Madhubala is a physics nerd of the worst kind. She's never set foot outside the four walls of her lab and sunlight to her pale skin is like garlic to a vampire. Or, sunlight to a vampire. She boasts academic achievements that are the envy of her department but the same cannot be said for her social life. May it rest in peace would be the more appropriate term here because it died the day she graduated from high school. That was when...eighteen years ago?
All that changes when she receives a bleak prognosis- she has six months to live. So f**k it all! She quits her job. (Not really. She is a tenured professor so she chickened out and took an administrative leave but pretend she was all badass for the dramatic effect. Okay?) Where were we, ah yes! She "quit" her work and ran off to a distant island (really, the most popular resort destination IN THE WORLD but go along with her hipster act, will ya)- Bali.
Her rainbow colored hair sway gently in the wind as sips on a suspicious looking beverage lost in thought. Turns out, it's nothing special, only bootleg liquor from the corner vendor.
"Moonshine alcohol in a luxury establishment? Your gall is commendable". A handsome looking man approximately two heads taller than her pulls up a chair next to her, staring at her drink. She is busy trying to decipher whether there was sarcasm in his tone but he does not let her dig down further. His fingers are already snaking around her hand violating the little space between her skin and the rim of the beer glass. Her danger antennas are up, way up. She is watching him with a questioning look on her face, one that screams amusement and creep alert in one breath.
"Hi. You must be new here", he extends his hand in a greeting, she accepts it with caution.
"You are beautiful woman, I am a healthy man. How would you like to go on a date with me?"
"I am here on vacation", she says because the extended silence is awkward and she is currently out of reasons to reject him outright.
"So is half the town", he mumbles under his breath but soon composes himself. "I'll make your time worth it. How about we date and sight see together?"
"Multi tasking never leads to good", she answers.
"Would it kill you to say yes?" he mumbles again.
"I have sharp listening skills", she says and it's true. After years of trying to decipher meaning from the lectures of heavily accented European professors, Madhubala is pro level A+++ when it comes to picking up gossip.
He coughs loudly realizing the meaning of her words a little too late. On the other side of the table, Madhubala is now busy weighing her options. The last man she seriously dated was her TA in senior year of undergraduate. And that was only because she needed his help to pass English literature. Science geniuses aren't exactly geniuses when it comes to expressing their thoughts, let's just leave it at that.
Anyway, the men after that were just conquests when her head started spinning from the lack of sex and masturbation just did not satiate her drive anymore. So this man so eager to get into her pants may not be a bad option if used wisely.
Lab managers can be great bargain hunters when times get tough. And today was one of those days. Expect, instead of negotiating wholesale chemical prices, she was auctioning of herself (figuratively of course).
"If I go on one date, do you expect me to retire to bed by the end of the night?" she asks.
"As a human should, yes".
"With you?"
"If you so desire".
"I do not".
"Then I won't force you".
"I am here to have a fling, you see. The last mischief of my life".
His face lights up at her words.
"So you want us to date for the time you're here?"
"No, not you. You look like the type who wouldn't come back after leaving to pee in the middle of the night. I'll find someone else".
He cannot help but laugh at how accurately she's described his type. "I'll make an exception. You are beautiful enough to warrant that".
Beautiful enough? If you ask her, she is the most beautiful woman in the world, prettier than Rai and Jolie. The delusions of grandeur are many!
"Let's see what metal you're made of". She easily locks her arm in his elbow and follows him to the sportscar parked at a distance.
Her mouth inevitably shapes into a 'O' as she admires her creation.
"I remember this", she says.
He proudly rubs the side window thinking any woman would fall for his shameless display of wealth so rainbow hair over here is no exception. "It's one of a kind, custom made in Laos".
"I know".
"Really?"
"I was there when they were designing the engine. They called me in for help with test run. I was the first one get a test drive". She bursts into the most carefree of laughter fits for a good minute. She doesn't know why she's laughing but her numbered days have given her all the more reason to smile for no reason at all.
"So you are an automobile engineer?"
"Please, engineer is a curse word down where I live", she's buried her nose in his shoulder trying to stiphel her hysteria.
"Then?"
"A jack of all trades, a physicist".
"Like a Sheldon Cooper?"
"Like Marie Curie. But to the science illiterate, sure". She checks herself. Time to give up on the snobby attitude every physicist holds against those non-science muggles, biologists included. Now was the time to reform if God really existed and she needed a place in heaven.
"Want to visit a temple?" he suggests. The Hindu mandirs here are a wonder to be seen.
"Two years ago if you'd said that I would tag along using the excuse to observe unusual architectural angles. But now it's no use to me. I just want to drink good beer".
"Why?" is the burning question in his head but it is too early to ask.
"Then, I'll take you to a club. I own a few here", he does not forget to flaunt his money at every faint opportunity.
"Sure. Oh, let's make that a strip club. I've always wanted to see one".
"I don't own a strip club but now that you mention it..." he waits for a response but does not get one. "Why don't we get you in the regular club first. If the mishaps are as estimated, you will surely see someone naked by the end of the night".
She laughs at his lame joke. As expected, the girl is not down with regular club scene. She will be easy to impress.
As soon as they arrive, he pulls out the best dancer, the top drawer hard liquor, and private room to make her comfortable. She is surrounded by drooling men before he can think his decision through. He can do nothing more than watch her from a corner and sigh repeatedly. He should not have brought her here. Now even the girls' attention is fixated on the bumbling new girl. But as the night dies down, he knows she is running on low energy so he pulls her out of the crowd.
"My hero", her alcohol soaked lips slam against his stubble in a hard bump.
"Want to go home?" he asks pushing her bangs out of her eyes.
"No, I want to stay with you". She is wasted and she knows it.
He gives her a piggyback ride back to the hotel even though his car is parked just outside. She'd told him her room number but he beelines back to his own suite.
"This is the first time I am in bed with a girl and not sleeping with her", he talks to her snoring form.
His hands are twitchy enough but he knows not to move. So he covers himself in blankets and hope to fall asleep. He doesn't. It is six am and he is wide awake staring at her, fresh drool pooling underneath his chin.
"Eureka!" she wakes up in a sweat and is so surprised by her surroundings she could scream.
"What happened?"
"Oh, I thought I was...where am I?"
She has a splitting headache, everything is just so colorful and light hurts her eyes.
"My hotel room".
"Don't be so loud. I am hungover", she holds her head in her arms.
"I can see that", he is frustrated that he didn't get his happy ending like he hoped he would. It isn't her fault but he isn't ready to admit that.
"Are you rich?" she's taken note of her luxurious surroundings.
"What do you think?"
"Then marry me".
"Do gold diggers come on this strong now?"he is beyond impressed.
"Gold digger? Ha! Excuse me, I have money, okay? It might not be liquid assets but I can afford to feed myself and take annual vacations with the interest".
"If I had a dollar for every time I heard that line".
"Then you'd have, let's see, TWO DOLLARS. My point is, it's just for my happiness. You don't have to register it, I'll be gone in three months time anyway".
"What?"
"Truth is, I always wanted to marry but mum says unless he beats or cheats, never divorce and you know that is an impossible commitment so I though it wasn't for me. Now that I am going to die in three months time, I can. I mean puffy dress and band baja included".
"What?"
"Are you still lost?"
"Do you need a doctor?"
"Okay, wait here", she pulls out her medical scan sheets from her backpack and waves it in front of him.
He is reduced to loud sobs. "Oh my god, I am sorry girl. Had I known, I would have never taken advantage of you...your time I mean. I didn't sleep with you, you know".
"It's okay. So will you marry me or not?"
"I will", he scratches his head still not sure just what the heck he has gotten himself into.
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