Posted:
Chapter 25
Rishab pulled his gloves off to look at his watch. It was already shortly after noon, time to take a short break. "Alright, we'll take a 20 minutes break here to eat a little something," he told the rest of the group. "Yay, break out the nuts and berries," Adam said as he dropped down to sit in the snow. "You're supposed to take your pack off before sittin' down," Abby scolded him. He rolled his eyes at her. "I'm hungry."
Rishab sat down next to Madhu on a small rock. "You okay?", he asked concerned. "Yeah" Satisfied at her answer, he grinned at her and leaned in to bump her shoulder against his. "You're not still embarrassed about tripping and falling face-first in the snow are you?" She grinned. "You know how it felt?" She didn't wait for an answer; she grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it into his face. "A lot like this," she answered her own question, laughing. Madhu squealed and tried to squirm away from him, but Rishab had a firm grip around her and he was determined to make sure she experienced a fall in the snow.
Abby shook her head at them, smiling secretly. They were so in love and didn't even realize it. Deepali on the other hand was disgusted by the show. "I'm gonna go pee," She said and got up from where she was sitting with the group to walk a little bit away from the group. "Be careful and don't go too far," Harpreet called out after her.
Akash unzipped one of the pockets on his coat and pulled a granola bar out, tearing the wrapper off and taking a bite. "You guys oughta eat something... the next leg of the trip is a bit of a challenge." Abby nodded and fumbled with a pocket on her own coat to get a bar as well. "So tell me what's your story. How did you land up here?" He shrugged. "Rishab and I used to come here a lot. Vacations, Study break, sometimes we used to even take off a few days from university and come here. This place became home. Tried a few things but nothing felt right. This just seemed to suit me." She nodded. "It does." He ducked his head so she wouldn't see his smile. As Madhu joined in the conversation, he continued, "Rishab too loves this place for the same reasons as mine …" "No walls out here," he said after a minute. "No one to tell us what we can and can't do..." His voice dropped to a whisper as he looked at the mountains in the distance. "It's almost perfect." Madhu looked towards Rishab as he drank from his canteen. "If he loves it here so much, why is he doing what he is back home." "Everyone has to prove something if not to themselves, its to someone, don't they?", he said looking straight at Madhu, searching for something in her eyes that would give him hope, hope for Rishab's sake. "Anyway he owns half of this place, but just doesn't acknowledge it. He even insists on paying for lodging and boarding when he comes around", he said shaking his head looking away. His comment earlier caught her attention, but before she could voice her question Rishab came by. "Well, you guys take a few minutes and rest," Akash said as he stood and removed the rope at his waist. He glanced back at Rishab , "I'm gonna take a look ahead."
"Its going to be about an hour before we hit that place where we'll start descending. And it's going to be more challenging from here on out, so try to save your strength as much as you can", Rishab called out to everyone. "This's where it really gets fun," Abby said, nudging Madhu with her shoulder.
"You should drink a lot of water," Harpreet advised and turned towards Rishab. "Yo, Rishab, checked the weather report?" "Weather report's still looking good," Rishab said. "Looks like we're gonna be in for a clear night. Cold, but clear." Harpreet nodded. "Cool."
As Akash got back, Harpreet pulled her gloves off and shoved them in her pockets as she walked a little way from the group, motioning for Akash to join her. "Any idea what's up with Rishab?" she asked. Akash shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I think its got to do with Madhu. I don't think he quite likes Adam's familiarity with her much. His changing moods could also be the result of Ms.Creeper there," he nodded in Deepali's direction. "Yeah, that girl does grate on the nerves after a while. She has a f**kin' problem with everything." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Y'know how that's gotta be pissin' Rishab off." "Yeah, and I bet she's the first one who gets the whole group in trouble." He nodded. "By the way, I hope you do realise that Adam would be more interested in you than in Madhu." Harpreet threw it out there, wondering if he would get it.
"Our route looks fine," Akash said when he and Harpreet joined Rishab . "Figure we should hit Icy Lake in about an hour." Rishab nodded. "You think that mouthy little pain in my arse gonna do alright when we rope up to get across the lake?" "I can tell you that the other girls will do better than her," Akash answered with a smirk. Harpreet checked her watch. "It's not too late to have her picked up and removed from the group." As guides they had the right to remove anyone they felt was a danger to the climb. Rishab shook his head. He wouldn't hear the end of it if he did that without any hard core reason. "It's gonna be alright."
"You're good staying with them? You wanna switch off or anything?" Akash asked nodding towards Deepali and Sikander. Harpreet nodded. "He seems... fine. As far as she goes, I'll keep that little prick in line." "Just don't drop that little prick so that she's hanging over the edge of the cliff screaming for her mama." Akash smirked. Harpreet and Rishab both laughed as they imagined that scene in their minds. "Now, that would be fun, wouldn't it?" Rishab just shook his head. "Just don't forget to give us the sign if you decide to do that. I may be a thrill junkie, but I don't enjoy flying off of the side of the mountain with no notice." "Alright," Akash glanced at his watch, "we'd better get moving."
"What d'you suppose they're up to?" Deepali asked when the guides moved apart. "What they're up to?" Deepali repeated. "They're supposed to get us to the top of this mountain, Dips." Sikander answered a little sick with her attitude. Sure he was her brother and would stick by her thru thick and thin. But she needed to back off from her pursuit of Rishab Kundra. Rishab had made known many many times that he just wasn't interested and had even treated her like shit to get across the point. If she doesn't get it soon, she is just going to get hurt, seeing how Rishab reacts and responds to Madhu, there is something there. Deepali might be a bitch and she might treat me like a nobody but she is still my sister and don't wish her bad. "Uh-huh. I got the impression that our guide doesn't like me. I'm not sure I trust her to do that." Well, there's probably a good reason why she doesn't like you, he thought shaking his head. "It's his job, Dips. And no matter if she likes you or not, she'll make sure we're safe." "Ah-ha!" she shouted triumphantly. "You've noticed it too, then." "As a rule we try not to scream and shout out here," Rishab muttered as he walked past them. "You might catch the attention of one of the bears roaming around up here." They were already higher than the bears' normal range, but there was no reason to let her know that.
_______________________________________________
Icy Lake was actually a Glacier, but it has been called so for so long that noone even remembers how it came to be called Icy Lake. Roping up the side of a glacier was something that required actions that were precise and there was little room for mistakes. Rishab ran another ice screw into the glacier above him and hooked the line in, checking to be sure it would hold before swinging out and moving into position to run the next one. There wasn't much conversation as they worked through roping their way up. He ran the next ice screw in and hooked his line, but when he swung out he felt it slip and his heart slammed into the wall of his chest as he grabbed his ice tool and brought his arm around to swing the pick into the glacier to stop him from falling. He rested his forehead against his wrist for a few seconds as his breathing returned to normal and then he took another ice screw and drilled it into the wall. He hooked in and relaxed slightly when it held and he glared at the other one as he removed it.
"Hey, Rishab!" Akash shouted. "All good up there?" He had felt the pull in the line and looked up in time to see his partner swing the pick in to stop him from falling. "S'all good," Rishab grated out, wiping sweat from his brow and moving up to insert the next screw. Half a dozen more and they'd be back on solid ground. He glanced down to check on the others and he met Madhu's eyes, seeing the fear in them and shaking his head. She was scared for him. "I'm good," he said quietly.
It didn't take much longer before they had finished roping their way up and Rishab secured the line as he stood near the edge to help them all up and over, sending them to take a break before they started the last leg of the climb before making camp for the night.
"You okay?" Sikander asked Deepali. "You look kinda pale." She shook her head. "I'm fine," she muttered, reaching for her water and taking a drink. Her hands were shaking but she ignored them. "Think I saw my life flash before my eyes, but I'm fine." He smiled and leaned against her. "That was pretty exciting, huh?" "Exciting? Oh, yeah, it was exciting alright." She replied sarcastically.
Adam dropped down to sit on Madhu's other side. "Whoa! How exhilarating was that?!" "Right?" he asked, still full of adrenaline. "It was amazing." Deepali looked between them, shaking her head in disbelief. "Amazing... exhilarating... are you kidding?" "I thought it was pretty exciting," Abby said as she joined them."You all thought it was exciting because you all are insane," Deepali griped. Madhu glared at her, knowing she had waited for Rishab to walk out of earshot before she had made the comment. Every promise she had made to herself to make more of an effort to be nice to her for Rishab's sake, since she was his friend, flew out the proverbial window at her caustic tone.
"Why don't you get off their ass," Sikander growled, thumping the back of Deepali's head. He winked at Harpreet when he realized that his timing couldn't have been anymore perfect. Deepali had been just about to take another drink and now she was wearing a good bit of her water. Doing so he turned and ran away with Deepali after him, leaving Harpreet and the others laughing at his cheek.
"God, I hate her and I don't hate," Madhu hissed."She's a piece of work," Abby agreed. Rishab overheard the conversation between the two women and smirked. "Don't push her over the edge of the mountain, okay?" he asked with a smirk. Madhu glared at Rishab and turned away. She turned back to look at the guide leading their expedition just in time to hear his next comment. "Maybe just a small one?" Rishab laughed. "Just try to work together while we're up here, especially for this next part of the climb." He knew that differences and anger in the group could cause problems during the trip and that could put them in danger. "We're cool, man,"Abby said. "It just pisses me off when she talks like that." Rishab glanced at the girls and Deepali for a brief moment. "Well, I guess you won't have to suffer too much tonight. She doesn't look like she'll stay awake very long once we reach our camp for the night." Madhu snorted. "Good."
"Hey, Harpreet" Rishab called. "Wanna take the lead for the last leg of today's climb?" He knew she hated to be last all the time. Harpreet grinned. "Well, I won't turn down an opportunity to be on top," she joked. Rishab rolled his eyes and nodded. "Alright."
Chapter 26
"Whew, okay guys. We've actually reached our camp for the night. You see those markers?" Rishab gestured to the red poles Akash had quickly set up around the camp. "This's the safe zone; if you need to go outside of this area for any reason – and just for the record, there is no reason for you to go outside of this area – you don't leave without being on the rope. This area's been checked for any danger." Rishab turned himself lose from the rope and walked forward a few steps. "We're gonna build the tents up in a circle first, entries all facing the middle."
Madhu unloaded her pack and stretched out a bit. She couldn't wait to sit down and eat something. "The view's amazing," she said when she turned to look back in the direction they had come from. Adam was standing close by and he unhooked from the line and dropped his pack to the ground as he moved to join her. " Pretty awesome, huh?" "Yeah, I love it out here," she said honestly. Sure it was cold and kinda dangerous, but it was freeing as well. "What're you all looking at?" Abby asked as she joined them. Adam hooked his arms around their shoulders. "We're enjoying the great view." They leaned against him, wrapping their arms around his waist without a second thought. "It is gorgeous," she agreed.
Madhu glanced back at the others and saw Deepali sitting on her pack. It looked as if she would fall asleep soon if nobody interrupted her. Rishab noticed it about the same time and he gave Deepali a less than subtle nudge as he passed behind her. "Hey, no sleeping until we've made camp, Sunshine!" he barked. Madhu shook her head at his antic but a slow smile creeped up nonetheless. "Alright, I'm gonna get started with our tent I guess." "I can't wait until it's time for bed," Abby said as she fought back a yawn. "You tired?" Adam asked even though it was obvious. "Little bit, yeah. But it's a good tired, ya know?" "Think it'll be warm enough?" "Long as we don't forget to zip our sleeping bags I think we will survive." "Oh I forgot to tell you, Harpreet asked if I would bunk with her since she was alone and all and I said yes. I hope you and Adam don't mind."Abby asked Madhu. "Ohh.. Its fine.. Anyway its just Adam.", nudging him in the ribs. "We should probably get our tent up before it gets dark," Madhu suggested. "Alright," he pulled Madhu away winking at Abby that their plan worked. Abby smiled and winked back at Adam, thanking God that Harpreet had agreed to their insane plan.
"I'm sooo hungry," Adam said as they started breaking their gear out."Me too," Madhu agreed. "Starving." "What's on the menu, babe?" Adam asked Madhu as he tossed the sleeping bags inside their tent."MRE's babe. Yummy." (FYI - MRE stands for Meals, Ready-to-eat. It is a self-contained, individual field ration in lightweight packaging bought by the military for its service members for use in combat or other field conditions where organized food facilities are not available.)
Rishab started to build up his tent as well – as far away from Madhu as possible. The last thing he needed was hearing them at night.
"Hey, Rishab, you wanna toss your dinner of choice over here? Water's just about ready," Akash called out. Rishab grabbed one of the MRE's without even paying attention of what it was. "Thanks." He tossed it over to Akash. Harpreet glanced at the package as she unfolded her camp stool and sat down. "Grilled chicken breasts with mashed potatoes, huh? Haven't tried that one. Is it any good?" "None of those things are any good," Rishab said. "But it's still better than the food you make." he joked.
Harpreet was just about to defend herself when she heard voices and turned to wave to the group coming down from the summit. "Hey, look who it is!" Rishab turned around and grinned when he saw the woman leading the group. "Hey, Kapoor, what's your group doing coming down this way?" he asked. She rolled her eyes as she walked over to him and hugged him tightly. "It's so good to see you here. One of the guys in my group fell this morning and we took this way to get down faster." "Everything go okay, though? Didn't lose anyone?" "No, just my tent," she replied. Rishab let his gaze move over her, searching to be sure she was telling the truth. He and Kinjal Kapoor have known each other since Akash started this place. She was one of the first guides to join Good Times. And they had occasionally slept together before, but they had both known it wasn't going anywhere so they had decided that they would be better as friends. "You didn't lose any other equipment?" "Just my tent," she replied.
Madhu checked out the girl in the arms of Rishab and shook her head slightly when she felt the jealousy creeping up. "Yeah, let a good stiff wind blow past and I bet you'd conveniently lose your clothes too," she muttered. "You can bunk in with me tonight," Rishab offered, oblivious to Madhu's comment.
Kapoor smiled at Rishab. "You sure? The guy responsible for this mess offered me a place to crash too, but... ungh..." She made a face. "Oh, c'mon," Rishab laughed after glancing over her group, "you're not interested in snuggling up with one of those big ol' hairy-backed boys? They probably smell pretty good after a week out here." She grinned. "Yeah, at least you just started out this morning and probably had a shower before leaving out." She turned to leave again. "Alright, I'll get my group settled now. Hey Akash, hey Harpreet," she called and waved to the two other guides who were helping their group with the tents and making food. "Hey, Kapoor!" they both hollered back and then turned to look at Madhu. "This is gets interesting by the minute."
Rishab grabbed another MRE from his pack and carried it over to the fire, preparing it and closing it back up to keep it warm. He glanced up and caught Madhu watching him and he raised one hand in a half-hearted wave, smiling when she made a sound of disgust and went back to helping Adam with their tent.
"Hey, Madhu, I need to pee." Abby looked out of her tent. "You coming with me?" Adam grinned and shook his head when Madhu made a face. "Least you don't have to worry about a snake biting your ass out here," he said, remembering that discussion from when Abby and he had gone camping last summer. "That's true. Gotta love the snow," she said before she stepped out of the tent. "Abby, don't pick up any strange mountain men while you're out there," he joked. She glanced back at him. "Ha ha," she said and then turned to Madhu. "You coming?" "Yeah, I'm with ya." Madhu tossed her sleeping bag at Adam and hurried after Abby.
"It was cool today, wasn't it?" Abby's eyes glistened."Oh, it was awesome! I can't wait until we reach the summit," Madhu said. "Just the thought of standing on top of this mountain..." "I know," the other girl agreed. "Hey, how's your guide? He's cute." "He's grumpy," Madhu countered."Wanna trade?" "Tempting," Madhu said. Honestly, she hated that Rishab was her guide, especially since she would go thru all these contrasting feelings when he was around her, but in spite of that, she trusted him. "Anyway I thought you and Akash were cooking up something? Don't think I haven't noticed the flirtatious smiles and comments you both keep passing each other" "I hope you don't mind, especially since you seemed interested in him yesterday", Abby asked concerned she was treading on Madhu's domain. "Naah, you can have him. I wasn't really interested in him, I just enjoyed the flirting bit."
When the girls came back to join the others they saw Rishab, Akash, Harpreet, Deepali and Sikander already sitting down and eating. Adam was the only one who was nowhere in sight. She walked up to their tent and noticed that he had already fallen asleep. She climbed into the tent and nudged Adam. "Hey, sleepyhead, you need to wake up and eat something." "Just five minutes," he mumbled. "No, five minutes and you'll be impossible to wake up." She shook his shoulder again, knowing that if he didn't wake up now, he would wake up directly in the morning. He groaned and forced his eyes open. "Alright." He lifted his upper body to a sitting position.
Rishab glanced over his shoulder when he heard the couple coming to join them. Their camp had expanded to include the other set of climbers and Kapoor was sitting beside him, eating dinner and conversing with everyone. He leaned forward and mixed a couple cups of coffee and handed her one before sitting back and taking a sip.
Madhu and Adam sat down next to Abby and started to prepare their own dinner. Damn, that female guide was pretty, tall and knew her way around these parts... probably the perfect match for Rishab out here, she thought bitterly.
Kapoor introduced herself to the new members who had just joined them and they talked for a few minutes before she noticed that Rishab had fallen silent. She knew better than to call attention to him though so she kept the conversation rolling. She shook her head when she noticed the package in Adam's hands. "I would highly recommend avoiding anything spicy up here unless you've had it before and know your stomach can handle it." Adam glanced at his food and then back at the woman. He nodded a thanks, changing to something less spicy. The last he needed was an upset stomach up here.
Abby leaned closer to her friend. "What's wrong girl?" Madhu shook her head. "Just tired," she answered. "You sure?" No, but she didn't really feel like getting into it. "Yeah, I'm sure." She forced a smile, hoping it would come across as reassuring. "Alright," Abby said and they all ate in silence, just listening to the other people talking.
"Hey Madhu, you coming to bed?" Adam asked purposely after he finished his meal. Rishab grimaced when he heard the question. He glanced at Kapoor. "Said you managed to hold onto your sleeping bag when you lost your tent?" He knew she had, but he somehow couldn't stand the thought of Madhu sleeping with that little prick. "Yeah, still here," she answered and smirked. "Why? Hoping to share one with me?" He grinned and shrugged. "Maybe."
Madhu wasn't really tired and she preferred to stay outside for a while but seeing Rishab and Kapoor together like that was getting difficult for her so she got up from her sitting position. "We're going to bed," she told Abby. "Good night." "G'night," Abby murmured.
"Dickhead already called it a night?" Rishab asked as he dropped back down beside Akash. "Shh," Akash hissed. He didn't want Madhu to hear those comments.
Deepali was furious, not only was her Rishu looking to shack up with some mountain climber instead of her, but her brother too didn't care about her anymore. He seemed more interested in that Harpreet and was looking for ways to get into her good graces. She huffed and without saying anything decided to retire for the night and start afresh tomorrow.
Madhu and Adam crawled into their tent after they had both brushed their teeth. "Sooo, what're we gonna do now?" she asked flirtatiously and zipped the entry closed. Adam's eyes widened and he shook his head saying "You do know I am gay right?" They stared at each other for a second and then both burst out laughing. "Anyway..." he continued playing the game Madhu started as he pointed in the direction of the group where they were seated around the fire "Madhu, there's like nothing between us and everyone else but a thin piece of material." She grinned and positioned herself in his lap. "Guess we'll have to be quiet then, huh?" "Huh-uh, not with everyone 'right' there!" "C'mon, Adam, you mean we're not gonna have sex during the whole trip?" "Madhu, you know how I do that weird howling thing when I come? I don't need everyone here giving me shit about the sounds I make when we have sex." "Great," Madhu said as if she were disappointed. "No sex!" She climbed off of him again. Before she could control herself, she started giggling again which turned into roaring laughter when Adam joined in.
They both got into their respective sleeping bags and Adam drifted into a deep slumber almost immediately. He was extremely exhausted after the long day they had.
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Love Friendship Dating and Relationships
Tum Se Tum Tak
Financial markets and global economy
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
