FF She's Like The Wind, Chapter 12, p109, 11th Feb - Page 36

His fondness in Gopi was always vivid to others than it was to Gopi. His flirtatious behaviour had sharply titled his character with vanity, and it was right to do so, as his remarkably handsome features supported him whole heartedly. He wasn't a dedicated lover type romantic, he was more the player type, which liked to browse the field, easy targets didn't amuse him, although they were good pass time, and however, the kettle of fish that his nature had fancied was the more difficult reserved type. It was safe to say that he was a man of half decent character at the very least, but the more appropriate scenario to match his personality would surely be that his age had allowed him to be gifted with mastering the art of infatuation.

Staying with his Uncle, he found Gopi to be a riddle, she wasn't acquainted with high end knowledge, but filled that void with other vast knowledge that girls her age would not even be fond of wanting to know. She was very shy and reserved, he knew she never understood his provocative nature, but he seemed to like it that way; sort of like window shopping; harmless looking but no touching.

'You say that every year Nikhil' complained Rashi, 'even though this year my outfit is more expensive than Gopi's and the fact that mine is newer.'

'Well what can I say, every year I see Gopi, her beauty seems to mysteriously be inclining endlessly.'

'I better stop you right there Nikhil' Rashi warned, 'Gopi is a near-enough a married woman now.'

'Is that so,' he charmed, 'so who am I up against, I wonder.'

'Stop it Nikhil Ji, jokes should be kept to a certain extent,' said Gopi politely, 'Rashi Behen I think we should head inside now, don't you think' and turning to Nikhil, 'goodbye Nikhil Ji.'

'You mean we'll meet shortly, don't you?' He corrected.

Gopi shook her head at him, he was impossible, always altering every conversation to his own pace, taking it in whichever direction he pleased. Gopi always found herself running away from him, as he would always convince her to do things against her will, but never being able to say no.

The decoration of the tent was carried out lavishly, the whole atmosphere adorned by the cheerful laughs, and bodies dressed with their newly bought Chaniya Choli's, Sari's, Suit's and Sherwani's.

It was done beautifully, the eye of the beholder could be left in confusion of what required most praising. Lights trailed from the center of the roof in an outward circle; bordering the whole of the tent, spreading it's light in every corner.

A song played with strong drum beats, making the crowd energetic. Small groups of people dancing in their own formed circles were now flowering out to create a bigger circle, and a smaller one on the inside, which travelled in the opposite direction to the outer circle of people.

( Chand Aaya Hai - Dil Hi Dil Mein, Please play this song to accompany you in the background during the next few paragraphs, thank you )

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6U1wH9mS1k[/YOUTUBE]

Ahem had come away from the dandiya to get a rest, and see if he could spot Gopi anywhere. Turning a deliberate blind eye to ignore Anita waving at him from the outer circle to come back and join them in the dance, Ahem wondered what could be taking her so long. The clacking of the dandiya sticks seemed to be growing louder as he tried hard to look through the gaps of the clashing sticks in the air between him and the entrance. The function was going well, everyone was enjoying themselves; except for him. He couldn't understand why, everything he desired was right there in front of him, as he located Anita and wondered why she failed to fill that emptiness inside of him, when that was all he'd thought he wanted.

Even Hetal and Kokila had joined in by now, things were going well so far, but still no sign of Gopi. Perhaps she hadn't arrived yet; or worse yet, maybe she decided not to come because of that issue with the clothes. But Urmila and Rashi were here already, even Jigar had given up the hope of waiting for Gopi, who was into the dandiya too.

'Did you see Gopi today?' a voice said behind him, 'I mean wow...she looks amazing.' It belonged to a not too a bad looking guy, Ahem admitted but who was he, and how did he know Gopi.

'Excuse me...' Ahem found himself saying without bothering to hear more, 'have you seen Gopi, ...I mean is she here?' He asked with stern authority.

'Yeah sure Gopi's here, but I'm sorry you are...?' Trailed the voice of the enemy.

'I'm her hus... er... I mean I'm er Ahem Modi' He replied covering his mistakes and putting his hand forward for a hand shake.

'Oh I see, so you're Mr. Modi, Gopi's fianc?'

'Er, well...' Ahem stumbled.

'I hate to say that you make a good pair.' Said Nikhil as he left from there, 'you'll find her over by the entrance.'

Ahem went looking for her and finally spotted her, giving his eyes the first sensation of satisfaction since he'd arrived.

She looked, magnificent, pausing to take a moment to admire her simplicity, he caught his breath. As the flute began to play, he could feel himself drift apart from everyone else, as his focus drew into her only. Everything else around him slipped away into a blur, and the only person that stood before his eyes was Gopi. He could feel the emotions slowing down the tempo of the song playing behind him, before his lips curved into a content smile.

Walking over to her slowly, he was trying to keep Gopi's gaze in place to meet his, but her eyes had shied away from him. His hand went up to her face, raising her chin by a delicate lift of his finger, resulting in her taking two short runs away from him. Her dupatta being stuck in his watch, had put a stop on her to escape him. While she attempted to release herself, Ahem took this opportunity to praise her beauty. He put a soft hand behind her hair moving it in the direction of the moon, and pointing to it with his other hand, insulting it with his eyes, and looking back at her and pointing to her face and making an 'ace' with his thumb and finger, as he stepped away while letting his fingers run through the length of her thick locks, and turning her back to him and placing the pallu over her head.

Gopi spoilt by flattery hid her face in her palms, which Ahem took the pleasure of removing and shook his head slowly; not allowing her to hide herself from him. She tried to hide her face in his chest, but he stopped her raising her face with his palms over her cheeks and planting a tender kiss on her forehead, and then granting her the choice to bury her face in his neck, while his hands hugged her waist, swaying her to the music.

The loud drum beat had broken Ahem's trance, and made him realise that he'd been lost in his wild imagination, and shocked at what he'd just seen. The feeling running through him was of regret. Regret from the fact that it hadn't been true, it was just a glimpse of his imagination, but it had felt so real, he looked up for a second, and wondered silently 'what are you doing to me Kahna Ji?' His thoughts shouted without voice.

He walked up to her; for real this time, and greeted her, she was equally pleased to see him, but something told him that he was more pleased to see her than she was him, especially the fact that she hadn't wore that outfit. 'Gopi you look lovely' he said without giving extra thought. 'Thank you Ahem Ji' she replied.

'I take it you wore these clothes because of the confusion with the clothes,' he admitted hesitantly. 'Yes Ahem Ji, I do hope you forgive me, I do not mean to insult your family by not wearing the dress, but it's just that the style is much too revealing for, and I couldn't walk freely...'

'No, no...please don't apologise Gopi. Believe me I am so glad right now that you didn't wear that dress' he said simultaneously.

'Ji?' Said Gopi, wondering what his relief was regarding.

'I mean, that er, I just saw how shy you were at the store, and I realised that you wouldn't feel very comfortable wearing such clothes, and obviously I was concerned because I knew that er, you er... you might feel obliged..' he added like he won a battle finding the right word, '...to wearing it simply because Kaki and Mom had told you to wear whatever Jigar buys for you.' He finished taking deep breath, wondering how he'd made all that up.

Gopi released a small composed laugh, 'it's so weird' said Gopi.

'What is?'

'It's just that you seem to understand me without me having to tell you anything,' she stopped walking and in reply so did Ahem, they turned to face each other, 'Anita ji is very lucky to have you Ahem Ji.'

'Why do you think such a thing?' Ahem asked surprised.

'It's simple, you're such a good man, you're very understanding, and you're willing to put others first and make time for them before yourself. Have you always been like this?' She asked.

Good question thought Ahem, have I really always been like this, the funny thing was the person who probably knew better; was the very person who had felt the need to ask him such a thing. 'Er, you know I'm not actually sure' he answered, 'shall we have a round of dandiya?'

'Yes, let's, I would like that very much.'

Although things looked like they were clear with Gopi while he was with her, they were far from it. He looked at Anita down the line enjoying herself, and then looked over to Gopi who had a sweet smile printed over her face like it was patented to her. It was strange as when he looked at Anita, he couldn't wait to look away, and when he looked at Gopi he didn't know how long he'd been staring at her.

As he saw the circle switch directions, with the inner circle going clockwise, and the outer anti-clockwise, he smoothly occupied a moment or two in rolling his sleeves, and gradually slipped into the opposite circle, knowing he'd be able to pair himself with Gopi for a few minutes, as she was headed in his direction.

'Are you having fun?' Ahem shouted over to Gopi while keeping up with the routine of the sticks.

'Yes Ahem Ji, I am as a matter of fact, I like it here very much.' She said as she moved along, but still smiling at Ahem Ji. 'Ouch' She let out. Due to her lack of attention she'd hurt her hand, which she was holding onto tightly as a few small droplets of blood seeped through.

Within in an instant, Ahem had grabbed Gopi's hand and bought her to one side, 'how do you manage to do this every garba?' he fumed.

'What? I...I don't understand.' She replied.

'Er I mean, just stay still' he blew on her cut and threw some water over it.

'Gopi...are you okay?' Said the familiar voice of the guy he'd met briefly.

'Yeah she's fine thanks' Ahem replied instead, while Gopi looked on at Ahem dominating.

'I'm fine Nikhil Ji' she said politely, only to meet Ahem's cold stare as if she'd done something wrong, 'don't worry about me...Ahem Ji is taking care of me.' She said sheepishly.

Ahem Ji's taking care of me, he liked the sound of that, Ahem admitted, 'I wouldn't want to stop you' Ahem said bluntly, trying desperately to get rid of that so called Nikhil Ji.

He'd left eventually, but leaving behind a damp feeling between these new friends. He blew on Gopi's hand, while Gopi looked down at Ahem, she felt like she knew this feeling, like this encounter had been lived before, but she knew it was without base, as she'd never met Ahem Ji before Jigar Ji's proposal had come.

Ahem noticed Gopi's constant stare on him, and he liked it, he wanted to look up but he knew that would result in her looking away, and that wasn't what he wanted. 'Are you feeling better now?' He asked instead.

'Gopi, Gopi!' He almost shouted raising his voice. Wow that had felt like old times, when she'd be lost in him and he would have to raise his voice at her before she would respond.

'J...Ji' she answered, while Ahem held a smile hearing the exact response from his mind.

'Are you better now?' He said in a softer tone and she smiled prettily and replied in an even softer tone 'yes.' They looked at one another while Ahem held onto Gopi's hand, both of them refusing to look away and welcoming any feelings that moment bought with it.

'Gopi Behen, Gopi Behen!' Shouted Panna, 'Mami is looking for you.'

'Yes erm, I'm coming' she said as she looked at Panna's questioning authoritative look and was made aware that her hand was still in Ahem's possession. She pulled away quickly and so did Ahem realising what he was doing, and quickly made an excuse to leave.

Shit! Shit! Shit! Thought Ahem, shit!! What the hell am I doing, I'm going crazy, and why did you have to put me in this dilemma! I was going fine in my life until you had to go and get involved, now I'm falling for Gopi, oh my god! I'm falling for Gopi, but why should I have to; Gopi is already my wife, if you hadn't interfered I probably would have still been a happily married man, he fought loudly with his thoughts to Kanha Ji. I'm having to make ends meet here trying to keep away everyone from my wife, and I can't even tell her that I'm falling in love with her, as he looked back at Gopi making way to his parents with her little sister, he realised that he could be giving away the real true love of his life.

Have I just bid goodbye to the possible love of my life, all this time I was mistaken that I loved Anita, when the truth is I can't wait to get away from her, all I'm doing is making excuses to deter Anita away from me, and instead binding time with Gopi.

Do I really love Gopi, have I loved her all along or is it the strange effects of this enchanted spell or whatever it is; of this life. Have I locked away my heart from true love and thrown away the key forever?

Well here's another mega long update. Hope you all enjoyed it. 😊

Everyone's comments are much appreciated, and the love and welcome I have got from this forum is unexplainable for me🤗, so thank you very much to every single one of you reading including silent readers, and everyone who presses like, and also taking out time to leave such lovely comments.

Happy Karwa Chauth to everyone observing the fast!

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