‘Nikki!’ Grace called from across the pub. ‘How’s your mum, luv?’
‘She’s well,’ Nikki said.
‘Is she keeping warm?’
Mum’s temperature moderation was of utmost importance to Grace for some reason. Grace looked at her expectantly. ‘She’s got good insulation at home,’ Nikki assured Grace.
‘Bet it’s not as warm as the old village in Bangladesh though,’ Steve with the Racist Grandfather called out.
Nikki wished she had a clever comeback but all she said in reply was, ‘I was born in England, you fuckwit.’ Steve grinned as if she’d just paid him a compliment.
It was a relief to see Olive weaving her way through the tables. Nikki poured Olive a beer and called out, ‘I have a present for you.’ She drew a folder from her bag.
‘Is that what I think it is?’ Olive asked.
‘Yes,’ Nikki said. ‘This one’s written in English.’ It was Sheena Kaur’s tale.
The Coco Palm Resort Hotel
The hardest part about planning the wedding was deciding which honeymoon package to buy. Kirpal and Neena spent weeks weighing their options between different locations. Finally they decided on a beach resort called The Coco Palm. Kirpal liked the pictures of the open blue sea and white sand. Neena was drawn by the resort’s tagline: Try Everything Once. This would be her only honeymoon and she was determined to make the best of it. She wanted to try snorkelling and deep-sea diving and all of the other offerings of this resort at least once.
When they arrived at the hotel, they made sure there was a king-sized bed as promised. The hotel receptionist gave them a list of places where they could dine and told them where the pool was, but Kirpal smiled at his wife, Neena, and said, ‘I think we’ll be spending most of our time indoors.’ Neena’s cheeks burned and, down below, a fire was raging. She couldn’t wait to be alone with him. For months since booking this honeymoon, she had sneaked glances at the brochure’s featured king-sized bed strewn with rose petals. She had imagined them falling onto the bed together in a tangle of sweaty limbs, moaning loudly. This wouldn’t be possible after the honeymoon. Once they returned to his parents’ home, only a thin wall would separate their bedroom from her in-laws’. They would have to muffle the sounds of their sensual pleasures.
Kirpal smiled at Neena. She wondered if he was thinking the same thing. Then, as he reached for their bags, his smile disappeared and a flash of pain crossed his face. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked. ‘It’s my back,’ he said with a grimace. ‘I’ve been having these awful pains since before the wedding but there was no time to see a doctor with all of the preparations. I think the celebrations just made it worse.’ Neena tried to hide her disappointment. What this meant, of course, was that they would not be able to make love on their first holiday away together. When would they get the chance then?
A bellhop brought their bags up to the room and received a generous tip. ‘Enjoy your stay,’ he said. After he left, it was just Neena and Kirpal, alone and together at last but unable to express their love. Kirpal fiddled with the zipper on his suitcase and then sat down on the bed. He slowly leaned back until he was lying flat. Out came a long sigh of relief. ‘I’d just like to rest for a while,’ Kirpal said. He closed his eyes, his face still faintly contorted in a remaining spasm of pain. Neena realized how much pain he had been hiding. Perhaps something could be done to relieve him.
She lay down on the bed next to him. His body was warm and hard, his breathing soft. His eyes were closed as if he was asleep but when she brushed her lips against his cheek, he stirred. She sucked gently on his earlobe. Although she didn’t know if this was what she was meant to do, her husband was enjoying it so much that she couldn’t imagine it was wrong. Small groans escaped his lips now and as she lowered her lips to his neck and his chest, she could hear his breath getting deeper and faster. She stopped there, considering her options. She had been warned before getting married that what a couple did together on their first night alone set the tone for the rest of their lives. He had a backache – yes, it was a problem for now, but if they were expected to grow old together, there would be many ailments in the future that could keep one or both of them bedridden for life. What would they do then? As much as she loved her new husband and enjoyed this moment, he needed to know that he had a duty to her as well. She repositioned herself so her head was facing his feet. Confused by suddenly seeing her bottom, her husband began to protest. ‘Why did you stop?’ he asked. He barely uttered the last word when Neena lowered her lips onto his precious organ. It became rock hard to her touch. She began moving her lips down, feeling every inch of him tense beneath her. She took care not to put too much weight on him because his back was hurting – her weight rested on her knees, which were positioned on either side of his chest. She arched her back slightly, putting her precious parts in his full view. He just had to tip his head upwards slightly so his tongue could tickle the ripe, throbbing bud between her legs …
‘Whoa!’ Olive cried, looking up from the page. ‘I was not expecting that. I thought these were going to be granny romance stories. These are all-out naughty.’
‘Sheena’s hardly a granny,’ Nikki said. ‘I think she’s in her mid-thirties. Her husband died from cancer several years ago.’ It was a mystery to Nikki that Sheena preferred the company of elderly and conservative women over those her own age.
‘There’s more.’ Nikki scanned the pages and pointed to a middle paragraph.
‘Don’t bite me there,’ he warned her. She obeyed him, but as her lips began to tire of those in-and-out movements, she let her teeth graze his skin and felt the ecstasy shudder through both their bodies like an electric shock. A sound which signalled pain and pleasure rumbled from his lips.
‘She’s got a flair for writing,’ Olive remarked.
Nikki flipped to another page and scanned it. ‘Hey,’ she said. ‘There’s a twist. She starts screwing the bellhop.’
Neena got onto her hands and knees and he stood behind her, placing his fingers into her wet lips. Her hips began to rotate in anticipation of his big, hard member. Usually Ramesh was too busy lifting bags and running hotel errands to notice his guests too closely but he had seen her getting out of the airport shuttle earlier that morning. The wind had picked up her skirt and revealed a glimpse of her lacy red panties, which were now crumpled near the bed post. He couldn’t believe he was entering her now. She moaned, ‘Yes, yes, oh that feels so good.’ Ramesh looked up, aware that he was making love to another man’s wife.
‘Go Neena,’ Olive said. ‘Try everything once indeed.’
‘Her husband’s watching though. And enjoying it.’
Ramesh made eye contact with Kirpal, who sat in the chair in the corner of the room. Gripping his own manhood, he watched his wife moan with raw desire as Ramesh glided in and out of her.
‘Are the other stories this naughty?’ Olive asked.
‘Pretty much.’
‘Those dirty little minxes,’ Olive said. ‘Who’s reading these, besides you and the widows?’
‘Nobody else at the moment,’ Nikki said. ‘But that could change. I’m thinking that once we have enough stories, we could try to get them published.’
‘Hmm,’ Olive said. ‘I don’t know. These are very intimate. The widows might be all right with sharing them with you but it might be another thing to get them out in public.’
‘These women are a lot bolder than I thought,’ Nikki said. ‘I could actually see Arvinder speaking at a Fem Fighters rally. Or Preetam doing a dramatic reading.’
Olive tipped her head and smiled. It was that you’re-getting-ahead-of-yourself look that Nikki was familiar with, except she was more used to receiving it from Mindi. ‘We could work our way up to it,’ Nikki conceded.
Suddenly there was a cry in the kitchen. Nikki pushed open the door and saw Sam hopping about, squeezing his left-hand fingers with his right hand. ‘What happened?’
‘Got sprayed with hot water. The indic
ator light on the dishwasher’s broken.’
Sanja stepped forward and opened the dishwasher door, turning her face away. An angry cloud of steam rolled into the air. She picked out the dishes gingerly and began stacking them on the counter. Sam muttered something under his breath and walked out of the kitchen with Nikki in tow. At the sound of the kitchen hands’ snickers, Nikki paused. She didn’t need to see if Sam was okay. Sam was fine. She took her place at the bar. ‘Bloody idiots,’ she muttered.
‘Who?’ Olive asked.
‘Those guys in the back.’
‘Don’t let them get to you. They’re just resentful,’ Olive reminded her.
‘Probably,’ Nikki said. ‘But sometimes I can see where they got the idea from – Sam hired me without any experience. It raises eyebrows doesn’t it?’
Olive shrugged. ‘He saw potential in you. Maybe he was attracted to you as well, but he tried to ask you out ages after you started working here and you said no. He hasn’t treated you any differently since.’
‘He has, actually. I used to be able to just chat and laugh with him but since then it’s just uncomfortable. It’s all Garry and Viktor’s fault.’ Secretly she blamed herself as well. Why did she have to go and compliment Sam?
‘Tell them off then,’ Olive said. ‘Go on. Put them in their place.’
For all of Nikki’s outrage, she squirmed at the thought of confronting those guys face to face. She was afraid of what they might say in response – you were asking for it. She was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to convince them that they were wrong. ‘It’s not such a big deal. I can just ignore them,’ Nikki said.
Olive raised an eyebrow but she said nothing. The doors swung open and a young man appeared in the doorway. Nikki didn’t have time to hide her pleased reaction. Olive followed her gaze to Jason as he made his way to the bar.
‘Who’s that?’
‘This guy I met the other day,’ Nikki mumbled, mouth curling into a smile. She busied herself suddenly, wiping down the gleaming countertop. ‘Oh hey,’ she said casually as Jason approached.
‘O’Reilly’s pub,’ he said. ‘There are about seventeen of them. This is my fourth try.’
‘I said “Shepherd’s Bush”, didn’t I?’ Nikki asked.
Jason considered this. ‘Possibly. I missed that.’
‘She didn’t give you the address?’ Olive asked. ‘I’m Olive, by the way. Nikki’s lady-in-waiting.’
‘Nice to meet you,’ Jason said. ‘This is really embarrassing, but I have to use the bathroom before I order anything.’
Nikki pointed out the toilets. ‘He’s cute,’ Olive commented once Jason was out of earshot.
‘You think so? I don’t know,’ Nikki said.
‘Bollocks. I saw the look on your face when he walked in. How did you meet?
‘At the temple, of all places. We were both taking smoke breaks in the same alleyway. I didn’t get a chance to ask him what he was doing in the temple in the first place.’
‘Praying, perhaps?’
‘It’s more of a giant social club. People show up to pay their respects for about two minutes and then they join their friends in the dining hall to eat free food and gossip. It’s hardly a spiritual place for the majority of young people.’
‘So maybe he was there to meet with friends.’
‘Ah,’ Nikki said. ‘That’s a problem. I don’t date guys who hang out at the temple. I mean, they live in this great big city where the world is at their doorstep and a gurdwara is their social stomping ground?’
Olive gave her a look. ‘You’re doing it again.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Being overly critical. Give the boy a chance. He went to every O’Reilly’s pub in London to find you. That’s keen isn’t it?’
‘Maybe a bit too keen,’ Nikki said.
‘Nikki,’ Olive sighed.
‘All right. I’m resisting him a little. I don’t know why.’
‘I’ve got a theory.’
‘Don’t tell me I’ve got residual issues with my father,’ Nikki warned. ‘You’ve tried that theory before, it only made me feel like shit.’
‘Not your dad, your mum. Jason’s the kind of boy your mum would want you to date. A nice Punjabi boy.’ There was a devious twitch in Olive’s smile.
‘Oh god, Olive. What if he was at the temple that day to check out marriage profiles?’ Nikki asked. ‘What if he had checked out Mindi’s? That’s – that’s incest of sorts.’
Olive hushed her as Jason approached the bar. There was an awkward silence between the three of them. The trivia announcer’s voice boomed across the pub.
‘What is the second most populated city in Mexico? For three points, the second most populated city in Mexico.’
‘Guadalajara,’ Jason said. He turned to Nikki. ‘Can I order a Guinness please?’
‘Oh, of course,’ Nikki said, springing into action. She noticed Olive studying Jason carefully.
‘Jason, can I ask a question to clarify something?’ Olive asked.
‘Sure.’
‘Why were you at the temple the day you met Nikki?’
Nikki froze, her hand wrapped around a glass. ‘Olive!’
‘Let’s just get it out of the way, shall we? And then I’ll get out of your way.’
‘You’ll have to excuse my friend,’ Nikki began but Olive held up her hand to stop her.
‘Let the man speak,’ Olive said.
Jason cleared his throat. ‘I was there to give thanks.’
‘Really?’ Nikki asked.
Jason nodded. ‘My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago and the doctors just told her that she’s in remission. It was a fairly close call, so I wanted to have a little chat with God and let him know that I was grateful.’
Olive shot Nikki a smile and excused herself from the bar, taking her drink with her and disappearing into the crowd of trivia participants. ‘I’m sorry to hear about your mum,’ Nikki said. ‘That must have been hard.’
‘It was, but she’s better now. I have to admit, I don’t turn to religion often, especially not at the temple, but there was a familiar peace to it.’
‘My father died a couple of years ago. Heart attack,’ Nikki said.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Thanks,’ Nikki said. ‘It was very sudden. Happened in his sleep.’ She didn’t know why she was telling Jason this. Suddenly her face felt warm and she was glad for the pub’s dim lighting. ‘So have you got any family in London then?’ she asked.
‘A distant uncle and aunt. They live near the temple in Southall. Every time I visit, they insist that I move in with them. My aunt is really concerned that I have nobody to cook for me.’
‘Parents are like that,’ Nikki said. ‘My mother recited a whole list of terrible consequences that befell girls living on their own. Starvation was up there after rape and murder.’
‘I have to say, it was pretty nice having langar in the temple that day though. I didn’t realize how much I missed home-cooked dal and roti.’
‘I missed it too,’ Nikki admitted. ‘Weirdly enough, I never cared for dal when I lived at home. I know if I called my mum to ask her how to cook it, she’d try to use her dal to lure me home. I thought, how hard can it be? I bought some lentils in the supermarket and boiled them and added curry spices to the mix. I think I put in too much turmeric – that was one of the problems with my recipe anyway – and it came out fluoro-yellow and completely inedible. By the end, I just wanted it to look like dal at least, so I tossed in some instant coffee mix to make it browner.’
‘Please tell me you didn’t eat it?’
‘I tossed it into the alleyway. The next morning my boss Sam came in, grumbling about how somebody had vomited next to the pub and I thought, no that’s just Nikki’s Venti Dal Latte.’
Nikki was so comfortable chatting to him that the remaining hours of her shift passed quickly. When Jason asked her what she had been doing at the temple that day, Nikki sh
ifted her attention to a new group of customers at the bar and busied herself with their orders. The distraction bought her some time to return with an answer. ‘I teach a writing class there – adult literacy.’ She decided that this would be her standard answer to anyone besides Olive; it was safer.
Olive returned to the bar after the final round of trivia was completed. ‘Jason, your answer to the Mexico question was correct. Guadalajara.’ Her voice was pitched slightly higher than usual.
‘Uh-oh. Tipsy Olive,’ Nikki teased. ‘Teaching those nasty Year Nines with a hangover must be horrid.’
Olive ignored her. ‘Nikki, did you hear what I just said? Jason is very clever. You guys are cute together. You and Mindi should have a double Punjabi wedding.’
‘Mindi’s my sister,’ Nikki explained to Jason. ‘And Olive, shut up.’
‘Mindi’s looking for a husband,’ Olive continued. ‘Do you have anyone in mind, Jason? Friends? Brothers?’
‘I’ve got a brother but he’s only twenty-one. He’s famous though, if that counts for anything.’
‘What is he famous for?’ Nikki asked.
‘Have you heard of the interactive website Hipster or Harvinder?’
‘Yes,’ Nikki said at the same time Olive said, ‘No.’ Nikki launched into an explanation for Olive. ‘It’s a website where people can submit photos of themselves sporting trendy beards and visitors rate them according to how closely they resemble pictures of this Sikh man named Harvinder. He’s got an insanely bushy beard.’
‘My brother did a study abroad year in India and befriended the famed Harvinder during a trek in a tiny village. They got to talking about how beards represent identity in Sikh culture and how they’ve become very hip in the Western world lately and the idea for the website was born,’ Jason said.
‘Your brother created Hipster or Harvinder? That’s so cool.’
‘Yeah. He returned from India with a big beard as well. It was a self-expression thing. He tried getting me to grow one but I looked like a hobbit,’ Jason said.
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows Page 10
