Right Fit Wrong Shoe

by Varsha Dixit

  Just then, the buzz of the cell distracted Nandini. She glanced down, ‘crazy cow’ flashed across the screen. ‘Excuse me, excuse me.’ Nandini repeated repeatedly, as she parted the crowds to reach the sanctuary of the house.

  ‘Sneh hold on! I have to talk you. Give me a minute. Are you there?’ Nandini asked, her voice rose because of the din.

  ‘I am here, but can’t say the same for my ears. Your yelling scared them off.’

  ‘Sorry, there are too many people here. Hold on.’ Nandini slipped in one of the guest rooms on the first floor. She glanced around; it appeared unoccupied. Nandini closed the door after her.

  ‘Sneh, there is something really weird going on!’

  ‘You said yes to that Vikram or what?’ Sneha asked.

  ‘Urgh! Please! He was quite a sad, totally zit ridden, rotten apple,’ Nandini denounced. Standing near the window, she scanned the crowds below.

  ‘So then what’s the big deal?’

  ‘He’s back !’ Nandini squeaked.

  ‘Who’s back?’ Sneha shot back, puzzled.

  Nandini’s voice became a whisper. ‘He, Sneh. HE ! The man himself and he is behaving sun-rose-in-the-west kind of strangely.’ Nandini happened to glance over her shoulders, the words died in her mouth. Super canary shit!

  An amused, Aditya stood at the threshold.

  28

  Ishq Viskq

  R eally? Tell me Nandi... Nandini are you there?’ Sneha’s voice crackled over the cell. Nandini nervously fidgeted. Her tongue seemed to be stuck to the roof of her mouth.

  Aditya came close. Taking the cell from her limp hands, he put it on speaker. ‘Hi Sneha!’

  ‘Who’s that?’ Sneha questioned, suspiciously.

  ‘Aditya. Hopefully the man himself!’ Aditya’s smile tapered as is eyes, unwavering, rested on Nandini, who in turn shifted from one foot to another, eyeing the door.

  ‘Ohh!’ Sneha for once was not sure what to say. ‘Can I speak with Nandini?

  ‘Nope. In fact, don’t call her for the next forty or fifty years. I’ll be keeping her busy,’ Aditya replied. He ended the call on Sneha’s howl. Switching the phone off, he tossed it on the bed .

  ‘No more interruptions!’ Aditya’s voice was husky and dark eyes reflected a look so melting, that it made Nandini’s insides all gooey, like a chocolate left in the sun.

  Retreating a few steps away, Nandini stammered, ‘Badi Maa is probably looking for me!’

  ‘Let her!’ Aditya stepped close, his expression arrested.

  Now Nandini’s breath failed her. Gulping she started, ‘My mom—’

  Placing a finger on the slightly parted, soft lips, Aditya whispered, ‘She’s had you for years, it’s my turn now.’

  ‘Aditya!’ Nandini breathed, timidly.

  Aditya simply took her in his arms, his hands running over her back, possessive and personal. Nandini had no will or desire to protest, her arms hesitantly wound themselves around him.

  Aditya drew apart just enough to gaze at her. ‘You have turned me into a crazy, obsessed man! When and how did you do it?’ He teased, but the eyes, oh his eyes, burned with passion. The true importance of eyes dawns, either when you completely loose them or when you cannot take them off someone.

  ‘I think it was the sneakers,’ Nandini whispered, hiding her face in the muscular chest. Aditya breathed deep, pressing his face in her scented hair. Nandini fused her pliant body deeper in his.

  For a few minutes, the two savoured the joy of the first touch.

  ‘I missed you so much, Nandini!’ Aditya mouthed, pressing soft kisses against her nape. His lips left a trail of fire on Nandini’s skin. Shocked by the dizzying pleasure, Nandini attempted to put some distance between them .

  ‘What happened?’ Aditya raised a puzzled face.

  ‘Don’t do that,’ she implored, shyly.

  ‘What this?’ Boldly, Aditya’s seeking mouth now moved from her soft neck to even softer lips, unconsciously parted and insanely inviting.

  Nandini received her first kiss and Aditya went heady with desire. Neither had experienced an attraction so potent. As Nandini moaned in his arms, her lips wantonly seeking his, a completely unexpected wave of protectiveness surged in Aditya. Using every ounce of his will power, Aditya disentangled from Nandini’s melting, delectable body.

  ‘What? Did I do something wrong?’ Nandini asked, her tone cheated and expression injured.

  ‘Sweetheart, you’re perfect, inside out! It’s just that I am really close to losing control!’ Aditya groaned, and raised his hand to caress, a flushed hot cheek.

  ‘Oh!’ relieved and revelling, Nandini nuzzled her face in his hand.

  ‘Don’t do that! Think of my sanity woman,’ Aditya gruffly reminded, yet pulled her right back in his arms, relishing how she fitted perfectly against him.

  ‘What does all this mean?’ Nandini asked, contently resting her face on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat, racing —just like hers.

  Hooking a finger under her chin, Aditya raised the beautiful face to his. ‘What does, all what mean?’

  ‘I mean is this... umm, you are serious about us?’ Nandini had to know.

  ‘You bet your sweet backside... I am not .’ Aditya declared. Irked, Nandini frowned .

  Smiling, Aditya gently began shaking her. ‘For the past two month—’ shake, ‘I work like a mad man—’ shake, ‘hardly sleep, hardly eat—’ shake, shake ‘snub all the numerous attractive women—’ forceful shake, ‘for a mere fling, after a fling, after another fling... till my life becomes a series of flings... but only with one girl, one woman, and one old hag – YOU!’

  ‘This scheme is better that timeshare. Count me in for hundred percent!’ Nandini cooed, ecstatically planting lingering kisses on Aditya’s jaw.

  ‘Oh yes, the fling and all its sequels might have a few children thrown in and for their sake, definitely a marriage.’ Aditya savoured the ardent kisses. ‘I hope you are not in this for my body!’ he whispered, quickly finding something for him, to pepper kisses on Nandini’s luscious mouth.

  ‘Totally, couldn’t be for your nonexistent brains!’ Nandini whispered, not moving a fraction of a millimetre away. The freedom to touch the man she loved was gripping.

  ‘Stop it woman! You do that any longer and I will not be responsible for the consequences!’ Aditya half-begged and half-ordered, fighting for control.

  ‘What this?’ Nandini repeated his earlier words, going right back to where she was, perched on her tiptoes.

  ‘Nandini!’ Aditya warned, but she recklessly continued.

  ‘Fine, take this then!’ Aditya commenced prodding Nandini’s waist with his fingers.

  ‘Stop it, please stop it. I’ll kill you... aww ! Aditya please!’ Nandini begged, she doubled over, howling and wiggling to get away from him. Extremely ticklish, Nandini was known to promptly dissolve into giggles, if one even suggestively, wriggled fingers at her .

  Aditya kept at it, chuckling as she struggled to escape his hands. Tears streamed down Nandini’s face, as her laugh laced shrieks echoed in the room.

  Unintentionally, they both landed on the bed. Instant desire, like instant coffee and way more addictive, took over the lovers. Aditya rammed his lips over her, Nandini moaned, moving restlessly under his muscled strength; her body did not seem her own.

  Few breathless, and extreme pleasure-filled moments later, Aditya ricocheted off the bed, breathing hard. He ran his hands through his hair.

  ‘For my own sanity, I’ll have to make an honest woman out of you soon,’ he growled, bewitched by Nandini’s ravaged lips and desire-laden eyes.

  ‘Is it always like this?’ Nandini’s face held awe. Love and lust seized her, two overwhelming emotions but for only one man.

  Shaking his head, Aditya knelt at the edge of the bed, close to Nandini. ‘Not always! Only when you’re in love.’ He lovingly traced her cheek finally stopping at the lips. ‘In that sense, this is a first for me too.’

&
nbsp; Nandini felt tears wet her lashes. ‘And no ghosts from your past will come to haunt us?’

  ‘I don’t even remember last night’s dream. Seriously, past is important when it was the present, not so much after that.’ Dotingly, Aditya kissed her eyes.

  ‘Nandini Sharma, I’m crazily, completely and... unconditionally in love with you; only you. Always! Aaj, kal parso !’ Aditya said, solemnly. Secretly, he was dreading how the words would sound when spoken. However, right now it came out perfect, just like the girl they were said to .

  Sobbing, Nandini flung herself in Aditya’s arms. ‘Hey love, sweetheart! Don’t cry, that wasn’t the idea,’ He stroked her hair, hugging her tightly.

  After some sniffling, Nandini lifted joyous eyes at him. ‘Aditya Sarin! I feel absolute,’ a long pause, Aditya waited, expectant, ‘lust and deep friendship for you,’ Nandini finished, collapsing in titters at the look on Aditya’s face.

  ‘You little minx!’ growling, Aditya gently yanked her hair. ‘Button up and come down,’ he ordered, getting to his feet.

  Abruptly, Nandini grabbed his hand, forcefully pulling him down. Aditya lost his balance toppling on the bed. ‘Nahi, nahi! Chordh do, mujhe bhagwan ke liye chordh do,’ he begged, just the way the hapless two-tonne heroines of yesteryears did, when assaulted by villains with thinner biceps and smaller thighs.

  Nandini pushed Aditya down on the mattress. Resigned, he fell back. She nimbly jumped off the bed, straightening her clothes. Roughly combing her hair with bare hands, Nandini walked over to the door. Aditya lay still, possessively, watching her.

  Instead of heading out, Nandini gazed at him with open adulation. For a split second, she glanced away to draw breath and even more will.

  ‘Aditya Sarin, I love you so much... so much that it hurts.’ Nandini’s voice shook, smouldering eyes shining with tears. Clichéd words which beautifully summed her love for Aditya. Overwhelming, soul filling love can hurt... you would know if you were lucky enough to experience it.

  Stirred, Aditya sat up, thickly imploring, ‘Nandini come here. ’

  ‘Nada! But I swear I’ll do you bodily harm if you ever leave me and go away.’ Nandini wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

  ‘Done! Let us go and tell those two old women right now. Fire is already lit, we’ll do the pheras, right here right now,’ Aditya suggested moving.

  Nandini immediately shot down the idea. ‘No way, I want the usual pomp and show for my wedding!’

  ‘Fine! However, I’m not ready for a long courtship. Max I am okay is about two months, no wait, maybe a month,’ Aditya speculated, donning a thinking pose. ‘Nah, that’s quite long, maybe a fortnight.’ the ramblings went on.

  Blowing kisses at him, Nandini giggled and then confessed, shyly, ‘You have no idea how happy, no, how ecstatic and euphoric you have just made me. You have beaten Robert De Niro, Matt Damon, Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Big B, King Khan and Shahid Kapoor in one go!’

  ‘My filmy bhoot... don’t ever change!’ Aditya mouthed, tenderly.

  ‘Aditya, Adi.’ Vibha’s voice near the door sent the two lovers scurrying.

  Nandini hid behind the door just as Vibha turned the handle. ‘Mom, you’re looking for me?’ Aditya asked, casually. He held the door, effectively blocking Vibha’s entry in the room.

  ‘Adi, what are you doing in the guest room? You still haven’t changed your clothes. Beta, the pooja is almost over. You need to come down, your father and brother have done their part.’

  ‘Give me five minutes. I’ll be right down. I’m just very tired,’ Aditya faked a weary expression .

  ‘You should probably go on a nice vacation... maybe skiing in Aspen or something like that,’ Vibha suggested.

  ‘No! No! I’m fine here, just need to be around my loved ones,’ Aditya blabbered.

  ‘Aditya that’s the first time I have ever heard you say something...’ Vibha had a hard time searching for the appropriate word, ‘sensitive like that. Anyway, have you seen Nandini?

  ‘Of course, how can one miss her? You let her in the house way too often,’ Aditya bantered. For that remark, he received a kick in the shin and not from his mother.

  ‘Be serious, I need something from the cupboard and the keys are with her,’ Vibha said.

  Unthinkingly, Nandini put the keys on the floor. Through the gap between the floor and the door, she slid them out. Aditya’s eyes practically popped out, thankfully his mother did not notice.

  Nandini nudged him. ‘Do you mean these keys, Mom? The ones lying in front of this door?’ Aditya asked, rolling his eyes.

  ‘Oh yes! What are they doing here?’ Vibha exclaimed, bending down to pick them.

  Aditya briefly and fiercely frowned at Nandini. Are you out of your mind, he wanted to holler.

  Mischievously, Nandini whispered, ‘Your mom, my mom.’

  Vibha called out over her shoulder, ‘Come down soon! Adi, are you listening?’

  ‘Adi, Aditya are you listening? Put the ghee and flowers in the fire, thrice!’ Ajit’s voice, jerked Aditya back to the present.

  ‘Sorry I was just...’ Aditya mumbled, completing the rituals.

  29

  Saajan ki Saheli

  F ootsteps, made the gathered glance up. Shruti and Nirbhay came in and joined the traditional offerings. After his brother, Aditya respectfully nodded at them. Instinctively, he gave the door quick glances a few times.

  ‘Are you expecting someone?’ quizzed, the accented, feminine voice.

  Aditya shifted to gaze at the exquisite girl at his side, his would-be fiancée in a week, Gayatri Dutta. ‘Just thought I heard something.’

  Gayatri nodded sliding closer, comprehending Aditya’s sense of loss for his father even after these years.

  Furtively, she eyed Aditya. ‘Mom, I feel like Kate Middleton! It is mind-boggling! Aditya is treated like royalty here! Every time I snap at some intrusive reporter or make, a faux pas about the culture, Aditya handles it all so smoothly. He is my Rock of Gibraltar. And the family... they are not so bad. His mom is making genuine efforts to bond with me,’ Gayatri, a few hours ago, had gushed to her mother. Ms Dutta was completely unaware that Vibha had received some neighbourly nudge in the right direction.

  Since her coming to India, almost a week ago, every channel was busy running so-called exclusive pieces on Gayatri’s life, her clothes, perfumes, her friends and their friends, even reporting the number of times she tooted, for lack of anything else to report.

  The portly pundit throwing the remaining flowers in the fire concluded the ceremony. Everyone got up and the servants came in to clear the place. Ajit went over to chat with Nirbhay and Shruti.

  Gayatri, cupping her hands, offered them the traditional namaste. She had been introduced to them a day before.

  Shruti hugged Gayatri, and did the LLTT (looking London talking Tokyo) act, ‘Ajit, where is Seema?’

  ‘Near the pool Aunty, she’s staying away from the fumes,’ Ajit replied.

  ‘Good thinking!’ Shruti agreed.

  ‘Let’s go to the pool area, I’ll have the lunch served there,’ Vibha proposed. The group trooped towards the lagoon themed pool.

  ‘This generation is so aware; we hardly took any such precautions in our days.’ Shruti chatted with Vibha.

  ‘Seema’s doctor is making her exercise as if she is gearing up for a marathon rather than give birth. He has her on a diet, can you believe it?’ Vibha expressed.

  ‘Diet really? For our generation being pregnant meant a free ticket to eat whatever one desired... quantity no bar.’ Shruti recalling, chuckled .

  ‘No wonder our children turned the way they did.’ Vibha, mischievously, glanced at her sons.

  The two women continued their discussion while Ajit and Nirbhay exchanged conspiratorial winks. On seeing everyone coming, Seema tried getting to her feet. Aditya, quickly, came forward to help her up. ‘What you are having? Quadruplets?’ he teased his very pregnant sister-in-law.

  ‘I
’ll ask you when Gayatri is expecting,’ Seema ribbed. Aditya just stretched his lips in what he hoped was a smile.

  Seema immediately disappeared in the hug Shruti launched at her. Nirbhay winced. ‘Shruti, Seema is pregnant. Let her and the baby breathe,’ he said.

  Shruti made a face at him. ‘It’s been too long Seema. You are glowing dear! Let me look at your stomach. It’s definitely a girl, see it’s riding low.’ Shruti gently prodded a blushing Seema’s stomach. Pregnant women, somewhere hold a placard, inviting every vimla-kamla-salma and Shruti to come and touch them, in the most personal manner. Even the Laughing Buddha’s stomach does not receive that kind of attention.

  Nirbhay reprimanded, ‘Stop it Shruti! You are embarrassing Seema. If Nandini had been here—’

  Seema immediately griped, ‘Aunty, I am very mad at Nandini. She has not come once to meet me. Where is she?’

  Sighing, Shruti sat on one of the padded chairs. ‘God knows what has happened to my Nandi? Seema, she’s not the same girl she used to be.’

  Aditya’s finger about to dial a number on his cell, stilled.

  ‘Is Nandini okay?’ Ajit questioned. Seema joined Shruti on the chaise.

  ‘On the outside she is fine, but on the inside, something is definitely eating her. I am her mother, I know! She has no life, just a routine – office, gym and home. Once in a while, after much cajoling she will go out with us. Instead of living her life, she’s just aimlessly wandering in it,’ Shruti vented, her face troubled.

  ‘You worry too much, it is just a phase. It will pass!’ Nirbhay said.

  ‘Nirbhay, a phase doesn’t last this long. Maybe we should show her to a professional or a tantrik,’ said Shruti. Quite a few people, especially in small towns, see striking similarities between black magic and medical degree attained by hard work and years of analytical research and behavioural study of human psyche.