“Arjun… Wait…”, Arjun turns and looks back but continues walking towards his car outside the house, “Arjun! Where are you going?”
Arjun is about to get into the car. Riya realizes she is too far behind him and whilst still trying to catch up with him, she intentionally steps on to a sharp stone on the pathway.
“Ah!” She screams loudly, as she falls in pain on the ground. “Arjun!”
Arjun sees her fall, and rushes back to her immediately.
“Hey, what happened?! Show me!”
“Ah!” Riya is in great pain, Arjun looks at her feet and notices a lot of blood oozing out. He offers his hand that Riya holds tightly; but after a couple of hops forward, she stops in the pathway, clinging on to Arjun’s arm. “It’s hurting a lot, Arjun!”
Without a word, Arjun suddenly lifts her up in his arms and carries her across. Kamla and Shanti see them pass through the living room as Arjun takes her to her bed room. Both the ladies immediately come rushing up.
“Arjun, what are you doing?” Riya is blushing as red as a tomato, as she spots their moms in the distance. “Please let me down!”
Arjun ignores her and carries her to the bedroom, and eventually puts her gently on the bed.
“Where’s the first aid box?”
Riya points at the cupboard.
Just then, Kamla and Shanti walk in.
“What happened beta? How did you get hurt?” Shanti asks inquisitively.
“Nothing mama, it’s just a small cut. I’ll do it Arjun…”. Now, Arjun is sitting on the floor and grabs her foot to put the ointment on the wound. Riya hesitantly tries to pull her leg back. “What are you doing Arjun?” she speaks to Arjun in a hushed sharp tone, blushing even more. Finally, Arjun speaks, in a loud scolding tone.
“Will you just shut up and stay still? Absolutely still! And not another word!” Riya is cringing with shyness, as Arjun holds her foot in his hand and starts putting the ointment. “Why did you rush behind me bare-footed?! I was not going anywhere!”
Riya is speechless; Kamla comes closer and kneels down on the floor to have a look.
“Come on Shanti; it’s just a small cut, the kids will take care of it.” The ladies leave the kids to their act.
“What are you doing Arjun? What will everyone think? You’re crazy!”
Arjun stares at her, doesn’t bother to respond and instead continues putting the ointment and a bandage. Riya watches him as mixed emotions surge within her. She is spell bound at Arjun’s sudden expression of concern and care towards her, as he completes the bandage with utmost care. Priya and Puja look in momentarily as well; Arjun’s back is to the door, and both the girls leave without a word. Riya bites her lip as she notices Puja wink back at her mischievously.
“You will need to rest and no jumping or playing around! Understood? And no crazy activities or dancing in the festival later in the evening.”
“You are speaking to me as if I am a child!” Riya replies in a sulky tone.
Arjun turns around to put back the first aid box, and sees Shanti and Kamla entering the room again.
“Ma, I need to go for work. Don’t worry; I am not going to fight with anyone. I really have work at the headquarters. I will be back before the puja starts.”
Kamla allows her son to go, though she would have preferred him to stay. Arjun dashes to the headquarters, and on the way visits the park again, but finds no one there. At the headquarters he gets a specialist team in to prepare an identikit picture of the guys at the park.
After a couple of hours, Arjun does manage to return before the puja starts. No one notices him enter as he walks into the main hall and spots Riya immediately sitting among the other ladies as a musical event is on. A few girls try to pull her into the dance. She resists a few times, but eventually gets up and starts to dance to the music, though being very careful and gentle with her legs. Suddenly Riya spots Arjun coming from a distance and freezes mid-way in her dance routine.
“Uff, I’m done now!” she shakes her head, and starts walking briskly up the stairs towards Arjun’s room. Kamla and Shanti cannot help but notice the attention their kids have been giving each other.
“Shanti, are you seeing what I’m seeing too?”
“Yes Kamla… our kids have grown up, isn’t that so? But don’t get too happy too soon; we should give them the freedom to decide for themselves…. Let’s wait and watch! Should we?” Both nod grinning at each other and embrace in a friendly manner.
Riya follows Arjun back to his room. She walks in but pauses at the door, lost for words. Arjun looks at her, but doesn’t say anything. Riya is looking mesmerizingly beautiful in her ethnic outfit, which consists of a beautiful colorful skirt and an elegant blouse with threads criss crossing across an open back, covered by a thin decorated veil drape. She finally gathers the courage to speak.
“Please don’t be angry, Arjun. My leg is absolutely fine now … True. Look it’s not even hurting anymore.” She tries to sound casual, as if nothing has happened, though she can sense that Arjun is still very angry from the event earlier in the day. He doesn’t bother to respond. He is looking for something around the room.
“What happened? What are you looking for?” Riya inquires but Arjun doesn’t respond; while he is searching on the table at the other end of the room, Riya notices a laptop next to the pillow. She hides the laptop under the pillow and sits on the bed next to it. Arjun turns around that very moment to sense the mischief.
“Where’s my laptop?” He starts to walk to the bed from the other end of the room. Riya jumps on top of the pillow.
“No Arjun, please! No work!... Please!”
Arjun is about to move Riya by grabbing her from behind, but hesitates as he notices her soft smooth white back, as her veil has dropped off on the bed. Her blouse reveals a beautiful back through the crisscrossing threads. Arjun does grab her by her arms to move her, but she clings forcefully on to the pillow and the laptop. After a playful tussle on the bed as the two wrestle to get the laptop, Riya eventually emerges with the laptop in her hand. Arjun is not amused and stretches his hand out, in a gesture asking for his laptop. Riya stops her giggles and smiles eventually.
“OK, take it!”, she extends the laptop from behind her back but the moment Arjun tries to hold it, she pulls the laptop back. Riya laughs loudly and dodges him again as they try the same routine. However, Arjun on this second instance grabs her by her wrist.
“OK…take it! Uff! Crazy!”, she twists her wrists with a large grin on her face, having won this round of the battle. Riya is enjoying the pranks and mischief with Arjun. She suddenly realizes that in the tussle on the bed, a few knots of her blouse at the back have come off. She comes near a mirror to look at her back. In the meantime, Arjun has already started the laptop, and is typing quickly.
“Arjun! Will you please tie these for me?” Arjun ignores her and continues working. “One minute… Hello… I am talking to you!” Riya gestures with her eyes to her back. Arjun eventually walks over to her. Riya removes her long hair, revealing her bare white back. Arjun gently ties the threads, nimble with his fingers, conscious not to touch her smooth skin. Riya smiles to herself as she sees Arjun’s reflection in the mirror, sensing his shyness in tying the threads on her seductively beautiful back. He returns immediately to his laptop.
“When will you come downstairs, Arjun? Everyone is waiting for you.”
Arjun doesn’t respond and continues working on his laptop.
Riya responds with a deep sigh, “Uff! You are just impossible!”
She pulls a chair by his desk, puts her chin on her palms and blandly stares at Arjun, smiling gently. Arjun turns his face to look at her, but ignores her, continuing his work. Riya continues to stare at him for some time, until Arjun shuts down the laptop with a big noise.
“All right! C’mon let’s go!”
“Yes! ...Should we go downstairs please! So you are not angry with me anymore?”
Arjun couldn’t help but s
hake his head. Riya smiles cheerfully and grabs his hand to lead him downstairs.
The events earlier in the day had immensely perturbed Arjun. But Riya’s sweet playful ways had calmed him down. Just like good old times, they had always fought with each other, but always held hands subsequently to move on. Today was just another day in the saga of their friendship.
After coming downstairs, Arjun joins the festivities, forgetting all about the incident. Guess it was a stray incident after all to be put behind for good.
The Picnic
It is early morning just two days prior to the court hearing day. The houses of the Sinha and Saxena families are buzzing with activity. Puja and Riya have organized a picnic to a nearby resort. A few other family friends also plan to join them directly at the venue.
After a couple of hours’ drive, they eventually reach the picturesque picnic spot. Long stretches of green grass, rolling hills and a distant waterfall adorn the beautiful landscape. The elders are seated on the grass and chairs, while kids have already got up to their games, playing badminton and other ball games. Arjun, his childhood friend Rakesh and a few others lie lazily on a grass mat enjoying a cold beer.
“OK, listen everyone!” Puja suddenly shouts out to get everyone’s attention, “We are now going to play the next game - treasure hunt. All those who want to participate can you please come over here?”
Everyone starts coming closer. Arjun is still lying on the mat on the grass with his hat on his eyes to cover the sun. Puja throws a ball that knocks his hat off as she gestures to him to join in. Arjun nods and moves slowly to join the others.
“What are the rules and what’s the treasure, Puja?” Rakesh asks inquisitively.
“OK. Listen everyone! There are five routes to reach to the top of the waterfall up the hill. We will have five teams and along each route there are clues. At the top of the waterfall there is a treasure box that can be opened by the code from the clues. Whichever team gets there first and opens the lock wins. Simple? The teams’ selection will be done by chits and we will group one guy and one girl in each team. OK?” Everyone nods and chuckles eagerly to try the new game.
Riya, standing next to Puja, gently whispers in her ears, “Puja, can you please get Arjun and me in the same team?”
“Aha! Why is that?”
“Nothing… Just like that!” Riya tries to act casual, though Puja mockingly raises her eyebrows. She obliges her best friend though, gently putting a wrinkle along Riya and Arjun’s names before entering all the chits into the lot to draw them out. No surprise that after announcing the names of the teams, Arjun and Riya are paired together for the treasure hunt game.
“Which route do we take? Look we’ve to win! OK?” Riya is extremely excited.
“Listen. People come to a picnic to relax!” Obviously Arjun is in no mood to participate seriously and prefers just to take it easy on his day off.
“Arjun, please!” she continues, “Look here’s our map! We will go through this jungle here up the mountain, across the stream and finally up to the top of the waterfall. Yes? Should we?” Arjun gestures for her to proceed first.
Both continue walking up the trail on a lovely hiking route up the hill.
“So Arjun, tell me, what else did you do in Switzerland and California?”
“Completed my studies!” Arjun responds, rather dryly.
“No I mean besides studies?”
Arjun stops in his stride, “You mean girlfriends?”
Riya is embarrassed, and meekly responds, “No! I didn’t mean girlfriends!”
Arjun continues, almost ignoring her faint response, “Yes, I had a very busy time ummm.. lemme count. About a dozen; one for each month of the year!”
“Very funny! I meant what you did in your spare time? Like on weekends…sports…or music?”
“In my spare time…. Hmmm… Of course, plenty of sports… specially adventure sports like rock climbing, horse riding, surfing and power-gliding.”
Riya is impressed; they continue walking and chatting along the route to eventually reach a small stream, having traversed through a pleasant trail up the forest.
“Wow. It’s so beautiful isn’t it?”
Riya hops on to the river bank and lowers her legs into the shallow stream, enjoying the clear blue crystal water flowing over her legs. Arjun comes and joins her on one of the rocks. They sit there for a moment, enjoying the beautiful scenery and the chirping countryside noises. Riya bends low to feel the water through her fingers. Suddenly, she splashes a few drops on to Arjun’s face.
“Hey!”, Arjun responds with a stern look.
“Oh! Such an angry face at just two drops! It’s just water Arjun; you won’t melt, OK!” She playfully splashes him again. Arjun has a shocked look, and is not impressed. Teasingly, Riya wades knee deep in the stream and splashes a huge spurt on to him again.
“Riya, what are you doing? Stop this childishness… You’ll be really sorry if I start splashing you as well!”
“Then who has stopped you?” she laughs, tempting him, “First catch me if you can!” She spurts a large splash of water onto Arjun again, sticks her tongue out in a mocking playful gesture and wades away further into the water. Arjun decides to jump in and follows her. Fun and frolic unfolds as Riya continues to splash Arjun until he is completely drenched. Arjun holds back, conscious not to wet her clothes too much. He is mostly dodging her continuous splashes, but finally decides to catch on to her, suddenly lifts her from her waist and then into his arms.
“OK, now tell me, should I drop you right in?”
“Arjun, no!”, Riya shrieks out loudly.
Arjun lowers her gently down as her hair touches the water. Riya screams, curls up and wraps herself around Arjun’s neck.
“All your bravery has vanished in a second, Riya!”
“But don’t wet my hair!” Riya had painstakingly spent a long time setting them straight today. Arjun is least bothered and teasingly lowers her again close to the water. Much to his surprise, Riya lets go off her hand around Arjun’s neck, as he stretches his hand instinctively to further grab her from falling down into the water.
“All right! Go on drop me…. I’m not afraid of the water! I know you will never let me go!” Riya smiles, challenging Arjun further. Arjun gently lowers her very slowly. Riya on the contrary deliberately arches her back closer to the water. This leads Arjun to retract, as he instead pulls her back still holding her inches above the water. They stare into each other’s eyes for a moment, as if frozen in that beautiful forest.
“What happened, mister?” Riya giggles with a mischievous smile. She sprinkles a few drops on to his face from her finger, as Arjun is staring at her, suddenly mesmerized by her beauty and her playful loving pranks. Arjun decides to carry her back to the ground and lowers her gently.
“Look! Defeated you, haven’t I!” Riya smiles, raising her arms in the air victorious.
Arjun’s clothes are completely drenched, thanks to Riya’s splashing. He takes off his wet t-shirt, wrenches it to squeeze water out and puts it on a tree branch to dry.
Riya teasingly whistles at Arjun “So this is what you did as a pastime abroad- getting your six packs! Huh!” She splashes another few drops of water hitting Arjun’s perfectly shaped muscular abs.
“Hey… Miss… Behave now will you!” Both laugh as giggles and laughter continue in their extremely slow progress up the hill. Not a surprise that Arjun and Riya were not the first to reach the top of the waterfall. Guess Riya never wanted to be a winner at that game. But she has of course been a winner today in her tryst to be closer to Arjun, her long lost childhood friend.
All through the day, abuzz with numerous activities and games, they get a wonderful opportunity to come closer to each other. Dusk creeps on slowly over the beautiful landscape as the group is now ready to get on to the cars to drive back home. Riya opens the door of a car and finds Arjun on the back seat.
“Oh I’m sorry. Can I sit in here too?”
Everyone is now on-board and the cars get moving. The sun has almost set by now and it’s dark and misty on the roads. The guys and girls are playing antakshari, a game of singing Bollywood songs. Riya and the other girls are particularly enthusiastic, while guys like Arjun have been dragged in as reluctant participants.
After a while, Shanti calls out to everyone “Kids, can you please stop the game now and lower your voices. Rohan baby is already asleep in my lap.”
A gentle hustle bustle continues, though hushed now, as it’s been a long day that has left everyone extremely tired and exhausted. Arjun has already closed his eyes, relaxing as the car continues to speed past a jungle. Riya has drifted asleep too and slips in her sleep on to Arjun’s shoulder.
In the peace of the beautiful evening drive through the jungle, Arjun thinks of his journey over the last few months since returning to India. His mission is about to reach its pinnacle soon. The world will see the true face of Pakistan as a terrorist state when the court convenes in a couple of days’ time. He knows it has been tough for his family. On a personal front, it has been an amazing journey that has led to his re-acquaintance with his old friend, Riya. He opens his eyes to look at her beautiful face on his shoulder. He notices a couple of strands of her hair strewn carelessly over her face.
Arjun and Riya have always shared a special friendship even as children, and that friendship has taken on a new dimension with recent events. He can only thank Riya enough for all her support towards his cause. She has been a true friend, standing by him at the time of his most important mission. While Arjun is lost in his thoughts, Riya in her sleep suddenly puts her legs up onto Arjun’s lap. Arjun feels self-conscious and shuffles a bit, as he notices that Riya’s skirt has moved all the way up, revealing her smooth legs. Arjun moves his hand to adjust the skirt on Riya’s legs but clenches his fingers shy of touching them. He looks around, to check that no one is looking; fortunately for him it’s quite dark already and everyone around is nodding as well. Arjun looks back at her and notices a tuft of her hair getting onto her eyes; this time he gently moves her hair slowly conscious not to wake her up. Wow… she is looking so beautiful, he tells himself.
Cold Love Page 5
