PART-6
"Damn these rains" Raghav said hitting his hand in anger on his steering wheel. He had tried almost every way possible to both his and Kalpana's home; but found a blocked road every time. Either the roads were flooded or broken trees were blocking the road. He was getting impatient now, especially because he realized with each passing minute Kalpi's completely wet figure for a longer time with him was a bad thing for his self-control. "What's wrong with me today?" he wondered "I am getting attracted to this fighter queen"; "But even a fighter queen can look irresistibly sexy right?" he told himself.
"You know taking your anger out on your poor car won't help" Kalpi told him as she continued playing game on her cell phone, oblivious to the effect she was having on Raghav and reason of his anger. Her only concern being: this arrogant guy sitting next to him thinks of some solution to make her reach her home soon before she catches cold.
"Oh ya?"; "Then maybe you can start using that brilliant brain of yours and help us both get rid of this unwanted situation of being together" he said, and went on to add "or maybe you are looking forward to spending the night with me alone in this car" he said, letting go of his control a bit and passed a full, warm gaze on her wet figure. She widened her eyes, gave one look to herself and then to his face, which was having a mixture of teasing smile and warmth of a different kind. The realization dawned on her that what a sight she must be to Raghav who must have by now completed his imagination owing to her stuck and somewhat transparent dress. She realized that the person sitting next to her was not only her childhood enemy but also a boy.
She tried a failed attempt at covering her bare shoulders and upper bosom with her wet stole, as Raghav laughed silently at his successful attempt to silence his honeybee'. Taking out his phone he called Gauri "Hello Mom, can you please ask the caretakers of our company guest-house to prepare rooms for Kalpi and myself?"; "Yes, all the roads of our areas are blocked so reaching home is impossible tonight"; "yes-2, I will take good take care of Kalpi" he replied in irritation to Gauri's orders to take care of Kalpi and looked at her as he disconnected the call. Kalpi frowned at this new plan, not happy with having to spent whole night alone with Raghav at "Singhania Group of Companies" guesthouse.
"I am not going anywhere with you except my home" she told him.
"Why? Fighter queen afraid already?" he chuckled as he gave the car ignition again.
"I am not afraid of you!" she retorted, not wanting him to see her weak side. He gave her a serious look for a moment, reaching out to her rope' like stole, he tried spreading it to cover her and said "Well you should be"; and focused back on the only road he thought would be clear.
She gasped at this and tried to reason with him "Raghav why don't you understand, Aai will be worrying for me. I need to be with her as soon as possible and I can't go with you to your guest house and...and..."
"And spend night with me technically right? Well let me tell you even I don't have any interest in spending one whole boring night with a "fighter girl" like you! But first, we don't have enough fuel to risk finding & going through a longer route. Second, our guest-house is nearby from here and I am hopeful that area must be having better roads. We have no other option but to wait for morning. As for Kamla Maa, Mom will inform her about your whereabouts; and once you reach the guesthouse you can call from there. Now if you are satisfied with my explanations, just shut up and let me focus on road".
He was successful in silencing her once again that night, which was not at all liked by Kalpana herself. She liked to win from him "horrible guy" she muttered under her breath, folded her hands and sat quietly like an upset child for the rest of the way.
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After directing Kalpi to choose one of the open rooms on the first floor, Raghav went on to give instructions to the cook for the dinner. She chose the first open room she found. But her bad luck when she'd just started looking for a bathrobe in the bathroom cabinets, the electricity went off. Finding her way with the help of her hands, she walked along the wall and went back to the room to look for any candle. "Maybe I can find one in that bed-side table's drawer I'd seen" once she had found the table in the dark she became confident of her way; and was about to reach the drawer when she bumped into someone, by mistake hurting that someone's foot in the process. "Ouch" he yelled; his hurt and their sudden collision surprising enough for both of them to make them fall on the bed together.
Feeling a man's arms around her she opened her mouth to scream, and had let out a small scream when the other person shut her mouth with his hand, his left arm on her bare back & shoulder. "What the hell Kalpana, why are you screaming? It's me, Raghav!"
For a moment she was dumbfounded on realizing that Raghav is in the same room as hers and she is in his arms. She had not changed yet and she could feel his bare arms touching her own wet & bare skin. He had now removed his hand from her mouth, having realized that she will keep quiet for a few moments; and will not dare to scream again. Unknowingly they were in a hug position, his right arm was on her waist now and with the other he could feel her skin. "Ra...Raghav? What are you doing in this room? How can you enter a girl's room without knocking?" she was fuming internally, confused why is she feeling so different by his touch, what was this momentary current she'd felt when she'd felt his touch; why does she feel so secure and safe in his hug. They'd hugged professionally many times, but that was different, they were too much into character and aware of audience sitting in front of them to feel or notice much. Then why suddenly these shivers, angry with herself she fought with him more. "Let go of me" she struggled to get up and slipped more into him, making him feel he was too close to smelling the fragrance of her hair in her neck; subconsciously he nuzzled in her neck & hair, whispering "Well good girls don't leave their rooms unlocked, and by the way this is my room. It is kept marked for me specifically in this guest house; so it's you who is in the wrong room, not me".
She gulped, suddenly feeling his breath in her neck and afraid of her own heart which she felt was beating faster than before. "Well in that case you should have told me about it" she managed to argue with him. Just then the electricity came back and her eyes widened even more, seeing Raghav was not wearing anything on his upper body. Maybe he too had wanted to change into dry clothes, as his clothes too had become wet to some extent. Raghav smiled, sensing Kalpana's discomfort, enjoying the touch of her soft hands on him, watching her mouth agape & widened eyes. Red colour had risen in her cheeks due to blush, making her look even more beautiful. "I didn't know my honeybee was so beautiful & that it was so easy to silence you, making you lose" he thought.
She lowered her eyes surprising him by switching to a request mode "Raghav please let me go". He didn't know what happened to him but he released her just like that "go, go and change into something dry. Maybe you'll find some bathrobe".
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Half an hour later Kalpi & Raghav were having a quiet dinner. She was wearing one of Raghav's T-shirts, which was almost knee length for her. She didn't find anything suitable to wear as the bathrobe she found was large for her small frame, revealing much more of her assets than she wanted to. So Raghav lend her one T-shirt from the spare clothes he kept for himself in that room. He brought the dinner for both of them himself in the room, aware that Kalpi would not want to come like this in front of others. She was touched by his gesture, but at the same time aware that all of a sudden fate had thrown them in an extremely odd situation. She was too young to be able to handle this; and she'd never ever been exposed like this in a personal and intimate environment before anyone else. Even though she knew Raghav since childhood & this fact did help her a bit, but still till today she'd never thought of him in any other way except that he was at first her childhood idol; and then a lifelong enemy. She was aware of the gazes Raghav was passing her side, all the time while having dinner.
Once the dinner was over and Raghav went to the common kitchen downstairs to keep utensils, she ran away to the attached balcony, needing fresh air. Soon enough she forgot everything, taking in the blowing winds, extending her hands and playing with rain water. She wasn't aware when Raghav came to stand by her side. "You enjoy rains?" he asked her, making her jump.
"Yes, very much" she answered after few seconds "I and dada used to play in rains a lot when we were small"; "Don't you like rains?"
Raghav was silent for some time, staring ahead with a serious, lost expression "No" he finally answered. "I used to, when Dad was there, not anymore". Then he felt her hand on his own, surprises of surprises Kalpana Vitthal Jadhav was being nice to him, consoling him.
"I miss my Baba too" she said, somewhere understanding his pain of missing his Dad. "My Baba just left us; at least your Dad is looking after you as an angel up there". Raghav could only stare back at her, he had no answer, but his eyes answered. A tear trickled down his right cheek, and she wiped it away. Overcome with emotions he suddenly pulled her into a tight hug, both unaware of their proximity. "You understand my pain Kalpana, you do? Right?" he asked her, needing someone's soothing presence and warmth suddenly. Forgetting their differences, Kalpana was unaware when in the need of understanding Raghav's pain; she had let him come so close to her. He was in a sort of little mess right now, leaving her confused if this was the same strong Raghav. His hands were roaming all around her back and waist in a hug, both caressing each other and she consoling him, telling him that she is with him and she understands.
He was lost in the human warmth she was providing him, enjoying a comfort and understanding of same level after years, letting go of his mask of being strong which he carried always, even with his friends. But when his need for support, warmth and attraction for her intermingled he did not know. After sometime his hug & caresses had turned into those of a different kind. He removed her face from his shoulders and made her face him. She ccouldn'tunderstand what he was doing at first, but when she did after looking into his eyes, it was too late. He had grabbed her by neck and waist & his lips were already on hers; kissing her passionately. Her resistance lasted only a few seconds and she'd let him control; letting him hug her close to him and feel her, letting him kiss her. But then the young, Kamla Maa's Kalpi awoke in her again, after uncountable minutes when she felt his lips were trying to go down her neck. Freeing herself from his strong hold somehow, she found the strength to slap him hard.
P.S.: The flashback or past incidents' part may continue longer than what I had planned! Do tell me if you have any objection f it continues for 2-3 updates more.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction using characters from the show 'Ek Mutthi Aasmaan" on 'Zee TV". The characters are owned by creators and owners of the show.
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