Chapter 3: My Paradise
"I told myself that
I'd find someone beautiful like you
There you were in me
Ooh, my paradise is in your eyes"
~Jermaine Jackson
Viren and Jeevika finally got to see the beaches the next day; which was perhaps, more on the insistence on Jeevika's part, as Viren would have been quite content to stay in their bed the entire day. They strolled along the edge of the waters leisurely, hand-in-hand and every once in a while, Viren would reach down and splash her. He was mindful not to glance at the hundreds of bikini-clad women sprawled out on the sand and in the waters, as he'd learned from experience that his wife could be rather possessive, but he did notice that she looked out at the ocean wistfully, as though wanting to get in there herself.
"Want to go swimming?" he asked casually, swinging their arms back and forth and then pulling her close to his side.
She looked a little guilty at the question, "Swimming? I can't swim, Virenji and besides, how would I get in the water? I don't have a swimsuit and I wouldn't wear one."
"You could just wear the clothes you have now," he indicated the blouse and jeans he'd wheedled her into wearing.
"But, then they'd be wet and uncomfortable and we would have to go back to the hotel to change," she pointed out. Viren also came to the realization, that her clothes would cling to her form in a rather becoming way, which meant that if he would notice that, then so would the hundreds of other men on this beach. Bad idea, he decided at once.
"So you've never been swimming before?" he asked, surprised that there was something he did not know about her.
"Mannu and I would sometimes bathe in the Ganga when we were younger, but only in shallow waters," she said, but the longing he heard in her voice made it quite clear that she would love to go again.
"Hmmn..." he distracted her by spinning her out in a sort of dance and then pulling her forward, jogging the last few steps to where the line-up for water sports.
"Ek minute," he told her, pulling out his phone and leaving her in the line. He had an old friend who lived her and who could perhaps pull some favours. "Haan, Vinod? I was wondering if you could let me know about..."
Jeevika was absolutely ecstatic. She loved redoing all the water sports she and Viren had done the last time they had been in Goa; the fast, adrenaline-spiked jetskiing, the terrifying, but thrilling parachuting and the slow, romantic boat-ride. While they had already done them before, none of it had lost its appeal for her and they both enjoyed themselves immensely.
It was almost evening, but Viren had told her they weren't finished yet, mysteriously citing a "surprise". He ran back into the hotel, fetching some things of theirs in a bag and then while on the motorbike that he'd rented for the day, also made a stop at a street vendor's, picking up some food.
"Virenji, where are we going?" she asked over the sound of the wind as the motorbike sped along the road.
"You'll see," and he didn't offer any more information than that, leaving her in more suspense than ever.
Once they got off of the highway he told her to close her eyes and she did so, leaning her head against his back, arms wrapped tightly around him. A few minutes later, she felt them stop, but instead of telling her to open her eyes at this point, he picked her up and carried her, bridal style to their destination. She laughed giddily, but kept her eyes closed, until finally, he set her down on her feet and whispered in her ear, "Open your eyes."
She opened them and what she saw made her eyes widen in surprise and delight. Enclosed by a wall of rocks was a small, natural pool, untainted by pollution, but crystal-clear and sparkling. They seemed to be in a backyard; twinkling lights were cast about the rocks, there was a tiny beach shower and lawn chairs around the pool. When she looked behind, she saw that they were in the property of a beach house, shut off from the rest of the world.
"Virenji...?" she turned to him, amazed.
He smiled, "I have a friend who works in the realtor business in Goa; he deals with buying and renting beach houses. So, I called him up to ask if we could rent one for some hours and he managed to get me one."
"That was why you were on your phone!" she remembered, then asked, "But why? How come you just planned this, out of the blue?"
He wrapped his arms around her, touching his forehead to hers and smiled, "You said you wouldn't go swimming out in the open, so I thought why not just us?"
She stammered slightly, "B-but, I don't want to wear a swimsuit..."
"Theek hai, baba, you don't have to," he shrugged, "I didn't bring one. You can wear whatever you want," he suddenly had a thought and looked slightly worried, "But, only if you want to. You did want to go swimming, didn't you? I only thought...you looked..."
She quickly dispelled of his uncertainty. "I do. Want to go swimming," she smiled shyly.
He smiled back, playing with a strand of her hair between his fingers and tilting her face up to his, but she pulled away, "Shall I go change?"
He handed her the bag that he'd brought in which she saw he'd stuffed some of hers and his clothes in, and led her inside the beach house, which was a small, homey sort of place, with a sitting room, a bedroom, a tiny kitchen and a bathroom. Once he'd gone back outside, she rummaged through the bag before finding a plain white choli and a pair of salwar trousers. Wrapping a dupatta around herself, she stepped out, only to find Viren pulling his shirt over his head, clad in nothing but shorts.
While it wasn't as though she hadn't seen him in less, there was something different about being in the outdoors, when dusk had barely fallen and it was still bright; when the faint light glanced off of his physique and she simply stopped and admired him.
As though drawn by her gaze, he turned and let his eyes drift downwards and then back up, causing a blush to rise in her cheeks. He approached her and pulled her into his arms, "Mrs. Vadhera, you're looking rather dangerous."
"Dangerous?" she looked up.
"Haan, one of the reasons why I thought renting the beach house would be a good idea was that I didn't want any other man seeing you like this," he teased.
Instead of averting his gaze and looking down, she replied directly, "Well, now you know how I felt the last time we were in Goa and you were dancing with that girl in the restaurant."
"You've still carried a grudge all this time?"
"I felt very bad about it at the time, I thought, how could my husband even think to look at another woman?"
"Jeevika, you are the only woman for me," he said with the deepest sincerity in his eyes and words, even though she had been merely teasing him. She hugged him, resting her head just under his neck and he kissed the top of her head.
Her gaze moved to the open wooden shower stall that was beside the pool, "Virenji?"
"Hmm?"
"Why is there a shower stall outside?"
He laughed, pulling her towards it, "That's to make sure, you're not dirty before getting into the pool. We've been out the whole day, hai naa? And we've been doing water sports, so we should probably wash up."
He turned the handle and let the water run on him. She stared rather bashfully for a moment, before he tugged her hand, pulling her into the confined space. "Shouldn't waste water," he said in an innocent tone.
He pulled her even closer, running his fingers through her hair and tugged at the dupatta with a question in his eyes. She let go of it and he pulled it off; this time when his hands travelled down her back they met bare skin and she shivered slightly.
"Done?" he murmured.
"Kya?"
"With the shower...I mean, do you want to get into the pool now?"
She wasn't sure she could quite manage an answer, but he picked her up in his arms and carried her towards the pool, stepping into the shallow end, not breaking their gazes, while getting deeper into the water, not even once the water had reached their shoulders and then he gently let go of her legs.
She turned to explore the pool, loving the sense of freedom, dipping her head in and laughing. When she turned back, though, he seemed to have disappeared.
"Virenji?" she looked around anxiously.
His head broke the surface, splashing her, and she spluttered, "Virenji!"
He laughed, continuing to splash her playfully and she splashed him back before he pulled her into his arms and submerged them beneath the surface. She gasped as he tugged her back up, still in his arms. "Are you enjoying the swimming?" he smiled.
"Very much," she nodded, happy and astonished that he knew so much about her; knew how she had felt on the beach and wanted to fulfill every little desire of hers. He lowered his head to kiss her and she kissed him back shyly, her arms wrapped around his neck.
After they'd lounged in the pool for some time, sharing gentle kisses and speaking softly of matters, Viren towel-dried them both before fetching a large, thick blanket, seating them both on one of the lounge chairs where they could watch the stars.
"Virenji, a shooting star!" Jeevika pointed upwards, at the streak of white light in the dark sky.
She closed her eyes and wished. She wished that their baby would be born healthy and on time. She wished that no troubles should befall Vidhi's pregnancy. She wished that she and Viren would be parents very soon and without difficulty.
"I know what you wished for," Viren murmured.
"Kya?" she turned in his arms to face him.
"It's the same thing I wished for." He didn't need to say it, for both understood each other, both shared the same hopes and dreams.
"Thank you, Virenji," she told him.
"For what?" he asked.
"For this beautiful night, this beautiful day, this beautiful honeymoon," she smiled, "For taking care of me and wanting me to relax and for doing just...everything." He'd created their very own paradise. Not only with the little beach house, but with everything he had done to take care of her every need.
"Thank you," he replied.
"For what?"
"For being my beautiful wife, my beautiful everything."
