Originally posted by: sabsj
Chapter 7
The doorbell rang. Finally! Another minute with Jai and Bani would have to kill him. The nerve of the man!
Extreme possibilities I see ๐
Jai looked at the door as Bani sauntered to it. "Are you expecting someone Bani?" he enquired.
Why should it bother you Mr. Convenient Duffer? Just because your plan aint working? ๐ก
Bani allowed a flirtatious smile to curve her lips and lilt to enter her voice. Tossing her hair behind her shoulders, she said with a big smile "My date โฆโฆ.. Jai darling."
"Date?" Jai almost choked on the word to Bani's innate satisfaction.
Yipee! Am so proud of my babes. She gave it back to that Duffer. dates as in DATE ๐
"Yes honey Date as in D A T E" she said matter of factly, stressing on each and every alphabet while opening the door for Rajeev Khandelwal.
Rajeev's appearance didn't disappoint at all. He looked more scrumptious than on television. Slight golden rays from the early evening danced in his glorious hair. He smiled at her and lifted her hand to his lips, murmuring, "Enchante Mademoiselle. You're more beautiful than the sunrise itself."
So some serious flirting is on the cards, methinks? ๐
Uneasy, but flattered, Bani gazed up at him, noting the golden flecks in his brown eyes. "Television doesn't do you justice Rajeev." And it didn't. This man was gorgeous โฆโฆโฆ plain drop dead gorgeous.
So Bani is playing along, so far so good. ๐
Bani wondered what Jai was thinking, if he was even the tiniest bit jealous? Of course he wouldn't be. He had Pia who was every man's fantasy with her leather, lace, 36 double D's and tattoos? And if that wasn't enough, her nose stud. Stop it Bani! In a minute, she'd be meowing.
Saby dear, there you go again ๐๐๐.
Jai bristled beside Bani and cleared his throat. "Who's this Bani?" he whispered in Bani's ears.
Already feeling jealous and possessive? Good, very good. ๐
His gaze raked Rajeev from head to toe, his eyes were intense and he did not look pleased at all.
"This is Rajeev Khandelwal, the weather man at Star TV."
Weather man? Did you say that? Reminded me of that episode from the X Files and scrumptuous Mulder ๐ Soory went off-cuff for a while. ๐
Allowing Rajeev to hold her hand purely for Jai's benefit even though they'd just met, Bani said, "Rajeev, this is Jai, an old family friend. He's practically my brother. Jai, this is Rajeev, my date."
"Date โฆโฆโฆ. Me your broooootttttthhh?" but before Jai could complete his sentence Bani added
"Yes he is like a big brother, aren't you Jai, and Rajeev, am I not lucky to have a big brother like Jai" said Bani with a smirk on her face stressing on the word brother, much to Jai's dissatisfaction.
Brother? I am rolling on the floor. Nice give back Bani. This time, you take a bow too with Saby,
Jai shook the hand Rajeev held out and grumbled. "Nice to meet you Rajeev."
His scowl deepened. Turning to Bani, Jai said in a gruff voice, "I'll be back Bani. And we will discuss the matter in more depth."
Sure stud you will be back, but do we get to see more action? ๐
Under his breath, Bani heard Jai mutter to her satisfaction "Hmph, me her brother โฆโฆโฆ she called me โฆ. me Jai Walia โฆโฆ. her big brother โฆโฆ. brother my foot."
๐ Now you know what she felt like when you said she was like your sister. If she is your sister, why cant you be her brother, duffer? ๐ก
The door closed with a bang behind him and Bani knew her newly appointed brother was less than happy to meet her blind date.
***
Lightning split the sky and the wind gusted, clutching at Bani's hair. Leaning against her house, Jai crossed his arms and watched the jerk Rajeev escort Bani to his sleek black Mercedes S class.
So his deewangi is showing or what? Too possessive, too jealous
Too aware of Jai's gaze on her, Bani did her best to ignore him. But she strengthened her resolve to forget Jai. No matter what he did, she wouldn't give into his absurd requests. When and if she ever married it would be for love โฆโฆโฆโฆ true love and nothing less.
Thats a dream that every woman/ girl dreams of, but in majority of the cases, these dreams just fall too short of reality. ๐
Well, she did love Jai. Thanks for this understanding. But the love had to be reciprocal before she entered into such a holy union. Staying single didn't scare her as it did to some of her friends, but marrying the wrong man or for the wrong reasons, mortified her.
Yes dear, I can understand your feeling to be the loner in a one-sided love affair. But will it stay this way, Saby? ๐
"I'd hoped we'd have a moonlit night so we could dine and dance under the stars" Rajeev murmured in Bani's ear.
That sounded divine. Bani loved to dance and she loved the moonlight. Maybe for once in her life she'd found a gem on a blind date. He certainly looked twenty-four karat. High hopes, I think.
"How lovely" Bani replied.
As Rajeev slipped into his seat and revved the engine he glanced at the sky. "Unfortunately, it wouldn't be prudent with this weather front rolling in and all that moisture. I called the station right before I pulled up to your house and the Doppler's very colorful tonight."
So he's already started talking in Greek and Latin.
"Oh." Whatever that meant thought Bani.. Trepidation crawled up her spine as she eyed him warily. Something in his voice and in his expression made her uneasy.
"I think we're in for a severe thunderstorm. Maybe even some twister activity tonight." Glee flickered across Rajeev's eyes, or at least that's what it looked like.
Haila Twister !!!
"Tonight?" Alarm slammed through Bani. Half twisting in her seat, she studied his profile in the dimming light and tried to calm her nerves by concentrating on his face. No one's nose could be that perfect naturally. He must've had plastic surgery she thought to herself. ๐ ๐ ๐ When branches skittered across the road in front of the car, Bani's heart fluttered.
"Should we be out? I mean if there's a tornado, the worst place to be is in a car, right?" asked Bani frantically.
Wishful thinking dear in front of a weatherman that too a twister-crazy lunatic.
Shudders wracked her body. Tornadoes scared her, not that they had many, thank God, but there'd been an increase in the past couple of years. Hadn't one ripped the roof off the UPS building down just a couple of years ago?
Rajeev maneuvered the car easily as he turned onto I-95 toward downtown. Pointing at the sky, he tensed. "Look at those little danglers" he said to Bani.
"Where? Do you mean twisters?" asked Bani. Without her volition, her fingers clutched at his arm. Searching the sky, she didn't find a single tornado and relaxed against her seat.
"There" said Rajeev and he pointed eastward. "At two o'clock. Those little wisps of clouds hanging down."
Bani stared at the innocuous clouds for a moment and then turned her gaze on him. She smoothed her skirts over her knees and crossed her ankles. "They don't look like funnel clouds" she said to Rajeev.
"They could turn into them. I used to be a tornado hunter. Some of those suckers are pretty unpredictable. I'll have to keep my eye on it." Picking up his cellular phone, he called a report into his station. He spoke a foreign language โ dopplers, clouds, dew points, sectorsโฆ
Told u na, Foreign language ๐ก
It was all she could do to keep from yawning. She hoped this wasn't the norm for him, obsessed with the weather.
Rain drizzled for a few seconds before deluging them. Lightning cracked to the east and the thunder boomed almost instantaneously making her jump. Small hail stones pelted the car, each and every ping making her blink.
"It's right over us." The car's windshield wipers became hyperactive giving Rajeev visibility to drive. "Holy cowโฆLook up there. We got a funnel cloud sighting" he said excitedly.
"Omigod! Drive faster. Get away from it. Hurry. We have to take cover!" screamed Bani. Her heart stopped as she clutched her seat so hard her fingernails dug into the vinyl. It could toss their vehicle hundreds of feet or suck it inside the wind tunnel.
Very good Saby ๐. I can already see this twister developing.
But instead of trying to escape the twister, Rajeev spun in a U-turn and began chasing it, his expression rapt. Dialing out on his cell phone again, he said in excited tones, "I've got a sighting. Looks like waterspouts are forming on the Intracoastal near the 17th Street Causeway. Give an advisory. I'm on my way."
"You are going to the tornado?" shrieked Bani. Rajeev was crazy!
"Let me out!" cried Bani.
Good suggestion but the location is dangerous.
Rajeev turned to Bani with a look as if he'd forgotten she was in the car.
"You can't get out here? That's suicide! This is a bad part of town, especially at night. I can't drop you hereโฆ" Annoyance lined Rajeev's words.
"You'll be tomorrow night's news." When more hail stoned the car, Rajeev said with annoyance, "You can't go out in this."
Hey dude, you brought your date to a bad part of town to catch news about a twister. Cant believe this? Why are all guys such duffers? ๐ก
"Here โฆโฆโฆ I wanna get out here.. Tornadoes terrify me" Bani screamed. She'd find shelter and get out of this mobile death trap.
Indecision flickered across Rajeev's flawless features and then he pulled into a gas station. "Sorry I don't have time to do better. I have to get the scoop" he said to Bani.
What a jerk! Sorry for the use of profanity but he deserved it. ๐ก
Waving him away, as Bani hopped out of Rajeev's car, she leaned over and said sarcastically "Go on. Chase your twisters. Have a blast, don't worry about me, I'm just your blind date."
I admire your perseverance and self-respect dear, even in the face of hostile situations.
It wasn't till Rajeev was half way down the block that Bani realized that she had left her purse in his car. It contained all her money, cell phone, and credit cards. She didn't even have thirty-five cents on her to make a pay call. Although she chased him, yelling, "Wait! Come back" he didn't. He probably couldn't see her in the downpour and he was too obsessed with the twister to think and hear anything else.
Oh dear, ab yeh kaisa musibat hai?
Chill water soaked Bani, ruining her heels, plastering her hair to her skull and made her shiver uncontrollably. Bani couldn't even get a cab in this part of town to stop for her. The wind shear nearly pushed her over a couple of times and she held her arm over her face to protect it from the hail. Luckily the storm seemed to be almost hailed out as she was only struck by the occasional projectile. Still, branches and other loose debris tumbled about and she had to watch out for those as she went in search of a pay phone. Everyone she tried was out of order. By the time she found one, she'd probably have walked half way home. Lightning and wind made her duck into dark doorways for protection.
Not that she was sure they were protection. She kept imagining hands grabbing her, and eyes glowing in the dark. She wondered if she should've stayed with Rajeev, unsure which was the worst evil. This was the last time she'd ever date a meteorologist. She'd get Pooja for thisโฆthat is if she survived this night.
U sure are in a sorry state dear. But why do I have this gut feeling that the original Mr. Duffer will be coming along, trailing you two as he was? Maybe yes, maybe not. Saby, whats it gonna be? ๐
"People go to casinos for the same reason they go on blind dates - hoping to hit the jackpot. But mostly, you just wind up broken hearted or alone in a bar or lonelier than you were before."
You are 100 % sure about this quote dear. The more frantic we are to find something, the more we tend to lose in one way or the other.
Humour for the day
Why Beer Is Better Than Women?
1. You can pick up a beer in any bar in town.
2. You can have more than one beer a night and not feel guilty.
3. A beer won't get upset if you come home with beer on your breath.
4. A beer will never complain about your beer belly.
5. A beer won't get jealous if you bring home other beers.
6. You don't have to wine and dine a beer.
7. A beer won't throw things if you come home after 2am.
8. A beer won't ever expect you to buy it flowers.
9. You don't have to take your socks off with a beer.
10. Hangovers are only temporary.
Good comparison, must say. But a woman is more potent I guess.