This is going to be a little boring and little long. So bear with me and do give it a read...I had always read such type of pieces and finally I wrote my first one....hope you guys like it.
The air is thick with rain, the sound a constant static. Only the occasional bigger drops as a variation, distinct from others. At that moment, everything was perfect. Her lips on his, her warmth radiating against his cheeks. He wanted to hold on to that moment, almost desperately so. Every detail came to him, imprinted in his memory. The way his head angled slightly down to meet hers. The way she held his hands, she had grabbed them impulsively, her palms on the back of his hands, pushing them down ever so slightly. She had lifted her feet ever so little to press her lips more intently against his. He felt the tension of refraining to breathe in as she was in fact out of breath. Time slowed as he felt every individual drip of water against his head.
It was a dark late spring night, the small alley in which they stood illuminated by several distant street lights and the light pollution of the low clouds reflecting the rest of the light of the city. The trees and shrubs of the gardens which bordered on the alley were overgrowing into it. The way the rain beat down on him following the distinct lines of the shrubs. Some parts of his coat are clearly more soaking wet than others. The leaves of the shrubs are a dark green, glistening and wet. The air smelled of flowers and an impression of the fruits that summer would produce. Though the smell of rain was overwhelmingly present, the smell of earth. It was the first rain in several weeks and with that the smell was heavier than usual, it had waited for weeks.
Deep in the night, the streets had been quiet, it was one of the very rare times to have just the sound of the rain. Suddenly a different smell hit him, her smell. A melange of the natural smell of her combined with her shampoo and shower gel, clearly synthetic, it was nonetheless a deeply pleasant smell. Not only because of the smell itself, which was nice, but because it was her smell. His mind had started to associate her with this smell in such a profound way that it represented love and passion and serenity, calm and inner peace.
Suddenly the spell was broken, she had to breathe. All the effort of holding on to the moment got released and he let go again. "I'm so happy you managed to come. I know it's late, but I need to share this with you." She pulled on his hand and they ran off. Through the alley into the street. A little cul-de-sac, they ran on, passing several cars and crossing the street. The cars wet, as were the roads. The sound of the water flowing into the gutters added to the palette of sound along with the tinkling of anklets. Accompanied by their steps as they ran. As it had been raining for an hour or so, small puddles had started to form, some they couldn't avoid.
He saw her right foot tilt slightly forward, as her left foot was lifting further, it pulled up her saree and exposed her ankles and the anklets she wore. Her toes touched the ground first, a testament to the elegance with which she moved. He saw her right foot step into a puddle, both to the left as well as the right of her right foot the water splashed away, surprised that the rest of her wasn't soaking wet. Through the running the pallu of her saree itself danced irregularly, increasingly heavy as it absorbed more rain. As her left foot started to move further forward it pulled parts of the saree tight and he saw the rest of the outline of her legs. For a moment his heart nearly stopped and he tripped. Regaining himself barely quick enough to catch himself from falling.
She had noticed his misstep and in one smooth movement stopped and turned around quickly. Her pallu and hair elegantly fanned out for a moment before, too heavy to maintain a full twirl, it fell again. The smile on her face for a moment turned to concern. He noticed her blush, he hoped from the kiss, though he suspected the running was to blame. His eyes fell on her lips, the concern contracting them for a moment. Her lips too were flushed though, it was the kiss after all would seem. He couldn't help but smile, constantly, uninterrupted. Her concern turned to a frown, "c'mon Raghav, you shouldn't trip, now let's go on, we need to hurry."
They continued through another alley, on the left a wooden fence, on the right overgrown shrubs, the path wasn't half it should have been. As he ran though the part overgrown with shrubs, the air seemed thicker than elsewhere, as though there was a dustiness to it, presumably just the pollen. The rain turned heavier and harder. They turned left and kept on running, through the street, into another cul-de-sac and down a long and dark alley. The street lights didn't reach its length, it grew darker and darker, only illuminated by the reflection off the clouds. As they exited the alley, they made a sharp right turn, sure to not fall down the small hillside of the park.
They kept on running, though the pace slowed as the cycling path went further up the hill. The view of the park widened. The sparse trees left a lot of grass in sight. Illuminated by the clouds and the occasional street light, it was one of the rare moments to see it this way. They saw glimpses of the river behind it, trees to its left and right. It was a tremendous privilege to have this kind of nature here in the urban area, though due to the hill and the way the river flowed, there wasn't that much the city planning could have done differently.
To the right they passed an endless series of gardens, each slightly unique, the plants had quickly overgrown in the warm spring air. As the park to their left quickly came to an end, so did the cycling path. Stairways were the only way forward. Though as the alleys and gardens have seen some form of management of the greenery. The stairways less so. Their pace slowed dramatically as they took one step at a time. Exhausted from the running, soaking wet from the rain, they could only imagine they would have been entirely steaming. Their breathing heavy, though hers was elegant, as she always is.
The stairs were quickly turning steeper as they turned and started to wind left and right. Though this was an unpleasant part of the stairway, it was quickly getting better. The rain started to let go, as he tried to remember how long ago they left. All that was important was just that they were together, and less so that he was soaking wet. The stairs leveled off towards the top of the hill, running into the grass field atop it. The rain had stopped entirely and they just stood there, catching their breath. Breathing heavily the only other sound now was the turning of the windmills a short distance away. The gentle churning was calming, soothing. The moon light illuminated the vast fields of grain, waving fields of gold.
She turned around suddenly and pointed towards where the river ended the hill. "Sshhh, quiet, just wait." He felt the suspense, strained and keenly aware of everything he felt. His heart pounded heavily, almost deafening. His clothes still wet and sticky. Uncomfortable he felt his eyelids stick as he blinked. Her warmth as she held him, feeling exactly where part of her touched him, warm and quickly drying his clothes and skin. His hair too sticky and out of shape. His throat dry, made worse by the way his heart kept pounding. Waiting anxiously for what was to happen.
He had lost the sense of time until he noticed how the air quickly turned from the dark of night to an increasingly light blue. The light blue rapidly grew and shifted the whole sky, where the sun would come up, the blue faded into yellow. To the left he saw the rain clouds carrying on and as though in an instant they were as though the top of the clouds was set on fire. Illuminated by the first rays of the sun. Surprised by how quickly the sun moved, the entire cloud burned a fiery orange. The yellow where the run would rise grew increasingly bright as he saw the first dot of the sun and then soon after the rest. "It's beautiful," he said.
The shrill ringing of the phone broke his reverie as Raghav found himself sitting in his office facing the window which bore the assault of heavy rainfall. Hearing his phone ring once again- he sighed and turned to look at the caller id--as a huge grin graced his face
.
“Saree ka dukaan” Raghav said as he picked up the phone
“Ghamandi Rao, where the hell are you?? Do you even realize what time it is? Amma is here getting worried about you. Even Farhad is here but there is no trace of you. What time are you coming back home? Do you need me to send a car to you? Are you alright?” Pallavi asked without a break.
“Ghamandi Rao are you even listening?” Pallavi again asked
“Are you worried about me Saree ka Dukaan?” Raghav asked Pallavi with a smile on his face as he again turned towards the window.
“Uh..ummm…” Pallavi stuttered.
“Don’t worry! I’ll see you soon Pallavi.” Raghav chuckled into his phone.
“I love you Pallavi” Raghavi finished as soon as he heard the beeping end tone. Raghav leaned back on his chair comfortably, closing his eyes--finally at peace--for being able to give a name to the unknown feelings he had been feeling for Pallavi.
Standing up, he opened the drawers taking out his car keys and walked out twirling the car keys in his finger “Mrs. Pallavi Raghav Rao, here I come!”
One thing Raghav is famous for other than his looks and wittiness is his daydreaming or hallucinations. and these daydreams play an important factor in his decisions so hence this os.
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Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
