Five-Thirty AM - XLVI

So Happy Together

Wednesday, June 12th.

Noel and Mitul were on their honeymoon in the United Kingdom.

Noel had planned the trip, and asked her if there was anything specific that she wanted to make a stop for. Two things, she’d said. The British Museum, to see the original copy of the ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, by John Keats. And a visit to the Lake District to pay homage to the Romantic poet who died at the age of twenty-six, of tuberculosis!

Turned out, Noel wasn’t the first person she’d been a fan of. She’d been a fan of Keats since High School. Those were tough odds, but he figured he had better chances with her, since he was alive and Keats was very much dead! She didn’t find that very funny. She was a serious fan, so he indulged her.

So they’d spent two days in London before flying out to Liverpool. They had to visit the home of the Beatles, how could they not? Then they would drive through the Lake District and on to Edinburgh in Scotland. They decided to stop where they could, eat where they could. They had no set itineraries.

If they wanted to see the Hadrian Wall, then they’d do it. If they wanted to see the moors, they’d do that, too.

Through it all, they learnt about each other, understanding each other’s little habits and kinks, and adjusting to them. He hated the top being left off the toothpaste. She hated him wearing socks to bed. He was a neat freak, she was a bit of a slob. He found she was grumpy if not fed on time. She found he always preferred to be in the driver’s seat. But in the end, they always made up with love.

As far as Mitul knew, they would be returning from Edinburgh to London, to spend a few days there, before heading back home. They’d stayed at a bed and breakfast the night before. She had finished packing their clothes, while he had gone to fill the car up with petrol. She still said ‘gas’ occasionally, but was getting used to those English terms that she’d forgotten she knew.

They loaded up their bags into the car, and to her immense surprise, instead of heading to the airport, he headed further North.

‘Noel?’ she asked, ‘where are we going now? Aren’t we going back to London?’

‘Nope,’ he shook his head.

‘Then where?’ she asked.

‘You’ll see,’ he said mysteriously. They’d been driving for about two hours through fields and meadows, and what she found out later was Rob Roy country, when she saw the signs posting mileage.

‘Inverness, 50 miles,’ she read. ‘Inverness. Loch Ness.’ She looked at him and went, ‘Oh no! no! no! Noel, you didn’t.’

‘Yes, I did!’ he grinned. ‘What’s a honeymoon without another of those thrown in?’

‘And what have you planned for us there?’ she asked him suspiciously.

‘What do you think?’ he asked.

‘A monster hunting trip, I hope,’ she grinned.

He nodded his head. ‘Yep. We’ll do that tomorrow. Today, we’re just going to sight see in Inverness itself.’

‘I wonder how the tour operators will feel if we tell them we’re cryptid magnets,’ she laughed.

‘I think they’d give us some kind of an award,’ he mused.

‘Or maybe, sponsor us for a trip to the Himalayas, to look for the Yeti,’ she said disgustedly.

They laughed at their own nonsense. Yet each believed in a corner of their hearts, that maybe there were creatures out there that humans had never encountered.

They found their hotel, which was a nice, clean one, and spent the rest of the day, going around Inverness, and a tour through Inverness Castle.

The next day, they woke up early and got up with a sense of anticipation. Who knew what they would see?

Their boat tour didn’t start till around one in the afternoon. So they did a little shopping, had lunch and then left for the tour. It took them half an hour to get to Loch Ness itself, and find the location for their boat tour. The boat was equipped with sonars and underwater cameras that would allow them to see under the surface.

They were struck by the lake’s near dark, almost oily waters. You could barely see under the surface! As the boat began moving, they both couldn’t help but remember the first time that they’d been on a boat together.

Today was nothing like that. A cold wind had sprung up under the overcast sky, turning the waters a little choppy.

As the boat chugged along deeper into the lake, they kept waiting for the sonar pinging to change, letting them know something had been spotted. Noel held her hand, when the boat lurched a couple of times, and he drew her away from the railings towards the interior.

They sat on one of the benches on the deck, away from the rest of the people, in their own little world, gazing at the white wake the boat left behind.

‘You know, when you look at a day like this, and you look at the lake, you can almost fool yourself into thinking something lurks beneath it,’ he said in low tones.

‘I know, there’s a strange feeling in the air,’ she answered in an equally low voice, looking around her. The wooded areas along the shore looked sinister almost. Fort Urquhart in the distance a brooding presence.

‘Same as when we saw the Pogayen,’ he looked at her. ‘Why do you think we keep seeing them, Mitul?’

‘I don’t know. And I don’t know if we’ll see anything today either. I mean,’ she waved her hand around, indicating the boats making their tours, the thumping from the engines, the chatter of people around them. ‘If you were an animal, would you come out when there’s so much disturbance?’

‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘But you didn’t answer my question.’

‘Noel, I feel like these creatures are,’ she searched for the words, coming up empty. ‘They wanted to tell us something. I think we heard them.’

He raised his eyebrows, what?’

‘I feel like they wanted to tell us how we feel about each other. Every time we felt them or heard them or saw them, something happened with US.’ She shrugged her shoulders.

‘And now?’ he asked, her theory hare-brained as it was, made perfect sense to him.

‘And now, we’ve heard them, so there’s no need for them to help us,’ she finished.

‘That sounds weird,’ she said when he stayed silent. ‘Weird and lame.’

‘No,’ he wrapped his arms around her, ‘it doesn’t. I don’t think we need Nessie any more.’ They smiled at each other. Lost in each other’s eyes. They were the only people left on the upper deck, Noel leaned in and kissed her, a succulently tender kiss, as he closed his eyes. She felt him, as always down to the tips of her toes. She wrapped her arms around him while the boat made its way further into the dark waters of Loch Ness.

They returned to the pier a little earlier than expected, the bad weather prompting all boats to return to their docks.

The rest of the afternoon, they spent in bed.

As night fell over Inverness, the sudden storm passed, although the clouds still hung cold and grey over the Loch. The black surface of the water was almost still with no ripples breaking it. Fort Urquhart loomed like a black shadow in the dark night. Fishes plopped out of the water now and then. A team of Nessie hunters set up monitors along the shore, just in case Nessie decided to show up. But all remained quiet and calm. The next morning the team came back to check their monitors. Nothing had been captured. Nothing could be captured. Loch Ness wasn’t willing to give up its secrets so easily. Nessie refused to come out and play.

***** 

Saturday, June 29th.

Noel and Mitul had returned to India, and were now comfortably settled in Noel’s flat. As promised, Joyce was the only one who had a professional photographer at the wedding, and even though there were no standard portraits of the bride and groom, the unguarded moments caught by the photographer more than made up for it.

Exactly one week after Mitul’s wedding, Myna had received a more than generous offer to join RR. She had gleefully accepted it, for the first time feeling that sense of achievement that comes with acknowledgement of work well done.

However, the catch was that Myna would have to participate in some workshops in Delhi for a couple of weeks. She still had a week left to go. Which brings us to Dev and his current state of angst.

First of all, she’d thrown that challenge in his face - the whole special moment thing. Secondly, she was out of town, he hadn’t seen her in days and it bothered the hell out of him. So here he was, sitting on the couch at Noel and Mitul’s place, grumbling about being on his own.

The three of them were racking their heads to come up with a clever, innovative way for him to propose. Each idea was discarded as being too cheesy or too overdone or too whatever. Nothing was perfect.

‘Mitul,’ he finally asked her. ‘I know you said, that Noel’s proposal was perfect. Why was it perfect? What made it perfect?’

She thought for a moment, as she reached out a hand to her husband. It still gave her a weird feeling, to call Noel her husband. But she focused on Dev’s question and tried to answer it as best she could.

‘What made it perfect was that he did it from his heart. The moment felt right and he went for it. Sunrise - five-thirty in the morning is special to us. So for him to propose at exactly that time, was perfect. What he had to say, was perfect. I didn’t need him to give me hearts and flowers and candy. I only wanted his heart and he gave it to me,’ she explained, looking up at Noel as she leaned on him. They smiled at each other.

Dev sighed. He thought back to his first meeting with her. They’d fought so many times until finally they’d given up fighting their feelings for each other. She deserved a perfect wedding, but first there had to be the perfect proposal.

Mitul got up to go check on dinner. Weekends they usually gave Shomu off, so she was in charge of the kitchen.

Noel looked at Dev and said, ‘you’re really serious about this, huh?’

Dev nodded. ‘I have to sweep her off her feet,’ he said.

‘What does she like?’ Noel asked.

‘She’s got traditional values,’ he replied.

‘Traditional? Myna?’ quizzically.

‘Very,’ firmly.

‘Didn’t you guys?’ hesitantly.

‘No.’ Shyly.

‘In six months? Never?’ incredulously.

‘Nope,’ strongly. Pause ‘And you?’ curiously.

‘Christmas,’ blushingly.

‘Whoa!’ admiringly.

Pause.

‘So now what?’ questioningly.

‘Something that she can’t say no to,’ thoughtfully.

‘And neither can her mother,’ said Mitul, rejoining them.

Dev looked at her strangely. ‘I know what she can never say no to.’

‘What d’you mean?’ both Noel and Mitul were intrigued.

****** 

A week later on Friday, Myna arrived back in Mumbai. As she entered the Imani house, she was greeted by Kamini, who came in bustling and said, ‘Myna, we’re all going to Pune, tomorrow, so keep some clothes packed. The flight is at 7:30 in the morning.’

‘Why? What happened?’ she asked, alarmed.

‘I don’t know, but your parents have asked for you to come immediately,’ said her aunt.

‘You don’t know?’ she murmured. ‘Let me call Ma and see.’

She called her mother immediately, and Kuntala picked up the phone. ‘Ma. what’s going on? Why do we have to go to Pune so suddenly?’

‘I can’t talk over the phone. Just come down tomorrow with your Badi-Ma and Bade-baba, and then we’ll talk,’ her mother disconnected. It sounded ominous. Were they going to stop her taking this job with RR now? Did her mother want to drag her back to Pune. And Dev. Oh no! She thought, as she lugged her bags into her room.

She dialed him as soon as she closed the door to her room. To her disappointment his phone was turned off. All week, he’d told her how much he was missing her, and now when she needed to connect with him, his phone was off! Really? Just as she was coming back to town? It’s not like he didn’t know the flight details, she thought. And why hadn’t he picked her up at the airport either? You’d think a boyfriend would do things like that! But then again, how many girls are blessed with a boyfriend that is so contrary?

With that thought, she finished packing for the weekend, before going down again. Later that night, she finally got through and he answered. Only to tell her that he’d been in the air and that’s why his phone had been turned off, and that he was out of town. So she told him about her trip to Pune. He told her, he missed her and that was it.

The next day Myna, her Badi-Ma and Bade-Baba arrived in Pune. Her mother was in a tizzy, hugging her and telling her how much she’d missed her. Strangely enough, she’d missed her mother, too, so she hugged her right back, feeling the tears welling in her eyes.

‘Ma, what’s going on?’ she finally asked, when they were all seated.

‘Myna,’ her mother said. ‘How long are you going to wait for Dev?’

‘Why’re you asking me this, Ma?’ she asked, feeling a sudden feeling of dread inside her.

‘You’re getting older, Myna. And your maasi has found this really nice boy. They’re coming today to see you,’ Kuntala said.

‘What?!’ Myna shot up from her seat. ‘Ma, you know that Dev and I-’

‘I know that Dev and you have been seeing each other for the past six months. But it’s high time he does something about it. And if he doesn’t, then I have to do something about MY daughter’s future,’ she said sternly.

‘I’m not marrying any Tom, Dick and Harry you present to me, Ma,’ said Myna. ‘I’ve already told you this, and I’m telling you again,’ she almost stomped her foot at that.

‘Myna, calm down,’ said Kamini. ‘Since things are this far gone, let’s get today over with, and then we’ll see, okay?’ she pleaded to her irate sister-in-law.

‘The request has come from their family. Now go get changed and come,’ Kuntala told her daughter. ‘And wear a sari or a salwar kameez,’ she added as a parting shot to her daughter’s departing back.

She tried Dev’s number once more while she was dressing and it went to voicemail. Disappointed, she got ready to meet whoever-it-was from wherever-it-was. She already knew what her answer would be.

When Myna was finally called down to meet the family, she walked into the room, little expecting to see what she did.

Dev’s parents sat there, with Dev beside them. He wore a white churidar kurta and looked up at her with a smile. Noel and Mitul sat with them. As Dev’s friends, they now represented the prospective groom’s family. Her eyes were almost popping out of her head to see everybody sitting calmly talking and drinking tea and eating samosas as if they did this on a daily basis!

Kuntala looked up at her and said, ‘come, Myna, join us.’ She sat down inelegantly with a thump. Dev had a smirk on his face as though he knew exactly what she was thinking.

He’d felt bad doing this to her, but it had taken a lot of planning and running around to get this done. And now he could enjoy the fruits of all that careful thought.

‘Aunty,’ said Dev, ‘can I talk to Myna in private?’

‘Of course, of course, it’s not like you two don’t know each other!’ said Kuntala. ‘Go, Myna, take him to your room.’

She headed out the door, still in a daze, without looking to see if he was following her. He entered her room and shut the door.

She stood there for a moment quietly and then turned on him, eyes flashing. ‘What the hell, Dev? What the hell is that?’ She pushed at his chest, catching him by surprise.

His back slammed against the door, the knob digging into his back excruciatingly painfully. ‘Aah!’ he cried out, shutting his eyes against the pain. His hand going instinctively to the pain point.

‘Dev?’ she cried out alarmed. ‘Dev, oh my God! I’m so sorry, so sorry, Dev.’ She pulled him forward, turning him around, and lifting up his kurta to see a dark blue bruise forming just above his butt. She rubbed it lightly, blowing on it. In between, she murmured, ‘I’m so sorry.’ She helped him sit on the bed, and insisted he take off his kurta while she got some sort of balm to put on it.

He lay on his stomach as she rubbed the balm in. A big bruise had already started to form on the site. Dev winced every time she rubbed her fingers over it. He waited until she waa done applying the balm, before getting up and putting on his kurta. The icy-heat from the balm was reducing the pain quickly.

‘You know, Myna,’ he said head bent, buttoning up the garment. ‘We came in here to talk. Because I need to tell you something.’ It was as if those few moments on her bed had given him a clarity that he hadn’t had in the last few weeks.

‘I wanted everything to be perfect for you. I know how much you value certain things, and you’ve never given me cause to believe otherwise. Which is why in six months, we never actually did.. anything which would compromise with you and your beliefs.

‘I asked my parents to ask for your hand in marriage,’ he lifted his eyes to look at her. ‘But I needed to know if you wanted to marry me or not, in the first place. Whether you can see me as the last man in your life, and the first. I know I’ve thought of you that way for a long time. You’re the first woman I ever fell in love with. I’ve been in love with you since I saw you. But I want us to move forward. I want us to have a life together. But only if you want it too,’ he finished, his head still bent as he stood in front of her.

She stood there, drinking in his words. How long she’d waited for him to say it. And here she was, when she needed to open her mouth, she was completely speechless. He sighed and moved to the door, when she said, ‘Wait!’

She came and stood in front of him, and said, ‘I do!’ A smile broke across his face, as he gathered her into his arms, hugging her close.

‘Let’s go and tell the parents,’ he said, wincing as he turned around. He put an arm around her, she put her arm around his waist, and slowly the two of them went into the parlor to give every body their news.

Myna had finally agreed to marry Dev.

********* THE END ************