Note: This is the first time I've been tempted to do anything of this sort and would really appreciate it if you let me know how it was. I've used a lot of dialogues in Hindi but haven't translated any of it. So be prepared for a lot of Hinglish.
THE RIDE
"Anika ko saath me le jaa, Billu."
"Nahi, Daadi. Mere paas meri Champa hai na. Bil.. I mean, Mr. Shivay Singh Oberoi ke pohuchne tak toh mere kaam hi khatam ho jayga. Aap chinta mat kijiye. Unke pehle main hi garden house pohuch jaungi."
Shivay looked at the girl with incredulity. It was not as if he was welcoming the idea of giving her a ride in his car! In fact, since Daadi had requested him that morning to take Anika with him, he had been steeling himself to that prospect. And now Anika was the one who stepped in to refuse the offer!
Shivay looked on as Daadi instead of forcing Anika to change her mind, just laughed and said, 'Jaisi teri marzi, beta. Waise bhi, I trust you.'
After Daadi had left them, Shivay turned towards Anika with irritation written across his sharp features.
"Tum sochti ho ki tum woh scooter lekar mujh se agey..."
"Dekhiye, mei abhi aapke saath bakbak nahi karna chahti. Jaldi jaana parega humein. Yeh party ke plan toh aapne last minute bana liye hai par kaam mujhey hi karna hai. Toh chaliye. Waste karne ke liye mere paas time nahi hai."
Shivay watched Anika ride off on her Champa. Seriously, this woman will be the death of him. It wasn't like Shivay Singh Oberoi was dying to give her a ride but to think that someone can have the audacity to think that a run down scooter was more reliable than his car! Actually, he reminded himself, she was mad. Her every action and word proved it. She might be a good event manager, he grudgingly conceded as he started his car, but insane people could at times function perfectly within society.
After travelling for 15 minutes he noticed Anika caught in the traffic light ahead of him. He pulled up behind her and gave a honk. She was busy talking on her phone and appeared not to have noticed him. She kept at the phone conversation as long as the signal remained red. She was shouting at someone on the other end of the line when he drove past her and so didn't notice him. This, unfortunately, robbed Shivay the joy of watching her face as he overtook her. Anyway, he was already looking forward to reaching the garden house far far ahead of the drama queen and silencing her taunts once and for all!
Shivay relaxed as the city fell behind him. The normally rugged terrain now lay green with the monsoon rains. His car sped along the empty path and Shivay switched on the radio. An old hindi film song was playing and he hummed along. 'Ajeeb dastaan hai yeh..."
He'll reach in no time. All of a sudden, the car gave a shudder and the engine died. Shivay waited a few minutes in utter shock and then tried to start it again and then again but all his efforts proved futile. He took out his phone to call his secretary to arrange for a mechanic, a pick up, a chopper, anything that will see him out of this situation. After some failed attempts, he finally got through to Nishant and barked out his situation as well as he could. The network was terrible but Shivay somehow managed to get across his location. Nishant assured him that he will arrange something as soon as possible.
Stepping out of his car, Shivay looked down the road. He had put in a good speed and was now only some fifteen miles away from the house. Still it was a considerable distance. If only the stupid car had not died on him, he would have reached in another 30 minutes. He gave the car a kick and glared at his watch. Time moved slowly and finally as he waited, the one thing he was dreading came into his vision. A scooter with a rider, her over-sized helmet standing out like a sore thumb, was making its way slowly but surely towards him. Shivay wondered for the n-th time why life was this unfair to him!? He considered the possibilities of hiding his current predicament, his car or himself. He discarded such thoughts immediately as those of a coward. If anything else, Shivay Singh Oberoi was no coward. And the thought of being scared of a chit of a girl like the one descending upon him at that moment was ridiculous!
The scooter puttered down the road and for a moment Shivay thought it would pass him by. He almost breathed a sigh of relief but then, Champa gave a harrumphing noise and stopped. Anika took off her helmet. Her face had a look of amusement mixed with disbelief. Shivay tried to silence her with a glare but when had that ever worked on this woman?!
"Lift chahiye?"
Shivay looked at her stupefied.
Anika continued, "Aap ko jitna main jaanti hoon, aap aise type ke insaan toh hai nahi ki mere liye raaste mein wait karenge. Aur ye jagah dekhkey lagta toh nahi ki ye aapke farm house hai. Toh iska ek hi matlab ho sakta hai... aapke ye shaandaar gari agey chalne se inkaar kar raha hai.
Agar aapko yahan rukna hai, toh aap ruk sakte hai. Magar mere mein abhi bhi insaaniyat naam ki ek cheez hai. Toh isiliye pooch rahi hoon, lift chahiye?"
"You think I'll travel with you on that sad excuse of a vehicle!?" Shivay spluttered out.
Before she could reply, Shivay's phone rang. He picked it up with alacrity. Nishant must have arranged for a chopper that would reach him in minutes. It was indeed Nishant but his words erased the smile that the caller id flashing on the screen had brought on Shivay's face. His worthless excuse of a secretary had called to say that due to the uncertain weather, no chopper was available. A mechanic and automobile repair pick up truck had been arranged for and they'll reach the spot in another thirty to forty minutes.
Shivay glanced at Anika who was looking at him with impatience. He heaved a sigh and told Nishant to arrange things with the mechanic so that they could take the car and deliver it to his garden house once it had been repaired. He hung up and steeled himself for the humiliating experience awaiting him.
"Toh, Shivay Singh Maharaj ne kya decide kiya finally? "
"Don't call me", Shivay began but then catching her expression went on, "Haan, main..woh, repair karne walon ke aane main time lag jayga..."
"Thik hai thik hai...chaliye, helmet pehen li jiye."
Shivay stared at the ridiculous looking helmet in her hand. She owned not one but two of these specimens!
Not wanting to get into an argument again, he silently took it and put it on. Then for the first time in his life Shivay Singh Oberoi got onto a scooter. To add insult to injury he would have to ride pillion. The one saving grace was that his brothers weren't there to see him right now. He nearly shuddered at the shayris Ru might come up with at such a sight. And Om? Uske baat toh chod hi do. Om had been incorrigible lately with his teasing.
"Dekhiye, raasta thoda kharab hai toh jerking hoga. Sambhal ke baithna."
With that she started the scooter and off they went. Shivay tried to place some distance between his body and Anika's but his position was precarious enough. Then the jerking made it difficult to avoid sliding down towards her. In minutes, he was nearly plastered against her. He held onto the seat with his dear life to maintain whatever space possible between them but it seemed a hopeless task.
Shivay stared at the red bulbous helmet before him. He wondered what he looked like at the moment since he was wearing something similar on his head as well. However the breeze felt good on his face and after a while, he almost started to enjoy himself. As they trundled along the road, he looked around him. He had travelled down this road so many times in the past but now everything looked different. Sitting on this Champa, he felt closer to the green woods than he had ever felt from behind the window of his car.
Shivay's brief reverie was broken by Anika's loose hair lashing against his face. From beneath her helmet, her hair fell in a sweep along her back and at present, was blowing in the wind. It was quite typical that even her hair would try to attack him somehow, Shivay thought with irritation. He tried to fix his eyes on the greenery but there was no escaping those unavoidable touches that reminded him of exactly who was riding before him.
Shivay couldn't wait until this ordeal was over. The pace was slow enough to make him think that he would have done just as well to have simply walked to the farm house. He was about to say something to that effect when a drop of wetness hit his nose. And then another drop landed on Anika's helmet with a splatter. Soon the rain came down, hard and fast. On top of everything else now they were both wet. Shivay wondered if his day could get any worse.
The rain rendered the seat slippery. Shivay's hands kept slipping. He tried to balance himself without holding onto anything for a bit. At this speed even if he fell off, he argued with himself, there wasn't much possibility of him dying. His thoughts came to a sudden stop as the scooter made a squelching sound and halted. He looked around. They clearly had not reached their destination yet.
"Don't tell me", he said in a strangled voice. "After everything you said, your scooter has broken down."
"Champa ke baare mein aap aise soch bhi kaise sakte hai?!" She huffed out.
"Mujhey paata tha. Jahan tum ho, wahan koi musibat na hogi, aisa toh impossible hai," Shivay ranted on.
Still seated on her ride, Anika raised a hand to stop him mid-rant. Shivay did.
"Maine hi Champa ko ruka!".
"What?! Why? Beech raaste mein baarish mein bheegne ke liye?!"
"Main aapko pagal lagti?!"
Thankfully Anika couldn't see Shivay's face as she said that.
She went on uninterrupted,"Aap toh slip kar rahe hai.. Aise chalega toh aap scooter se gir jayenge. Phir Daadi ka saamna mujhey hi to karna paregi. Chaliye, aap mujhey pakriye!"
"Language!" Shivay rasped out.
"Waise bhi pakarne ke toh hazaar bahana dhoondhte hai", Anika muttered to herself.
Unfortunately, Shivay heard it.
"Main tumhe pakarne ke bahana dhoondta hoon?!"
Anika had realised her slip and tried to cover it by shushing him.
"Chaliye chaliye, mujhey toh lag raha hai ki aap hi beech raasta baarish mein bheegne ke mazaa le rahe hai! Sharmana choriye aur zor se pakriye."
Anika started her scooter and then let out a gasp as she felt his hands snake around her waist.
Shivay smirked to himself. If she thought he would play the docile puppet to be ordered around she had another think coming.
Anika cursed SSO in her mind for the millionth time that day. Badtameezi ka toh dukaan khula hai yeh insaan! Any respectable human being would have held onto her shoulder. Who slides his hand along someone's waist with such effortlessness?! Especially when that someone was not his girlfriend or his fiance!
'Chalo!'
His words startled her out of the momentary state of shock.
"Jaldi nahi hai tumhe? Lag toh raha hai ki waste karne ke liye tumhare paas kuch zyaada hi time hai."
"Woh, aap.."
"What? Let's go!", Shivay ordered with great finality.
Anika took a deep breathe and started Champa. Shivay's hands remained in place. He could feel her softness within his embrace and it reminded him of another time he had caught her like this. A dark room with flowing curtains inadequately lit by the light of a few candles, and a soft body in his arms. He had not put much thought to her being in his arms at the time. In fact, he had done everything in his powers to bury that memory since the incident had created nothing but trouble for him. Tia had been angry at him for the first time in the history of their relationship and Om and Ru...well, there was no need to remind himself of their idiotic teasing.
She had been rigid in his arms then, as she was rigid now. Within that softness, he could feel the way in which she was trying to hold herself back, trying to create an effect of distance between them. He wondered what it might feel like if she allowed that softness to relax and mould into his embrace. Before he could shoo away the thought, he felt his arms tightening against her waist. He would blame the scooter's speed for this later when he would find himself alone. Champa was in fact hurtling along the wet road at a reckless speed.
At present a unique smell of soap and freshness filled Shivay's senses. It mixed with the rising smell of wet earth that the rains had brought along. He realised that he had smelt this the time he had hugged her in the darkness of his room. It disturbed him that he could remember that so vividly. And then he felt a sudden unfamiliar tightening within him. it was almost painful in its intensity. The sudden force of it shocked him into loosening his grip. And Shivay Singh Oberoi was brought back to the reality around him with a jolt. He looked up to see the gates of their farmhouse looming ahead. The ride was over.
Sequel: The Remedy
Cricket
Bollywood
Anupamaa
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
