CHAPTER 13
Sparks Maithili tugged at her heavy-beaded necklace that hung over her black, collared shirt. She crossed her legs, slightly stretching her grey pencil skirt. She impatiently glanced at her watch every few minutes. Maithili was talking to Nivedita, one of the new assistants in SAG, updating her on some of the tasks that needed to get done. Just as they were finishing up, Maithili's phone rang. Nivedita nodded and left her office.
She glanced at the display and her heart raced. It was Adi. They talked about their plans for dinner that evening, and eventually finalized that Adi would pick Maithili up from her house. After they hung up, Maithili started to feel restless again. She buried herself with work and tried to concentrate, but her thoughts kept drifting back to Adi. Ever since their conversation last night, where she had pretty much admitted her growing feelings for him, she had felt unusually restless. She felt light, but also restless; excited, but also a little scared about the future. Just then, she heard a knock on her door. It was Shruti Mehra.
"Aunty? I mean, ma'am, what's the matter?"
"Maithili… do you want to have lunch together? Let's go to the Oberoi, you like it there na? And since Adi's office is also in Nariman Point, I was thinking we should invite him, too.
"Okay." She nodded her agreement, and before she could say much, Shruti gave her a quick smile and walked away, saying that she'll call Adi and ask him to meet them there.
* * * Tanu and Gauri were trying on dresses at a clothing store for a party they were attending next week. Tanu was busy giving a breakdown of the latest fashions to Gauri. She picked out a dozen or so dresses and pushed Gauri into a fitting room. She then walked backwards and unknowingly crashed into someone. It was none other than Percy Wadia. When she realized it was him, she quickly became silent and crossed her arms. Percy grinned at her.
"Hello, Tanu Mehra. I see you have once again run into me, and let me guess… wait, don't say it. You're about to scream at me for it?"
She quietly rolled her eyes, keeping her arms crossed and her body still. Percy was amused.
"Tanu, what's the matter? No screaming? You're not yourself today. Bimaar ho kya? Poor thing!"
"Excuse me," Tanu said sternly and started to walk away when Percy grabbed her arm. In the same way he had done it in the music store. And it had the same effect on her. This time he didn't turn her around. Instead, he moved forward towards her back till his lips were almost grazing her ears.
"Kahin aisa na ho ki Tanu Mehra ki bolti band kar di is
bandwaale ne?"
She remained still, exhaling sharply. She made an effort to release herself from his grip, but his hand enclosed her arm even tighter. He continued softly talking into her ear.
"Don't think I didn't notice you looking over at my direction during the dance program." Tanu's face went red.
"I was
not looking at you, idiot," she said through gritted teeth, briefly donning a fake smile when a sales attendant walked past them.
"Oh really? To kya tumhaare rishtedaar baithe the wahan?"
"For your information, yes, there were. The parents of my best friend, who was dancing. They were sitting…"
"Shh," he said into her ear. The warmth of his breath made her feel really warm all of a sudden. "Enough excuses," he continued, "I know you were looking at me. I caught you doing it. Waise I know you can't help it…I seem to have that effect on girls. Ab tum to gayi kaam se."
He let her break free from his grip, and she turned around to face him. He had the same grin on his face.
Tanu pointed a finger in his face, "Shut up. If you think that even for a second that your stupid so-called charm has an effect on Tanu Mehra, you are wrong."
"We'll see about that," he replied smugly and winked at her. Tanu rolled her eyes as he walked away. She turned around to face Gauri, who had seen the whole thing with raised eyebrows and a smile.
* * * Shruti and Maithili were being seated at a table where Adi had already been waiting for them. His eyes ran across the room and rested on her frame. He smiled at her, focusing his attention on how beautiful she looked in her stylish business clothes. The sleeves of her shirt were rolled up, and on her right shoulder rested a red leather tote bag. The heels of her shoes briskly hit the ground with determination. She finally glanced at him, smiling broadly with a genuine happiness.
After they had been seated, Adi felt even more preoccupied with thoughts about Maithili. He craved to go closer to her, touch her hair, hold her hand, kiss her…
They finished ordering food, and Shruti began to talk. She told them that they had done a good work with the arbitration, and that she was happy things had gone smoothly. They casually discussed the legal issues, and then the conversation drifted to more mundane talk. Just then, Shruti's cell phone rang and she excused herself. Maithili saw his hands reaching for her hand, she gave him a naughty smile and moved her hands away from the table.
"Stop teasing me, Maithili," he said.
She made a dramatic pout and playfully tilted her head, "poor Adi…"
He narrowed his eyebrows at her with a smile still on his face. He was thinking about all the things he wanted to do to that pout and his mischievous grin reappeared.
Shruti returned to the table around the time the food came.
"Sorry you two, something urgent just came up, so I've asked for the bill and got them to pack my food to go. You two stay and enjoy lunch," she said, signing to pay for lunch. "And Adi, would you drive Maithili back to SAG? We came in my car and I'm leaving now."
Maithili turned around to wave bye to Shruti, and as she turned around, she found Adi had leaned across the table. Before she could react, a soft kiss landed on her nose. She was surprised, and instinctively averted her eyes. "You could've waited at least till your mother left, you know."
"I did," he said cheekily.
She smiled at him and without realizing it, her hand reached towards him and gently pushed away the hair on his forehead. He pulled her hand in his hand, and brought her fingers to his lips.
"And I'm even luckier," he said with his eyes closed, gently kissing her fingertips one by one.
Their eyes affectionately wandered across each other's faces as if they were gently stroking one another's face.
They ate their food mostly quietly, feeling a little bit awkward at their newfound freedoms with one another. At one point, Adi asked Maithili if she wanted to try some of his food, and without even thinking about it, he held some food on his fork for her. At this, she gave him a smile that lit up his heart.
After they finished, they walked back towards where Adi had parked his car. Adi put his hands on Maithili's waist and pulled her towards him. "Slow down Maithili, what's the rush?" She looked around nervously. They were pretty much the only people in the garage, but she still felt shy. She turned around and tucked her hands into his coat's pockets. Then she gazed up towards his expectant face and kissed him. And then…there it was, the kiss they had waited for. The kiss they almost had five years ago. And the kiss that dogged their shadow for all these past days. The kiss that just couldn't wait to happen. Adi and Maithili both finally submitted to its pull. They kissed sweetly at first and with increasing passion. Adi cupped her face in his hands as he pulled her into himself. Maithili lost herself deeply in their kiss. Her hands left his pockets and roamed up his chest, towards his neck, his hair.
Without neither of them wanting it, they slowly pulled away from their kiss. More to breathe than anything else. He stroked her flushed cheeks with his hands. Then they reluctantly resumed their walk towards his car.
When he dropped her off at SAG, he kissed her again in the car.
"Can't wait for dinner."
"Me too."
As Maithili walked out of the car and entered the building, Shruti watched from her office window.
* * * Maithili stood in the shower daydreaming about Adi. He was due to pick her up for dinner in an hour. She told Kamal to let her know if Adi gets here and jumped in the shower to relax before geting ready since she came home from work late. Kamal had teased Maithili about Adi, and then settled into his evening chai while flipping a magazine.
As she showered, she lifted her face up to the water and felt its warmth rush at her. Kissing Adi felt so good. Maithili knew that the ground beneath her feet was no longer stable. Now that they had kissed and accepted each other's feelings, things would never be the same again. As excited as she was about those changes, she was also still worried.
She stepped into a semi-casual mauve halter dress and dull silver strappy heels. Then she combed through her wet hair, making an effort to dry it before it started getting tangled. Just as she was combing, Adi knocked on her door. She opened it, asking him to come in. He stood at the doorway looking at how gorgeous she looked. "Maithili, you are to
die for," he said as he approached her and threw his arms eagerly around her. "I was starting to miss you already." And then he looked up glancing around her room. "So what do we have here? Maithili Aggarwal ka kamra. I wonder what secrets lay here," he said, giving her a teasing look.
"Actually," Maithili said with a sudden realization. "Hang on."
She knelt to the floor and pulled out the box of old journals. They sat on her bed and she showed him the few pages she had seen earlier. He skimmed through those pages. "Damn, you really hated me in college." He looked slightly hurt.
"Adi, I thought I did. Or I wanted to convince myself I did. And you were doing the same, don't forget." She linked her hand with his. "And don't you think it says a lot that you featured so much in my journals?"
He smiled at this. Then he went back to a page in the journal where she describes how he had cornered her against the wall. "Aha, what do we have here," he said before reading out loud the part where she described the way she felt something indescribable when he touched her. "And what does it feel like now?" he said, inching closer to her, pushing her onto the other side of the bed and leaning against her, careful not to rest his weight upon her. She let out a soft shriek of surprise, "Adi…"
No sooner than she uttered his name, Adi pressed his lips against hers. His hands were tangled in her soft and still slightly wet hair. She rested her hands on his shoulders. They felt an incredible comfort in the warmth between them. The level of comfort was only paralleled by the intensity of the passion that stung them.
When they heard Kamal Aggarwal's footsteps approaching, they got up and got ready to leave for dinner. Kamal told them to make sure they stay out very late, then Kamal quietly said in Maithili's ear, "and you give me a full report of your date in the morning!"
Edited by --arti-- - 17 years ago
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