Rajeev was tired. Work pressure at office was
immense and he was now waiting fervently for the two "golden" days of
the week when he could forget about the world, hang up his boot and relax.
*pallu: the part of your saree that you drape over your shoulder
Quite inevitably they were here and a bright
Rajeev woke up to a bright Saturday! He happily sipped his coffee smiling all
along. He endeared this lunatic self and kept singing, "my plan is to have
no plan at all..du da ra da ra da ra ra..".
Just a few "plan-less" hours into the
morning and his cell phone beeped.
"need shoppin for
2nyt's party. 1pm, City Square Mall, be there on time".
Dismay rushed down Rajeev's body, his smile faded
as he slumped into the sofa. Reeta was at it again. She knew how badly he
wanted these weekends to himself, that he hated nothing more than SHOPPING!!
Shopping that too on a weekend was the most perfect imperfect recipe of
disaster to Rajeev.
But he couldn’t say NO to her. They had been
together for more than a year now and he knew that she had no
girl-friends...that he was her be all, and end all..that he was her only
friend, guide, help, philosopher, lover, alter-ego..and that she loved him. He
could never disappoint her, rather he didn't want to. He didn’t want to lose another
relationship. He knew how mean life had been to her and he somehow wanted to
make up for it, give her everything that life had snatched away. Reeta, once in
a while tried to take undue advantage of the fact, but Rajeev...well he just
kept mum, never said a word lest he would hurt her.
***
"Oh baby, I’m so sorry you had to step out
today", Rita placed a kiss on Rajeev's cheek while entwining her fingers
around his. The "Dancing Passion" she wore filled his nostrils. Many
a time this sweet fragrance came floating into his dreams and that is when he
missed being with HER the most.
"Why couldn’t you shop yesterday? And which
damn party are you going to tonight? Can’t you wear something that you already
have??" a miffed Rajeev blurted as Reeta pulled him by the arm into City
Square.
"Arre baba! today is Bijoya and our TL (Team
Leader) has invited us for dinner", said Reeta still tugging him along.
"That fat arse, can't he leave you alone
even on weekends!"
"Arre chill baba..its Bijoya..Dussehra,
remember?"
"All I know is that it’s Saturday.. And why
do you have to shop, what happened to all the clothes you had?"
"The dress code is saree..you know I don’t
have a single saree.."
"Sarree?? that fat arse....i swear.."
Rajeev hated Reeta's boss. Seeing Rajeev swear this way about him always made Reeta laugh. Still giggling,
she managed to tug him into the saree section. With 5-6 randomly selected
sarees Reeta marched into the ladies trial room, pulling Rajeev all along.
"You sit here and come when I call you, I'll
try each saree and you tell me how it looks on me..OK?"
Rajeev nodded, uninterested. With this Reeta
entered one of the four trial rooms that ran alongside the sofa into which Rajeev
dropped. A large mirror hung on the other side reflecting the lonely trial room,
the only person visible in it was a slouched and grumpy Rajeev.
He stared at the wall infront of him, his mind
blank, thinking nothing but yearning to go home. Just as he glanced into his
watch Reeta called, "Rajeev come, have a look.."
Quickly onto his feet, with head bowed down he
moved toward the trial room and knocked on the first door. The door opened, he
pushed it ajar and entered.
"What took you so long?" came a voice
as he lifted his gaze. A woman's bare back welcomed it. She had let a pallu* fall carelessly down her left shoulder. Rajeev adjusted his gaze to follow the spine descend like a rivulet
down a slope. Her form had curves that arched like sandunes do in
deserts. Those pair of shoulders stood like a dancer’s: well-poised and firm. A tress or two of jet
black curls sprung off the bun on her head, gracefully descending down the neck
and onto the blemish-free back. Mesmerized, Rajeev at once felt
drawn to her silky smooth skin.
Enticed and caught as if in a trance he moved
forward trying to touch and feel and hold HER once again when suddenly, she
turned!
"Where's the................"
Before she could utter another word, Rajeev
covered the girl's mouth with his palm and she strangely made no effort to
resist. His heart skipped a beat as he stared right into those large mysterious
eyes. The warmth of her breath seemed to fill the room as her delicate lips
quivered under his touch. It soothed and comforted him for what seemed like an
eternity, until...
"Rajeev”
“Rajeev Where are you?”
“Rajeeeeev...."
The calls grew louder and suddenly the two felt
jolted back into reality. Rajeev quickly moved his hand off her mouth, took a
step behind, turned, glanced back at her and finally, left.
"Pooja are you here..." knocked a man
onto Pooja's door minutes after Rajeev closed it behind him to enter the one in
which Reeta waited.
***
As he slept in his bed that night, "Dancing
Passion" filled his senses. He began missing HER in his sleep again, HER
fragrance binding him like never before. He woke up with a start! It had been
two years that he had last seen her graceful form, her perfect curves, her
dancing curls...until...until today...
It had been two long years since Pooja left him
to marry some guy her parents had chosen. "Dancing Passion" was the
perfume she wore every time they met. He didn’t know why be he always made sure that Reeta
wore it too.
*THE END*
