Nachiket looked at his wristwatch impatiently. His back, resting against the old banyan tree just around the corner of the road to their garden, he pushed his glares back into place. It was really hot, and the sun was beating down hard on the gravelly road.
He wondered for the thousandth time why had he called her to meet him there at this odd hour. Though he was shielded by the cool shades of the tree, he knew how she would suffer.
He frowned. She was already late by an hour. She had agreed to meet him after lots of cajoling and sweet talk. She hadn't wanted either of their families to get wind of what was blossoming between them recently, after the initial hatred and vitriol and bickering.
Nachiket knew that their relation was still in it's early days and he wanted to take it nice and slow, without pushing her into it. He had been patient all through, but it was frustrating not being able to speak to her, or to hold her hand now that all their relatives and friends were breathing down their necks. He had noticed a similar longing in her eyes as well, but he knew that she would never take the first step.
Hence the heat. Hence the tree. And hence the lazy afternoon, cut away from everybody else.
He glanced at his watch again. Another quarter of an hour had slipped by and she was yet to come. Slightly irritated, he raised himself up from his lazy stupor, and started walking towards his bike perched on the other side of the road.
As he turned to go, he heard a sweet voice calling out to him. He whirled around to see his dream emerging in front of him. Flushed form her long walk in the afternoon sun, her hair, she looked like an innocent flower, dressed in a white and pink organdie salwar kurti, the ends of her dupatta fluttering in the slight wind.
As she approached him, she tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled daintily, holding out her left hand to him.
Nachiket grabbed her hand and pulled her close, as he removed the sunglass and threw it on the ground.
'You know you are a little vixen, alright?' Nachiket growled, as his fingers traced the outer shell of her right ear, finally settling on tracing her jawline.
Ragini's smile froze in place, as his eyes followed his fingers moving slowly but steadily towards her lips.
Concentrating hard, he continued
'I wonder how beautiful you would taste.'
Ragini inhaled sharply, as she placed her hand on his chest and lightly pushed him. Nachiket instead captured her soft palm in his and placed it firmly over his heart, which was thudding hard. He was sure that she could hear his heart beating, as surrounded as they were in this lazy insolence.
He continued gazing deep into her eyes, causing her heart to go aflutter. Blushing furiously, she tried to avert her gaze. But he held her chin upright, as he lightly placed his lips on her. It felt surreal. While his hand went around her waist, pulling her even closer; Ragini's hands went across his neck, as her eyes closed of their own volition.
The sensation of holding her close overwhelmed Nachiket. As Ragini opened her eyes slowly and looked up to him, he could feel all their imaginary walls tumbling down between them. Just like that. Nachiket reached up and put a lock of her hair back behind her ear; he then proceeded to take her sweet face in both hands and kiss her. Just like that. It was the softest, sweetest kiss and she kissed him back sweetly. Nachiket felt as if he finally belonged to where his heart always was. It was a feeling akin to coming home.
"He is kissing me! Nachiket is kissing me!" Ragini thought, as the feeling of his lips on hers caused little waves of excitement to run down her spine. Completely lost in each other and in their own sweet world, Ragini felt as if she could faintly make out the music around them, and birds singing about love - how appropriate.
The kiss did end after a while and when it did, he embraced her and held her tighter for a moment longer, her cheek resting over his heart.
Ragini gazed deeply into a pair of bright black eyes. "How did we get here?" they seemed to say. She rested her hands gently on Nachiket's shoulders. His hands were now light on her cheeks, framing her face and insisting they converse.
But Ragini just wanted to savour the moment. No words would ever describe the beauty of this kiss, their first kiss, definitely not the last.
Contentedly, she planted another lingering, soft kiss on his lips, as he welcomed her back in his arms.
The END
