Five-Thirty AM - XXXIV

Shomu was having a siesta.

With all the household chores done, and nothing to do during the hot Mumbai afternoons, he would grab a nap, waking up in time to cook Noel his dinner. He was glad about Noel baba, and in fact, he’d told Ma-ji about how Noel had been out all day Sunday and come home late, looking happier than he’d done in a very long time. Ma-ji had been thrilled, but he’d been unable to give her any more information than that. Too bad! What had Noel baba been up to? he wondered. He’d brought home a pair of wet swimming trunks, but that didn’t tell him anything. Shomu pondered that for a bit, and then smiled.

The thing is, Noel baba was happier, and Mitul’s photo had pride of place on the night stand. He’d seen the picture on the wall as well, and knew that now Noel baba had finally found a girl he liked and who liked him also. God bless them both with a long and happy life together!

With these blissful thoughts in his head, Shomu had dozed off happily. Only to be woken up by the doorbell. He jerked awake, and wiped a thin string of drool away. The doorbell rang again.

‘Coming, coming!’ he called, getting up and going to the front door. He opened it and his jaw dropped.

Mitul stood there, with a couple of bags in her hands.

‘Mitul baby?’ Shomu was delighted, stepping back to let her in. What was she doing here in the afternoon? Noel baba would not be home till the evening, as far as he knew.

She was a bit surprised at the ‘baby’, but she smiled. ‘Shomu bhaiyya, namastey,’ she walked in, going into the kitchen, putting one of the bags down on the counter. He followed her in.

‘Shomu bhaiyya, I thought I’ll cook Noel dinner tonight,’ she smiled shyly at him.

A wide smiled broke across the older man’s face. ‘Of course, of course, Mitul baby. What do you want to cook?’ he asked her.

‘Well, I was thinking of making a chicken pulao, with some salad, and matar-mushroom,’ she said hesitantly. ‘And caramel custard pudding for dessert.’ She was pulling out ingredients from her bag as she spoke, placing them on the counter.

‘That’s wonderful. You know he likes meat with every meal?’ he asked.

Mitul nodded. That was one of the things she’d discovered on their day out.

‘Come. I’ll show you where everything is kept,’ he showed her around.

They got busy prepping for dinner.

The dessert was steaming in the oven. The chicken was marinated and chilling. The rice was washed and set aside. The matar had been shelled, the mushrooms cleaned and chopped, the tomatoes pureed, the onions sliced. The salad had been cut, the dressing ready, and cooling in the fridge.

Finally, all the prep was done.

‘Shomu bhaiyya,’ said Mitul, ‘you can leave early today, if you want.’

‘Okay, Mitul baby. Are you sure you have everything you need?’ he asked.

‘Yes, I do, thank you,’ she said. ‘And please don’t tell him. This is a surprise for him.’

She saw him out, and locked the door behind him.

Of course, what she didn’t know was that he would be stopping at the local PCO to give Ma-ji this latest news. Looks like Ma-ji would have to be getting ready for a wedding soon! He blessed the Gods and made his way home.

*****

Myna was bored. Bored and out of sorts. Now that she knew Mitul and Noel were dating, she was left to herself quite a bit. Piya-Jiya never invited her out without Mitul Di, anyway, and SHE was out on a date tonight. So Myna was left to her own devices. She hadn’t dated in a while, besides it wasn’t like she wanted to go on mindless dates any more. So she was more than happy to receive a call from her friend, Shruti asking if she wanted to meet them that evening at the lounge. She happily accepted, hoping that it would help pull her out of her current state of depression.

She looked through her wardrobe, and all of a sudden, realized that she didn’t want to wear those slinky outfits that she possessed by the dozen. After a lot of thought, she chose a churidar-kameez. It was one that she had designed herself. In a deep burgundy shade, it was silk and at first glance looked perfectly traditional, but the top was held up by four glittering threads of crystal. The flowing chiffon duppatta with it was two tones lighter and embedded with tiny crystals that only let their presence be known when the light fell on it.

She met her friends outside the lounge and they walked in together, making their usual impact on the male clientele of the lounge.

*****

Mitul finished cooking, and then showered using Noel’s bathroom, finding it strangely intimate to be there in his personal space. She changed into a white flower printed peasant skirt, and a plain white tee-shirt with tiny capped sleeves. She tied her hair into a ponytail first, but then decided to leave it loose. A light lip-gloss finished off her makeup. Setting the table, she found a long slim vase, and put a single long-stemmed rose in it. She checked the food. The pulao and matar-mushroom were keeping warm in the oven. The salad was chilling in the fridge, the dessert was cooling in the freezer.

She lit a few candles and sighed. Now to wait for Noel. She looked at her watch. He was late. It was already six-thirty, and just as she was wondering if he’d decided to go straight to her house, her phone rang.

‘Hey,’ he sounded happy just to be talking to her. ‘I’m sorry. I’m running a bit late. Just pulling up at home. I’ll be maybe half an hour late. Is that okay?’ he asked anxiously.

‘Noel,’ she tried to make her voice sound pouty. ‘That’s okay. I guess I’ll just wait for you.’

‘I’m sorry, babe,’ she could hear the car door shut over the phone. She grinned and said, ‘well, call me when you leave,’ sounding peeved.

‘I will,’ he promised.

She stood there, her heart pounding, the candles lighting the darkening corners of the room, framing her in the glow. She heard the key turn in the lock as he threw the door open and then stood in shock as he saw her standing there.

For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating. Then his face broke into a huge smile. Kicking the door shut behind him, he walked in, dropping his stuff, and picking her up off the ground. She laughed as she was literally swept off her feet. He kissed her soundly before he let her down.

‘What’re you doing here?’ he asked.

‘Well, I thought you’d sort of, like the surprise,’ she smiled back at him.

‘Mmm... I could get to like this. A lot,’ he assured her. Then he looked around. ‘Where’s Shomu?’

‘I sent him home,’ she grinned at him.

He lifted an eyebrow, looking at her, a wicked smirk on his face. ‘We’re alone?’ he gave her a dirty look.

She laughed. ‘Go shower,’ she pushed him towards his bedroom.

‘Yes, ma’am,’ he saluted her. He picked up his stuff, turned and walked away.

She set the table, putting out the food and finished tossing the salad, before he came back. He followed his nose to the dining room. He leaned against the wall, watching her lay the table, and realized that he could get used to this. The domestic scene left him with a lump in his throat.

He picked up a couple of candles and turned down some of the lights, making the room more intimate. He placed the candles on the table, lighting them so they threw a glow around them.

He held out a chair for her, before sitting down and checking the dishes. ‘Whoa! Shomu went all out today, I see,’ he said.

‘Actually, I cooked today,’ she said nervously.

He looked at her surprised. ‘You did? Why?’

‘Well, you made our first day out so wonderful for me. I wanted to do something special for you,’ she said.

‘So you cooked dinner?’ he asked tenderly.

She nodded. He held her hand, for a moment, looking at it. Then he looked into her eyes, his completely serious. ‘Thank you,’ he said. He slid one hand into her hair, pulling her close before kissing her, a tender, sweet kiss. ‘I love you, Mitul,’ he said.

‘I love you, too,’ she whispered back over his mouth.

He loved the food. How could he not? She’d cooked it for him. Setting that aside though, he discovered one more thing about her. Mitul was a very good cook.

*****

Dev knew that Noel had a date today with Mitul. The idea of a long boring evening ahead did nothing to alleviate the restlessness inside him. He opened his trusty black book, and dialed a number. Ten minutes later he had a date.

The lounge was still the same place that he remembered. His gaze automatically went to the bar, but it was filled with the usual patrons. He steered his date towards a banquette and went to get their drinks from the bar.

As he stood there waiting, he smelt it again. Chanel No.5. It couldn’t be! he thought. He’d come to this lounge quite a few nights and he hadn’t met her. But with a curious mixture of dread and anticipation deep in his belly, he knew with certainty, SHE had walked in. He kept his back rigid, not turning around to look at them as they walked in. She slid onto a bar stool a few seats down, settling on it gracefully. He looked out of the corner of his eye, his gaze traveled up, from her elegantly shod feet, up the churidar clad legs in that gorgeous burgundy.. His thoughts screeched to a halt! Churidar?! She was wearing churidar? What the!? His eyes flew up the rest of her, drinking in the sight of those long, fair arms, the hand that went to her hair and tucked it behind her ear so he could see her better. The glasses on that adorable nose. She turned away to talk to her friends, and all he could see now was the swan-like curve of her neck.

With something close to sadness, he realized he missed her. Missed every single thing about her. He missed the fire that burnt in her eyes. He missed smelling Chanel No.5. He longed to hear her voice and her trilling laugh. He was brought out of his thoughts by the bartender placing his drinks in front of him.

Carefully picking them up, he walked back to his seat, avoiding looking at her, his heart beating uncomfortably, chokingly fast.

*****

Myna didn’t know what it was that first alerted her to HIS presence. Something in the atmosphere shifted, something felt different. She suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Picking up her glass of wine, she casually turned around in her seat, checking out the rest of the dimly lit room. Her eyes found him, sitting at a corner table, with another gorgeous woman. He was smiling and talking to her, holding her hand, lifting it to kiss her fingers, as that stupid woman simpered at him.

He looked around, and her eyes met his. A shock ran through her, raising goosebumps on her arms. She turned away, leaned over to talk to her friends, feeling an acute pain inside her chest. But she wasn’t going to show it to him. He had moved on. Why did it hurt her so?

*****

Dev needed a smoke. He’d given up smoking long ago, but sometimes, very few times, in moments of acute stress, the need to drag that calming smoke into his lungs became overpowering. Right now, he needed that artificial narcotic in his veins.

He excused himself from his date, and made his way out the door to the back, where there was a small designated smoking area.

He lit a cigarette and drew the smoke deeply into his lungs, closing his eyes, almost instantaneously feeling the dizzying hit in his brains, and the numbing tingle at his fingertips.

He took a few more drags, and stubbed it out, turning to go inside. She was standing two feet away from him.

‘Hi,’ she said, none of the brashness that he associated with her in her voice.

‘Hi,’ he replied, not sure why she was out here with him.

‘How are you?’ she asked.

‘Good. And you?’ He couldn’t see much of her expressions in the darkness.

‘I’m good,’ she said.

There was an awkward silence, as she played with the end of her dupatta, not looking at him, but everywhere else.

He opened his mouth a couple of times, to say something but shut it, because he didn’t know what he wanted to say right now, except ask her why she’d followed him out.

‘I didn’t know you smoked,’ she said, finally.

‘I do sometimes,’ he turned away, moving towards the railing marking the enclosures, expecting her to make a censorious remark about his smoking habit. He turned to look at her.

She just nodded her head. ‘I see.’ She hunted around for another topic, when he spoke.

‘Why are you .. ?’

She looked hopefully at him. Ask me! Ask me! her mind begged. Instead, she heard him say, ‘are you having a good time?’

‘Yes, of course,’ she steeled herself. ‘It’s not like I’ll have many more nights out like this soon.’

‘Why?’ he stilled at that. Somewhere, something was not right.

‘My parents want me to get married. They’ve found someone for me,’ she lifted defiant eyes to his.

He almost gagged, controlled himself, took a few deep breaths and then said, ‘well. Congratulations are in order I suppose.’ He cursed the words as soon as they were out of his mouth.

And then he committed verbal hara-kiri.

‘Noel will lose his biggest fan.’ He did not say it. He did Not say it.

She looked at him, shocked, the color draining from her face, tears pooling in her eyes.

FUCK!! He DID say it!!

‘Thanks, I guess,’ she said finally, sarcastically. ‘Why did I expect any different from you?’

She lifted her chin, turned on her heel and left.

*****

Noel had turned on some music, after they’d finished eating. She’d refused to let him clear the table. So he cleared some place in the living room instead. When she finally got there, only a few warm sconces lighted the room. Soft music played in the background and Noel was sitting on the couch waiting for her. She carried a tray with two coffee mugs on it, and he quickly got up to take it from her, putting it down on a table. He turned up the volume with the remote and then held out a hand to her.

‘Dance?’ he asked.

She placed her hand in his, and laughed, ‘sure!’ She hadn’t planned on this part of the evening, and now he was taking over! ‘What about dessert?’

‘In a while,’ he assured her. ‘You wanted to check out my dance moves, so here I am. Ready to give you a one-on-one demonstration of my moves,’ he said.

‘I wanted to check out your dance moves?’ she asked puzzled. ‘When?’

‘When I was in New Foundland,’ he said, pulling her closer.

She shook her head at him, as he twirled her around, ‘you remember?’

‘Every single thing you ever said to me,’ his voice was low, husky, bringing her in close. His hands went to her hips, making her sway them in time to his, hers resting on his chest. Their steps matching in perfection. He moved so their lower bodies touched, but kept to the beat.

The song changed and the next one was slower, oozing romance and passion. Noel wrapped his hands behind her waist, her arms round his neck. The singer’s voice soared. Dimly she registered that it was a Portuguese song. She didn’t understand a word. But Noel whispered them to her, his voice husky in her ears, telling his love how much he wanted her, loved her, needed her.

Arms wrapped around each other, they swayed to the music, lost in the moment. He led her back to the couch, sitting down and bringing her down on his lap, her legs on either side of his. He took off the wedges she wore, leaving her barefooted, his eyes never leaving her face.

Heart beats accelerated as they looked at each other in the dim light. She leaned forward placing her lips on his, glorying in the knowledge of being able to kiss him whenever, however she wanted to. He opened his mouth to hers, eyes drifting shut. His tongue touched the tip of hers, shocks shuddering through their systems. She felt the imprint of his hands on her back, moving, finding the hem, lifting it to slide onto the bare skin of her back. His mouth never letting her go. The smoldering firebrand that was his hand trailed down her hips, her thigh, her calves, her ankle.

He pulled away from her lips to look at what his hand had found. They rested on her right ankle, on the thin silver chain around it. He rubbed his thumb along it. He put his fingers around her ankle and swiveled her around till she sat on the couch. Lifting her leg, he brought her ankle to his lips, feeling the cold metal with her warm skin against his lips. She gasped as his tongue stroked along her ankle, tugging the thin chain, his other hand sliding along the calf, dragging up the hem of the skirt, exposing her bare skin to his eyes. He kissed her toes, taking each one of them into his mouth, sucking it, swirling his tongue around it.

He heard her moan, her breath coming between parted lips, the soft ‘ah!’ that came from her lips as he found another toe to kiss and lavish his attention on. His fingers were playing a soft melody on her inner thighs. Her toes curled as his lips found another spot on the sole of her foot. Dear God! She didn’t know her foot could be so sensitive. Her fingers clutched at the cushion, as she groaned her pleasure. What wicked things he did with his tongue! She couldn’t take it much longer!

His finally let her foot down, before sliding over her, laying down beside her, his hand running up her thighs, finding her, wet and waiting for him. She grabbed his hair and pulled him down to her for a kiss. It was long overdue.

*****

‘Dance?’ 

She looked at the hand in front of her, and lifted her eyes. Smiling delightedly, she put her hand in his, and got up. He led her to the tiny floor of the lounge, putting his arms around her, drawing her close, moving to the beat.

Over her shoulder, he watched Myna as she looked at him. He couldn’t read her face. She turned to her friends, said something. Two minutes later, they got off their stools.

He watched as she walked away, without a glance back, until she reached the door. She looked back then, one last accusing look, before she turned away and strode out after her friends. He looked down into the face of his date.

It would be another long, cold, lonely night for Dev Karmakar.

*****