Before I Fall Again... On hiatus indefinitely. - Page 36

Originally posted by: FaithnFate

...and the sighs have BEGUN😉😆 and we have our John here ...now i do i wait for Mr. Rampal tooo?😉 By the way i feel Hubby will agree...if you show the pics of those dream men😆... Try..Try😉

Originally posted by: saomom

Oh dear me. How did I forget Mr. Rampal? 😆 *sigh*

My poor hubby. He has to endure my ICOMYM (Inappropriate Crushes On Much Younger Men). He just rolls his eyes at me and laughs. Good thing he adores me and I him.

Originally posted by: Onlooker

Am waiting..waiting...my eyes are drooping..drooping..;)

Originally posted by: Krishnaluv94

:D

Chapter 27: Taken by Surprise

When we had gotten off the train in Alleppey, I had asked Abhi if we had enough time to stop by a bookstore. He had obliged and I had been thankful. Even though many of the titles had been in Malayalam, there were also just as many in English and a number of books in Hindi. The Hindi lacked selection and thus I had bought several English novels, mostly popular fiction. Even though I was not an avid reader of poetry, I had once upon a time stumbled upon a good translation of Tagore's Geetanjali that I had liked a great deal. I had lost my copy several years back; thus, when I saw the same translation in the bookstore, I bought a copy of that as well. And now that I was on the boat, I was glad that I had the books with me. Even though I liked reading in general, this time, the books would be for more than reading. They were my shield against everything this boat trip represented. And I started on the chore as soon as the boat set off on its course. We were provided with provisions on land in pre-set destinations to bathe once a day as the small bathroom on board the boat was not equipped in that fashion. We traveled for an hour before they stopped and I was somewhat overeager as I opened my suitcase and grabbed the first thing I found before rushing off to the tiny hotel where they had arranged for us to bathe. We had a total of twenty minutes for that stop and I used every single minute of it; when I was finally back on the boat, I felt clean for the first time to two days.

While we had been gone, they had lit the lanterns, which now lent a soft glow to the blue of the night outside. When the boat started moving again, I stood by one side of it, enjoying the coolness of the breeze as it passed through my wet hair. Just as I pulled it to the front and run my fingers through it, I felt my heart-rate pick up suddenly. I didn't know whether it was my body or my mind that betrayed me when the former could detect his presence sooner than the latter.

"They are going to serve dinner in a few minutes." I heard him say just behind me and turned around, startled, bumping against the trellis of woven bamboo that made for the side walls. I was in no danger of falling off as the length of it came up past my hips before it veered off into a large space that passed for the wide windows. But still he caught me.

"I'm alright." I said, shaking off his hold.

He let go quickly but did not move away.

When I looked up at him in question, I saw him look towards the front and saw the back of the oarsman. He did not have a good view of us anyways as the deck was slightly raised off the floor and the shorter roofing over the boat prevented him from really seeing the inside, allowing relative privacy to the occupants.

By the time Abhi turned back to me, I started to walk away.

I was surprised... and relieved... when he didn't stop me.

Dinner was served shortly afterwards just as he said. I had never had authentic Kerala food before and while some of the dishes required some getting used to, the Kerala fried fish was as delicious as I had heard it was. I hadn't eaten well on the train and in the combination of hunger and excitement, I swallowed one of its tiny thorns. It got stuck in my throat and I was coughing uncontrollably within seconds. The woman who was in charge of cooking rushed out from the back to us just as Abhi came over to pat my back.

"Vellam kodukku! Vellam Vellam!" the woman said and he seemed to understand because he brought the glass of water to my mouth and made me drink. The woman brought out another glass of water and I got through that one too before I felt like coughing sensation recede.

When I finally looked at my plate, I saw that he was separating the thorns out of the rest of the fish that was left on my plate.

It made me unaccountably angry and I bit out before I could control myself. "I am not a child! You don't have to debone my food for me!"

The woman looked taken aback at my outburst and I gave her a look of contrition and murmured a quick apology before turning around to go to the bedroom. I washed my hands in the sink and walked back into the room and stood there for a moment, feeling claustrophobic.

There was no escape, really. I couldn't monopolize this room as he had to come in here at some point to sleep. And I couldn't leave the room until he came in so that I would be by myself out front.

I was counting on him leaving me alone for some time and thus wasn't prepared when the door opened and he walked into the room suddenly. I stared at him in surprise as he walked into the bathroom to wash his hands as well.

It was my chance to leave the room, I realized a few seconds after he had walked into the bathroom, but just as I grabbed my book and started to leave, I felt him grab my wrist.

And the anger came back just like that and on instinct, I tugged hard at my wrist.

His hold loosened for a moment before he let go completely, but only so that he could pull me to the wall next to him. He put his hands on either side of me so that I couldn't leave, but otherwise didn't touch me.

I turned my head away from him and that's when he said, unexpectedly.

"I have never betrayed you. Not just in body, but not even in my mind."

I looked back at him, my eyes reflecting my utter disbelief at his proclamation before my expression turned mocking and I said, "I am sure you will tell me next that what I saw that day was just a hallucination, right? I must have so blinded by love that I really did lose my power of sight."

He was quiet for a moment before he asked, "Has no one ever taken you by surprise? Completely unexpectedly? You were somehow blind to their intentions until finally they gave you no room for doubt?"

The image of Varun that afternoon in the shade of that tree suddenly popped into my head. There must have been some guilty acknowledgement in my eyes when I raised them to his because he kept his gaze on mine, until I blinked rapidly and said, "No."

"I believe your exact words were, "I have had enough of men trying to kiss me and startle me into submission.""

He threw my own words back at me now and I pushed at his chest mouthing, "You bas***d!" in a harsh whisper so that I wouldn't be tempted to scream it out loud like I was tempted to.

This time he took both my hands and pulled them apart in either direction before catching me around the waist and raising me up against his chest.

"Why is that so hard to believe?? You don't think it could happen to us? You think only men come on physically to women?"

"I have never done it, so I wouldn't know!" I offered in retort as I struggled to push away from his hold.

"God save the man who has to resist you." He said in a sudden whisper.

"You did." I said recklessly, but then stilled once my words registered fully to my ears.

It was his turn to look shocked and in that moment, I succeeded in pushing away from his arms and rushing out of the room.

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