<font color="#990000" size="3" face="Comic Sans MS, Times, serif">Hello dearies...sorry for so much delay in updating...as I had told you these days I get trouble in finding the inspiration in writing spontaneously for Rishbala...so I tried to boost some RM back to my memory...and you will not believe what I did in my desperation...I looked for the 2012 golden episodes, which are not uploaded in Colors youtube channel 😡...then I chanced upon few of them in Telugu and Tamil (trust me I do not understand a single word!! 😕)...but that did not stop me from enjoying every scene of DVD together...they were so lovely...it was a complete turn on to see them bicker and challenge each other and put the screen on fire 😉😆...But now I have some ideas bubbling in my head...but I will finish this story first before starting a new one as I know how incapable I am in juggling two different concepts in my head simultaneously...
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<font color="#990000" size="3" face="Comic Sans MS, Times, serif">Another help I need from my readers. I have completely forgotten how to restrict my posts to the forum members only. Please help me 😳</font>
<font color="#990000" size="3" face="Comic Sans MS, Times, serif">Ok, enough of my bakbak...enjoy the next chapter...</font>
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Chap5: Call of love
Madhu had fallen asleep with her head resting on Rishabh's chest. He could hear her soft snoring as her chest moved slightly up and down with her even breathing. It was such a heavenly feel for Rishabh that he did not want to wake her up from the peaceful slumber, but he could see dark clouds gathering at farthest end on the sky. It would surely start raining in another one hour and they could get stranded in the island for the whole night. Rishabh smiled at the thought of spending the night with Madhu on this island, but his logical part of the brain opined that it would be far more dangerous than fun to be stuck in a cyclone in an uninhabited atoll at the middle of the sea. He shook her shoulders lightly and got a soft moan as an answer.
Please don't tempt me anymore, Madhu.
"Madhu, wake up. It is getting late. Your friends must be looking for you."
"Umm?" replied Madhu, trying to open her eyes with great difficulty.
"You must be hungry as well, because I am, very much," Rishabh tried to reason.
On hearing that Madhu woke up right away and looked around herself.
"I am sorry, it was so cosy and peaceful that I dozed off. Let's go back."
Saying that Madhu stood up and started walking to the boat without looking back. Rishabh felt a slight pang as he realised that their moments together were at an end now, and Madhu was out of her reverie already. She was not ready to look in his eyes any more. He stood up as well and followed her in silence.
The boat ride back to the hotel was quiet, as Madhu looked away from Rishabh all the time and did not want to start any conversation. Her mind was in topsy-turvy. She did not know what made her do the things she did back at the atoll. How could she make herself get carried away by a mere physical attraction to this guy whom she had known for only a day!
I do not want to give you any wrong signal, Rishabh. We have to forget what happened back there. I cannot make this life complicated anymore...
She had this nagging feeling that two eyes were boring into her all the way to the shore. But she did not have the courage to meet them with her own eyes. It might reflect something which she would regret later. As the boat touched the pier, she jumped out of it without even looking back and murmured a quick "thank you", before heading towards her bungalow.
Rishabh stood stock-still in the boat several minutes even after Madhu's form vanished at the corner of the restaurant close to the pier. His hands gripped the steering so firmly that the knuckles were white without blood. He tried hard to calm his pacing nerves but all in vain. He had no idea about what was bothering him more. Was it his stupidity and effrontery in front of Madhu, the knowledge that what happened between them was inconsequential even if he cherished every moment of it OR the fact that Madhu had clearly expressed her rejection in her silence and nonchalance? What was he expecting her to do when she woke up? That she would jump in joy and embrace him as her love of life?
He took a deep breath and calmed his nerves a little before getting off the boat and heading to his bungalow.
Fortunately for Madhu, her friends came back few minutes later than her. So she did not bother to tell them about her "adventure" after the spa hour. She knew it would be difficult to pretend in front of them while speaking about her boat ride and atoll visit without giving away the anxiety in her expressions. To her relief, the girls were super-excited about their water activities and spoke volumes about their adventures.
The rain started soon after, accompanied with very strong winds. All the girls were tired, so they did not mind taking a long nap after their meal and wait for the rain to stop before evening. But it seemed unlikely even at 7 in the evening, as the heavy downpour continued without any pause.
"Oh no, it is our last evening here and we are going to be stuck indoors doing nothing," whined Preeti.
"Seriously! I am sure they have closed the shack by the beach as well in this storm," complained Trishna.
"Hey babes, I got a text from Danny saying we can join them at their bungalow for some drinks, food and music. What say?" said Raika excitedly.
There was a unison of "yes" from Trishna and Preeti and "no" from Madhu, and all the girls turned to Madhu with disbelief and asked, "Why not?"
"I...I don't know. I mean we can do that here as well. And then it is raining outside, how are we going to reach their bungalow without getting drenched?" Madhu tried to reason.
"Stop being such a bore Madhu! Of course Danny will come and pick us up on a buggy," replied Raika.
Madhu resigned, as she did not want the girls to suspect anything, and went ahead with them to the boys' bungalow.
"What happened to the lights?" asked Trishna on entering the bungalow.
"The transformer for this phase of the property got busted in the storm, so here we are, back to basics," replied Krish smilingly while lighting the candles around the room.
"Oooh, that is sooo romantic," exclaimed Raika as she took her seat on a bean bag on the floor.
The boys had prepared well for their guests. There was a spread of delectable food and drinks in the centre. Madhu stepped in with trepidation and looked around hesitantly for Rishabh, and to her relief he was not in the room. She took a seat beside Trishna and started nibbling on the snacks.
They started casually conversing about their time in the island, then it gradually moved to different topics, from their college days' fun to their holiday adventures. By the end of the first hour Madhu was feeling much relaxed and opened up to the amusing conversation.
"Hey, I did not notice before, but where is Rishabh? You said there is going to be food, drinks AND music, didn't you?" enquired Trishna suddenly.
Madhu looked at her tensely and could feel her pace of pulse going up.
"That humbug is in his room. I tried to call him but he said he is tired," replied Jimmy with a shrug.
Madhu did not know that she was holding her breath until then, and sighed a breath of relief.
Before anyone else opened mouth to say anything, the door of the room was opened with a loud bang against the wall behind. Everyone turned to see Rishabh standing there with his head tilted slightly to the right and a guitar in his hand.
"I heard people were missing me here, eh?"
"Speak of the devil and the devil appears," interjected Krish.
"Devil? That I can be if you wish," drawled Rishabh and flashed a wide smile to Trishna, Raika and Preeti who were drooling at him and his sexy voice.
"Nautanki saala," said Krish with a crooked smile.
Rishabh could see Madhu from the corner of his eyes looking at him with eyes wide open, but did not respond to her in any way. Madhu could feel blood rising on her cheeks as she saw him walking leisurely opposite to her and taking the empty bean bag to sit. He settled down with his guitar and looked at her friends with a gleam in his eyes, and she noticed that he was deliberately avoiding her eyes. A slight anger mixed with her trepidation made her fidget on her seat and look anywhere but at Rishabh.
"So what did these fools tell about me all this while?" asked Rishabh pointing to his friends.
"Not much, only the ones where you had few oops' moments during ragging time," replied Raika with a sly smile.
"Ahaan. Now let me enlighten you lovely girls with some of their oops' moments," replied Rishabh with a wicked smile and recalled some rib-tickling incidents from their college days.
The girls were almost rolling on the floor with Rishabh's animated story-telling. Even Madhu could not help but laugh out loud seeing Rishabh's friends' vehement protests against his portrayals.
"Enough Rishabh, I cannot take this anymore. Please stop it, my stomach's hurting now," requested Trishna as she wiped away tears from her eyes.
Madhu was breathing heavily with her bout of laughter when she felt Rishabh's unwavering gaze on her. His smile did not reach his eyes. They looked into her, looking for answers she did not want to divulge.
"Rishabh please sing a song now. Enough of this foolery," spoke Preeti and hearing her Rishabh looked away from Madhu to her relief.
"Your wish is my command, ma'am," replied Risabh with a wry smile and picked up his guitar.
He started strumming the strings softly as the whole room quietened at an expectant silence.
Ishq bulaava jaane kab aave
Ishq bulaava aave jab aave
Main ta kol tere raina...main ta kol tere raina
Main ta baitha kol tere...
Rishabh looked up to see Madhu staring at him and he could not help a slight smile on his face as he continued singing.
Tennu takda ravaa..baaton pe teri hasda ravaa..
Pagal main khud nu bananda ravaa
Tu hasdi rave main hasanda ravaa
Tennu takda ravaa..
Madhu closed her eyes as she could not take his gaze anymore. But as soon as she closed her eyes the moments of their kiss filled her mind. As if she could still feel his lips coaxing her, and his fingers entangled in her hair. She opened her eyes with a start and felt blood creeping up her cheeks.
Ajeeb ranga di tu hai badi
Lagein alag hi jahaan di
It seemed all the conversations she had with Rishabh from the morning were coming back in the words of his song.
Ey ta nazaraan nazaraan di gal ve
Tu vi sunle zaraa
Main ta kol tere raina...main ta kol tere raina
Main ta rehna kol tere..
Tennu takda ravaa..baaton pe teri hasda ravaa..
Pagal main khud nu bananda ravaa
Tu hasdi rave main hasanda ravaa
Tennu takda ravaa..
Everyone in the room were overjoyed by the beautiful rendition of the song.
"Wow Rishabh, you are god gifted," exclaimed Trishna.
"Thanks Trishna ma'am. I hope someday we will establish ourselves as a music band outside Maldives."
"Of course you will. Do one thing, come to Madhu's wedding in two weeks. We can then introduce you to the people who can help you with getting the right breakthrough. Madhu will be glad to invite you all, isn't it Madhu?" suggested Raika and looked to Madhu.
Madhu was totally at a loss of words and fumbled, "Uhmm...yes sure. I will be very pleased to see you all at my wedding."
"Sorry ma'am. I will not be able to come to any wedding. I have some prior engagements that time," replied Rishabh with a tone tad harsher.
"What engagements do you have that time, eh?" asked Danny.
"Something personal," replied Rishabh and stood up.
"It's getting late Trishna. We have an early morning flight tomorrow," reminded Madhu and started walking to the door.
"Oh no! We wish we had few more days here," whined Preeti and Raika.
"Anyway, I must thank you guys for the wonderful time we had here. I will inform Sultan and urge him to help you whichever way he can," said Trishna earnestly.
"Thanks ma'am. Have a safe flight back home," replied all the guys together.
The rain had stopped by that time and the clouds were clearing away. The almost full moon tried to peak behind the clouds and soft shadows of the swaying palm trees wiped the ground left and right.
Madhu said a quick "thank you" to the guys and headed to the buggy and climbed on the passenger seat in front. She just wanted to go back to her room and stop thinking about Rishabh altogether. It was getting on her nerves now. She did not want to be jittery with her friends or the boys who had made this weekend so special for her. And especially Rishabh, he was too young to go through such pain which was inevitable, their separation was inevitable.
As the girls all rode on the buggy, Rishabh walked to it and climbed on the driver's seat. Madhu was looking at the sea so she did not realise at first. On hearing the sound of the engine starting she looked up to see Rishabh on the steering, looking straight ahead with a stern face.
Why don't you stay away from me?
The girls were chattering at the back while Rishabh and Madhu sat in silence, waiting for the ride to come to an end. The wind ruffled Madhu's curly hair all over her face as she struggled to bring it behind on a loose knot behind. Rishabh's left hand went up subconsciously to hold an unruly tuft of hair and tuck it back of Madhu's ear. That slight touch was enough to bring back all the sensations that had made them lose themselves to each other in the morning. Madhu looked at Rishabh and then back at her friends with a scandalised expression, but thankfully the girls at the back had not noticed anything in the dark.
"I am sorry," whispered Rishabh as he stopped the buggy in front of the bungalow.
"It's ok. Thanks for the ride," murmured Madhu and stepped down.
"Thank you so much hero," exclaimed Raika and gave him a hug.
"Pleasure's all mine," replied Rishabh with a wide smile.
"When is your flight tomorrow?"
"Five thirty from here. And then seven from the airport."
"Hmm, have a safe flight," replied Rishabh before giving a quick glance to Madhu and driving away.
Next morning all the girls dragged their suitcases to the small runway of the island and waited for the seaplane to commence boarding. Madhu was very quiet, unlike her friends who were complaining about the early hour waking up, going back to their routine life and so on. She did not know why she was expecting Rishabh to suddenly turn up for seeing her off for the last time. Maybe because he had asked for their flight timing last night? But why would he come? Wasn't that too much to expect? She was having all these conflicting ideas in her mind when she heard Trishna calling her name and asking to board the plane quickly.
Madhu looked around her one last time and with a sigh started walking to the waiting flight. Unknown to her, a small tear formed at the corner of her eyes, ready to spill over any moment.
Chap 6:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/133499902Edited by mimibm - 9 years ago
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
