Hi everyone,
This scene has been running in my mind ever since Aman tried to be all romantic and caring with Ragini and remove her bracelet while she was taking off her jewellery after agreeing to not meeting Nachiket for his sake.. hope you enjoy reading it :)
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Her heart was not in it, at all. She had been looking forward to this moment ever since Aagham had come up to her and told her to sort it all out with Nachiket. Something Aagham said had made her so hopeful again.. the beauty of their relationship - the moment they start talking to each other, they never hold anything back.. there is no pretence, there is no contempt, there are no airs.. it is just Nachiket and Raigni all over again.. they shout, they yell, they scream but they almost always say everything they wanted to say to the other.. and it is never misunderstood.. it is all heard out because it is always said from the heart... something about Nachiket still affected her so much.. that whatever she said to him was always the truth and nothing but it..
She had been looking forward to another such intense conversation that would end with them going back happy they were no longer being misunderstood by the other.. their hearts lighter, their smiles wider..
Sighing, she took off the earring she had so considerately matched with her saree. She smiled weakly at her reflection. Without realising, she had colour-coordinated everything she was wearing. For Nachiket. She would always do that when they were together - take an extra effort to dress up for him. If not for him, who would let his eyes linger a second more than required at the carefully chosen bindi that glittered with the edge of the saree, or the nail polish that made her outfit come alive.. or the earring he loved flicking with his finger whenever he was going to initiate romance.. those were the days.
She sighed deeply and closed the earring box after removing the other earring.. there were just a handful of earrings in the box now .. and her mind raced back to the time when Nachiket would be in awe of her collection of earrings - she seemed to have one for every occasion, every dress, every mood.. he would just give her admiring pecks on the cheek for her impeccable taste, something that included himself..
Back to reality, she had completely lost track of whatever she was doing and realized her arm had gone sore because of holding it in one place for such a long time. Mentally, she cursed herself for not going to meet Nachiket, for listening to Aman's request and staying back when her heart told her otherwise. And now Aman was standing besides her.. she always wondered why his proximity made her so uneasy though they had been friends for the last 15 years! He was still a stranger to her personal space.. she had never let anyone else claim that, claim her... no one after her Nachiket. She shuddered again at the thought of Nachiket being livid because she did not turn up. Somehow, she knew Nachiket meant no harm by calling her there for a meeting. Something was about to go so very wrong and she just knew it..
Aman was saying something to her about supporting her and something else, but she was hardly listening.. her mind went into overdrive thinking about what Nachiket must be going through, still feeling bad that he had to stay put in jail for one full night because of her mistake. She sniffled because of the impending tears but something caused her physical this time. To her added uneasiness and a fair bit of shock, Aman was now holding her hand and trying to help her remove her bangles. He was careless and overconfident, and the jerk at the end of his action hurt her, leaving an angry scratch on her wrist when he took the bangle off and put it on the table. She looked at the scratch and then at him, he hardly noticed. And that made her even sadder.
Her mind took her back many years.. when they would return from one of their many parties and the first thing she'd do was kick off her heels and rush towards the mirror to undress. Nachiket would patiently pick up her heels behind her and help her with the jewelry as she almost fell asleep in front of the mirror. She would smile back at him when she would be removing her makeup and he'd take off her earrings lovingly, sometimes interrupted by a gentle nibble on her earlobe.. both their bodies betraying their intent. His fingers would linger on her ear and neck, sending multiple waves of pleasure down her spine.. and as his tired fingers made their way to her shoulder to remove the saree pin, she would exhale and he'd kiss her shoulder - his way of asking her to relax against him.. to leave all worries and tiredness behind..
And she would close her eyes and let her head rest on his shoulder... he would take her hand decked with bangles in a hand and she would frown verbally, telling him to be careful. Slowly, he would slide one bangle down her wrist.. and she'd catch her breath because it would hurt her wrist.. and then nothing would happen. She would keep waiting for somehting to happen and then finally open her eyes in frustration as he teased her.. throwing her head back, she would pretend to go and sleep in the state she was, her saree falling off her shoulder and making her look even more divine to him..
And he'd hold her wrist ever so gently and kiss it before he squeezed it gently to make way for the bangle. It was so effortless for him, and he would never ever hurt her in the process. She was sure of that. He'd do it tantalizingly slow.. taking his own sweet time with each bangle she wore.. the same with the other hand. Holding her close, he'd arrange everything neatly in her jewelry box before pushing her towards the bathroom where her being felt even more relaxed on seeing that he had already switched on the water heater so she enjoyed a luxuriating hot shower.
And when she'd come out in her robe, she would be greeted by the heavenly sight of him in his pristine white kurta, looking devilishly handsome, trying to read a book and leaving all pretense on her sight. She would sit besides him and settle on his chest, purring like a cat and he would comply by holding her close till she fell asleep in his embrace, his heels digging in her calves - his own way of massaging her sore muscles.
And then Nachiket would sigh before falling asleep, the sigh reverberating in her happy dreams.
Interrupted by rude reality, Ragini sighed as Aman continued to help her and instinctively pulled her hand and walked away to the washroom, paying no heed to what he was saying. She wanted that luxuriating hot shower.. something that would remind her of him, of her Nachiket... of his sigh that she'd been holding inside her..
Fan Fictions
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
