Five-Thirty AM - XII

The party was on in full swing by the time Dev, Noel, Mitul and Mani, Noel’s make up man, landed up at Raghu’s cousin’s house, somewhere in an upscale residential neighborhood close to the West side. It was a large house that stood on top of a hill, built in the hacienda style with two floors. Food and drinks were available in plenty, and the patio at the back had been turned into an impromptu dance floor. Several friends of Raghu’s cousin had also been invited, including a gaggle of giggling teenage girls.

Mitul was wearing a light cotton kurti with a rich rust and olive print on a white backdrop, that came down to her hips, the high slits at the side revealing a tantalizing bit of skin, the sleeves rolled up to reveal her forearms. A pair of olive capris and high heeled white shoes completed her summer look. She’d taken care with her makeup today, the bronze lipstick shimmering with invitation, while the smoky green eye shadow gave her eyes a wider, slightly cattier look. Her hair was brushed in loose waves, tucked behind one ear, from which dangled a gold chain, brushing against her collarbone laid bare by the shallow boat neckline.

Noel had been stunned when he’d seen her. She looked so earthy and sexy, that he’d wanted to cancel the party right then and there, and keep her locked in his room for the night. The things this woman did to him! he thought.

But. He was still mad at her. Which was why he was sitting in the gazebo at the corner of the garden, surrounded by the aforementioned gaggle of giggling teenagers.

They wanted to know everything about him, some of the questions were on the verge of being embarrassing. They took pictures with him, asked him to dance, which he refused, and some of them even went so far as to kissing him on his cheek!

Dev watched silently, keeping a tab on Mitul who sat with the women, a completely spaced out look on her face.

She was bored! Even the women were gossiping giddily about Noel! She couldn’t be bothered to participate. They probably hadn’t had so much excitement in their lives in forever, she thought. For sure, all these pictures were already being posted on Facebook, Orkut, Twitter and Tumblr and wherever the hell else teenagers posted pics online.

Finally, Dev put Noel out of his misery, charming the girls into leaving his friend alone. He took a swig of his beer and said, ‘what happened?’

Noel looked at him from under lowered brows, before glancing over at Mitul who was looking at the ceiling. ‘She’s impossible!’ he growled.

‘How so?’ He looked over and caught Mitul’s eye, silently gesturing her to join them. She shook her head.

Noel took a deep breath and looked out over the lights of El Paso, visible from this vantage point on top of the hills. He narrated the incident on the highway to Dev.

‘What did you think it was?’ Dev was genuinely curious.

‘Possibly a coyote or a wild dog,’ he said thoughtfully.

‘Is that all you thought?’ Dev had an uncanny ability to force Noel to articulate thoughts that he wouldn’t admit to himself.

Noel sighed. ‘No.’ A long pause. Hesitatingly, he recounted the incidents that had taken place in the wilds of cottage country. The sounds. The sights. The signs.

‘And you think this is related to that? how?’

‘All that is still so fresh in my mind. I jumped to the wrong conclusion obviously. I guess for a moment, I thought this was a chupacabra,’ he gave a self-deprecating laugh.

‘A chupacabra? the goat-blood sucking thing that no one has ever seen?’ Dev was incredulous.

Noel shook his head. ‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘I’m pretty sure what we saw was a wild dog or a coyote.’

Dev frowned and drank some more beer. ‘You know, the mind is a weird thing. It sees what it wants to see and hears what it wants to hear. You wanted it to be a chupacabra, and in your mind it became a chupacabra. The ambience of the desert, the mysteriousness of it, the alienness of it, didn’t help. You’re right. There’s probably a completely rational name for what you saw. But in your mind and your heart, you will believe what you want to believe.’

Noel stared at him. Sometimes, Dev shocked him. And right now, he didn’t know if it was Dev or the beer speaking. His own words to Mitul came back to him. ‘If you believe in something, it will find you ... whether you like it or not.’

His glanced flicked across to her. She was looking directly at him. Dev followed his gaze and said quietly, ‘and her? What does your heart and mind tell you about her?’

He looked at Dev and said, ‘she did a stupid thing. Put us both in danger.’ But he was calm, his anger had long receded.

Dev nodded, lips pursed. ‘And is that enough to walk away from her? Can you?’

Noel shook his head. ‘No ... no ... not yet,’ he said. He got up from his seat and walked over to Mitul.

Dev watched him go. His friend was in safe hands. Both of them, he thought. For Mitul was starting to become a friend to him as well. But his loyalties would always lie with Noel.

Noel held out his hand to her. She looked up at him, while the women around stared. She put her hand in his and he led her outside. Out the front door. ‘Let’s go for a walk,’ he said, tucking her hand into the crook of his elbow.

They walked along the sidewalk, down the gentle slope of the quiet street in silence, the cacophony of the party muted behind them.

‘I’m sorry,’ he finally said. ‘I shouldn’t have yelled at you.’

‘I’m sorry, too,’ she sighed. ‘You were right. i should have slowed down.’ She was quiet for a moment and then said seriously, ‘I put us both in danger.’

‘Yes, you did,’ he didn’t mince words. Honesty is something he believed in, and much as the truth hurt, he was right about this.

She nodded her head, he was right, she admitted.

He turned them around heading back to the house. ‘I’ve got the next two days free,’ he said. ‘Would you spend them with me?’

She raised her eyebrows looking up at him.

‘No Dev,’ he answered her unspoken question. ‘Just you and me. You’ll have all of my time, no interruptions,’ he promised.

Her heart beat speeded up as she stared into his face, framed by the stars that seemed so much closer here. The light from the street lamps cast shadows on the planes of his face. A slow smile spread over hers. ‘What do you want to do?’ she asked.

‘We could do a bit of sight-seeing, and you could continue with your questions,’ he shrugged, feeling lighter all of a sudden.

‘All right,’ she said.

‘Bring an overnight bag along, just in case we can’t make it back,’ he said. ‘And your camera.’

She nodded and then suddenly remembered. ‘Before I forget, I’ve got the pictures from cottage country downloaded on a flash drive. I’ll give them to you.’

‘Thanks!’ he smiled delightedly. They’d arrived back in front of the house. He turned to her. ‘Do you want to go back and party?’ he asked.

She glanced at her watch and shook her head. ‘Nope.’

‘I thought you were enjoying it,’ he teased.

She narrowed her eyes, ‘no, I wasn’t. Ugh! I was bored. All those women drooling over you. That too, with their husbands in plain sight!’ Then she grinned wickedly, ‘but you clearly were. All those simpering teenage somethings,’ she giggled. ‘Oooh!! You should’ve seen your face!’

He groaned. ‘Tell me about it. But, these are the people who make me who I am. So I have to give them whatever time they ask of me,’ he answered soberly.

Dev came out the front door, briskly walked over to them and said, ‘you guys ready to call it a night?’

‘Yeah,’ Noel answered for both of them.

‘Let’s go. I already said your farewells to the host.’ He handed over the keys to Noel. ‘Wake me up when we reach the hotel,’ he added as he crawled into the back of the SUV, leaving them standing on the sidewalk staring after him.

****

Mornings in El Paso are always cool. The windows of the SUV were closed, though, as they drove towards the Guadalupe Mountains. Mitul was listening to Noel talk, fascinated by his words. She’d placed her recorder on the dashboard, and that’s why the windows were closed.

Noel drove with one hand on the wheel, his eyes shaded by his wrap arounds.

‘You know,’ he said. ‘This part of America is so what I always imagined America to be. Free. Vast. There’s a wildness to it. There is something that makes you want to spread your arms wide and embrace it. There’s so much history here, and yet, it’s not as in your face as, say, Europe and India. There’s something much more visceral about it.’

‘Dad was always into Westerns,’ he chuckled. ‘We’d watch all of them, the greats and the not-so-greats. Sometimes in the theatre or sometimes at home. I’ve watched For a Few Dollars More, The Dirty Dozen, Guns for San Sebastian, High Noon, Pale Rider, Once Upon a Time in the West, Fistful of Dollars, Unforgiven.’

‘Clint Eastwood, all the way,’ she murmured.

‘Charles Bronson as well. Anthony Quinn. Henry Fonda. And Eli Wallach. I’m not so much of a John Wayne fan,’ he said apologetically. ‘But, those heroes epitomized the best of human nature. The strong, silent hero who believed in truth and honesty and was willing to kill for it. Just because he had a gun, didn’t mean he went and used it indiscriminately. In fact, he used it only when he needed to - in defense of what was lawfully his, and those he loved. That’s a man who knows his strength and uses it at the right time, for the right purpose. It’s simplistic thinking - most Westerns were like that. Justice was simple and crude. Those were simpler times, admittedly, but they made for great movies.’

He glanced across at her. ‘I’m babbling,’ he said.

‘And I’m recording it all,’ she retorted. ‘But keep talking. This is fascinating.’

He thought for a minute and said, ‘I’ve seen The Good, The Bad and The Ugly a few dozen times. And every time I see it, I realize just how great a film it is. From both a story-telling perspective and characters, as well as the technicalities. The sound. The lights. The music. The whole scene where Eli Wallach is running around looking for the grave, how much does that wind you? You feel your insides tightening with his tension, his frantic need to find the gold, you feel his greed and his lust. You see him lose complete control, one thing and only one thing controls him, his lust. As he races around, the music soars ... ’ his voice trailed off. ‘And at the end, there it is - his personal pot of gold! Now that I understand these things, how a scene needs to be told, I look at it and wonder why we in India have yet to make a movie of that stature.’

‘What about Sholay?’ she asked. ‘That’s as epic as a movie can get in that genre in India.’

‘True. Sholay is an awesome movie. Again, a movie that came together with a great story, great dialogues, great actors, great music. Everything just fell into place.’

‘So why did you join the Army, Noel? I know, you told me it was to do with your Dad, but I think somewhere, you knew you wanted to be an actor,’ she said.

He thought over what she’d said and then replied quietly. ‘My father was disappointed that both Naveen and Naval decided not to go into the Army. I knew he was, although he never ever said so. And I didn’t have any of the skills my brothers seemed to have. Naval always wanted to be an architect. He’d planned on it, right from the seventh grade, I think. Naveen, he was a whiz at math. My uncle, my mama, is a businessman, and Naveen worked with him one summer. Came back and told us he wanted to go to business school.

‘That was it,’ he stopped.

‘What about you?’

He took a deep breath. ‘Like I said, I didn’t have any talents that I knew of. I was reasonably athletic, I always had overall good grades, I did win a few elocution contests, but that’s hardly the stuff that careers are made of. Debating. I was always good at that. Seemed like I was always good at all the extra-curricular activities,’ he laughed shortly.

A pause, then. ‘Girls always fell for me,’ he glanced over at her, and saw her smirk. ‘See, that’s an essential talent for an actor. You have to have female fans.’

They burst out laughing. ‘Right!’ she giggled. ‘All those teenage girls!’

‘But I decided to go into the Army because I didn’t want to disappoint my father. I was ... rudderless, and my father pushed me, just a little bit. He never forced me, but he gave me the pros and cons of it and told me I should think about it. It made sense at the time, and I decided to apply. Having a General as your father always helps. I got into Officer’s Training School in Dehradun.’

They’d come close to the mountains, now. The bald sides spotted with what looked like black spots. The terrain on either side of the road was strewn with rocks, shrubs and tall yucca pointing their skinny fingers to the skies. Patches of mesquite straggled up the mountain sides. They’d passed a small township and were now headed to the top. Only now they realized, the black spots were actually caves!

‘We’re going to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park?’ she asked reading the sign by the road.

‘Yep!’ he said.

‘Noel. Caves?’ she asked with trepidation.

They were climbing up the hill now, and he had to focus completely on the road ahead. So he only muttered a, ‘Yes’ and didn’t bother to glance at her.

If he’d done so, he’d have seen the nervousness in her face. She hated dark places. They’d had such weird encounters lately, and his idea of a day spent together was in a cave? Seriously? A CAVE?

They pulled into the parking lot, and climbed out of the car, Noel slinging the heavy camera bag around his neck. He held out a hand for her and once again, she put hers trustingly in his. Her palms were damp.

He raised startled eyes to her, finally understanding her discomfort. He lifted her fingers to his lips and said, ‘Trust me. I won’t take you anywhere where I know you won’t be safe. I’ll never let anything happen to you,’ he looked deep into her eyes, his own serious, intent.

At that moment, she felt that if he asked her to walk over water with him, she would do it, simply because he said she could.

They walked into the visitor’s center. She looked around at the crowds, children, babies, old folks, all were waiting to go into the caves. Surely, it couldn’t be that bad if people could venture with such young and old folks? she thought, feeling just a wee bit better. Noel purchased the tickets, along with a self-guided cave tour.

‘Let’s go,’ he said, holding her hand once again in his. They walked out to the back of the center, and went down a few steps.

There before her was the entrance to the caverns. A wide arena stood in front of them leading to it. The opening was at least thirty feet wide and just as high. Stairs led down into that deep yawning pit. All she could see was blackness beyond it.

Noel held her hand as he led her in. She swallowed down her nervousness and followed him into the darkness.

The stairs wound downwards, a steep downhill descent, and as the light above faded, their eyes adjusted to the darkness within. They could hear the hushed voices of other visitors. Placing each foot carefully in front of the other, they followed the catwalk into a magical land that would lead them seven hundred and fifty feet below the surface.

The Carlsbad Caverns contain the largest formations of stalactites and stalagmites in the world. Spots of light are placed strategically to highlight particularly impressive formations.

Cave after cave unveiled their beauty to them, as they walked and even crawled through them.

The Bat Cave housed the thousands of bats that flew out at dusk, and visitors often came to see this wonderful sight.

Towering stalagmites soared, reaching up fifty, sixty feet, striving to find a stalactite that it could merge with. Fragile stalactites clung like dripping lace to the ceiling, reaching down to find a stalagmite to join with. The multi-colored lights set the stage for what looked like a delicate Chinese Theatre, complete with wings and backdrop. The Mane of a Lion startled with its savagery. The Hall of the Giants awed with majestic columns rising above their heads, the tops almost merging into the darkness above.

It was cool inside the caves. They heard the dripping sounds of water as they walked by formation after formation that overwhelmed them with the miraculous powers of Nature, hidden here beneath the ground, where sunlight never reached.

Mitul had long forgotten her fear of the dark, as she was completely absorbed into the magical world that unfolded before her eyes. Noel was thrilled to see how much she was enjoying herself. He’d had a bad moment there, when he realized that she was scared of caves and darkness. But now, she’d left his hand long ago, exploring ahead, and running back to drag him to show what she had found! He went willingly.

It was almost two hours spent happily within the confines of the caves, before they took the elevators back to the reception.

‘Did you like it?’ he asked her rather unnecessarily as they got into the car.

‘Loved it!’ She was glowing and he caught his breath as he looked at her.

Leaning over, he brushed his lips against hers, and she blushed. ‘Good. I’m glad,’ he said in a satisfied tone as he started the car.

****

Five-Thirty AM - XI

(Author's Note:

It helps to have a knowledgable friend, especially one that is willing to share that knowledge with you. I have been helped immeasurably by one such friend. 

I raise my glass to you, Redwine1 - Salud! y Gracias!)

It promised to be another hot day. There wasn’t a cloud in the blue sky in the early hours of the morning, a few stars still hanging in the darker blue of the West. The city of El Paso still lay sleeping in the shadows of the mountains, as Dev drove the SUV along the two lane highway leading to the open desert on the outskirts of the city. Mitul had the window open and was breathing in the cool, crisp air.

So unlike the chilly climes of cottage country, she thought. Two weeks, and a thousand miles, and it was like a lifetime away.

They turned onto a road indicating the access to Whitesands National Monument, and drove past a long, low adobe building. A board indicated that the red building was the visitor information center. Then she saw it.

On either side of the road, the sands built up. Pure white. Like driven snow. As they drove deeper along the trail, she realized that the dunes got higher and higher. The Trans mountains still towered in the background.

‘What is this place?’ she was looking around wide-eyed at the tall dunes around them.

‘Gypsum. Sand is usually made of silica, but this is gypsum, that’s what gives it the white color,’ he said, obviously having read up on it.

They pulled up behind the long line of vehicles parked at the side of the road. Mitul had worn crocs as Noel had warned her that it was real sand, and wearing shoes might not be a great idea. She was dressed in denim shorts and a tank top, realizing it would be hot in the open. She’d also packed a tube of sun-block for good measure.

Dev helped her climb a tall dune, and as they stood on top, she looked around and gasped. All she could see around her was white! If she didn’t know better, she would’ve sworn it was snow. The crew had set up a little distance away, and they headed towards the hub of activity.

Noel was standing with a short, bespectacled man, who was indicating something on a sheaf of papers, and gesturing behind him. Another man, tall and well-built stood next to them, interjecting into the conversation every now and then. Cameras and reflectors were everywhere, at least to her untrained eye.

As Dev and she came closer, Noel glanced over. His eyes met hers over the heads of the people around him, and he smiled, his face lighting up at the sight of her. Specs and Muscles turned around to see what had caught his eye, and smiled uncertainly at her, just in time to see her face bloom into a shy smile.

They found chairs to sit on, and waited. The sun had started making an appearance in the sky, and the shot was ready. Noel walked away heading below the dunes behind him, the early sun casting his long shadow over the ripples on the dunes.

The director called, ‘Silence!’ ... and then ‘Action!’.

She heard the thundering of hooves before she saw him.

He came galloping over the dunes, crouched low over a tall, grey and white dappled horse, that seemed a part of the desert landscape. He was shirtless, clad only in a pair of tan pants, his feet bare, hanging out of the stirrups. Man and animal seemed as one, as they disappeared into a dip, each foot digging into the sand, raising little puffs in its wake. Her heart drummed in rhythm with the hooves. Then she saw them again as they appeared over the lip of the closest dune. The horse’s head rearing, it’s mane flying in the wind, Noel’s windblown face behind it, scrunched with tension, his fingers tight on the reins.

And then the horse reared, as its front feet raised up in the air, pawing for foothold in nothing, the whites of its eyes showing, lips drawn back from the large teeth.

Noel went flying off it’s back, lost to sight behind the dune.

‘Noel!’ she gasped, standing up, taking a few steps forward, before Dev held her back.

‘Cut!’ yelled the director. For a minute no one moved.

Then, Noel appeared over the top of the dune, leading the horse by the reins, one hand soothing its heaving neck. The crew clapped, knowing the shot had been perfect.

She put her hand on her chest, her eyes closed, to still her racing heart.

‘It’s okay,’ Dev said. ‘They have padding there so he could fall on it. They wouldn’t let him be hurt.’

Anger replaced fear. ‘He shouldn’t do such stunts himself!’ she turned on him, her eyes flashing fire. ‘What if he’d missed the padding?’

‘Relax,’ Dev was trying to soothe her down. ‘He knows what he’s doing. He won’t take unnecessary risks, trust me. I wouldn’t allow him to.’ He assured her.

‘There’s only so much you can do, Dev,’ she said. ‘You’re not the one riding around on a ten foot beast and then falling off its back!’ It was unfair of her to say it, and she realized her mistake almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth. The anger cooled.

‘I’m sorry,’ she was contrite. ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’

‘It’s okay,’ he smiled slightly. ‘You care about him,’ trying to look into her face, the deep waves of her hair hiding the blush from his eyes.

‘Can I tell you something?’ he asked, after she refused to answer that statement. She looked at him curiously. ‘I’ve never seen him like this with another girl,’ he stated baldly, staring unseeingly across the sands. ‘Don’t hurt him, angel. Cause if you do, I will personally come after you with everything I’ve got,’ there was a cold edge of steel running under the words, although he smiled at her.

She stared at him. Should she believe him? The memories of the night before flashed into her mind, as she stared at the scene in front of her.

*****

It was late morning by the time Noel was done with the close-ups of his face and the fall sequences, and pack up was called. The scene would be put together on the editing table, Dev explained to her. Mitul had sat and typed up notes on her tablet. Film-making was new to her, and she was absorbing it all she could as fast as she could, fascinated at how detailed the process was! It was back-breaking, she discovered. Back-breaking and very, very boring for a bystander.

‘What happened to Aarti?’ asked Mitul as they drove back to the hotel.

‘She’s doing her shots over these three days,’ said Dev. ‘She needs to get back to India. Prior engagements. That’s why Noel gets some time out.’

‘Oh! I thought you shot everything together?’

‘No, babe,’ Noel turned around in the passenger seat to look at her. ‘She’ll shoot her scenes, and then I’ll shoot mine, if necessary with body doubles, and then they’ll stitch it all back together in Mumbai.’

‘Oh!’ she looked baffled at the two of them, as they laughed at her. And then it hit her, he’d called her ‘babe’. Again!

*****

Noel wanted to take a nap, so Mitul decided to go for a swim in the pool. She changed into a swim suit, gathered her stuff and headed to the elevators. The doors opened and she stepped in. As the doors closed, she heard the next elevator open on the same floor.

The door opened and Dev stepped out, heading to Noel’s room. He knocked and Noel let him in.

‘Hey, what’s up?’ said Noel.

‘Raghu called. They need to re-shoot one scene with you and Aarti. They need some closeups of the two of you,’ Dev replied. ‘They’ll want to start at five, at the location. So you have to be there by three-thirty at the latest,’ he added.

‘Shit!’ Noel raked his hair back. ‘I promised to meet Mitul at two, so we could continue where we left off.’

Dev raised an inquiring eyebrow, his mind diving into the innuendo in Noel’s words. ‘Where you left off ... meaning?’ with a smirk.

‘The biography,’ Noel snapped. ‘Get your head out of the gutter.’

‘Ah!’ said Dev as if enlightened. ‘So, what time did you get to sleep last night, or didn’t you?’

Noel narrowed his eyes as he glared at him. ‘None of your business, Dev,’ he growled.

Dev just looked innocently at him holding up his hands in surrender.

‘By the way, what are your plans for tomorrow?’ asked Noel.

‘I don’t know. What do you have planned?’

‘No,’ Noel shook his head vehemently, one finger held up in warning. ‘Oh no, you don’t! She and I are spending the day together. Tomorrow and the day after,’ he stated firmly. ‘Without you,’ for good measure.

‘Well then,‘ Dev sighed. ‘I guess its just me and the crew,’ he laughed.

‘Right. Now off you go. I really need some sleep,’ said Noel.

‘Okay. I’ll catch up with you later.’ And so saying, Dev left Noel to drop on the bed and almost immediately fall into a deep sleep.

*****

At two o’clock, Mitul knocked on his door. There was no answer. She knocked again and waited. The door opened and Noel stood there, his hair and clothes rumpled, eyes red rimmed, the shadows on his jaws dark. He looked at her for a moment and then stepped back.

‘Come on in,’ he held the door open for her, his voice like rough sand on her nerves. He closed the door, behind her and said, ‘give me a second,’ and vanished into the bathroom.

She sat down, looking around. He’d still been in the clothes from this morning, and the bed was rumpled. It looked like he’d crashed as soon as he’d got back to his room!

He emerged from the bathroom, hair brushed and looking fresher than he’d had before. Seating himself down next to her on the couch, he reached out a hand and held hers. ‘Hi!’ he said, husky voice in full flow, a smile in his green eyes.

‘Have you eaten?’ she asked him the first thing that popped into her mind.

‘In a bit,’ he said. ‘I need this first,’ there was raw huger in his voice. His fingers curled into the nape of her neck, pulling her closer.

Licks of flame descended through her spine as she leaned into him, unable to resist the heat in his eyes, fixated on her lips. She parted them, her eyes closing even before he brushed them lightly with his. His long arms wrapped around her, pulling her onto his lap, his lips never leaving hers. She hooked her arms on his strong shoulders, rubbing across the thin cotton covering them. He was all around her, over her, under her. She could feel his big hands splayed on her back, the heat of his palms scorching through her top.

She fit right into him, he thought. She was so tiny against his big frame, and yet it felt perfect. Like the pieces of a puzzle coming together. His lips were made to kiss hers. His hands to hold her against him. His tongue lightly traced the outlines of her lips as she opened her mouth and let him in, coming forward readily to greet him.

He sighed in contentment, all his tiredness of mind and body dropping away like a discarded piece of nothing. His tongue slid into her mouth, and he shuddered as he tasted her, really tasted her for the first time. Last night had only been a tempter. This. This is what he wanted, what he craved. This sweetness that was her!

He could feel her hands on the muscles of his neck, the fingers digging into them, moving up into his hair, tugging lightly. He moaned into her mouth, his tongue dancing along hers, inviting her to join him. And she did. Ever step, every twirl, every rise and fall, she was there with him.

His breathing deepened he dove deeper into her, his mouth wide open, wanting, searching. He shifted her so that she straddled him now, her legs on either side of his. His lips moving feverishly all over her face. He could feel the hardness of her nipples brushing against his chest and he groaned at the feel of it. She was breaking down everything inside him. He ran his hands along her back. Digging into the deep indentation of her spine. Running up under the still damp roots of her hair. Clawing into the tight curve of her bottom, bringing her closer to him, allowing her to feel his growing hardness, rocking her against him.

She moaned as she felt him move under her. Her hands reached for the bottom of his tee, tugging it upwards. Their lips parted in time for him to take it off, before clashing together again. Her fingers finally found what they’d been looking for since the first day she saw him. She pushed him back, looking at his chest, swallowing the painful lump in her throat as she finally touched that smooth skin. Her eyes followed her hands as they slowly ran up his arms, the muscled biceps bunching as she touched them. The curiosity in her taking over. She ran a finger over each collarbone, before laying her hands flat on his chest, sliding them down.

He looked at her, sitting still, only his thumbs lightly brushing the sides of her breasts. His eyes darkened as he watched her swallow. She wanted this. She could have whatever she wanted. He closed his eyes as he felt the featherlight touch of her along his collarbones, before her tiny hands slid down his chest. She stopped at his nipples and his eyes flew open. ‘Go ahead,’ he whispered. Her eyes, dark and dilated, flicked up to his, before looking down at his chest. She circled them slowly with her thumbs, feeling the rapid beat of his heart under them, his chest rising and falling deeply. Her fingers flicked over them one by one. He threw his head back as a thousand nerves sprang to life. She ran them up again, and finally came to the phoenix, tracing its outline with her finger, following it inwards, till she felt it.

She stopped, looked at his face, looked back at the phoenix. She could feel the ridges of scar tissue under the tattoo. She rubbed her hand over it again.

She turned to him again, questioning, startled. He was gazing over her shoulder. Ardor cooled, as she noticed the pain in his eyes. ‘I’m not perfect,’ he whispered, his jaw clenched. ‘This body is not perfect. You deserve perfection.’

She put her palms against the stubble on both cheeks. Made him look into her eyes. Let him see the honesty in them. ‘I only want what’s perfect for me,’ she whispered, pressing her lips to the poor scarred skin, before she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him close.

They sat there like that for some time, drawing warmth and comfort from each other. He rested his forehead on her shoulder, drawing deep shuddering breaths. Her face was buried in his hair, breathing him in.

He finally drew back and looked at her and sighed, and she was surprised at the dampness still sticking to his lashes.

‘How?’ she asked.

He shook his head, trailing his fingers down her hands to lace them through his. ‘Some other time,’ his voice a little hoarse. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. ‘I have to go back to the location again,’ he said. ‘Come with me?’

She nodded.

‘Sorry about that. They need to re-shoot some stuff. And I need a shower,’ he shifted her so that he could stand up. His lifted her chin and rubbed his thumb over lower lip. ‘I’ll be right back. Order me some food, please?’

Mitul settled herself comfortably on the couch, once she’d ordered some food for him, and for lack of anything better to do, turned on the TV, flipping through the channels. A Spanish language broadcast was on with what looked like the news. She watched lazily for a while, before realizing she understood less than a quarter of the rapid fire Spanish that was being spoken. Something about something and a goat? and what was it with those shaky home videos? From the call letters at the corner, she couldn’t even figure out if it was American or Mexican, since they were so close to the border! She hit the buttons till she finally found CNN and settled down to watch Piers Morgan and his Brit accent.

*****

Shooting that evening finished just as the sun sank behind the Trans Mountain. The crew were busy breaking down the equipment. Dev had not come to the location, pleading some work that he wanted to get through before they went to Raghu’s cousin’s house for dinner later that night.

Mitul offered to drive, and Noel gladly relinquished the keys to her, stretching himself out, and watching her drive instead. His hand rested at the back of her neck, his thumb slowly stroking behind her ear. She had a smile on her lips and his own curved up as well as he watched her.

A purple-blue smoky haze hung over the desert. On a mountain top to the West, she could make out a cross silhouetted against the last orange rays of the dying sun. To the East the Franklin Mountains hunkered over the city. To the South they could make out the lights of El Paso twinkling away. The first stars were already beginning to twinkle over the barren land, and the patches of mesquite and yucca that covered it.

The powerful Xenon headlamps of the SUV turned on as it got darker, illuminating the straight black swath of the road ahead, it’s sides meeting in infinity. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a movement to the right. Something was moving across the desert!

‘What’s that?’ she pointed out to Noel.

‘Probably a coyote,’ he said, sitting up to get a better look.

She was driving at a comfortable fifty-five miles an hour, when the shadow moved onto the road about a quarter of a mile in front of them. Caught in the headlights, it stood there looking at them. All they could see were two glowing red eyes and a grey outline. A four-footed animal, canine, but definitely not a coyote. As they came closer, she could see the lips drawn back over the teeth in a snarl and the white fangs that hung over the lower lip.

‘Slow down, Mitul,’ Noel ordered, his hand on her arm, fingers biting into her forearms. ‘Stop!’

She turned on the high-beams and hit the accelerator.

It turned around and melted into the dusk.

‘Mitul!’ he exclaimed.

‘Shut up!’ her voice was a muted yell, gritting her teeth.

Seconds later, they passed by the spot where they had seen the animal. Noel craned his neck, looking into the desert. There was no sign of it. The desert lay dark and still, refusing to give up its mysteries.

‘What the fuck was that?’ exclaimed Noel. ‘Why didn’t you stop when I told you to? You could have hit the thing!’

‘The thing,’ she stressed, looking straight out the windscreen, ‘looked like something straight out of hell. No way was I going to stop and having you getting down to look at it.’ She was shaking from the encounter but she wasn’t going to let him see it.

‘I’m not stupid, Mitul,’ he exclaimed. ‘I wouldn’t!’

‘Oh yeah? and what if it had attacked us?’ she challenged.

He drew a deep breath and said, ‘we could’ve had a serious accident, Mitul. Do you realize that?’ his voice shaking with the effort to hold back his anger and not yell at her.

She didn’t say anything to that, just breathed deeply and quickly to calm her pounding heart.

‘No way are you driving me around again,’ he muttered, glaring out of the windscreen, arms folded across his chest, jaws clenched.

‘Whatever!’ she said.

Far behind them, a grey shape rose up from behind a mesquite brush, and looked at the fading tail lights of the car, before it gave a low growl, sniffed the wind, and loped away, wrapped in the cloak of the desert night.

*****

Five-Thirty AM - X

There are no direct flights from Toronto, Ontario to El Paso, Texas.

Mitul found that out the hard way, after scouring through every online reservation system that she knew of, for over an hour. Finally, she found one that gave her the fastest route of all and booked her tickets. Then she sent off an email to Noel with her itinerary. He’d already insisted on making her living arrangements, so she left that up to him.

That done, she dialed her parents’ home in Mumbai. She’d always been religious in calling them every week.

‘Mitul?’ her mother answered the phone. ‘How are you?’

‘Good, Ma. How are you?’ even though it was only a month since she’d seen her mother, all of a sudden she felt the need for the warmth of her mother’s hug. ‘I miss you, Ma,’ she choked, emotions rushing through her. She didn’t know why.

‘Mitul? Beta, what’s wrong?’ her mother was concerned. It wasn’t like Mitul to break down and cry on her weekly calls. ‘What happened? Why are you crying?’

‘Just missing you, Ma,’ she sniffed. ‘Was missing you a lot.’

‘Aw, my baby,’ her mother smiled and blew her a kiss. ‘We miss you a lot, too. Why don’t you come back earlier this year? It’s not like something is holding you back there, is it?’

‘No, Ma. There’s nothing,’ she said, smiling because she felt so much better after that kiss.

‘Are you sure? You haven’t gone and fallen for a Canadian, now, have you?’ her mother teased.

‘Ma! No!’ she exclaimed. ‘I haven’t. I’ve just been very busy working.’ Thank god her mother couldn’t see that blush!

‘I know. I met Joyce at the Sinha’s the other day, and she says you’re really doing a great job with the book,’ her mother sounded proud as a peacock about her little chickie.

‘That’s very sweet of her, Ma. But she’s a real slave-driver, you know. Puts deadlines on me,’ she complained. ‘I’m a writer, I get writer’s block. Deadlines kill me,’ she said dramatically.

‘She keeps you on the straight and narrow, Mitul,’ her mother countered. ‘Or else you’d be sitting and watching TV all summer long.’

They both laughed at that, knowing Mitul’s love for the idiot box. What her mother didn’t know about, of course, was a certain actor whose career Mitul had followed avidly, and who of late, had started occupying a great deal of her thoughts.

‘Okay, tell me,’ her mother continued. ‘What news of your maasi’s family?’

‘They’re fine, Ma. I went to their house day before yesterday, for Piya and Jiya’s birthday. And Anuj proposed to Piya, but they’ll have the formal shagun and roka and all that much later. Maasi will probably call you in a day or so and tell you all about it.’

‘How is Piya’s fiance? Is he a nice boy?’

‘Oh, he’s a great guy, Ma. We all had gone out to cottage country and I had a great time with them!’

‘And?’

‘He’s good looking too, and best of all, loves Piya a lot. It’s funny, you know. Piya is the one with the big mouth, and Anuj is quiet. Jiya is the quiet one and Rajan is so out-going. They chose exact opposites!’

Her mother laughed and said, ‘They say opposites attract. Listen, do you have any pictures of them from your trip?’

‘I do, and I’ll email them to you,’ she promised.

‘Here, speak to your Dad, he’s standing right here wanting to talk to you.’ She heard the phone being handed over.

‘Hello?’ she heard her father’s deep voice.

‘Baba! How are you? What are you doing?’ she’d put on her baby voice.

‘We were sitting down for a round of solitaire,’ he chuckled. ‘Your mother keeps beating me at it. But I think she cheats, you know.’

She laughed as she heard her mother say, ‘I do not!’ indignantly in the background.

‘How are you, my little one?’ her father asked tenderly.

‘I’m fine, Baba,’ she slipped easily into the role of his baby girl. ‘Baba, the reason I called is because I won’t be able to talk to you next week and probably the week after.’

‘Why, baby?’ her father asked.

‘I have to go to the US. I have some work there, and I’ll be busy with it, so it’ll be difficult to call you.’

‘Oh!’ said her father. ‘And when do you come back to Toronto?’

She told him the dates and then said, ‘Baba, don’t tell Ma, but I plan on coming back to India early this year.’

‘Really? Okay,’ her father and her confidante kept her secret, although she could tell by his voice he was grinning.

‘I do miss you all,’ she sighed.

‘We miss you too, little one,’ he said softly. Her mother said something in the background and then he repeated it. ‘Oh, your Ma said to tell you, your uncle, aunt and Maina are all coming for a visit, during the Puja vacations. So be sure to bring some gifts for them from Canada.’

‘Ah f-!’ she exclaimed, before she could stop herself, thankful that she’d controlled her mouth before the expletive left it. Her uncle, her father’s brother was a wonderful person. It was his wife and his daughter that caused her some serious back pain. She tolerated them only because they were family.

‘Behave, Mitul,’ her father warned.

‘I will, Dad,’ she said wearily. ‘Perfume?’ she asked.

‘Yeah!’ was her father’s equally weary reply. With that, she wound down the call and finally hung up.

She scanned through the photos they had taken of their cottage country trip. She still hadn’t gone through all of them, although she’d downloaded them already. The camera had been left around for anyone and everyone to click as they liked. So there were lots of shots that she hadn’t seen. She browsed through the pictures setting aside the ones that she would send to her parents.

She stopped as she came to one of hers. She was standing in the boat, laughing at someone to her left. Obviously, she’d just come out of the water, droplets of water clinging to her skin, dripping off her hair, clinging to her eyelashes. The blue sky framed her in the background, the dark blue one piece, splotched with turquoise showing off her taut body. The oblong cutaway to the side revealing the ring at her navel. The camera had captured the sun glinting off that ring. She gaped at it. She actually looked quite .. quite ... sexy in it! There was no other word for it. She stared at the picture knowing exactly who had taken it. For a second, she debated deleting it, and then let it be.

She found the picture of him that she’d been looking for. It was a closeup, up to his shoulders, the phoenix visible just above the frame. His green eyes were looking straight at the camera, from under his brows. He wasn’t smiling, the intensity of his eyes eating into her soul. His hair was darker, wet, and drops of water sparkled on his shoulders, framing his thick corded neck. His jaw was shadowed by the stubble, and he looked... wicked, she thought. Without thinking twice about it, she sent the picture to her phone.

There were many pictures of them side by side, with the group, laughing, talking, posing, even one with Tinker Bell!

She finally finished selecting the pictures and uploaded them to a secure website. Not one of Noel’s picture made the cut. She sent the link to her parents and then downloaded all the pictures onto a flash drive. She’d have to remember to give this to the Puris and Noel.

Which reminded her ...

She debated between calling Jiya and Piya and decided Jiya was the better option of the two. She told Jiya about her impending trip to the US and promised to come by the next day to drop the pictures off.

She was ready for El Paso. Or was she?

*****

The sun at high noon blazed down on the desert, as the 737 slowed down, and dropped altitude for a touchdown at El Paso airport. Mitul looked out of the window taking in the dry, treeless vista outside, little dust devils dancing off the runway. The rounded hills in the background, bald and bare, the green scrub almost shaven off to reveal the brown soil below. It was so bare, so bleak.

For the hundredth time Mitul wondered what she was doing here. Yes, the book was still a work-in-progress. Yes, she still had to explore his army days and the days leading to this point in time. But, wasn’t she fooling herself? She wanted to spend more time with him. Period. Wanted, needed, it was moot at this point. There was a constant gnawing ache in her that would not go away any time soon. Almost like an addiction, a craving, to hear him, see him. This one week away from him had brought it sharply into definition.

Was she being too shameless chasing him across a continent, just to be with him? She hated herself for feeling this way. She hated him for making her feel this way. Now, it was too late to turn back. In a few minutes, she would be seeing him! And that thought sent her already thumping heart racing with anticipation as her stomach coiled into knots.

She pulled her laptop from the overhead bin and slung her bag across her shoulders as she made her way through the aisle to the jetway.

El Paso airport is a small double-storied structure. There are no fancy Terminals nor are there trains to take, or endless walkways to traverse. You get off the flight, walk through the security zone, walk down an escalator to Baggage Claim. It takes all of five to seven minutes if you’re coming from the furthest gate.

She stood on the escalator, her eyes scanning everywhere, looking for him, as the ground floor slowly came into view. The airport certainly had character, she thought. Each of the stores and shops had signs in bright colors, and chili logos were everywhere. Ranchero music played in the stores, the beats unfamiliar yet strangely familiar. There was almost a fiesta atmosphere, she felt, although she knew little about fiestas. She saw people rushing to the baggage claim and she followed them there, waiting for her bag to come out.

Noel was nowhere in sight.

She wasn’t worried. She knew she was booked at the Marriott and she could easily find her way there, perhaps call the hotel to pick her up or maybe cab it. But it did disappoint her a little that he hadn’t come to pick her up at the airport.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump. She turned around to see a stocky man, with a soul goatee and the longest lashes smiling at her.

‘Mitul?’ he held out a hand.

She blinked and then it hit her. ‘Dev?’ she asked, placing her hand in his.

They shook hands smiling at each other, the mutual liking instantaneous, and he said, ‘Noel asked me to pick you up. He’s stuck in rehearsals and couldn’t make it. So here I am. Is this all you have?’ He indicated her shoulder bag.

‘Oh,’ was all she could say to this force of nature. ‘No, I have a bag coming.’

Collecting her bag from the conveyor, they made their way to the parking lot where he stowed her bags in the back of a Mazda CX-5 SUV.

‘Would you like to have lunch first, before you check in?’ Dev suggested, as they drove to the hotel.

‘Sure,’ she said.

‘Any food preferences?’ he asked her, trying to bring a smile to her face.

‘No beef,’ she replied. ‘I don’t eat beef.’

‘First time in El Paso?’ he asked, wondering why she was so quiet.

‘Yes, it is. Never been to this part of Texas before,’ she was looking out of the window taking in the sights of the city, flanked by the bare mountains. ‘I’ve just been to Dallas and that’s it. It’s so flat there. But here, the mountains are all around.’

He nodded as he pulled off the highway into a diner and led the way in. They ordered their food, and she looked around her. The writer in her was storing up each little detail she saw around her. Someday it would come in handy in a mushy romance, she grinned to herself.

Dev was thankful to see that she seemed to have cheered up.

‘So, Mitul,’ he took off his sunglasses as he spoke, wanting her to look into his eyes without any barriers. ‘How’s the book coming along?’

‘Slow,’ she said ruefully. ‘Although Noel does talk well. I have to push him for details.’

He nodded. ‘He is a very private person, as I’m sure you’re finding out.’ He paused not really expecting a reply to that statement. ‘But I have a feeling you’re an equally private person. I barely know a thing about you, yet you said Noel spoke about me. So I’m at a disadvantage here, you know. Noel won’t speak about you. You won’t speak to me about you. How, then, do I get to know you?’ he looked appealingly at her.

She had to smile at that. ‘Quite the charmer, aren’t you? Does that always work with the ladies?’ she grinned at him, deflecting his question with one of her own.

‘You have no idea,’ he leant forward as if he were revealing a secret.

She burst out laughing and he joined in, enjoying the sound of her laughter. It was full and rich. There was something about her, the earthy sensuality she gave off, without really trying. A down-to-earth no-nonsense quality that was very appealing to someone who spent their lives living in an artificial, made up world. She wore no makeup, and no perfume that he could smell. She was what she appeared to be, and she was fearless about it. No wonder Noel was all twisted up about her.

‘So how did you know it was me at the airport?’ she asked curiously.

‘Noel showed me your picture,’ he said. She raised her eyebrow. ‘Well, I had to be able to identify you, you know. I told him I was NOT going to stand there at the bottom of the escalators with a placard that said Mitul Imani, and wait for you.’ He was rewarded by a giggle at the ridiculous picture he’d painted.

They finally returned to the hotel much better acquainted now, and she checked in.

‘Have a nap, while I go see where Noel is,’ Dev suggested as they parted at the elevators.

****

She lay in bed thinking. All day, all day long, she’d been looking forward to seeing him, she admitted that to herself. She’d worked herself up about what she would say when she saw him. She’d wondered what she’d feel when she saw him again. But here she was, in El Paso, and she hadn’t even met him yet! She closed her eyes.

She woke up from her nap with the room phone ringing. Feeling groggy because of the untimely nap she’d taken, she reached over and said hoarsely, ‘Hello?’

‘Hi!’

She kept quiet and then said, ‘Hey!’

‘Did I wake you again?’

‘You always do,’ her voice was heavy, drowsy.

‘Sorry,’ he was contrite.

‘You.. ‘ she stopped. ‘Are you done with your rehearsal?’

‘Yes, and I’m back in my room,’ he said. ‘Do you want to come by?’

‘Mmm hmm,’ she responded sleepily.

‘Its 606. Just .. come by,’ he said.

‘K,’ she whispered.

Dragging herself out of bed, she walked into the bathroom and freshened up. She quickly changed into a pair of jeans, a clingy hunter green off-shoulder top and high heels; a quick brush, a touch of gloss and a spritz of Samsara, and she was ready. She picked up her clutch and walked three doors down to his room and knocked.

****

He’d been sitting at his laptop, going over some emails with only half his attention, the other half focused on the door, when the knock came.

He opened it and she was standing there.

His heart jumped in his throat. He’d forgotten what it was like to see her in front of him, in the flesh. How could he have forgotten? That it was so much better than the two pictures he had of her?

‘Hi!’ he said instead, as he held open the door for her.

She walked in to a room very like her own and turned around when she heard the door shut behind her. Her heart was thumping erratically, her tummy doing the twisty thing again.

‘Hey,’ she replied back, perching on the sofa.

He sat straight on the armchair facing her and for a moment they just took in each other.

‘So,’ she said, ‘here I am in El Paso. What’s the plan?’

He raised an eyebrow and smiled at her obvious attempt to allay the awkwardness that had both of them in its grip.

‘Well, I was supposed to get a long weekend,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately, we’re running behind schedule, as usual. So tomorrow I have an early morning call, at 4 am.’

‘Ouch!’ she said, leaning back now, dropping her clutch on the seat beside her. She kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet beneath her.

‘But .. the good news is that after that, I have about three days off. They’ll be shooting some of the stunts and I’m not needed. So we’ll be able to spend some time with you grilling me,’ he mocked.

‘Do you want me to come for the shoot tomorrow?’ she asked artlessly.

He looked at her and thought about the way she’d said it. If he wanted her to, she would come for a shooting at four in the morning? Is that what she’d said. Or was it just a casual phrase?

‘If you want to see some naach-gaana, yeah. But you don’t need to be there at four. You can come around seven, which is when we’ll actually begin shooting. And if you get bored, you’ll be stuck, though,’ he warned.

‘Why?’

‘We’re shooting at White Sands. They’ve given us special permission to be there before the park opens,’ he said.

‘What’s White Sands?’ she asked.

He smiled, his green eyes crinkling at the corners. ‘Why don’t you come tomorrow and see for yourself?’ he asked. ‘It’s actually beautiful.’

A knock on the door interrupted them and he got up to open the door.

‘Hey Dev,’ he said, ‘come on in.’ He turned around and walked over to the couch, casually picking up her clutch and handing it to her, before sitting down next to her.

Dev had to take the armchair.

‘Hey, Mitul,’ Dev greeted her, not in the least bit surprised to see her in the room. He also didn’t miss the casually intimate way Noel had picked up her clutch and handed it to her or the completely possessive way he was staking his claim by sitting next to her. It was done almost without thinking. Noel, my son, he thought. You’re a goner!

She looked from one to the other, reading the smirk on Dev’s face, but not really understanding the reason behind it. ‘So what are we doing this evening?’ she asked.

‘We are going out to dinner, first of all,’ announced Dev, ‘after which, we could go to a bar or something?’ he ended he sentence as a question.

‘A bar? In El Paso? Seriously?’ Noel asked mockingly. ‘I have a four a.m.’ he began, when the phone rang. He picked it up and said, ‘Ya .. Okay ... sure .. ya, bye,’ and placed the receiver back on the cradle.

‘Turns out Raghu - our director,’ he added for Mitul’s sake, ‘has cousins who live here in El Paso. We’re invited to dinner tomorrow with an Indian family. In El Paso.’ It was at this point that Noel James truly appreciated the facepalm emoticon. If he could’ve done it, he would’ve!

‘Let’s just go,’ said Dev, leading the way out, ‘before we get swamped!’

****

Once back at the hotel, Dev excused himself, while Noel and Mitul walked slowly to the door. Over dinner, she’d surprised him by speaking in passable Spanish to the waiters.

‘I didn’t know you spoke Spanish,’ he said. ‘As far as I remember, you spoke English, Hindi and French. I distinctly remember no Spanish.’ He looked down at her with a wolfish smirk, ‘you holding back on me, babe?’ he asked, sexy charm oozing out of every word.

She smiled up at him from under her lashes and said, ‘always, darlin’!’

He laughed at that, and slipped an arm around her waist. ‘So why didn’t you tell me?’ he asked, voice low, intimate.

‘There’s nothing to tell, Noel. I had an Hispanic roommate in school, and learnt half-a-dozen phrases from her. I wouldn’t call that knowing a language!’ she protested.

‘Okay, I’ll give you that,’ he nodded after considering it judiciously.

‘I also dated an Argentinian, then,’ she grinned up at him mischievously. ‘A very sexy Latino.’

‘Shit! I can’t battle the ghost of a Latin lover!’ he exclaimed dramatically, while her laughter rang out. He bent his head looking at her.

She saw it in his eyes before he said it.

‘But I can sure try,’ he whispered against her lips, before doing what he’d been dying to do since he saw her standing at his door. He kissed her.

****