Chapter 5

The morning sun broke over the horizon, casting a shimmering gold blanket across the calm turquoise waters. A sharp ray of light pierced through the lifeboat, dancing across Shristi’s closed eyelids. She groaned softly, her body aching from the hard floor of the boat, and sat up with a long, slow stretch.

Her eyes were still half-closed, a lingering smile on her face from the hazy memories of the music and the sea breeze. But the moment her lashes fluttered open and her vision cleared, the smile vanished. Blue. Nothing but endless, shimmering blue in every single direction.

"AAAHHHHH!"

The scream ripped through the silence of the ocean. Sameer bolted upright, his hair a mess of tangles and his face still smudged with a faint, ghostly trace of red lipstick.

"What? What happened?" he yelled, scrambling to find his footing in the swaying boat. Then, his gaze hit the horizon. His jaw dropped. He spun in a full circle. "Aahhh!" he joined her in a panicked shout.

They stood there for a moment, two small figures in a tiny white boat, frozen in shock. Shristi was the first to break the silence. Her panic suddenly shifted into a look of pure, childlike wonder. Her mouth fell open.

"Wooow..." she whispered, her eyes sparkling. "It’s gorgeous!"

Sameer, however, was already frantic. He shaded his eyes with his hand, squinting at the empty horizon. "Ship? Where is the ship? "

Shristi leaned back against the edge of the boat, looking at him with a mischievous, blissful tilt of her head. "You can't even see in the day as well," she teased, waving her hand toward the empty space behind them. "It went away!"

"Went away?" Sameer repeated, his voice cracking. "Went away leaving us alone in the middle of the sea?"

"Yesss," Shristi smiled, looking like she didn't have a care in the world.

Sameer turned on her, his frustration boiling over. "This is all because of you! Nor would you have drunk booze, nor would you have lost your mind, and nor would we have landed on this boat!"

Shristi’s smile vanished instantly. She stood up, nearly tipping the boat, and pointed a sharp finger right at his chest. "Aeee Mr! You are forgetting one thing! Nor would you have flirted with those girls, nor would I have gotten angry, nor would I have lost my mind, and nor would we have landed on this boat!"

"Seems like you are still high from yesterday!" Sameer retorted, throwing his hands up. "Without even thinking, you are just saying anything. You don’t know in what problem we have landed ourselves!"

Shristi looked around at the pristine water and the cloudless sky, spreading her arms wide. "Problem? Where is the problem? On top, there is a beautiful blue sky, open air, and we're surrounded by water from everywhere!"

Sameer let out a dry, sarcastic laugh. "Oh, brilliant! When you feel thirsty, then drink this salt water. When you are hungry, have a plate of this open air. And when at night you feel cold, then cover yourself with this beautiful sky!"

"Why are you shouting?" Shristi hissed, looking around as if the seagulls might judge them. "If someone hears you, what will they think?"

Sameer stared at her, his eyes wide with disbelief at her stupidity. "They will think the same thing I do—that you have lost your mind! And who will listen to us? Who is even here?" He cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs, "HELLO? ANYONE?"

The sound was swallowed by the vastness. To prove his point, he looked at her. "See? No one!"

Shristi suddenly softened. She looked down at her feet, a shy, playful smile returning to her lips as she spoke in a small, coy voice. "I will listen to you. You just say..."

Sameer closed his eyes, rubbing his temples as if a massive headache had just arrived. "Now you just shut up and let me think about what we can do."

Shristi brightened up, clapping her hands. "Should I say what we can do? Let's play hide and seek!"

Sameer’s eyes snapped open, his face turning a deep shade of frustrated red.

"SHUT UP!"

The shout was so loud it seemed to ripple across the water, the word "SHUT UP... shut up... shut up..." echoing back from the silence of the deep, leaving them staring at each other in the middle of the infinite blue.

Rishabh’s face was pale, his usual composure shattered as he gripped the edge of the Captain’s mahogany desk. Behind him, Kabir was breathless, his shirt rumpled and his eyes darting around the room in a state of pure panic. Swati and the rest of the friend group stood huddled at the door, their festive moods replaced by a cold, sinking dread.

"Captain, please!" Kabir burst out, unable to stay silent. "We’ve checked the ballroom, the galley, the engine rooms, and even the staff quarters. Sameer’s guitar is still in the hall, and Shristi’s phone is sitting right on her vanity. They haven't been seen since the party ended."

The Captain stood up slowly, his expression shifting from professional irritation to grave concern. "You are telling me that a star performer and a high-profile guest have simply vanished into thin air in the middle of the ocean?"

"Yes!" Rishabh barked, his voice trembling with a mix of anger and fear. "We’ve had the fans looking, the security team looking—everyone! They are nowhere on this ship."

The sun climbed higher, turning the vast expanse of blue into a shimmering mirror. Sameer’s muscles were screaming as he gripped the heavy oars, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Every pull of the wood against the water felt like a battle against the entire ocean.

Shristi, meanwhile, was leaning over the side, trailing her fingers through the crystal-clear water. "Wow," she whispered, her eyes wide with delight. "Sameer, look! How beautiful it is beneath the surface!"

Sameer didn't even look up. "How long am I supposed to keep rowing like this?" he groaned, sweat dripping from his forehead. "There isn't a single island to be seen. Just blue, blue, and more blue!"

He dug the oars in again, his back straining. Suddenly, Shristi stood up, nearly toppling them both. She pointed frantically toward a smudge of green on the horizon.

"Island! Sameer, look over there! An island!"

Sameer squinted, his heart leaping. It wasn't a mirage. A lush, emerald-green peak was rising out of the sea. With a renewed surge of adrenaline, he began to row with everything he had, aiming the small craft toward the white-sand shoreline.

As the boat glided into the shallower, turquoise waters near the beach, Shristi began to cheer, clapping her hands enthusiastically. "Superb! Good job, Sameer! Keep going, you're doing so well!" She leaned forward and reached out, tapping him firmly on the back to encourage him.

Sameer winced, nearly dropping an oar. "Aee Madam!" he snapped, his voice sharp with exhaustion. "Don't scream so much! I’ll give you one rapta (slap)—and all that 'force' of yours will come flying out!"

Shristi froze, her eyes widening. Instead of being offended, a dreamy look crossed her face. She leaned in, elbowing him playfully. "Rapta? Haaye... what a romantic word that is. I’ve heard it for the first time. From where did you learn this word, rapta?"

Sameer stared at her, completely baffled. "Oof! You find romance in everything! What are you just standing there looking at? Get down from the boat and help me push it to the shore!"

Sameer hopped out into the waist-deep water, his boots soaking as he began to shove the heavy lifeboat toward the sand. Shristi, caught up in the thrill of the landing, threw her head back and began to sing at the top of her lungs, "Oooohhhh... ayyyyeeee!"

By the time Sameer managed to haul the prow of the boat onto the sand, he looked up and realized Shristi had already hopped out.

She was wandering down the beach like a carefree child, her arms outstretched as she felt the warm sand between her toes. She twirled around, her voice echoing through the palm trees. "Ayyyeee... Ohhhooohhh!"

Sameer collapsed onto the sand for a second, watching her dance. "She has totally lost it," he muttered to himself. "Completely gone."

Trying to take control of the situation, Sameer stood up and peeled off his heavy, salt-crusted jacket. He swung it frantically over his head, shouting toward the dense jungle, "Is anyone on this island? HELLO! HELP!"

He turned back toward the water to secure the boat, but his blood ran cold. The tide had turned.

The lifeboat, which he hadn't tied down in his exhaustion, had slipped back into the surf. It was already several yards out, bobbing mockingly in the deep current.

"The boat!" he yelled, lunging toward the water. He splashed in, reaching out with all his might, but the current was too fast. The boat drifted further and further, a small white speck against the vast ocean.

Sameer stopped, the water at his waist, watching their only means of escape vanish.

"Shit," he whispered, the reality of the deserted island finally crashing down as Shristi’s cheerful singing continued to echo behind him.

Shristi stood on the edge of the shoreline, her arms spread wide as she inhaled the scent of salt and tropical blooms. "Wow... superb! How nice it feels, Sameer. We are both like Adam and Eve before the world could start, being together in this heaven."

Sameer, however, was scanning the horizon with a desperate intensity. He turned to her, his face practical and urgent. "Remove your skirt."

Shristi froze, her eyes widening in shock. "What? Skirt? You have taken this Adam and Eve thing too seriously! We are not real Adam and Eve!"

"Just listen to me," Sameer insisted, taking a step toward her. "Remove your skirt."

"What? Have you gone mad?" Shristi scrambled back, her voice rising in a mix of panic and indignation. "One beautiful girl alone on this island, and you want to take advantage of her? Nirday! Nirlag!... stop, I don’t know any more Hindi words for someone as shameless as you!"

"You won't understand like this!" Sameer groaned. He lunged forward, and Shristi let out a shriek, bolting toward the treeline.

"No! Don't touch me, Sameer!"

They sprinted across the dunes, their feet kicking up sprays of white sand. In the heat of the chase, Shristi tripped, and they both went tumbling.

They rolled over the warm sand, a chaotic blur of limbs and laughter-filled protests. Shristi struggled, pinning his arms, but Sameer was quicker. With a deft tug, he managed to slide the pink skirt off, leaving her standing in her delicate silk tap pants.

"What did you do?" she gasped, her face flushed red. "You... I will kill you!"

Sameer scrambled up, clutching the skirt like a trophy. "Sorry!"

"What do you mean by sorry?" Shristi yelled, throwing a handful of sand at him. "Rascal! Scoundrel! I will kill you... hmph!"

Ignoring her insults, Sameer ran toward a fallen branch near the water's edge. He grabbed a long, sturdy stick and rushed to the highest point of the dunes. With focused movements, he threaded the stick through the waistband of the skirt, hoisting it high.

Shristi, still fuming but curious, marched up to him just as he jammed the stick deep into the sand. The skirt fluttered in the sea breeze like a makeshift distress signal.

"What are you doing?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Can't you see? I'm putting up a flag."

"A flag? But why?"

Sameer wiped the sweat from his brow. "If they are out searching for us, their eyes might fall on this. They’ll realize we’re here somewhere and maybe we’ll be saved. Did you understand anything?"

Shristi looked at the "flag" and then back at the vast, peaceful ocean. Her expression softened into a pout. "But I don't want them to come here and disturb us. I don't want to go back."

Sameer paused, looking at her in disbelief. "What do you mean?"

"I'm happy here," she said, beginning to sway and twirl, her silk pants catching the sunlight. "Very happy."

She ran toward a rocky outcrop and pointed toward the dense green canopy of the mountain. "Look there! Look over that mountain! We can have a treehouse. We will live there."

She looked at him with dreamy eyes. "You will leave for work in the morning, and I will wait for you. In the evening, after you are tired from cutting wood, you will come home, and when I see you, I will smile. You will light the fire, and I will just keep staring at you."

Sameer stared at her for a long beat, then let out a sigh. "And then I’ll sing a lullaby to put you to sleep. And when the sun wakes me up, I’ll wake you with a morning song. And when you don’t wake up..." he paused, his voice turning sharp, "...then I will give you two raptas! To wake up from this delusion, a slap is the only thing needed!"

He turned on his heel and began walking toward the dark entrance of the forest.

"Ooh! Where are you going?" Shristi shouted, her hands on her waist.

"I'm going to get Pizza from Pizza Hut, okay?" Sameer called back over his shoulder without stopping. "Will you eat?"

Shristi blinked, then shouted back, "Yes! But Margherita, okay?"

As Sameer disappeared into the shadows of the trees to look for real food, Shristi turned back to the "flag." She reached out, pulled the stick from the sand, and began carrying the skirt-flag with her toward a quiet corner of the island, unwilling to let their "heaven" be found just yet.

The dense canopy of the island echoed with the rhythmic thud-thud-thud of rotor blades.

Sameer, struggling through the undergrowth with a heavy bundle of wild bananas, froze. He looked up, squinting through the leaves. A helicopter!

"Hey! Over here!" he roared, dropping the bananas as if they were hot coals. He burst onto the sand, sprinting toward the shoreline, waving his arms like a madman. "HELP! WE’RE HERE!"

But the helicopter stayed high, its nose dipping toward the horizon. Without the bright red signal of the skirt-flag, the pilot saw nothing but an empty beach and green trees. The sound faded into the distance. Sameer stopped, his shoulders sagging, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

"The flag..." he muttered, spinning around. "Where is the flag?"

He scanned the dunes, but the stick was gone. Then, he spotted a figure by the water’s edge. Shristi was crouching by a tidal pool, dipping the skirt—still tied to the stick—deep into the water.

"Aee Shristi! What are you doing?" Sameer yelled, charging toward her.

She looked up, completely calm. "Catching fish for dinner," she said, dunking the fabric again.

Sameer skidded to a halt, staring at the soaked denim. "With that flag? You are catching fish with the signal flag?"

"Yes," she said simply. "We have to eat, don't we?"

"Argghh!" Sameer grabbed his hair. "I put that there for a signal! A helicopter just flew right over us and they went away! Because of you! You are an idiot!"

Shristi stood up, the wet skirt dripping on her feet. Her eyes flashed. "What did you say? You called me an idiot?"

"Yes, I called you an idiot!" Sameer stepped toward her, his frustration boiling over.

He gave her a sharp shove on the shoulder. "You are a girl with no head! Mad! Immature!"

"You're pushing me?" Shristi pushed him back, her chin up. "How dare you push me!"

"What pushing? I will kill you!" he shouted, shoving her again.

"You will kill me? Try it!"

She lunged forward to push him with both hands, but her foot slipped on a mossy rock.

With a startled gasp, she tumbled backward, disappearing into the surf with a loud splash.

Sameer didn't hesitate. "Shristi!" He dove headfirst into the waves to save her.

But the moment he hit the water, the panic set in. He thrashed wildly, his arms slapping the surface in a disorganized frenzy. He didn't know how to swim.

Shristi popped up a few feet away, shaking the water from her hair. She started to laugh, thinking he was playing a game. "Oh, look at you! What a drama king!"

Then she saw his eyes—wide, white with terror—and heard the gargled "Save... me..." as he sank beneath the surface.

"Sameer!" Her laughter died. "He’s really drowning!"

She dove under, grabbing him by the shoulders and kicking hard. She hauled his dead weight back to the shallow sand, dragging him onto the beach. He was pale, coughing up seawater. She frantically pumped his chest, her voice trembling. "Sameer! Sameer! Wake up! You're fine, right? Open your eyes!"

Sameer let out a violent cough, his eyes fluttering open. He nodded weakly, leaning his head back against the sand.

"Stupid! Idiot! Foolish person!" Shristi cried, half-sobbing. "When you didn't know how to swim, why did you jump? I was playing a prank! For me... why did you have to risk your life? Why? Tell me!"

Sameer looked up at her, the salt water stinging his eyes, but his gaze was steady. "Because I love you."

The world seemed to stop. Shristi’s hands froze on his shoulders. "What? What did you say?"

Sameer took a shaky breath, a small, tired smile forming on his lips. "Why? Did I say something wrong?"

Shristi shook her head fast, her face breaking into a radiant, disbelieving beam. "What did you say? Say it again?"

"I love you," he said, his voice stronger now.

"Say it again, please!" she whispered, her eyes filling with happy tears.

"What?" Sameer teased, his old spark returning.

"Say that you love me!"

"I said... I love you!"

"Stop and keep saying! Always keep saying!"

As the first chords of a familiar melody seemed to rise from the very waves, Sameer scrambled to his feet. Shristi let out a joyful scream, jumping and twirling in the sand, blowing flying kisses toward him.

Sameer took off running toward the center of the island, scrambling up the rocky mountain path.

He reached the highest peak, silhouetted against the bright afternoon sun. He cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed with everything he had:

"I LOVE YOU!"

Down on the beach, Shristi caught the words in the wind. She pressed her hands to her heart, catching his invisible flying kiss and pressing it to her cheek. She began to sing, her voice carrying across the island:

"Dil mera har baar yeh sunne ko beqaraar hai...

Shristi runs toward the shoreline, her footprints marking the sand

Kaho naa pyaar hai, kaho naa pyaar hai!"

Sameer runs down the rocks, leaping onto the sand to reach her

Together spinning in circles as the waves wash over their feet

Haan tumse pyaar hai, ki tumse pyaar hai

Then Shristi kisses Sameer on his cheek and runs away

In pyaari baaton mein anjaana ikraar hai

and then they dance together

Kaho naa pyaar hai, kaho naa pyaar hai

and then she sings

Kaha naa pyaar hai, kaha naa pyaar hai

And he pulls her into am embrace...

A little later, Sameer decided it was time to provide for his "Eve." He waded into the shallow reef, trying to look heroic as he searched for dinner. "Watch this, Shristi! I’m a natural," he shouted.

Suddenly, his face contorted. A large, stubborn crab had clamped its claws onto his foot. Sameer let out a high-pitched yelp and scrambled back toward the dry sand, hopping on one leg. Shristi began to clap enthusiastically, jumping up and down. "Wow! Superb, Sameer! We caught a crab! Look at the size of it!"

Sameer managed to pry the creature off, but the "battle" had exhausted him. To tease her, he dramatically collapsed onto the sand, closing his eyes and acting like he had passed out from the struggle. Shristi rushed to his side, her laughter turning into worried poking until he peeked one eye open and grinned.

The scene shifted to a small clearing near the treeline. Shristi had transformed. She was draped in a stunning arrangement of large, vibrant green leaves she had fashioned into a tropical dress, with a bright hibiscus flower tucked behind her ear.

She began to dance—a slow, rhythmic movement that mimicked the swaying of the palms. Sameer sat on the bark of a fallen tree, completely mesmerized. He didn't say a word, his chin resting on his hand, his eyes reflecting the firelight as he watched the girl he loved turn a deserted island into a palace.

When she finished, breathless and smiling, Sameer stood up. He walked toward her, hiding something behind his back.

"For the Queen of the Island," he whispered.

He brought his hands forward to reveal a hand-crafted chain made of tiny, shimmering sea shells he had polished against his shirt. He stepped behind her, carefully fastening the delicate necklace around her neck. Shristi touched the shells, her eyes misting over. It wasn't a diamond from a designer boutique, but to her, it was the most expensive jewel in the world.