Chapter 5

IshqKaRang

@IshqKaRang

Chapter 5

“Aane waale 16th ko ek bahut hi shubh muhurat hai, Suman Ben,” the Panditji looked up from counting his fingers. 

“Haan, yeh achcha hai. Isse taiyaari karne ke liye bhi time mil jaayega,” Suman replied, excited. 

“Haan Maa. Mujhe Delhi ya Mumbai se lehenga order karne ka time bhi mil jaayega,” Rishita chirped in. 

“Pann bhabhi, yeh aapki nahi, Raavi bhabhi ki shaadi hai,” Krish teased. 

“Arey? Tho kya hua? Main bhi tho Shiva ki bhabhi aur Raavi ki jethani hoon. Mujhe bhi tho, woh Maa kya kehti hain? Haan.. Mujhe bhi ekdum top class lagna hai,” Rishita replied. 

Shiva’s face broke into a smile but then, a thought struck him and he spoke up, “16th ko nahi kar sakte.”

Everyone gathered, including Raavi, turned to look at Shiva. 

“Kyun? 16th ko kyun nahi ho saktha?” Suman asked. 

“Woh.. Main.. woh.. matlab..” Shiva struggled to find an appropriate excuse. 

“Main samajh gaya!!” Krish said, bumping shoulders with Shiva slyly. 

“Kya samajh gaya?” Dhara asked Krish. 

“Arey Bhabhi! Shiva yeh kehne ki koshish kar raha hai ki isse 16th tak ka wait nahi hoga tho taareek ko aur aage badhao, hai na, Shiva?” Krish asked, grinning mischievously. 

Shiva gritted his teeth as he turned to face Krish. Fine, he would just grin and bear it. He pulled Krish’s cheeks and said, “tujhse kitni baar kaha hai ki jab bade baath kar rahe ho tho beech mein bola nahi karte???” 

“Achcha.. tho yeh baath hai?” Gombi teased Shiva and Shiva scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. 

“Nahi Gaumbi. Aisi koi baath nahi. 16th theek hai,” Raavi jumped in. 

“Arey aise kaise theek hai? Main keh raha hoon na, 16th ko nahi hogi tho nahi hogi,” Shiva interrupted her. 

“Arey par kyun?” Raavi asked. 

“Woh.. Woh.. Krish ne abhi kaha na.. matlab.. tu.. tera yeh jo mattar jaisa dimaag hai na, uska koi bharosa nahi. Solah tareek aate aate tu ne apna mann badal liya tho? Main koi risk nahi le saktha! Panditji, Aaj ya kal mein koi muhurat nahi hai kya?” Shiva asked. 

“Yeh bola mera petticoat chaap beta number 3,” Suman mumbled. “Arey Shiva! Kuch tho sharam kar! Teri Maa abhi yahin baithi hai!” 

“Nahi Maa.. main tho.. matlab..” Shiva fumbled. “Haan, Haan.. sabko patha chal gaya tera matlab! Tu kitna uchchal raha hai iss maarkundi gaay se shaadi karne ke liye. Ab aur esplanade karke meri naak math kata!” Suman scolded him. 

“Esplanade nahi, Maa.. explain..” Dhara said quietly. “Patha hai.. Patha hai.. mujhe math sikha.. tujhe samajh mein aayi na baath?” Suman rebuked Dhara before turning to the Panditji. “Koi aur mahurat hai kya Panditji? Thoda jaldi wala?”

“Chaar din baad ka ek mahurat hai, Suman ben? Chalega?”

“Chalega?! Arey chalega kyun nahi, daudega. Aap yeh waala option lock kar lo,” Shiva said, excited. Suman gave him a stern look and he sat back down. 

“Agar shaadi chaar din baad honi hai tho meri ek shart hai,” Prafulla claimed and Raavi’s heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. Everyone looked at Prafulla, worried what condition she was going to place. 

“Shiva, ab tu Raavi se tabhi milega jab tu baarat lekar aayega,” Prafulla said. 

“Matlab Shiva ka sasural mein dhamaal pe the end?” Krish asked. 

Suman nodded, “pehli baar iss kaagdi ne kuch sahi baath boli hai. Waise bhi shaadi se pehle dulha-dulhan ek doosre se nahi milte. Jaa Shiva, apna saaman pack kar.” 

“Pann Maa, yeh Chipkali aur meri shaadi Tho already ho chuki hai na, tho phir yeh na milna iss sab ki kya zaroorath hai?” Shiva protested. 

“Aye maarkundi gaay!” Suman addressed Raavi. “Kaunsa jaadu tona kiya hai tu ne mere bete pe, huh? Yeh iss se pehle itna besharam tho nahi tha!” 

Raavi blushed to the roots of her hair and refused to meet Shiva’s gaze who seemed uncharacteristically happy and pleased with himself for having earned the title of besharam from his mom. 

After a lot of back and forth and despite Shiva’s incessant pleas to reconsider, Suman stood firm on her decision that Shiva was to return with them. Shiva was sulking like a 5-year old as he headed upstairs to pack his bag. As he passed by Maami, she whispered to him, “Dekh.. meri Raavi tujhse pyaar karti hai, iska yeh matlab nahi tere mere beech ka saara tashan khatham. Agar woh khatham ho gaya tho na tu tu rahega aur na main main. Tujhe pareshaan karke na, Patha nahi.. ek alag level ka maza aata hai,” Maami giggled. 

“Tujhe..” Shiva stopped before he said anything further and lowered his voice, “Aapko.. jo karna hai kar lijiye Mamiji. Lekin bas mere aur Chipkali ke beech mein math aana.. warna yaad hai na?” He looked pointedly at her and Prafulla backed down shaking her head. “Main tho Mazak kar rahi thi, Shiva. Main apna sabak seekh gayi hoon. Bhogilal ki kasam,” she swore. “Lekin Ab jab tu poori zindagi ke liye meri beti ko mujhse dur kar raha hai, Tho main bhi chaar din tujhe tadpa hi sakthi hoon na?” Prafulla grinned. Shiva gritted his teeth before looking at Raavi. Raavi was smiling too and that made Shiva’s frown deepen. He stomped his foot before he made his way upstairs. 

Raavi took the first opportunity that she got when everyone was distracted to follow Shiva up to his room. 

“Aye bandar! Tera muh aise latka hua kyun hai?” She asked him, walking into the room with her 100 watt smile intact. 

Shiva ignored her and continued packing. She went up behind him and hugged him, placing her cheek on his back. 

“Ab kyun chipak rahi hai? Jab neeche mujhe yahan se 1 2 ka 4 karne ki baatein ho rahi thi tab tho tere munh se kuch nahi phoota?” 

“Main kaise kuch bolti Shiva? Sab kya sochthe hamare baare mein?” 

“Sabki padi hai tujhe. Bas meri nahi.” 

He turned around and pulled her into a hug, burying his face in the crook of her neck. 

“Reh legi tu mujhse mile bina?” He asked, softly. 

It was hard to concentrate with his lips pressed against the curve of her neck. 

“Mil tho rahe hain na aaj raath ko..” she said in a husky whisper. 

He hugged her tighter in response. “Woh tho sirf aaj raath ka plan hai na?” 

“Kisi ne tujhe mana kiya hai roz plan banane se?” She asked, mischief glinting in her eyes. 

He pulled away to look at her and smirked, “kaafi naughty ideas aa rahe hain tujhe. I like it. Abhi ke liye jaa warna main packing wacking chhodke, tujhe aise hi uthake mandir le jaoonga aur shaadi kar loonga. Phir koi plan banane ki zaroorath hi nahi padegi.” 

Raavi grinned wide seeing his unbridled enthusiasm. She pecked him on his cheek and was about to make a run for it but he caught her before she could make a dash. He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her properly. 

“Ready rehna.. aaj raat ko.. 9 baje..” he winked at her, before shooting her away. 

As Raavi stepped out of the room, she ran into Rishita. “Uh hmm,” Rishita cleared her throat. “Nahi.. woh main bas Shiva se poochne aayi thi ki usko koi madad tho nahi chahiye,” Raavi explained. Rishita nodded her head, “Haan, ab tho Shiva ki madad sirf tum hi kar sakthi ho,” Rishita teased her, wiping some of Raavi’s smudged lipstick off her and Raavi felt her cheeks heating up. “Suno.. agar raath ko nikalna mein koi help chahiye ho tho batha dena,” Rishita winked as Raavi ran away. 

****

Promptly at 9 PM, Raavi heard a ruffling noise outside her window. Maybe it was because she’d anxiously been awaiting him, but the otherwise soft noise seemed much more amplified. She rushed to the window and threw it open. Shiva had just landed on her balcony. “Itna shor math kar. Koi sun lega!” Raavi whispered as she ushered him in urgently. “Gadhedi! Shor tu kar rahi hai,” he dusted his track pants and gave her a once over. She looked breathtaking. Like an angel descended from the heavens above. She wore a simple white cotton sleeveless dress, had no make up on and her hair was left to play in the nighttime breeze and he could’ve sworn that he’d never seen a woman prettier than her. And she was all his. He sighed, letting that realization that she was all his sink into the deepest corners of his being.

Raavi blushed under his scrutiny. She’d wanted to wear something different. She’d wanted to look beautiful for him. To the point that he wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off her. But now, the way he was looking at her, she wanted to go hide somewhere. She tugged at the straps of the dress, nervous, excited, feeling so different from she’d ever felt before in her life. 

“Jaldi jaldi chal warna koi aa jaayega,” she tried to stop him from plopping onto her bed but he walked past her and sat down like he had all the time in the world. “Pehle harjaana bharna padega,” he commented. She stared at him curiously. “Na tho tu ne shaadi ki taareek aage badhane ke liye kuch bola, na mujhe yahan rokne ke liye. Aise kaise tujhe bina harjaana bhare date pe leke chaloon?”

“Arey Lekin 16th ko shaadi karne mein problem kya thi? Mujhe time bhi mil jaata woh naya waala diet karne ke liye so I fit into my wedding lehenga. I want to look like an absolute princess on my wedding day!” She said, sitting next to him. 

“Gadhedi!” He rapped his knuckle against her temple. “16th ko tere period ka date hai na? Uthke baithne ki haalath mein tho nahi rehthi, itna bhaari lehenga, zevar, dupatta, hairstyle.. Patha nahi kya kya. Kaise sambhalegi?” He asked her. 

Raavi looked at him wide eyed. She hadn’t paid attention but he had. He had thought about her.. Overcome with emotion, she threw herself into his arms. The sudden weight made Shiva lose his balance and he fell backwards on the bed with Raavi on top of him. 

“Aye.. yeh tu..” anything else he wanted to say was drowned out as her lips closed over his. To say he was shocked was an understatement. For the very first time, his Gadhedi had initiated a kiss. He felt like he had been standing at the summit of the tallest mountain on earth and now he was taking a free fall. 

His hands immediately found their way into her hair, tugging at them to pull her closer. Her tongue traced the seam of his lips and he groaned. She was a firecracker! He flipped their position and had her pinned beneath him as he took over the kiss. Passion overriding everything else. So far, each time he had kissed her, he had held himself back because he felt like she was holding back. But not tonight.

He tugged at her lower lip with his teeth and she hissed in response. Her hands moved down his shoulders to his waist and slipped under his shirt. His warm strength pulsed beneath her fingertips and she gasped at the sensation. All hard muscles, like he’d been carved out of stone by some expert artist. Her fingers mapped the expanse of his back. Memorizing the smoothness, the warmth, the ridges, the planes. 

He dipped his head into the crook of her neck as trailed kisses down the column of her neck. 

“Shiva..” she couldn’t help the moan that escaped her lips when he suckled a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. An unfamiliar ache settled between her legs, racing her heartbeats and making her squirm beneath him. 

“Raavi..” he placed a hand on her waist to stop her squirming. He looked at her, his eyes hooded and dark with a desire so sinful, Raavi’s breath caught in her throat. 

He rested his forehead against hers and took a couple of long, deep breaths with his eyes closed. 

When he finally opened his eyes, she was looking up at him with so much trust, devotion and innocent passion, he almost gave up control. But he couldn’t. 4 days. 96 hours. Just 96 hours more, he reminded himself and groaned at how long those 96 hours were going to be. 

He caressed her face with his fingertips, down her forehead, over her nose, outlining her quivering lips before cupping her cheek. A gesture so full of affection that Raavi felt tears in her eyes. 

“Humein chalna chahiye,” he whispered against her ear, half hoping she would refuse and ask him to continue what they’d started. 

She nodded almost imperceptibly and he rolled off her. He held her hand and led her to the balcony. “Shiva! Mujhe unchchayi se darr lagtha hai,” she said, clutching his arm as he motioned her to get onto the rung of the ladder. 

“Aankhein bandh kar,” he told her, clutching her hand more firmly. 

She did as he asked and felt his arms circle around her waist, pressing her close to his body. Soon his face was buried in the crook of her neck, the solid planes of his chest crushed against the soft swell of her breasts as he hoisted her up. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around him as his hands held her waist in a firm grip. His hard strength brushed against her core and Raavi buried herself further into his hold. 

He carried her like that, all the way down the ladder and to his bike that he’d parked a street away. “Chal, ab uthar jaa. Chipkali kahin ki,” he commented, smiling. As she unwrapped her legs from around him and he put her back on her feet, her body slid deliciously against his. Reminding himself that he was supposed to take her on a date, he shrugged himself out of the passion hazed stupor. When he got on the bike and asked her to climb on, she hopped on and immediately pressed up against his back. “Aye Chipkali! Kya kar rahi hai?” He asked. “Tu ne hi kaha tha na ki Chipkali ki tarah zindagi bhar tujhse chipki rahoon? Tho ab bhugath,” came her response as she burrowed further into him, her hands coming up front to clutch his shirt as tightly as she could. 

“Dekha Maami, badi aayi mujhe tadpane waali. Teri naak ke neeche se uda le jaa raha hoon apni Raavi ko!” Shiva thought to himself as he took Raavi’s hand and placed a lingering kiss against her knuckles before riding out into the night with her. 

Score: Shiva - 2, Maami - 0

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