Hello Nichians and other readers of this fic: this chapter is a direct response to seeing Adi's flirting and smirking with Aditi in the current KGGK track. I refuse to allow this nonsense! Woh-waala smirk is only reserved for Maithili, so I thought I would use this chapter to reclaim that a little bit. Hope you all like it! -arti.
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CHAPTER 17
Stubborn desireTanu and Maithili were on their way out to the same shopping bazaar they had been in the previous day. Tanu was in the driver's seat, driving the car with an impatient speed as if she couldn't wait to get there. Maithili sat beside Tanu in the passenger seat and noticed that Tanu was acting a bit strange and did not really explain why they were going back. On the other hand, Maithili was preoccupied with her own thoughts about Adi and how she was angry with him for hiding the Kajal thing from her. More than anything, it irritated her that Adi did not understand why she was angry. Maithili absentmindedly turned on the radio when a song from Jodha Akbar came on.
ā¦ek noor si noor sa ab aasmaan talak hai
nagme hi nagme hai jaagti soti fizaaon mein
husn hai saari adaaon mein
ishq hai jaise hawaaon meinAnnoyed with the inappropriateness of the soft and romantic number to her irritated mood, Maithili flipped the radio station.
"Hey, I like that songā¦ leave it on!" protested Tanu.
Maithili shot a questioning a glance at Tanu. "Since when do you like these kinds of songs?"
"Never mindā¦ now just let it play."
Maithili sighed and changed it back.
The song started playing again. Its wispy vocal chords made the soft glaze in Tanu's eyes even softer. Her mind rushed back to thoughts of Percy. She was going back to the bazaar to find him today. Her only plan was to ask the shopkeeper in the pharmacy store where he had seen Percy pick up some medicines. She felt the romantic lyrics of the song rush past her face just like a soft and fragrant breeze. The image of Percy's face when he looked so troubled made her concerned for him. And in that one moment, she had connected with him, more than just a guy, more than just bandwaalaā¦something else. She cared for him. She was not only deeply attracted to him, she also cared about how he was doing.
The soft strings in the song rushed against each other fluidly. The rhythm of the song subconsciously reminded Maithili of the way Adi's fingertips wandered around her waist and up her back when he tried to hold her in the terrace the previous night. This memory of Adi's touch grew bigger and bigger, and threatened to swallow whole her anger for him. Maithili was overpowered by goosebumps. "Damn him," she thought to herself. Maithili fought with herself to keep alive her resolve to not forgive Adi until she was convinced he was sorry. But this would be difficult to keep up for long.
The air in the car was quiet but impatient. Both the girls were totally involved with their own thoughts, barely noticing the other.
* * *"I don't believe this! This is straight out of a nightmare," yelled Tanu. A few drops of newly formed sweat dribbled down her head onto her forehead. The skin of her arms felt like they were burning under the hot mid-day sun.
Maithili motioned to Tanu from a few feet away with a thumbs down sign before she came rushing back towards Tanu and the car. "Nope, no signal," she conceded as she placed her now useless cell phone into the car's passenger seat.
Their car had broken down.
Tanu stood with a look of utter disbelief, continuing to mutter a variety of profanities under her breath. Tanu was more irritated than Maithili since her plans to find Percy were now clearly not happening. Maithili tried her best to calm Tanu down and take charge of the situation, but now with her cell phone out of commission, she too was stuck on what to do.
They had been driving in a relatively remote road and had barely seen any other vehicles pass. The closest commercial area must be at least a mile or so away. Maithili just took one look above her at the glaring sun and changed her mind about walking.
"You know, this way we'll just get a heat stroke. Let's get back into the car until the sun fades a bit," she suggested.
"No! I don't want to sit around here stuck like thisā¦ and we're getting late," came the reply from Tanu.
"Late for what, Tanu? We weren't going anywhere in particular," said Maithili, much to Tanu's annoyance.
Tanu couldn't even tell Maithili that she was in a hurry to see if she could find Percy's whereabouts. Feeling defeated, she just about climbed back into the driver's seat when she noticed a passing motorbike. Tanu ran towards it to try to wave it down to stop. The bike came to a slow stop, and Maithili tried to nervously assess the situation, hoping the rider would be a nonthreatening and helpful person.
Tanu was nearly breathless as she ran closer to the biker. "Hiā¦hi, we need someā¦ help," she managed to say as she panted from all the running and sweating. The man came to a halt as Tanu stopped to take a few breaths. She abruptly stopped breathing when he took off his helmet and looked straight into her eyes. It was Percy!
Percy cast a glance at Tanu's state with a wry smile on his face. An unquestionable smirk formed on his face. "Well, wellā¦ Tanu Mehra needs
my help, who would've thought.." he said with the smirk having grown even bigger. Tanu's eyes shot him a look of anger. In a moment, all the longing she had felt to see him seemingly dissipated. Or so she told herself. She turned her face away from him, trying her best to keep calm.
"Forget itā¦ and thanks anyway," she said quietly as she walked away.
Percy felt bad. She walked away slowly and without the overwhelming pride he usually saw in her. He quickly got off the bike and walked after her. He gently grabbed her arm and turned her towards him.
"Okay, looking at you, I have to say I feel pretty bad, so I'll help you," he said warmly. "But only if you say please...you have to say please Mr. Bandwaala," he said. The naughty smirk had returned to his face.
Tanu shook her head and tried to walk away.
"Okay, okay, I'm just kidding," he said as he pulled her back towards him. She breathlessly stared into his eyes and suddenly withdrew, feeling shy and self-conscious all of a sudden.
"Okay, hop on my bike, and I'll take you to the nearest mechanic, and you can make a call there too," he offered.
Tanu turned around to look at Maithili, trying to signal to her that she'll be back. Maithili stared across the haze with a concerned look on her face. Tanu nodded to signal to her that she knew Percy.
Moments after Tanu had gotten onto Percy's bike, he sped up so suddenly that she had to grab onto him really tight.
"Bumpy ride coming up," warned Percy as he jerked the bike yet again, making Tanu's body rush towards his back.
* * *The rush of conditioned cool air that greeted Maithili inside Adi's car was a welcome change from the blaring sun. She got inside and urgently asked about Tanu's whereabouts. Adi said that Tanu had called him to let him know that she'd arranged a mechanic to pick up the car, and that she would get a ride home with the same friend that gave her a lift. Maithili breathed a short sigh of relief.
"Good. I was getting worriedā¦," trailed off Maithili, suddenly realizing that she was still fighting with Adi.
"She assured me that she was okay," replied Adi, also noticing her sudden retreat into silence.
A moment passed.
"And I suppose you're still angry with me?" he asked.
Maithili turned her head away toward the window. Adi got his reply. He shook his head with a slight smirk emerging on his face. She sighed at this, slightly shaking her head in annoyance.
They reached home before long, and Adi parked in the shade inside the garage. Maithili tried to open her door to get out of the car, but the door was stuck. As she struggled with it, Adi got outside and reached outside her door in a seconds. He opened the door from the other side without any problems. He opened it just wide enough to fit inside, effectively trapping her in the passenger seat. Maithili gave him steely look, trying not to let her physical closeness to him faze her. He inched closer, bending his head until he could look right into her eyes.
"I'm sorryā¦. please? I love you.."
Her eyes gained intensity as she scanned his face, assessing his apology, and even though Adi's apology was sincere, somewhere he couldn't help but notice how cute she looked when she stared at him like that, as if she wasn't attracted to him this very instant, and as if she didn't want him to touch her, kiss her, and as if she didn't want to put her arms around him. This caused his smirk to slightly emerge.
"See? You're smirking again. You don't even mean it. Let me out," she ordered, agitated with him yet again.
Maithili got up to leave, but Adi closed in on her against the side of the car, with his arms reached over her and his hands on the top of the car. She was still trapped, but he was much closer to her this time.
"Maithiliā¦" he let out an intense breath. A slight shiver went down her spine, but she tried to ignore it. She could hear her heart beats, but she tried to distract herself. An unbearable attraction to Adi raged inside her, and she urgently told herself she could not forgive him. Her head was turned to the side and her eyes stayed fixed to the wall. Maithili mentally recounted the reasons why she was angry with him as Adi inched closer and closer, as if he could read her thoughts. He continued, "if I'm smirking or anything, it's just because I think you look really cute when you try to resist me."
She rolled her eyes at this. This, he found irresistible.
"You are
so stubborn, Maithili," he said as he took his hands away from the top of the car and moved it to her hair. He gently turned her head towards him, facing her stubborn eyes and cold expression. "Every time you have been stubborn like this in the past, this is what I have wanted to do to you, and it is exactly what I
should have doneā¦" Saying this, he kissed her and gently pulled her lips into his. She didn't expect this. Her lips responded against her will, giving in to the warmth and sliding wetness of his lips. The hands he had in his hair gripped her head more snugly, making knots out of her hair as he held her head close to him, close to his kiss. The air in the garage was hot, even if shielded from the sun that raged outside. It seemed as if the sheer radiance and warmth of the kiss suddenly made the garage even hotter. Maithili and Adi were both covered in sweat. Their sweating was as unstoppable and growing in intensity as their kiss. Every time she tried to pull away, he kissed her harder. And if she successfully released her lips from his, she simply hoped against her own wishes that he would continue to kiss her. Which is exactly what he did. His hands had moved away from her hair by now. He gently positioned his left hand behind her neck and moved his other hand behind her waist, with his fingers grazing her bare waist underneath her t-shirt. He felt a tiny drop of her sweat reluctantly fall onto his finger tips as he did this. This had the effect of exciting him and further energizing their kiss. Their kiss was many thingsāit was attraction, chemistry, sweetly warm, as well as angrily aggressive. Maithili fought Adi at every step in the kiss, struggling with him, as if waging war upon him with her lips. Adi simply overpowered her every time she tried to fight him, pushing himself closer to her until their bodies were glued. Her hands gently entered the barely existing gap between their bodies, and she gently pushed him away.
"Stopā¦stop, Adi," came the barely audible words. Now withdrawn from her lips, he cast a desirous glance at her. Her lips were reddened and slightly swollen, and her hair was dishevelled. He sighed as he said, "seeā¦this is why you shouldn't try to resist me, it doesn't work anyway." She ignored his as she absently ran her fingers through her hair, trying to straighten herself up, though she was still spinning from the effect of his kiss. She didn't look at him, she knew he'd be smirking anyway. That irritating, irritatingā¦cute smirk of his. She simply headed towards the door to the house without saying a word. And Adi followed behind her and doubtlessā¦ the smirk had returned.
Edited by --arti-- - 15 years ago
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