Chapter 92: Sangeet – Part 5
She was making the rounds with Smitha aunty to make sure that everyone was greeted and taken care of, somewhat of a gargantuan task, she discovered. Particularly when her eyes seemed to be perpetually searching for him in the crowd. She saw him many times, in fact, but he was busy just like her, greeting and entertaining. Once or twice their gazes connected, but it had been over too quickly with people pulling them this way and that. It was alright though… she had a surprise for him tonight… she will just have to wait until then…
"How's it going?" She asked Senna, bringing her a glass of juice.
"It's incredible, Gauri. I have heard so many new Indian names today that I don't know how I'll remember them all." Senna answered in a sort of wide-eyed wonder.
"It's alright. Just call everyone aunty-jy and uncle-jy. That's what I do. The actual names are not all that important." Gauri whispered secretively and Senna laughed.
"Besides, if there is anyone whose name you absolutely need to remember, mom will make sure you do." She added and Senna sighed in relief.
"Do you know that a few of them got me in a group and started explaining the traditions of the first night here?" Senna whispered back now.
Gauri raised her eyebrows. "Oh yeah? What did they say?"
"I can't even tell you Gauri. It made me blush!"
Now Gauri really was curious. This was Shiv's family after all. The women here probably had raunchiness running in their blood. Comparatively, her Mehndi and Sangeet when she had been preparing to marry Shashank had been a completely tame affair.
"Oh come on Senna. Spill, spill…"
"Well… one of them was talking about how the Kapoor men are insatiable in bed and what you have to do to… inflame and cool their ardor, shall we say… during the long course of the first night."
Gauri's eyebrows went higher and her eyes widened. "She didn't say that!"
Senna nodded. "Yes, she did. And that was just the beginning! And then another one jumped in and told me that I am so pretty that Rathan will likely rip my clothes off as soon as he gets me alone for the suhaag raat. She told me to take off my bridal sari and blouse and change into something else so that he doesn't ruin them!"
That Gauri could definitely relate to and she leaned in to whisper back, "Senna, that could actually happen, you know. In fact, I don't even know if Rathan can wait until after the wedding – I think he'll go crazy. And about the clothes-ripping part… that may run in the family…"
It was Senna'a turn to look at her wide-eyed. "Shiv…?" She let that hang in the air and Gauri nodded. "I can't tell you how many clothes of mine he's ripped. Some of them are shredded beyond repair."
"No wonder you got pregnant so quickly!" Senna proclaimed and this time Gauri felt her cheeks turn hot.
"What else did they say?" She asked Senna now to turn the attention back to the wicked advice from the betis and bahus of the Kapoor family.
"Oh… another aunty told me that the men can spend hours and hours in just foreplay land and that by the end of it, you will be begging them to do to you what most girls usually dread on wedding nights! Can you believe she said that?"
Hours and hours and begging… yes indeed… all true … Gauri mused now. It appeared that the Kapoor men were somewhat of a lethal species to women everywhere…
"Oh come on… like you don't know that already. I am sure Rathan must have…" she started and Senna covered her mouth, looking around them to see if anyone was in listening distance.
Gauri smiled and pulled her hand away. "Ah, I see that I am right…" she teased.
When Senna's face turned pink, she teased even more, "How did he seduce you?"
Senna shook her head first, but then capitulated and shared. "I had managed to hold him off for like ten months after we started dating. But it was the hardest thing I have ever done Gauri. You've seen how he looks and you know how sweet he is. How long can a sane woman resist?"
"So, what happened after ten months?" Gauri asked, now eager to know the details.
Senna paused for a moment and then finally said, "We got stuck in an elevator together in my apartment complex when the power went off. It took them four hours to send someone to fix it."
"Oh my God… your first time was in an elevator?" Gauri asked in marvel.
"In an elevator in the pitch dark with the most sensual man I have ever met in my life. It's four hours I will never forget as long as I live…" Senna had a far-off look in her eyes now, like she was back in that elevator.
Rathan appeared in a distance right in Senna's line of vision just then. For a moment, their gazes connected, and what Senna was remembering must have clearly shown on her face, because Rathan's expression changed just that quickly and Gauri could see him start to head in their direction. She was sure that he would have come over right then and carried Senna off somewhere if not for the fact that Shiv and Dhruv interceded at that precise moment with a bunch of their friends to surround Rathan.
Senna looked back at Gauri, coming out of the moment, and now blushed at what she had revealed.
It made Gauri want to ease her embarrassment and she said, "Against the wall on the balcony upstairs in the middle of the night…"
Senna looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened as large as saucers.
"Upstairs on the balcony in the open?"
Gauri nodded.
"While mom and dad slept in there?" she gestured to the upstairs rooms.
Gauri nodded again. "I can't say for sure, but I think that was the day…" she placed her hands on her belly now, trailing off…
"Wow…" Senna said and Gauri looked up.
But rather than seeing Senna's face, she saw Shiv from afar, looking at her hand on her belly with an expression that made her heart jolt in an almost painful ecstasy. He looked up at her then and caught her gaze for a long, intense moment before Dhruv elbowed him and he turned to escort his brother to where the entertainment portion was in full swing.
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