Five-Thirty AM - XXXI

‘It’s you I love. I’m in love with you, Mitul Imani.’

Mitul sat stunned, the tears drying on her cheeks. She could see that Noel’s eyes were red, holding back his tears. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at him, his words running through her mind. There was a roaring in her ears, and she didn’t know if she remembered to breathe. The only thing she felt was the warmth of his big hands on her cheeks.

He swallowed. The look on her face gave him hope. ‘Say something, Mitul,’ he whispered.

At that, she flung her arms around his neck, face buried against him, crying, with deep wrenching sobs that came from the bottom of her heart. He was her Prince Charming, and she loved him, warts and all! Had she imagined him saying he loved her, simply because she wanted it so badly?

She cried in pain for the young man who’d gone through so much in such a short time. She cried in guilt for the pain she had subjected him to. She cried for the time wasted in foolish insecurities. But most of all, she cried at the pain of lost innocence.

He managed to crawl up and sit on the couch, with her still clinging to him, not knowing whether to be happy or sad, unable to make head or tail of her reaction. His arms held her firmly, tightly, rubbing across her back soothingly. ‘Mitul, shh, please, don’t cry. Please. Stop crying. Tell me what’s wrong? Please,’ he kept whispering to her, his voice breaking.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she cried into his neck.

The cold hand of fear wrapped around his heart, slowly squeezing it. What was she apologizing for? Had he read the signals all wrong?

He shut his eyes against that possibility. He hadn’t meant to just blurt it out like that. He’d wanted to take her out on a date, with all the bells and whistles. Roses, candlelight, soft music, a walk on the beach. That’s how he’d imagined telling her he loved her. The only part he’d gotten right was being on his knees. The rest was a disaster!

And she was still crying in his arms, his shirt soaking up her tears, her nails digging into his shoulders, but he felt no pain.

Finally, she calmed down and tried to pull back, her head bowed. He wouldn’t let her move. He lifted her chin and said, ‘I love you, Mitul.’

Her eyes flew open at that, searching his for something. He saw the dawning joy in them, her face starting to glow at the words, her nose red, her cheeks tear-stained. She was beautiful! Her lips widened in a smile of joy, and for Noel that was enough!

‘I love you, too, Noel James Figueiredo,’ she said that beautiful deep, rich voice, thick with tears.

He laughed in triumph, his head thrown back, before hugging her close, his face buried in her hair. He pulled back, his eyes dancing as he asked ‘are you sure?’

She nodded, her hair bobbing with the movement.

He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss, before pulling her up. ‘Come,’ he said, holding her hand and leading her out of the room. ‘I’ve got to show you something.’

He opened the door to his bedroom, the one room that no woman other than family had ever entered. He held it open and walked through, leading her in, their fingers interlaced.

Mitul could only look at his face. She knew that what he’d said was true. From this moment on, there would be nothing he would hold back from her. He was giving her a pass to the innermost parts to his life. It was hers to do with as she wished.

She walked around the room, as he stood by the door, watching her, taking pleasure in her being here, in his sanctuary. She stopped at the collage of black and white photographs on the wall. At the center was the largest photo - one of her, close up, head thrown back, eyes closed, sunlight streaking in rays down to her face, from a canopy of trees above. It was his latest addition to the group. He’d put it up two days after he’d talked to his mother.

Mitul had never seen that photo before. She turned around, ‘when did you take this picture?’ puzzled.

‘At Centerville. I downloaded it and deleted it. Sorry. I know you don’t like your picture being taken, but I had to have something with me, of you.’ He’d been walking towards her as he spoke, stopping when he was inches away from her, his hands coming around her waist.

‘The very first day?’ she asked.

‘No, second day,’ he corrected, dropping a kiss on her nose, before turning her around and walking her to the bed. He stood a little behind her, holding her shoulders as he directed her gaze to his bedside table.

She picked up the photo and gazed at it. The smile seemed to be permanently etched on her face.

‘Last thing I see at night before I go to bed. First thing in the morning,’ he spoke softly into her ear.

She put the photo back on the nightstand, before swiftly turning and hugging him, her arms going up under his, clutching his back, her head resting against the comforting thump of his heart. His arms held her close, his hand cradling her head against him, the other wrapped around her back.

He’d been so nervous, especially about telling her this part. He hadn’t told her that, for the longest time he’d not been able to trust any woman. Gauri had been the first woman he’d started to care for. To realize that she’d just used him for sex had been a bitter pill to swallow. He’d stopped trusting any woman after that, always looking for an ulterior motive in their overtures.

With Mitul the attraction had been instantaneous, and he’d allowed himself to hope, that here was the woman whom he could trust and perhaps love. It had been hard when she’d started avoiding him. His knee-jerk reaction had been to avoid her too. It had been too late for him, he was already in love with her. But now, with her here, in his arms, he finally felt complete.

Mitul had been disappointed and not a little jealous to know that she wasn’t going to be the first woman in his life. But she was content that she would be the last. She knew it. She trusted him with her heart, and knew he wouldn’t break it. They had both come a long way, but they were finally where they belonged. In each other’s arms. With each other.

There was a sense of peace, a sense of finality in knowing that all that needed to be said, had been said, a sense of a safe harbor. Her tears had washed the past away, along with her fears. They were finally home.

She raised her face to his, her hands pulling him closer, till she could reach his lips. He lifted her lightly so she stood on his feet, but made no other move, waiting for her, knowing what she wanted. She ran her fingers over his lips, before pressing her parted lips to his, showing him he was right. She smiled into his lips, before licking his lower lip lightly with her tongue, running it along the seam of his lips, sucking on his upper lip. Her tongue slid in, licking his inner lips, and he caught his breath, opening his mouth fully. She tasted him, slowly, savoring each of his taste buds, coaxing him to come and taste hers, coiling around him, as her fingers coiled into his hair. Thrusting into his mouth, showing him what she wanted him to do. He showed her what he wanted to do, just with his tongue, letting her feel his want, his hands sliding down her back, moving into her shirt, stroking her skin, just above her jeans. She gasped and drew back to breathe. He followed her lips.

His lips brushed her lightly, taking her lower lip in to his, sucking lightly, his tongue flicking along the honeyed edges, tasting her. She tugged on his upper lip with hers, tasting him in turn. He sighed with contentment as he felt her tongue slide along his lips, touching the tip of her tongue with his, jerking in the shock of the sensation. His tongue reached tentatively into her mouth, she embraced it with hers. He tasted every corner of it, his hunger for that flavor barely satiated, no matter how much he got of it.

He sat back on the bed, pulling her onto him, her legs on either side of his. His hands freely running along her back. He pushed her hair back from her shoulder, exposing her neck, as he looked at the throbbing pulse at the base. Mitul tilted her head, as he moved closer, taking in the unique perfume that was her. He bent forward and tasted that pulse, feeling her life beat against his tongue, his eyes closed, his thumb running in circles under her arms along the sides of her breasts.

Mitul tightened her fingers in his hair, trembling as his tongue flicked along her neck, her racing pulses making her gasp for air. She swallowed and he felt her throat move, she felt his tongue trace a line of sparks along her neck moving upwards to her lips. His thumbs against the sides of her breasts, shooting lightning to her nipples. She pressed closer to him, and he took her invitation. His arms wrapping around her as he slowly lowered her down to the bed, until her head rested on his pillow.

She was surrounded by his fragrance as she opened her leaden eyes to look at him. His green eyes were dark, intense searing as they looked into hers. They seemed to be asking a question, and he read the answer in her eyes. He bent down and kissed the little mole under her lips, as his fingers went to the last button on her shirt. He slid it slowly out of the hole, watching her as her breathing deepened, but she held his eyes, not looking away, welcoming his touch. As each button slid out, he brushed his fingers up her stomach, feeling each tremble under his fingers, until he’d undone them all. He slowly pushed the blouse away, and looked at her in the dim glow of the night lamp, which he’d turned on.

He swallowed as his eyes followed his hands, as they trailed down her chest, until he reached her navel. He lowered his head to finally kiss the slopes of her breast, encased in a plain white bra, as his fingers found her navel ring and lightly tugged on it at the same time. She gasped, arching her back, her hands clutching his shoulders. She’d never imagined that .. that ... could feel so ... so very good! She tried to move her legs, only to find his legs between hers, his arousal pressed against her. She threw leg over his and he gasped at the contact.

His fingers found the front clasp of her bra, unhooking it, shoving away the material impatiently, and then for a moment, just feasted his eyes on her perfection. Chocolate and cinnamon, he thought, before leaning forward to take a sip. He heard her cry, her gasp of pleasure as he drowned fully in her. His head was ringing with pleasure, he could almost hear bells ringing.

Bells! The door bell!

He jerked up. Shit! Someone was at the door.

Mitul’s eyes opened at the sudden loss of contact, and then widened as she too heard it. The doorbell!

They both sat up and Noel said, ‘I’ll send them away.’ He ran a hand through his hair, and walked out of the bedroom as Mitul fixed her clothes, before she followed him out. She could hear the deep tones of Noel’s voice, and then Dev’s.

If Dev was surprised to see Mitul walk out of Noel’s room, he gave no indication of it. Instead, he just said a casual, ‘Hi, Mitul!’

‘Hi!’ she answered, hoping her voice did not sound as scratchy as it did to her ears.

Noel suppressed a grin. Her voice sounded like she’d just woken up. The same throaty sound that he’d fallen in love with. So that’s how she sounds like when she’s just been kissed, he thought.

It was a credit to Dev’s good manners, that he didn’t comment on Mitul’s presence, or the crumpled state of Noel’s clothes, and the hickey that Mitul sported on her neck.

‘What’re you doing here, Dev?’ Noel was wondering why Dev had come along.

‘Ah! Just thought I’d drop by, and hang out, play Skyrim, you know,’ Dev shrugged.

Noel narrowed his eyes. Dev had come by to see if he and Mitul had finally decided to sort out their differences. He was pretty sure of that.

The three of them sat in the living room, drinking coke, chatting. The sun had already slipped in the west, and dusk had fallen on the city. Mitul stood up, saying, ‘I must be going. Ma’ll be wondering what happened to me.’

She was heading to the guest bathroom, when Noel casually said, ‘use the one in the master suite, Mitul.’

She turned around and walked to his bedroom, to use his bathroom.

Dev raised his eyebrows at that. ‘So. I can safely say that you two’ve made up. She’s using your bathroom now?’

Noel grinned and nodded. ‘Yep.’

‘You told her everything?’ Dev asked seriously.

‘Everything.’

‘Gauri?’

Nod.

‘She didn’t have a problem with that?’ skeptically.

Shake. ‘I don’t think so.’

Judicious Nod. ‘You’re a lucky man. She’s a great gal.’

‘Yes, I am.’

They raised their coke in salute to the absent Mitul, just as she walked back into the room. ‘Come on, I’ll walk you down,’ said Noel. ‘Dev?’

‘Nah! I’ll set up Skyrim. You two love birds carry on.’

The two love birds smiled at him, and walked out of the door hand in hand.

Dev looked after them, a pang of envy in his heart. He wished he’d found a woman like that. Someone that he could share everything with - including his bathroom. He thought he’d found her.

The entire week, he’d tried unsuccessfully to keep Myna out of his head. He knew she was shallow. He knew she was vain. Yet he felt, somehow, there was more to her than just that. She might have made a play for Noel, but, he didn’t think she was immune to him either. In fact, he was pretty sure of that. Her response had told him so. Her wanting to be with Noel was driven more from ego and selfishness, rather than a real need to be with Noel the actor. Why? he wondered.

He sighed. The paper with her number on it, was burning a hole in his pocket. He’d taken in out many times and read it, to the point that he now knew it by heart, and had even gone so far as to type it in. He never made the call.

*****

When Mitul got home, her parents and Myna were sitting in the living room, watching TV. She escaped to her room, ‘yelling I’m home, Ma. Need to use bathroom,’ on her way upstairs. Rummaging through her clothes she found a high necked tee and pajamas, that she showered and changed into before going downstairs. The hickey she’d discovered was well hidden under the black cotton of the tee.

Over dinner, the conversation had been going along smoothly. Kamini had watched the sparkle in Mitul and knew right away that things had worked out between her and Noel. ‘How’s Noel?’ she asked, before she realized that Myna was sitting there.

‘Noel? Badi-ma, you know Noel?’ Myna asked surprised.

Mitul sighed. It was too late. ‘Ma knows that I know Noel, Myna,’ she said resignedly. ‘He’s fine, Ma,’ she glared at her mother, who looked apologetically at her.

‘Did you see Noel today, Mitul Di?’ Myna was curious. As far as she was aware Mitul was out working. Noel was a friend. So why would Badi-Ma ask Mitul Di about Noel?

Mitul nodded. ‘I was working, with him,’ she replied.

‘Why didn’t you take me along?’ Myna pouted. ‘I would have loved to have seen him again.’

‘Like I said, Myna, I was working. Besides,’ something devilish snapped inside her head. ‘Dev had come by, too.’ She knew the mention of the name would be anathema to Mitul.

She watched in surprise as Myna first choked and then turned a bright red. ‘Are you okay, Myna?’

Myna nodded and then lapsed into complete silence.

Mitul and her mother looked at each other, puzzled at her strong reaction. Myna finished her dinner, excused herself and rushed off to her room.

‘What’s wrong with her?’ Mitul’s father asked.

Mitul shook her head, baffled. ‘She doesn’t get along with Dev. I get that, but why the reaction?’

‘Who’s Dev?’ her mother asked.

‘Dev is Noel’s friend and manager. Looked like Myna and he had met each other before. They seemed to hate each other,’ she replied.

‘Hate is a strong word, Mitul,’ her mother said.

‘Animosity then, ma, or enmity. They do not like each other. At all.’

****

Myna paced in her room. She had successfully blocked out Dev. Or so she told herself. She hadn’t met him or seen him or heard from him all week. Which was good, wasn’t it? Then why did she feel so restless? It completely escaped her mind that she’d been waiting for Noel to call.

Almost as if to remind her, the phone started buzzing. She looked at the number and frowned, it was an unknown number.

‘Yes!’ she answered.

‘Myna,’ the voice was familiar, too familiar. She clenched her jaw.

‘Dev,’ she grated. ‘Where did you get this number from?’

‘Noel gave it to me,’ he said.

‘That number was meant for Noel, not you,’ she hissed.

‘He thought I could make better use of it,’ she could hear the smirk in his voice.

‘Why would he think that?’

There was silence for a few seconds and then he said, his voice dropping about eight octaves and taking on a velvety tone, ‘because he knows I wanted it.’

She stared at the phone in her hands. Her lips thinned in anger and she gave way to it. ‘Well, I didn’t want you to have it,’ she said, firmly. ‘It was meant for Noel.’

‘So you’re going to deny that you wanted me to call you?’ there was a stillness in his voice.

‘Absolutely. Why would I? I know Noel liked me, and that’s why I gave it to him,’ she asserted.

‘You’re going to deny that you didn’t feel anything when we kissed?’ his voice was icy.

‘We didn’t kiss,’ she denied vehemently. ‘You kissed me, you forced yourself on me,’ she hissed.

‘I never force myself on any woman, Myna Imani,’ he said through clenched teeth. ‘If I didn’t think that you were also attracted to me, I never would have,’ he stopped breathing deeply.

‘Yes,’ she said, rage now completely clouding her mind. ‘If you hadn’t done that, I would have gone home with Noel.’

‘You’re really something, you know?’ he asked with a sarcastic laugh. ‘You are attracted to me, Myna, deny it all you want.’

‘I am not, and never will be attracted to you,’ she asserted fiercely. ‘Noel is the one for me.’

He laughed briefly, incredulously. ‘You never had a chance with Noel. He’s been in love with Mitul ever since they met. Didn’t you know that?’

Myna sat down on the bed with a thump. ‘What?!’ she said.

Dev closed his eyes. He’d never meant to reveal Noel and Mitul’s relationship like this. But what was done, was done.

‘Yes!’ he said. ‘Noel’s in love with Mitul. That’s why we were there that night. Noel was Mitul’s date.’

‘You’re lying,’ she whispered harshly.

‘Am I, Myna? Have you looked at Mitul today? Take a good look and you’ll see how she’s glowing with happiness.’

She was breathing rapidly now, caught up between confusion and anger.

‘Let me tell you something, Myna. Noel was never yours to begin with. But that night, you decided to hog Noel. You were so caught up in yourself, that you couldn’t see that Noel was dancing with you because you asked him to. He was waiting to dance with Mitul.’

‘Why would he do that?’

‘Because you didn’t leave him a choice, and Noel’s too much of a gentleman to refuse!’

‘Shut up! Just shut up!’ tears were streaming down her eyes. Noel had danced with her out of politeness?

‘No, Myna. I’m not shutting up. Your ego is too big to let you see that it was a mercy dance for him. You called me a skirt-chaser? What about you, Myna?’ he went on relentlessly. ‘You’re no better than a groupie. Just one of many. Trust me, I know. As his manager, I see them all the time. They throw themselves at me, just to get at him! I guess that’s why you kissed me back, too. Pretended you enjoyed it. Because I was Noel’s friend!’

‘How dare you!’ he heard the tears in her voice, but the damage was done. He’d said too much.

‘I dared, Myna, because I thought you were different. But I was wrong. You’re nothing but a shallow, vain, wannabe. Grow up, Myna, and have a good life.’

He hung up. He was done with Myna Imani. He’d reduced the one good memory of hers into a pile of trash, and he felt about two inches tall.

*****

Unaware of the storm that had just broken over Myna upstairs, Kamini was busy questioning her daughter about Noel.

‘So is everything okay with you and Noel?’ she asked.

‘Yes, Ma,’ Mitul was glowing, a shy smile on her face.

‘And when are we meeting him?’ she asked.

‘He wants to take me out tomorrow,’ Mitul said, hesitantly. ‘But he wanted to know ... to know if you are okay with it.’

Kamini looked at her husband who’d been watching the exchange with an amused smile on her face. ‘So. You’re ready to meet a film actor tomorrow?’ she asked him.

‘Bring him on,’ said Mitul’s father. ‘Let’s see what this guy is like.’

Mitul hugged her mom and said, ‘Thanks, Mom!’ before running off upstairs to call him. Her parents laughed as they watched her go.

So the two Imani girls both had sleepless nights.

One lay awake, dreams in her open eyes about her Prince Charming. Even his insistence that she get her parents permission, had won her over just a little more!

The other lay awake wondering where she had gone wrong. She'd spurned her Prince Charming to chase a man who didn’t even know she existed. How foolish she had been! How utterly, utterly foolish!

******