes filled with barrels while some other times completely lit with candles.

The days had gone by quickly and he had almost forgotten that his wife was about to join him for their honeymoon. The very thought of losing what he had recently found sent him into a panic attack. He definitely owed an explanation to Preeti and that was the scariest part. All he could do was hope that she would not be too invested in their marriage.

On the night of their wedding Preeti and Sid had decided to just be friends and figure out what they wanted from their lives. They had also decided that if either one of them fell in love or even had a crush on anyone else, they would be supportive and let the other person go. But what was happening definitely did not qualify any of their terms. Sid was going to tell Preeti everything and come clean about this quirky affair he had been having, till she kissed him on the airport.

The cab ride back to their hotel was mostly uneventful, except for Sid’s mind which was in an emotional roller coaster. His head was hurting really badly and he felt nauseous. He was just praying that Preeti was not attracted to him in any way. He knew only one thing could calm him now. He punched a few keys on his cell phone “See you in 15” and pressed send. He made a really lame, unconvincing excuse to Preeti and set out towards the loft. He entered the loft, and there she was. “Strip”, he said to her.

The Quest

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Quest, journey, voyage are an inevitable part of a being. The ornate boots have a dream of a quest too. The path has its ups and downs, lows and highs. Every quest begins with a dream, a dream clear only to those who desire.

The Dream

The boots set out to realize their hazy dream. They cruised through arduous oceans.

The Journey

They tread on paths unknown, but always with a ray of hope.

The Hope

There were hardships, obstacles, Catch 22s, but they hanged on!

The Hardships

As the destination starts taking form and the dream materializes, the feeling of fulfillment knows no bounds.

The Fulfillment

Made for each other – journey begins (Part 3)

Posted on by ThoughtsUnrestricted

Read the links below, they are the previous parts to this story.

 

Few days had passed after the god forsaken wedding and now it was the time for the most dreaded honeymoon. Since the past few days Preeti had been smoking quite often just because of the anxiety and the anticipation of the coming fortnight. A normal newlywed bride would also be anxious and would definitely be in anticipation of spending a romantic fortnight in the mesmerizing city of Paris. Even Preeti would, but with the person she loved. But alas, life’s not perfect.

Days passed like whirlwind and before she knew it, Preeti was lugging her zebra printed bag, packed with skimpy clothes and negligees that she was forced to take along. Her sisters had simply refused to let her go without them, but she had secretly managed to smuggle some comfy jeans and plain tees in her cabin bag. She went through security check and then finally boarded the flight in a stupor. It wasn’t until the plane was about to take off that she realized his presence on the seat next to hers. She suddenly broke into a nervous sweat. He glanced at her and said, “If you are nervous about the take off you can hold my hand. Believe me it will help”. She threw him a dirty glance but it was already lost on him. He had closed his eyes and was leaning against the headrest.  She let him be and went back into her stupor.

The flight took off after the insipid demonstrations by the flight attendants. It was sometime before Preeti snapped out of her slumber. Suddenly she became aware that her long, slender fingers were entwined with his strong, stubby fingers, engulfing  her cold hand in a cozy warmth. She quickly drew her hand back and was thankful that she had the window seat, because anyone who caught the expressions on her face would read them like an open book . He simply grunted something and turned his back to her but not before murmuring something. She just caught some random jargon and decided to ignore it. She composed herself and opened her dog-eared book, tucked the bookmark towards the last few pages and buried her head into her happy place thinking, “Oh, it’s going to be a long flight!”

Preeti was still deeply pouring over her book when suddenly he said to her, “I love the way you pout when you concentrate so hard. You have no idea what a ravishing sight you make. You should see yourself the way I do sometime.” He put on his speakers with music blasting so loud that atleast five people around him could hear it, while Preeti was left gaping at him. She was completely stunned by his disarmingly charming recklessness. Wait! Did she just think he was charming? And why couldn’t she get those deep brown smiling eyes out of her mind? She shuddered at the mere thought of the somersaults that the butterflies in her stomach were performing . She pulled her sleep mask over her eyes and popped the ear plugs and slept through the remainder of the flight.

When she got up they were about to land and she could feel his stare burning into her side. She was exercising her control with all the will power she could muster. She cannot get any kind of feelings for him. Not now. She quickly gathered up her stuff and got out of the flight and started making her way towards the immigration. She hurried from there to get her luggage and luckily for her she spotted her bag and could not wait to get her hands on it. She grabbed her bag from the conveyor belt and started moving aimlessly too afraid to even look back over her shoulder. Out of nowhere she breathed in that familiar smell of the expensive cologne. Preeti stopped dead in her tracks and looked up and caught herself staring into his light brown eyes with a tinge of green. She had her heart in her throat and her husband, Sid, in front of her. He had come to pick her up at the Charles De Gaulle Airport. Seconds dragged on and they kept staring at each other not knowing what they should do next.

To be continued….

Fur n Feather

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I was recently challenged to write a story based on photos I have already uploaded on my blog and here goes –

If you walk down the long passages around Diwan – e – Aam (House of Commons) of the Agra fort, you are bound to see very weird sights. The most intriguing would have to be this – a small, adorable squirrel, unafraid of being so close to people, playfully leaping and running around him, only resting for just a split second to nibble on some peanuts in his hand. That was how Prakash earns his living. He charges the tourists for this absolutely mundane yet interesting profession, where he lets the tourists play with the tame, pet squirrel.

The way every pet feels at some point of time, Squirrely too wanted to wander around and see the world beyond the red walls. She especially wanted to see how the Sun looked from other places. One day she ran away from Prakash and wandered through the maze of corridors of the fort.

Suddenly she was outside the fort, running through the wall, when she heard a cackling, gurgle-like laughter. That was when she noticed the two pigeons sitting in the niches of the wall.

Squirrely requested them to fly her to places she had never seen. The two pigeons, Pidge and Geon, thmselves having never left Agra and charmed by little Squirrely’s cuteness, agreed to embark upon the journey. All three of them decided to meet at the lamp-post around the corner the next day.

They began their journey and for Squirrely they seemed to be moving at blurring pace and everything below looked like a distortion of colors.

They had traveled far and wide and finally decided to wait to replenish, just a splash of water and a dash of food and they would be ready to go. They were sipping some water from a barrel near the pani puri stall, when the kind bhaiyya laid out a delectable pani puri for them.

Completely refreshed and heartily fulfilled, the three of them continued their journey beautifully picturesque  landscapes. All of a sudden, Squirrely spotted something gleaming in the Sun, so they swooped down to take a closer look. They were completely mesmerized at  what they were looking at. Right in front of them, gleaming in all its glory, was the personification of Sun. This totally fit the purpose with which Squirrely had left home.

In its glory

After accomplishing her mission and thoroughly having a great time, Squirrely returned to her humble abode and lived happily ever after.

Made for each other (?)

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Disclaimers : To really understand this post, you will have to know this one.

Preeti, 23 years old, armed with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. Preeti, like the homonym of her name, is a pretty girl with a very adorable dimpled smile and laughing eyes. She has a lot of friends, is a decent student and loves her books. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and is a daddy’s girl. Sounds very typical bubbly, girl-next-door, does she? Well, she also has a dark side, not so much dark as quirky. She likes to party once in a while and when I say party I mean you are in for a roller coaster of crazy adventures. When the pressure really gets to her, she sneaks up to the rooftop for a quiet smoke. And despite strict restrictions from her father, she has a well concealed tattoo.

Pammi auntie runs a marriage bureau – you heard it right, a bureau for eligible suitors – and she always keeps an eye out for possible matches, in short ka-ching! Pammi auntie is quite ‘inquisitive’ by nature, you could say its a talent and she has an eye out for ‘Matches made in Heaven’ – not the cliched idiom, that’s the name of her marriage bureau. As soon as she saw Preeti at her cousin’s wedding she became dreamy-eyed and only one face floated around her as if she was love struck – Siddharth. Pammi auntie rushed to Sid’s place immediately the next day, dragging her heavy body up the 12 steps, panting and gasping, barely getting the words out to Sid’s mom. ‘Ting’! A sparkle in Sid’s mom’s eye and she rushed to his dad. What better day than Sid’s birthday to bring up this topic?

The news traveled fast to Preeti’s house and her parents were delighted with the proposal. Everything was almost fixed save for Preeti’s go-ahead. The problem was, Preeti knew this day would come and quite soon, but no matter when it came she was not ready for it. Little did she know how headstrong and unprepared for marriage she was till her dad came to talk to her that night. She was completely engrossed in reading “The Great Gatsby”, fascinated by the wonderfully complex psyches of the different characters when her dad knocked softly on the door. After he entered, there was yelling, bouts of anger, spell of tears, sappy hugs, anger again and a topping of subtle emotional blackmail and her dad emerged a winner. These discussions can never be pleasant or easy even. But somehow at the end of it all, she ended up agreeing to marry Sid. Besides he was about OK to look at too.

It was 2 am in the morning, the night was still and the moon was casting an eerie glow. She sneaked to her usual get-away with her box of treasures and a light. She was enjoying her smoke after the absolutely nerve wrecking 3 hours when a gleam caught her eye. Puzzled, she opened her half-open box of treasures. She pulled out the shiny object and started weeping uncontrollably. It was her favorite butterfly headband. She had completely lost touch with herself, what she had just agreed to suddenly sank in. How could she be already getting married? It was surreal, unnatural. She could not explain even to herself what emotional turmoil her heart and mind were going through. But she wiped her eyes with conviction, gathered her booty and climbed back into her room. That night she slept peacefully.

Preeti was getting ready for her wedding. The day had arrived and she hadn’t realized how 6 months had already passed. She knew what needed to be done, but she was only dreading her wedding night. She was hyperventilating and under a lot of pressure but she could not even sneak out for a quick smoke in her wedding dress! She just decided to handle the situation with the flow. Four hours later Preeti was married and was effectively ‘Mrs. Sid’! Oh, the horror! Alone in Sid’s room she was jumping at every small squeak, rustle and click without realizing that all these sounds were made by her. But this was some unusual sound, someone was coming closer, the sound was becoming louder and louder. She was in a cold sweat and couldn’t bear the thought of what was in store for her. Suddenly a loud revving noise came to her and she rushed to the window. What she saw, she could never have imagined. There he was zooming away on a monster of a bike. Her face suddenly brightened all over with a huge smile and she crashed on the bed. She was fast asleep and drooling as soon as her head hit the pillow.

 

(To be continued… )

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Made for each other

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Siddharth turned 26 today. He completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science and has been working as a Software Engineer for the past 2 years. He is tall, good looking and financially stable. Check, check and check – he qualifies as the most suited and most eligible bachelor. His parents know this and so does everyone in their social circle. Marriage proposals from prospective brides will soon come to them at blinding speed. Siddharth’s father had already enrolled him in a matrimonial website – Facebook for arrange marriages – run by Pammi aunty, whose nosiness worked well for her profession.

This on-paper-perfect-groom, Sid, however was completely oblivious to all this jargon. For him marriage was not even on the horizon. What was on horizon was a wild night out with his friends, rounds of tequila shots on Sid, a blurred string of events which will never be remembered followed by a morning of heavy hangover! Little did he know that in this very state of hangover, he is going to be faced with the biggest and the most important decision of his life.

Sid woke up the next day with a splitting head ache. His hair was disheveled and he did not have any memory of how and when he ended up in his room. He quickly showered and meandered into the dining room looking for breakfast and steaming cup of black coffee to pull him out of the dark abyss of hangover. The last thing he wanted was bumping into his dad and even worse than that was his dad in a ‘we need to talk’ mood. “So you are 26 now. What have you thought about your marriage?” asked his dad as Sid seated himself at the table. Sid heard this and was stumped simply because he had not thought about it! The conversation went on for almost 2 hours during which Sid’s dad shared pearls of his wisdom and his mother emotionally blackmailed him. After these grueling 2 hours, Sid was somehow ready to get married and settle down and surprisingly was quite happy about it.

The events followed like a chain reaction and within 3 months time Sid was engaged to Preeti. She was a beautiful, 23, had pursued B.A. in psychology, was an excellent cook – all in all- a complete package. The wedding was to take place at Sid’s farmhouse, within 3 months of the engagement. Initially Sid was just going with the flow, dealing with one day at a time.

As the time started moving forward and the day of his lifetime commitment was nearing, he started getting this sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. But it was an apprehensive nervousness. He was about to embark upon a beautiful journey with this special someone. She was all he thought about and that surprised him. He thought of places where he will take her after the wedding. He wanted to show her off to his friends, because let’s face it, none of his friends had such a stunning beauty in their lives. He thought about his wedding night but he had to stop himself right there because the excitement was just too much for him.

It was finally the morning of his wedding. The day which was most eagerly awaited by everyone and the most by Sid, had finally dawned. He was going to be married by the end of this day to one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. It scared him more than ever, but the excitement that he felt trumped his scare. He could not wait for the wedding to be over! Finally all the rites and rituals were done. The couple was showered with warm wishes from friends and family.

It was the wedding night. Preeti was waiting for Sid in his bedroom. She was extremely nervous and scared. Sid was nervous too. His hands were clammy, his throat was dry, his heart was pounding. But now he could not wait any longer. He rushed to the door grabbed it and made his way inside. He could see her, the veil was relatively sheer , he could make out her form. She was breath taking even beneath the veil. He unveiled her and gasped at the creature in front of him. Beautiful, gorgeous, stunning waiting for him. He put his hand into his pocket, drew out the keys and turned on the engine of his brand new Ducati 916SPS delivered in his garage according to the deal struck in the 2 hour grueling discussion and zoomed off.

 

(To be continued… )