FF In Her Majesty's Secret Service COMPLETED 2/9 pg 79 (R18) - Page 22

Little Italy, the restaurant Raman took Ishita to, was situated mere minutes away from the cinema complex that they were to go to later that night.

Raman had called from the car to order. He had rattled off the names of his favourite dishes, but had made sure that he confirmed that everything was to be pure vegetarian.

"Raman, it's okay" Ishita had insisted, touched once again by his thoughtfulness. "Aap apne liye chicken order kijiye na."

"No, jaan" he had responded firmly. "Yeh waqt tumhare liye hai, aur subkuch tumhare pasand ka hi hoga."

"You take such good care of me Raman" Ishita had told him blinking back tears. "Mein ne to kuch bhi nahi kiya aap ke liye".

He said nothing then, concentrating on negotiating the traffic at the turn off, before pulling up in front of the restaurant. He turned off the engine, and turned to her, taking both of her hands in his.

"Don't ever say that Ishita" His deep voice was heavy with emotion. "Tum ne mere liye jo kiya hai... Tum ne mujhe jo diya hai... You saved me Ishita. Jee raha tha, par zinda nahi tha. Ek nakaam jasbaat, jise mein mohabbat samajtha tha, usi nakaami ko mein ne apni zindagi ki maqsad bana li thi. You taught me how to live again, you showed me how to love. I re-discovered my love for my daughter because of you, I found the courage to be a real father to my son because of you, Ishita. What you have given me I can neither put in words nor repay, but I am going to spend my whole life trying to."

The tears Ishita had been trying to blink back coursed down her cheeks.

"Areh yaar, itni buri lagi meri baat" Raman leaned forward and gently kissed her cheeks, drinking in her salty tears. "Ye lo" he continued, handing her his handkerchief "Wipe your tears. Baat baat par roti rehti ho. Chalo dinner karte hai, movie bhi to jaana hai na?"

They had walked into the restaurant hand in hand, their fingers entwined.

The matre d' had greeted Raman effusively, and had shown them to a secluded booth.

Raman waited till Ishita was seated before sitting opposite her retaking her hands in his as soon as he was seated. He leaned forward in his chair, his knees touching hers, and lifted her hands to his lips. The candles on the table cast a dappled light on Ishita's face, mingling with the glow that his presence and his kisses had already stamped on her visage.

"Beautiful" he whispered, waving away the Sommelier who had come to take their drinks order.

He had continued to shower attention on her throughout their meal, making sure she was served first, feeding her choice morsels from his plate. He kept his free hand on hers throughout, his fingers caressing hers, making her ache for him with a deep and fierce desire which surprised, disturbed and reassured her at the same time. They talked about his project, his plans for the future and about her work. She lost herself time and again in his eyes, impressed by his devotion to his work and his fierce intelligence. She told him hesitatingly about her work, and was gratified to see the pride in his eyes as she told him of an award she had been nominated for.

It was almost 7.30 by the time they left Little Italy, negotiating the 50 metres or so to the cinema. His arm draped protectively around her shoulders, they walked into the cinema complex.

It was after 7.00 pm by the time Mihika and Vandita arrived at Ishita's clinic.

"Akka, you wait in the taxi, I"ll just go and check if Ishu akka is free now" Mihika rushed into the clinic.

Sarika was seated at reception, and to Mihika's consternation, she saw that Romi was leaning on the reception desk, chatting with Sarika.

Ignoring Romi, Mihika walked up to the desk and spoke to Sarika. "Kya Ishita akka ka surgery finish ho gaya, Sarika?"

"Ishita ma'am?" Sarika asked in surprise. "But she is not here. Dr Batra hai surgery mein, but Ishita ma'am to 4.00 clock hi ghar chali gayi"

Mihika did not want Romi to see her shock. "I must've made a mistake, Sarika. I thought she was here. Mein ghar ja kar miloongi."

Mihika walked back to the taxi in a daze. "Reading Cinema complex, Bhaiya" she said to the taxi driver.

"What happened Mihu ?" Vandita asked. "Is Ishu still busy?"

Mihika took a deep breath. "Akka" she began, and then told the entire story to Vandita. How she and Mihir had tried to patch up Ishita and Raman by helping him organise a weekend away with Ishita, how they had returned from the weekend seemingly good friends again, but with no hint of any romance between them. "And now, akka," Mihika hesitated.

"Now what Mihu? Kya hua?" Vandita urged her on.

So Mihika told Vandita about the conversation she had overheard the previous night, how amma had told her Ishita had been ordering gifts for a Punjabi festival. "But there is no festival akka. And who was Ishu akka calling her secret lover?"

"Mihika" Vandita tried to reason with her young cousin. "How can you think that about Ishu? Ishu aisa kabhi nahi karegi. Areh, Subbu ke baad to usne kisi ko dekha bhi nahi kabhi. You know how much she loved Subbu. And then she married Raman. Then who else can be in the picture ?"

"But akka, that's what I am worried about. What if it's Subbu? You know akka and Jiju don't love each other. It must be so difficult for Ishu akka to be in a loveless marriage. What if she has turned back to Subbu?"

"No, no, that can't be true. Subbu is in Chennai, and Ishu would never..." Vandita's voice trailed off.

"For anyone else, I agree akka, Ishu akka would never ever in a million years do anything wrong. But for Subbu? She adored him akka, and you're wrong, Subbu isn't in Chennai. I saw him here a few days ago. He was in the Shahi Palace having lunch. We went there for a business lunch and I saw him." Mihika said sadly

"But Bala hasn't told me anything" Vandita countered. "Mihu, what will we do?"

"Let's think akka, phir Ishu akka se baat karte hai. Look, we've arrived. Let's go watch this movie, we are very late. And let's get our thoughts in order. We have some serious thinking to do" The two worried cousins walked into the cinema complex.

Half an hour before, Ishita had stood by as Raman spoke to the Manager at the entrance to the Premier Theatre, a small luxury cinema within the huge Reading Cinema complex.

"I know sir, Bhalla sir" the man was perspiring profusely as he spoke. "Aap ne saara theatre book kiya tha, lekin yeh teen tickets to do din pehle hi bech diya tha. Baaki saare bookings to cancel kar di humne, but yeh Madam to maan hi nahi rahi thi. Hamara booking clerk usse convince nahi kar paya. Very dangerous Sir."

"I don't care" RKB was at his arrogant best. "I booked the entire theatre for my wife and I don't want anyone else there, you understand".

"Raman" Ishita tried to placate him. "It's ok, na. sirf teen aur log hai, they won't disturb us. Chalo na please".

Raman looked at his wife and his scowl dissolved. "They better not disturb us" he drawled with meaning, enjoying the blush that reddened her face.

Turning to the Manager, he snapped "Try and get rid of them, and if they insist, then make sure they sit far away from us. And start the movie as soon as we sit down. Aur haan, send us a glass of wine and an orange juice".

Raman took Ishita's hand and they walked into the theatre.

The actual theatre was small, with only 40 seats, arranged in 5 rows of seating, with the 8 seats in each row divided into 4 pairs. The seats were luxurious sofas, with a moveable armrest between each pair of seats. Each seat had a footrest which could be brought up by a lever on the side, and there were menus on the armrests, from which food and drink could be ordered. The screen was surprisingly large for such a small room though, and dominated the space.

Raman chose the centre seats in the last row, settling Ishita down comfortably before taking his own seat An usherette followed them in with the drinks Raman had ordered, and Raman placed both drinks on the side armrest, pulling up the armrest between their seats, so that they could sit close together, their bodies touching. He put his arm around Ishita pulling her closer, as the lights were dimmed and the screen lit up. The usherette went out closing the doors softly. The movie began.

Ishita nestled her head comfortably on Raman's shoulder, as the movie credits flashed on the screen. He tightened his arm around her sipping slowly from his glass of wine. He felt at peace, all the cares of the world forgotten. Whenever Ishita was in his arms, he always felt as though he had won the worlds biggest lottery, as though he was an emperor, invincible, unbeatable. He did not even pretend to be watching the movie, watching his Ishita's face instead as she looked at the screen. He smiled at her smiles, gushes of love threatening to overpower him as he watched her wrinkle her brow in concentration, her little involuntary exclamations as the picture unfolded causing him to chuckle.

"What?" she pouted, turning to look at him. "Mujhe kyon dekh rahe ho, picture dekho na."

"Mein kyon dekhoon, meri heroine to yahaan hai na." He smiled at her, before bending his head to capture her lips with his in a fleeting kiss.

"Raman" she protested. " Yeh kya kar rahe ho. Dekhne do mujhe."

"Thik hai" he whispered in her ear. " I won't block your eyes"

He moved his hand from her waist to her back, slowly caressing her, sliding his hand towards her chest, as he bent his head further down, raining kisses on her neck.

"Raman..." Ishita squirmed in her seat. The effect he had on her was beyond her control. She wished that they were somewhere else, somewhere more private, so she could give in to the craven desires which threatened to turn her brain into mush and her body into his playground.

A song started to play on the screen, and the loud din, coupled with the knowledge that they were alone in the theatre emboldened her. Ishita captured Raman's wandering hand with hers, placing it firmly on her chest, then gasping as he squeezed her softness, his fingers caressing her through the fabric of her blouse, then slipping underneath her blouse and undergarment to slowly stroke her skin.

Her response was instantaneous, her nipples hardening under his touch, her breath turning ragged. He put his free hand under her chin, capturing her lips with his, even as he continued to stroke her softness, his hands squeezing while his fingers traced circles around her aureole. Her gasps were drowned by his kiss, his tongue deep inside her mouth, his lips grinding on hers.

" I'm sorry jaan" he suddenly pulled away, his hands stilled. " I don't know what comes over me. I just can't seem to stop..."

Ishita was breathing heavily, as she watched him. "Why are you sorry hun?" Her shyness had disappeared, smashed to pieces under the onslaught of his lips and hands. " I'm not."

"Ishita..." His lips curved slowly into a wicked grin and he pulled her close again, re-capturing her lips under the convenient cover of darkness.

Sardi khasi na malaria hua.

Main gaya yaar mujhko.

Loveria hua