by Mahi Jay
Nina couldn’t guess if he really was oblivious to the attention they were garnering or was merely pretending to be. But all thoughts of others vanished the moment he pulled her into his arms. He held her very lightly, barely holding her. Her arms were on his shoulders and they swayed slightly to the music.
Aadith felt as if he were on fire. From the moment he had seen her tonight he had wanted to drag her to him and crush her soft lips to his. He wanted to rip away the pins holding her hair up and bury his fingers into her silky hair. He didn’t know how much longer he would be able to last without having her.
She was shredding his control to pieces. When he felt her warm breath at the open V of his throat he knew it had to stop. Glancing over, he saw the young couple on the floor in a happy embrace.
‘Nina, if we continue a moment longer I’m going to have to kiss you,’ he whispered. Her melting chocolate-brown eyes met his and he knew she wanted him as much as he did her. He gently guided them both back to the table to wait for the other two. They didn’t try to make conversation. It was a silence filled with sexual tension and delicious anticipation.
The photo shoot at the end seemed interminable. Aadith looked at her as if he could not get enough of her. It made her feel hot. She couldn’t help gazing at him either. When it was time for the photo shoot Aadith was a revelation in front of the camera. He appeared totally unselfconscious. The youngsters were very nervous and took a lot of time to appear normal and not posed. He was very patient with them as he gave them tips to appear natural. As soon as the shoot was wrapped Aadith took his leave. His eyes promised untold delights as he asked for her room number. Nina revealed it huskily.
It was late by the time Nina sent the ecstatic couple on their way home in a happy daze. She was as nervous as a new bride as she made her way to her room. Should she change out of her dress and wait for him in sexy night-wear or wait for him as she was? wondered Nina. She didn’t want to appear too eager or too gauche.
‘Unlike him, I don’t have a gazillion experiences of this,’ she told herself tartly. In the end she scrubbed her face clean and settled for a simple cotton nightgown that was more comfortable than flattering.
When the minutes turned to an hour and there was still no sign of him she knew he wasn’t going to turn up. She felt numb with pain.
She wondered if the whole day had been some sort of sick game to him. To soften her up with a visit to his friends, then the seduction routine on the terrace, and finally when he’d had her wanting more, he had bailed out. Wasn’t that what had happened in the past as well? thought Nina grimly. They had kissed and when she had offered him more he had declined. Would she never learn her lesson? she asked herself tiredly. She wondered savagely if Aadith just chased women for the thrill of it and when the challenge was no longer there he quickly lost interest. The chase was what thrilled him—he’d said so himself, hadn’t he?
Her pain had morphed into a terrible anger by the time an exhausted sleep claimed her.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE NIGHT HAD been a restless one for Nina. Fragments of the past and the present had intermingled in her dreams and had left her with a vague foreboding sense of things to come. The morning was no better, as Nina woke up with a splitting headache and was still just as furious with Aadith over the cheap stunt he had pulled.
She reminded herself that she was no longer the gullible idiot who had run away and hid herself when she’d been hurt. She resolved to treat him indifferently and keep him at arm’s length under all circumstances. Nina ordered coffee and headed for her shower.
When the doorbell chimed announcing the arrival of room service Nina wrapped a thick towelling robe around her damp body and hurried to open the door. The door opened to reveal Aadith standing beside a member of hotel staff bearing her coffee.
Nina wanted to slam the door in his face but she couldn’t because, for one, she didn’t want to create a scene and provide ample fodder for gossip, and secondly it didn’t fit in with her resolve to act indifferently towards him, she thought in frustration. She sauntered over to the table where the coffee was placed and drew herself a chair while Aadith tipped the attendant and sent him on his way.
She concentrated on pouring herself a cup and clutched it between her fingers as if it were a lifeline. She heard the door shut behind the attendant, yet she refused to look up at Aadith.
‘Nina, I’m sorry about last night,’ said a gruff voice from above her head. Aadith was pacing the floor beside her restlessly. He knew he would have to woo her back after last night’s debacle but there’d been nothing he could have done to be with her.
Nina decided to resort to the mundane to keep a lid on her simmering anger. ‘Why? I thought last night went off very well. It should work superbly for our campaign.’
Aadith sighed. ‘You know I’m not talking about the blasted campaign. Are you going to pretend nothing happened between us just like the last time?’
Never one for subterfuge, Nina had been biting her tongue to refrain from talking about the previous night. His reference to the past unleashed her fury.
Nina felt at a disadvantage with him towering over her. She placed her cup on the table and stood up to glare at him. ‘Well, if you’re going to run scared every time I want to do more than kiss, maybe I’m better off pretending nothing ever happened between us.’
‘Me? Run scared?’ growled Aadith as he strode towards her quickly. ‘The first time we kissed you were barely more than a child and I was leaving Pune shortly afterwards. I couldn’t take advantage of your innocence.’ He sighed heavily. ‘Listen, Nina, we’ve already been through this. Are you always going to hold the past against me?’ he asked softly.
A few droplets of water were still clinging to her neck, the only part of her body exposed to his gaze besides her slipper clad feet. He felt an urgent need to flick away those drops with the tip of his tongue. Aadith felt a shudder run through him at the mere thought of it. He shook his head to clear the image from his mind. He still had to get her to look past his no-show last night.
Nina knew Aadith had a way with words and did not want to soften towards him. ‘What about last night? Did you find someone else to warm your bed? Some nameless, faceless body whom you could use and discard without a backwards glance?’ she accused.
‘A nameless, faceless body doesn’t interest me any more. It is only you I want,’ he said baldly.
Nina’s heart thundered in her ears. To hear him say those words with such dark passion was almost her undoing. Yet a small part of her, the part that had been hurt once too often by his rejection, resisted his sweet words. He had to be sick to blow so hot and cold this fast, thought Nina grimly. She hardened her resolve and continued, ‘If you do, then you certainly have a funny way of showing it.’
‘Trust me, if there had been any way I could have been here last night I would have,’ he admitted.
‘So why weren’t you?’ she asked sceptically.
‘Believe it or not, I found a nameless, faceless woman overdosed on my bed. Apparently she is a crazy fan who had bribed a member of the hotel staff to let her into my room. She had to be taken to the hospital and the police were involved, which is why I couldn’t be with you last night,’ he explained.
‘Why didn’t you call me? I could have been of some help,’ she argued. Then she realised the furore the news would cause if it got out and gasped. ‘This is going to be a PR disaster!’ she moaned in dismay.
‘No. It’s all right, the management of the hotel agreed to take responsibility since it was their staff who let her into my room. They informed the police that she was found in another room to shush the matter up and keep me out of the picture. But by the time that was all agreed, it was far too late to call you—and I wasn’t exactly in a romantic mood!’
Nina winced when she heard it all. She could barely get her head around it, yet here he was talking about it calmly. Such things did not happen in her world. For him it must be just one of those things t
hat happened in his life, she thought in horror.
What am I even doing with him? He had women throwing themselves at him on a regular basis and she would just be one more in the long line. Yet she could not imagine giving up what little time she had with him. It was a quandary she didn’t know how to resolve. Perhaps she was better off protecting her heart …
Her headache was back with a vengeance and suddenly she did not want to decide anything in her fragile state of mind. ‘Is the girl all right?’ asked Nina in an effort to avoid talking about themselves.
‘She wasn’t really in any danger, which is why we could get away with our little deception to the police,’ he clarified.
She noted the ‘we’ in his sentence but chose to ignore it. Aadith stepped close to her and tipped her chin up and said, ‘Nina, as much as we both want to deny it there is something simmering between us and it is not going to go away.’
Nina shrugged helplessly. ‘Aadith, I don’t know what to say. Last night I thought I wanted this but I’m not so sure now,’ she said unhappily.
Aadith felt furious at her words. Distantly familiar feelings of rejection assailed him. Since he had made a name for himself he couldn’t recall a single woman turning him down and now here she was politely giving him the brush off. He had expected anger on her part but not this inexplicable withdrawal. Last night had just been a single missed opportunity for them. Nothing more. There would be many more like it but she clearly needed to understand that he wasn’t promising commitment. Just a good time together.
She’d wanted him last night, of that he was certain, and if he swept her into his arms now and carried her to the bed he was fairly certain the blistering chemistry between them would take over. But he didn’t want that; he had always been scrupulously honest with all his partners. He made sure they knew that a relationship with him would not lead to happily ever after. And this thing with Nina would end no differently, so if she came to him it had to be with her eyes wide open, decided Aadith. She had to understand that with him the good times always came to an end. If she wanted to get back at him for last night by turning him down now, he certainly wasn’t going to beg for it, he thought resolutely.
He stepped back and put the distance of the table between them. ‘So what do you propose we do about this tricky situation between us?’ he said with forced calm.
‘We could try ignoring it,’ she suggested hesitantly.
‘Ignore it?’ he echoed in disbelief. ‘Then try ignoring this,’ he said grimly as he strode towards her purposefully and hauled her into his arms. His cool, firm lips captured hers in a searing kiss.
His hands went from their grip on her upper arms to her waist and then slid behind her back to press her firmly against his hard body. His mouth explored hers with a shattering expertise. The kiss was feverishly hot and urgent and her body responded automatically. She thrilled to his touch and melted against him, her desperate need to get closer taking over whatever objections her scrambled mind tried to present to her. She was lost to everything but the feel of his mouth slanting over hers, teasing and tormenting. She let out a strangled gasp in protest as his mouth left hers to nuzzle against the side of her neck.
‘Now tell me you don’t want this. That you want to pretend this didn’t happen …’ whispered Aadith into her ear. Nina flinched as if she had been struck.
She realised they were back to square one. This agonising tussle between them seemed interminable. Something had to give. She couldn’t go on like this much longer.
Aadith set her away from him. He saw the trembling of her lips and almost lost track of what he wanted to say. He found himself in a novel but frustrating position of knowing that she wanted him too and was yet too reluctant to dive in headlong. He knew it had to be her decision ultimately.
‘Nina, we’re both adults here and, the faster you face the fact that the needs of the body and mind don’t always coincide, the better off you’ll be. When you think you’re up to it, you know where to find me,’ he said gently and walked out of her room without a backwards glance.
As Nina watched him go her trembling legs gave out beneath her and she sank into the chair. She felt an aching loneliness deep inside her—an emptiness that work and ambition had filled for so long. His touch awakened in her feelings she had thought to be dead. He aroused in her the longing to be desired and to desire.
She determinedly tried to push all thoughts of Aadith out of her head and turned to work. She hoped it would help to keep her mind off her conflicting emotions. Work had always been her refuge when occasional bouts of loneliness had troubled her. Loneliness that had stemmed from her parents unabashedly ignoring her for most of her life.
Their flight to Delhi left her with just enough time to make a few calls to confirm arrangements in Delhi and to pack her bags. She groaned to herself when she realised her seat was next to Aadith’s again.
Aadith decided to play it cool with Nina. If she was playing hard to get, he certainly wasn’t going to chase after her. He’d made it clear that he wanted her and if she wanted him too, then the next move had to come from her. He spoke to her as naturally as if nothing had happened between them. He shared with her funny incidents that had happened on his movie sets. He told her interesting things about celebrities whom he had worked with. He was politely distant.
Agreed, she’d asked him to pretend nothing had happened. To lock it all away in a closet. But to have him laugh and chat with such ease while she was going through an emotional turmoil stung. It made her feel as if she hadn’t caused a blip in his radar while he had turned her life upside down.
She looked at his sensual mouth as he spoke and remembered in graphic detail the feel of his lips against her skin. How could he laugh, thought Nina in bewilderment, when all she could remember was how his body had felt pressed hard against hers?
Finally the lack of sleep took its toll on her and she slid into a fitful doze. Aadith looked down upon her sleeping form and thought she was a curious mix of strength and vulnerability. He wanted to snatch her into his arms and keep her there until she agreed to become his lover. She drove him crazy with her stubbornness, yet he couldn’t seem to look past her. He found himself wanting her beyond reason and he could think of only one way to get over his distraction. He needed to bed her to get her out of his system.
As Aadith gently shook her awake Nina blinked open her eyes. He found himself looking into the softest pair of eyes he had ever seen. Their gazes locked and held as if time had been suspended, leaving them shut in their own private world. Her heart raced as she took in the fierce intensity in his eyes. When she slid the tip of her tongue out to moisten her dry lips, Aadith almost groaned out aloud. She seemed to possess the knack of wreaking havoc with his self-control with the smallest of gestures, he admitted to himself.
The captain’s announcement that they had landed broke the moment, for which they were both thankful. They needed to avoid all proximity if this pretence was going to work and staying away from him wasn’t an option when they had to work together. It was a catch-twenty-two situation, thought Nina in dismay.
When Nina made a move to get into one of the other cars to get to the hotel, Aadith caught her hand. ‘We need to go over the details for this evening so you’d better come with me.’
‘You want to discuss the details now when you had the entire flight trip to do so?’ asked Nina in consternation.
‘Well, I was busy then, chatting up a pretty woman sitting next to me,’ he retorted unabashedly.
‘Oh, really? Is that what you were doing? Did she even know you were chatting her up?’ she asked in mock surprise.
‘Actually she didn’t. Every time I try to chat her up she falls asleep on me, I must be losing my touch,’ he replied, shaking his head woefully.
Nina burst into laughter. One moment he was the intense lover, the next an incorrigible flirt.
Aadith smiled as well as he opened the car door for her. Nina settled back and started off, ‘Let m
e tell you the background of the couple first. We’ve selected a middle-aged couple this time. Apparently the woman is from a very wealthy background and the guy an average middle-class one. They eloped due to serious opposition from the woman’s family. They’ve come a long way since then and now he wants to tell her how much he appreciates her belief and trust in him. He wants to make her feel special.’
‘So what have you planned for them?’ he asked curiously.
‘We’ve come up with something totally traditional. The Jahaz Mahal hosts the annual “Phool Walon Ki Sair” festival. There will be a procession of people, bearing beautiful floral fans, pankha, as they are called, led by shehnai players and dancers. This will be followed by a cultural extravaganza with troupes from various states of India, performing songs, dances and drama. You will be presiding over the event and the couple will be your special guests.’
‘It sounds like a lot of fun and I’m sure the publicity this generates will work to our advantage,’ said Aadith thoughtfully.
‘Promoting any cultural event generates great publicity but a bi-religious event such as this one will work wonders for us,’ agreed Nina.
‘Due to security issues you only have to welcome the couple after the procession, present them with gifts and then start off the cultural festival.’
‘Looks like you have everything sorted,’ observed Aadith as their car drew up at one of the most exclusive hotels in the city.
Nina chose a floor-length red skirt in crushed silk to go with a lacy black top. She topped it off with a gossamer-light silk stole. Wavy hair let loose and pretty dangling earrings completed the folksy look she was aiming for.
She’d arranged a palanquin decorated with beautiful flowers to carry the couple in the procession. This was an honour that very few people were allowed and Nina had pulled a few strings to make it extra special for the couple.
It was a lively procession with lots of dancing and music, but Nina couldn’t enjoy it. She hated huge crowds, especially if she was outdoors, and she was in the midst of it all. So she instructed Rashid, the photographer, to capture every moment of fun and delight the couple enjoyed and hung back in the sidelines for a while. As soon as the procession started she used the car to get to the final venue to await their arrival.
