"A myth shared by two is love"--Unknown
This one-liner is actually from a four-line quote. I don't know who wrote it (I wish I did), but it's one of my favorites and I use it everywhere! :D
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Ahem glanced at the bottom corner of his laptop screen. It was 5:20PM.
Ten more minutes, he thought.
It must have been a reflex, primitive in his brain, that he got up and packed his briefcase without a second thought. On his way out, he saw Jigar in the conference room with three other co-workers. He smiled proudly and left.
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Panna grabbed a pillow from the bed, sinking both of her scrawny elbows on it, bracing her chin thoughtfully. Her Gopiben was by the closet, fiddling with Ahemjiju's shirt. A button had loosened and Gopi, always vigilant about Ahemji's things, was determined to fix it before he returned from the daftar.
"Gopiben, I'm bored!," Panna exclaimed. Gopi gave her a knowing smile. Panna was up to mischief again. "Acha, toh yeh baat hai! What do you want to do?," she asked. Panna scrambled out of bed, throwing the pillow carelessly to the side, squealing "Main batayoon Gopiben?". She pulled Gopi's arm down so that they were both at eye-level and whispered something in Gopi's ear. Gopi protested immediately, "We can't do that! I have to look through Ahemji's shirts in case I missed any other butto--". Panna pulled her hand away in mock disappointment, saying "What about me Gopiben? You always put me last". Overcome with guilt and acknowledging her own slight craving for fun, Gopi gave in. "Okay, what do I have to do?". Within a fractional second, Panna was delighted once again and took Gopi's arm.
"You don't have to do anything Gopiben. I will do everything."
Gopi wondered what Panna had in mind. She remembered the time Panna had played a prank on her into talking to Ahemji before the wedding. After finding out it was him, she had been mortified and Panna had given in to bouts of laughter.
"Okay, but it's almost 6--the time for Ahemji to come home, so we'll have to be quick!"
Panna tilted her head and grinned "You worry too much Gopiben".
After several minutes inside the bathroom, Panna first came out, wearing a small lehnga suit--it had the tiniest crystals embedded on it.
"Gopiben, come out now!," she ordered.
"I can't! I won't!," Gopi said hesitantly. "What have you done? Yeh kya--"
Panna grabbed Gopi's hand and came out. She had forced upon Gopi to wear the salwar from one of her old outfits and Ahemjiju's pale pink shirt as its kameez.
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Meethi answered the doorbell and welcomed Ahem inside. He refused tea and headed straight upstairs. His mother, Kokila, welcomed him home near the foyer and asked him about his day.
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Panna turned the TV on and flipped through the channels.
She eyed Gopi slyly, noticing the way her elder sister stood frozen in the center of the room.
Panna breathed a sigh of relief, "Mil gaya!". The music video to Main jatt yamla pagla deewana had just started to play...
Gopi's eyes widened and she squeaked, "Kya karu?".
Panna smiled, saying "Main ladhki! Tusi ladhka," followed by a wink.
As if it was the most natural thing on Earth, Panna went towards Gopi like a damsel asking to be wooed.
"Gopiben, aise!," she instructed with one hand near her temple and the other on her hip, showing her the classic thumka and jhatka.
Gopi broke out into giggles, "Mujhe toh ladhko jaisa naachna hai na? Aise nahi, aise!". And so, Gopi pretended to be a jatt wooing "his" love interest.
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Hearing the song's upbeat tones surprised Ahem, but what lengthened his stride was knowing it was coming from his room. He debated outside the room's threshold whether he should knock or barge in. He chose the latter. It was his room, too.
What he saw was a scene he'd probably never see again--his wife, who was the paramount of all etiquette, was dancing! A purple dupatta was tied around her waist with the loose ends hanging by her hip. She was the one doing the wooing, he guessed, for Panna was all charmed by her admirer. His gaze traveled back to Gopi. The pink on her looked familiar and he realized why. It was his shirt, but on her, it was more of a dress.
He started smiling to himself, but stopped halfway. Panna saw him and stopped cold, her eyes darted towards Gopi. His wife paled, her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Gopi stammered, "A-aap kabh aaye?". He softly replied "Just now". He assumed that their conversation gave Panna the free get-the-hell-out-of-his-sight-before-he-loses-his-cool pass and she skittered away, leaving Gopi with him.
Ahem turned to close the door, but as he was doing that, he heard shuffling noises behind him. Gopi was trying to untie the knotted dupatta at her waist. "Let me do it", he offered while carefully gauging her reaction. Her fingers fumbled when she heard him, "Nai, I'll do it. Thank you". He leaned against the door, watching her twist the ends this way and that, until the knot was an even bigger mess than before.
From outside, he heard someone knock on the door, calling for Gopi. His wife replied back with "Abhi aayi!". It was amusing to see her try to free herself, but he was a gentleman and he would help a damsel in distress, especially if the damsel was his wife. Ahem went forward and moved her fingers away and began to undo the knot. He chuckled at the sorry state of her dupatta, "Kabhi toh haan kahe do". She pinkened and looked away, "Wo...wo main...". He tugged one end a little harder, indirectly pulling her towards him too. Gopi's forehead touched his jaw and she looked up, suddenly caught unaware.
With his head bent and her face tilted upwards, he could easily steal a kiss there, he realized.
His fingers lingered around the knotted area for a brief second and he bent his head lower. He tugged again, harder than the last time, and the tip of her nose grazed his chin. Her eyes tried to dart away from his, but they had nowhere else to look.
"Ahemji--," she mumbled, trying to think of something else to say.
"Kya huwa?", he asked curiously.
Koki called Gopi again.
"Ahemji, mujhe jaana hai," she softly told him.
After one more tug, she was forced to brace her hand against his chest; he smiled wistfully and softly said, "Khul gaya, Gopi".
Gopi hadn't listened, not really. He freed her, but she remained glued to him as a dewdrop to a leaf.
*Pensively returns* So, how was it? If you liked it, please comment. If you hated it, please still comment. My next try, which will probably be later, (like 5 years later) will be better--I promise! I'm a stickler for grammar, so it took me longer to re-read, fix and re-read it. If there's a typo I missed, blame #4 from below.
The reasons for writing this are many:
1) Forum is just a bit chaotic (I haven't helped make it any better, I know!)
2) This thing actually has one point only---that Gopi's place is always next to her Ahemji. He might have been roughshod with her before, but in the end, he'll be the only one to give her everything she wants.
3) The thought of writing my first OS, FF, or SS (whatever this is I haven't figured out the system yet, but I will) has been lingering, really it's been twirling around my brain for a couple of days. Now that it's out, I can "relax".
4) I hate biology and this quarter, I'm taking 2 bio classes and my lord, those classes are killing my brain cells. I needed some respite.
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
Indian Mythology
Sampoorna
CID
