Chapter 64
Rishab was the first to reach the summit sometime after noon. He propped one arm on the snow covered ledge and pulled himself up until he was able to lift one leg up as well and heft his whole body up. He secured the rope and turned around to lean over the edge again. "Ready for the summit, baby?"
Madhu looked up at him and reached for his extended hand, letting him help her up and over the ledge.
"C'mon, what's taking so long," Adam teased from behind.
"Want me to leave them hanging there and we'll enjoy the view on our own?" Rishab asked, grinning.
"I heard that, Kundra" Adam grumbled when he appeared at the edge.
Rishab watched Madhu as she turned in a circle, taking in the scenery as she looked over miles and miles of untouched landscape. There were other mountain peaks in the distance in several directions, but the one they stood on was the only one that mattered at that moment. When she turned to look at him he smiled so big it felt like his face was going to split in two. "It's amazing, right?"
"Amazing? It's... I don't even have a word for it..."
Akash and Adam looked around and high-fived before suddenly shouting, "I'm the king of the world!" at the same time.
Abby rolled her eyes. "You two are King of po*n."
Adam just grinned and grabbed his sister from behind, swinging her around in a circle and laughing. "We made it, Abby ! Can you believe this?!"
She laughed and screamed in surprise. "Adam, let me down."
Madhu shook her head at her friends' antics, smiling when Adam set Abby down, and Akash immediately pulled her against him. She turned to Rishab.
"Whatcha doing?" he asked when she shrugged out of her pack.
"Picture time," she said as she dug her camera out.
"Seriously?" he complained.
"What, you don't want your picture taken?"
"I look stupid in photos."
She rolled her eyes at him. "You do not look stupid in photos. You forget that you have graced the cover pages of Business World and Business & More"
"Uh-huh, heard of Photoshop?" he answered not really convinced.
"I'll save yours for last then, but you're not getting out of it." She winked at him. "Besides, we've gotta have a picture of the two of us on the summit."
He took the camera from her. "Alright, Sexy, pose!"
She grinned at him and played along, striking a sexy pose with the snow-capped peaks of other mountains providing a gorgeous backdrop.
"Oh, picture time," Abby said excitedly and ran towards Madhu to hug her.
Akash shook his head and followed Abby, knowing there was no way to get out of taking pictures. He was quickly pulled into the shot by the girls and he draped his arms around their shoulders and hammed it up for the camera.
Rishab shook his head when Adam got into the picture as well. "You guys are too fat," he joked.
"I'll have you know that this body is in no way fat – " Abby's rant was cut off when Adam stretched his arm out to cover her mouth with his hand and she glared at him before sinking her teeth into it.
"Owww!" he howled. "I thought your fangs only came out at night, you freaky little vampiress!" He glared at Akash and pointed at her. "Muzzle her."
Rishab chuckled amused when he took several pictures where Adam and Abby glared at each other.
"Muzzle her," Abby mocked, throwing a snowball right in Adam's face.
"With this group up here there's never gonna be a dull moment in these mountains," Akash joked as he joined Rishab.
Madhu smiled into the camera, enjoying the moment with her friends up on the summit. Adam and Abby started to bawl and scream into the cold air, enjoying their triumph of climbing the mountain.
Rishab lowered the camera when the group broke up and started messing around and he found himself staring at Madhu, mesmerized by her expression as she watched the chaotic scene. Her brown eyes sparkled in the sunlight, her cheeks were flushed from the excitement and the cold, and she was happy. He shifted to a new position, lifting the camera up again so he could capture that moment on film.
"Are you still taking pics of me?" She blinked against the sun. "Hand the camera to Abby and come over here."
"Ungh, you don't wanna picture of my mug, Madhu," he muttered, glaring at Abby when she snatched the camera out of his hand and shoved him towards Madhu. He rubbed his right hand over his stubbled jaw as he moved to stand next to her.
"Hug me," she ordered him. "I wanna remember that moment forever."
"Gonna start ordering me around already?" he growled at her even as he did as she had ordered.
"One of us has to take the upper hand," she joked.
"Um-hmm, just remember that when I get you in bed," he muttered, his voice low so no one else would hear the words.
She pressed her body against his. "I can't wait for that." She gave him a sexy smile.
"Don't tempt me to expedite the descent." He chuckled and lowered his head to kiss her.
Abby smiled as she took a picture of the kissing couple.
"I can't wait to take a hot shower." Her fingertips ran over his jaw. "And your definitely gonna need to shower."
"You trying to say I smell bad?"
She winkled her nose. "Just a bit," she teased.
He grinned and shook his head at her. "The downside to a week in the mountains."
"Does that mean I smell bad too?"
He cleared his throat. "Like I said... downside to a week in the mountains. Deodorant and the basic wipe-down bath only goes so far."
She laughed. "That wasn't nice, Rishab Kundra."
"You want me to lie to you and say you smell like a bunch of roses?"
"No, I want you to be honest... always."
"Alright then." He winked at her. "I'm still gonna let you share my sleeping bag though."
Madhu leaned back in his arms and glanced around one more time. "I can't believe we're here. Both of us… here together."
"Me either. I never expected this trip to turn out like this, but I wouldn't trade it for anything." He smiled at her, completely forgetting that Abby was snapping off pictures like crazy. His expression softened and he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks. "I love you," he whispered.
Madhu blinked a few times when some happy tears tried to escape their eyes. "I love you too, Rishab," she said back hoarsely.
"Hey, no tears, baby," he begged. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her closed eyes. He knew she would tell him they were happy tears, but it made no sense. Why cry if you're happy?
"Happy tears, Rishab."
He grunted and pulled her up against him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. He didn't understand it, but he was smart enough to not question it.
Madhu smirked at Abby after a while. "You can stop taking pics of us now, girl. I think I've got enough now."
"You can never have too many pics," Abby denied, but turned to focus the lens on Akash.
Madhu looked at Rishab. "I have to get my camera back from her."
"Why? She'll eventually kill the battery or fill up the memory."
"Uh-huh, that's why. Lemme go, Rishab."
He growled at her demand and rolled his eyes but he released her. "Don't go far."
"The summit isn't so big that I could get lost, Rishab."
"Not worried about you getting lost... just don't want you too far away."
"You know there'll be times when we won't see each other, right?" she joked.
"But not today."
She shook her head at him and turned around. "Alright, girlfriend. Gimme my camera back."
"Yeah, Abby, unhand that camera," Akash said as he scooped her up in his arms and ran around the snowy ground.
"Akash!" she shrieked.
Madhu lifted the camera up to take some pics of her friends as they had fun in the snow together. They were such a cute couple.
Akash stopped, facing the panoramic view of the mountains surrounding them on all sides. "Can you believe we did this?" he asked breathlessly.
"Uh-huh, we're here, aren't we?" she teased.
"You know what I mean." He shook his head at her. "So, what do you wanna do next? White-water rafting? Para-gliding?"
"First we have to get back down from the mountain and go back to doing our boring studies." She glanced back over at Madhu and Rishab and saw how happy they were.
Akash followed her gaze. He set her down on her feet but left his arms around her. He studied her for a few minutes before he lifted his right hand to cup her cheek. He didn't want to push her because he knew she needed to decide what she wanted on her own.
Abby studied his eyes. He seemed to be so sure of what he wanted and that it all could work out with them that she felt her own insecurities fading again. "You do believe in us, don't you?" she whispered.
He smiled slowly. "More sure of us than anything else in my life," he answered.
"I know I'm a disaster sometimes, Akash, sorry."
He shook his head. "Don't apologize for not rushing into a decision, darling. I want you to want this as much as I do." He grinned confidently. "You'll let me know when you've got an answer."
"What about now?" she blurted out.
"You tell me."
Instead of saying anything else, she crashed her lips onto his, making him stumble backwards a few steps, but he managed to keep them both upright.
Akash finally caught his balance and his hands came up to settle on either side of her neck, exerting just enough pressure to keep her in place as he deepened the kiss.
"Woo hoo!" Madhu whooped and took a pic of the kissing couple.
"Finally," Madhu said and took another pic. While Adam groaned in despair, but secretly happy for his sister. He liked Akash, thought he was good for her.
Akash tuned the others out, more interested in kissing Abby than who said what.
"Hey, you two, no more steps back or you're gonna fall off the mountain," Rishab said, grinning when the couple seemed to move backwards slowly.
Akash growled, making Abby laugh and he broke the kiss to look around. "Falling off the mountain is not in my plans."
"But kissing me is?" Abby asked with a smile.
"Um-hmm, kissing you is about to become one of my new favorite things to do."
"We're good then. I kinda wish now that we hadn't decided we wanted to go back down on foot. That chopper idea's looking real good right about now."
"Yeah... a hot shower... a warm bed. Tempting."
"Throw in some nudity and a lot of sex and I'll have the chopper here within the hour."
"Forget it," Madhu said when she heard what the couple was saying.
"Did anyone ask for your input, Malik?" Akash asked without breaking eye contact with Abby.
"Nope, but you talk without being asked all the time."
"Important subject... not open for outside discussion, so zip it. Find something else to do with your lips."
"Can I make a suggestion?" Rishab asked from where he was standing with Adam.
"Can he make a suggestion?" Akash asked Abby.
"I think he was talking to Madhu, goofy."
Madhu smirked and propped her hands on her hips. "You can certainly try."
"Nothing we should talk about here," he said with a wink.
Akash rolled his eyes. "It's not too late to have them call for a chopper."
"Come on, what's a few more days?" Adam complained.
"Only those who potentially have a chance at sex may speak the rest can just shut the hell up and get outta the conversation," Akash suggested.
"Someone is very sexually frustrated," Madhu mumbled.
"Aww, cut the guy some slack, baby," Rishab muttered as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against his body.
She smiled and glanced around, enjoying the view one more time. "Part of me wants to get down really fast so we could be done with my parents and yours sooner so that we can get to the next part. The other part wants to stay here as long as possible."
"Hey, we'll talk about the parents later. Lets just enjoy the view." He tightened his grasp around her.
"We finally conquered the mountain." Madhu said triumphfully, feeling proud.
Rishab smiled at her naivety and decided to set her right. "You don't conquer the mountain, the mountain allows you to pass."
Madhu dwelled on his wise words and realised that there were no truer words spoken. She looked around and took in the beauty. She stood in silence above the clouds, surrounded by the most breathtaking panorama of snow-covered peaks. She breathe in the purest and freshest air, that one could ever breathe. Not a single roar of an engine, not even the occasional airplane overhead could be heard. No car alarms, no honking, no revving. Just the sounds of the wind passing over the mountains and through the trees, the distant roar of a river or the trickle of a creek through smoothly worn rocks. "Books, people, they all talk of its beauty, they describe it, but you never truly get it. That's the beauty of experience isn't it? To truly know it, one has to live it... allow it to mingle with your soul and become a part of you."
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