Chapter 3
On impulse, giving into his earlier compunction, he stuck one leg out of the moving train while holding onto the handles; it gave him no pleasure other than making him feel like he was still a fifteen year old who thought that masochistic pleasures were a punishment of its own. It was not, he had discovered long ago. Any injury or death to him would hurt exactly two people in this world, and they both needed him so very much.
Something hit him suddenly, making him stumble and lose his balance. Just when he thought he would fall over, he managed to grab onto the handle that had momentarily loosened from his grip once more, but he wasn't sure if that alone would have helped if someone hadn't grabbed onto his other hand to pull him back in.
"I am sorry." She said quickly. "I didn't mean for that to happen."
Indeed not, he was sure, as he quickly looked back to see Imli standing there laughing as if she hadn't almost thrown him off the train. In fact, she looked perfectly satisfied, as if she had single-handedly made this union possible. He wished that she wouldn't take such an interest in… facilitating… his happiness.
With some nauseating sentiments about giving privacy to the bride and groom, Imli walked back into the compartment, closing the partition behind her and leaving him with his new bride.
"Thank you…. For pulling me back in." He told her when the silence lengthened past a minute.
"It's alright. I am happy to return the favor." She replied then and he was momentarily confused until he remembered which event she referred to.
He was surprised at her answer for some reason, but did not show it or respond with anything other than a nod as he looked back out of the train.
She stood by his side for a few more minutes and when she thought that the silence and the awkwardness had stretched the bounds of tolerance, quietly said, "I will go back in and leave you to your privacy."
"No, it's alright." He said quickly, not wanting to be rude, although what she suggested was exactly what he wished.
She watched at his face intently and he wanted to look away. They were both so still in that moment that when the train jerked suddenly just as another train passed on the other side, they both startled. She grabbed onto him unconsciously and he clutched her arms with the same force. It was but a moment of disconcertment… but they were both unfortunate in the number of people who wished for and spied for signs of marital bliss, because in that exact moment, he saw his sister Sweety open the partition and seeing them in thus a state, retreat back with a teasing laugh.
His bride looked up suddenly and noticing how she was clutching onto him, quickly let go. Without another word, she went back inside the compartment, leaving him to his solitude once more.
***
Vidya walked into the first cabin next to her and saw that someone had left her suitcase there. She could hear the singing and dancing from the other cabins where many of her groom's relatives were engaged in the celebrations of this wedding. She wondered why no one noticed that the groom was not a happy one. In fact, she had never seen such sorrow in any man's eyes as much as in his in those few moments when she had caught him unaware after she had pulled him in from falling out of the train.
She didn't know what to make of any of it and could not rid the expression on his face from her mind's eye as she unpacked her suitcase to look for something a bit airier to wear in the oppressive heat. She parted the curtains the blocked the cabin and looked both ways to make sure that no one was coming this way. The entire compartment was taken up by the wedding party, so she knew at least that no others were bound to intrude on her. When she was convinced that she was alone for the moment, she closed the windows and grabbed a salwaar kameez out of her suitcase that was more agreeable with the weather. She made it through putting on the salwaar and had just shrugged the kameez over her head and had grabbed onto the zipper on the back when she felt a sudden gust of wind rush over her back. She gasped and turned around to see him standing there, his eyes wide in surprise.
"Oh, I am sorry. I didn't realize you were here. I was going to change myself." He said immediately, backing out just as she grabbed her dupatta and turned around. He snapped the curtain close behind him and then she noticed that there was indeed a change of clothes waiting for him on the seat.
She took a deep breath as she zipped up her kameez and covered herself with her dupatta before opening the curtain herself. He was nowhere to be seen. It was a relief to her… until she was suddenly struck with the thought that they would have to share a room together… tonight…
She opened the partition once more, thinking that he was likely standing by his post again at the door. But she did not find him there. She went back into the compartment and thought that he may find it more comfortable if she removed her things from his cabin and went back to open the curtains once more. It was a good thing that train's noise drowned out the rustle of the curtain just as she opened it a peep... Because he was inside and had already taken off his shirt. She had been right… his body was indeed the result of hours of effort with a wide range of exercise machines… but that is not what drew her notice now… it was the long dark and wide scar that ran the length of his otherwise smooth back. She couldn't look away as she stared at it, wondering how any person could acquire something so monstrous in anything short of battle.
Someone startled her from behind suddenly and she turned around and fell back when she saw Aditya's face so close to hers. Luckily… or unluckily – as he or at the very least his brother, must now know that she had been spying – the abject victim of her voyeurism was there to catch her before her fall was complete.
Aditya looked at both of them in surprise and then laughed in a similar manner to that of Imli and Sweety… as if this was all part of some pre-mating ritual… And suddenly she wished that both she and Gaurav had fallen off the train when Imli had pushed them earlier.
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Edited by sridevi27 - 14 years ago
