She lazily bestirs from a restful slumber, stretching her arms wide. Madhu rubs her eyes then covers her mouth, stifling a yawn. In an epic battle against the soft blanket, she exerts a mighty effort, struggling to sit up. Sighing, she squints her
eyes and pats the area around her, to look for her phone. Her hand comes in contact with a solid form. Feeling the warm, muscled skin, Madhu turns her head slowly, in dread.
Her eyes widen in horror. She managed to barely leash her startled cry of surprise. Hazily recalling the events from last night that has led to her current predicament. Madhu cocoons herself tightly around with the blanket. Her eyes morosely taking note that the unfamiliar fabric is distinctly masculine, with a no
nonsense, geometrical pattern in grey and silver, unlike her overly feminine, pink and white floral coverlet. As if to confirm her suspicions, she peaks underneath the blanket. Both she and her male companion are stark naked.
Madhu palms her face in embarrassment and scolds herself for drinking so much last night. If she had shown some restraint, some good judgment, then she would have never found herself in such an extremely awkward situation. She looks down at the sleeping male form and decides that she should sneak out while he is still sleeping, to avoid any further humiliation.
Looking over on to the side of the bed, Madhu finds her discarded lingerie along with the backless navy blue dress she had worn last night. She distorts her face in a grimace, thanks to her outfit, her walk of shame will be even more prominent. Grabbing her clothes off the floor, she tries to maintain decorum, as she
precariously tries to keep herself covered with the blanket simultaneously as she dons her clothes. All with the quietness of a mouse. As she wears her now wrinkled dress, Madhu angrily lectures herself to never drink again, even if everything in her life drives her to the brink of madness. Her hopeless situation all culminated yesterday till she blew up.
Just thinking about it all over again, makes Madhu furious. She yanks on her underwear and rewinds back to the events yesterday morning. For 3 years, she had worked her ass off for her current boss. Madhu fumes, she had slaved and put in double the time and effort, unlike her colleagues, thinking that it would help her cinch the promotion. But alas, that was not the case. Her boss had the gall to promote his friend's idiotic son to a managerial position in the company. The fool can't even handle his own shit, how the hell would he run a department that is the
backbone of the company? Madhu snorts in disgust, she became the victim of nepotism and it is none other than her fault. Her foolish hope that her dedication alone would work in her favor and would get her the promotion she clearly deserves!
On top of it, as if problems at work were not enough, she had to put up with her family when she got home, especially her mother. At age 28, it is source of major concern for her mother that she is still unwed with no prospects of getting hitched anytime in the near future. It is a source of worry for Madhu's parents that she has dedicated so much time to her career that she neglected to find herself a nice boy to marry, in her mother's words.
Madhu refused to even consider any of the men her family attempted to introduce her to. At the risk of sounding judgmental, they were all losers.
Once dressed, she searches for her iPhone and continues to ponder about her dilemma. Her family's desperation to get her married has rubbed off on her lately. She has never been a typical female; the kind to pick out names for future babies, even before meeting future said husband. Hell, Madhu reflects, she has never been the type to want to be around kids, not because she dislikes them but because she had no interest in them. But of late, she feels a kick against her uterine wall whenever she sees a happily barefoot, pregnant lady or a baby. Thus, making her fully aware of her ticking biological clock.
Last night was the straw, she came home to an unpleasant surprise, in the form of a highly unattractive prospective groom, at least 15 years older than her. She took one look at her mother's expectant look and something inside her just snapped. Though she has never been a typical girl, Madhu has always been respectful of her family's needs, their sentiments and valued traditions. She has always taken care to not behave in a way that would humiliate her parents.
But last night, she was possessed, Madhu decides, as she picks up her wayward purse. Only that would explain why she marched to her room, without so much as a polite acknowledgment of their guests. She had marched on to her closet and picked out the only risqu outfit she owns which had been a gift from her daring, adventurous best friend that she had never had the courage to wear. Madhu ignored the commotion outside and changed into dress and heavily outlined her eyes with kohl and colored her lips in a deep shade of red.
She felt sexy and free in her new avatar. With a newfound confidence, Madhu had walked out of her room and ignored the melee her obvious snub had caused. She had only one thing on her mind and that was to get away, to break free from all the restraints that had kept her chained. To finally live her life without all the impositions, without all the rules that had governed her actions to date.
Madhu shakes her head in consternation as she once again looks at his sleeping form. She wanted to have a few moments and pretend that she was not bound by the rules of society and the dictates of her family's traditions. But she certainly didn't intend to just jump in bed with any man!
She glances at him again and corrects herself; even in sleep, there is a power and grace in his perfectly sculpted body. Madhu finds some comfort that even in her inebriated state, she managed to retain some semblance of her usual standard. Smacking her head for wasting time, pondering about past actions, she turns around and tiptoes across the room. As she nears the door, Madhu stops in her track as deep, sleepy voice asks her where she is going.
Dreading facing the handsome devil who made her sin, she slowly turns around to face him, her face bright red with embarrassment. He pulls himself up to a sitting position, baring his muscled upper torso. Taking note of her fully clothed form trying to make an exit; he quirks his brow and inquires, "Making your exit without so much a goodbye, huh? Clean and simple."
Madhu's face turns beet red and she stammers in humiliation, "This is so awkward...umm...I didn't know how to face you...after we...umm..."
His intense eyes are trained on her face. He crosses his arms and smirks, adding helpfully, "After we made love all night?"
She shrugs her shoulders, taking special note to avoid looking into his inquisitive eyes, "Well...I don't usually jump into bed with strange men...umm...In fact, I have never done it before."
Unashamed of his nude form, he throws off the blanket that was still covering his lower body. Madhu yelps in surprise and quickly turns her back to him, her breathing turned erratic. Unaware of the havoc his action has caused, he grabs his underwear and jeans that he had thrown off to the side last night. As he buttoned his jeans, he states, "I am well aware that you haven't had a one night stand before. You vocalized it every 5 seconds as we made love." Adds sarcastically, "And a little thing, such as your unabridged virgin barrier was a pretty good indication that you have never done it before."
Madhu slowly turns back around to face him, her eyes firmly closed. Fearing he may still be indecent, she peaks open her eyes and breathes with relief to see he is in jeans. Though his bare upper chest is still a distraction. She clears her throat, "Yes...well...I just wanted you to know. I was beyond drunk and I foolishly jumped into bed with a strange man." She palms her face and despairs, "This is beyond humiliating!"
He quirks one eyebrow and asks skeptically, "Strange man? You mean to tell me that you don't know who I am? That's certainly not the impression I got last night."
Madhu waves her hand in the air and wails desperately, "Of course I know who you are! You are Superstar RK. Every girl fantasizes about being with you, consciously or subconsciously. But the fact remains, I know about you but I don't know you and you don't know me either." She adds sadly, "You probably don't even know my name."
In a commanding voice, he demands roughly, "Look at me." Once RK got her reluctant attention, he continues, "I remember your name, including every other details that you had though to disclose. Your name is Madhubala Malik. You are a software engineer with MBA and you have been working your ass off to be indispensable to your company. But your boss is an ass and an idiot and hired someone unworthy to run the department. By the way, I know of the friend's son of whom you spoke, he is indeed an idiot. Aside from your issues in your professional life, you are also being pressured by your family to get married. But you are far too independent, stubborn and beautiful to just up and marry any Tom, Dick and Harry they send your way. You have tried to be a dutiful daughter but it is not in your nature because you are far too passionate a creature to be ruled by dictates that clip your wings. Yes...I know your name, Madhubala. I know you far better than you think."
Madhu opens and closes her mouth several times, too surprised to initially utter a word. Finally she croaks out, "I...I don't know what to say."
RK shoves his hands into his jeans pocket and grins boyishly, "Nothing else to say madam other than a yes to going out with me for dinner tonight."
She stares at him intently, trying to read him, in order to make a decision. Gazing into his dark, intense but kind eyes, Madhu decides that she should go out with RK. Who knows, perhaps what had seemed like a mistake made in the heat of the moment, may turn out to be the best mistake of her life.
