Posted:
Scenario Three: Clown in a Night Club Part Two
The music was blasting in the dimly lit room and Aarti couldn't really understand why she decided to bring Yash here of all places. She knew he would have fun, but she felt slightly uncomfortable – after all, a nightclub wasn't exactly something she visited often. But then again, she was here with her husband, so there would be no need to feel uncomfortable as she wasn't doing anything wrong.
"Yashji," Aarti screamed over the music, "Let's go to the dance floor!"
They were standing awkwardly on the side, looking at the throng of people enjoying themselves on the dance floor.
Yash shook his head. "No Aartiji."
Aarti sighed helplessly. "Your choice," she told him, with a slight eye roll.
Suddenly, as if on cue, a muscular man approached Aarti. He was handsome and about Yash's height. He had the same build as her husband and had thick, short black hair.
"Will you dance with me, beautiful?" he asked Aarti.
She was taken aback. She was a mother of three kids and a man was asking her to dance, and was calling her beautiful too?
She looked at her husband who was staring at the man with a rigid expression on his face.
"Yashji," she whispered.
"You could dance with him," he said flatly, refusing to remove his gaze from the man's face.
"I'm sorry," she said, turning back to the man. "I'm married."
The man raised his eyebrows. "So?" he asked. "It's just a dance."
"Aartiji," Yash interfered in a louder tone, "I don't care."
Aarti glared at him. He didn't have to be so blunt about it! Why was he doing this? Couldn't he just tell the man to go away?
She gritted her teeth and decided that she would make sure he cared. After all, she was certain that she deserved Yash's care to some extent.
"Okay then, I will," she replied, turning her back to him with a smug expression on her face.
The man put out his hand and Aarti took it. She followed him to the dance floor, but not without taking a glance at Yash first. His expression was to die for. He looked a combination of angry, confused and upset.
"What's your name?" she asked her dance partner.
"Arjun," the man replied, "And yours beautiful?"
Aarti bit down on her lip. She needed to make herself clear to this man. "I'm Aarti. Aarti Yash Scindhia, and like I said before, I'm married. I really don't feel comfortable dancing with you but I'm trying to get my husband out of his shell. He needs to enjoy himself more. I know you might not like this, but can you please help me out?"
The man looked surprised. He looked slightly angry for a few moments, but then put on a soft expression. "What do you want me to do?" he asked her.
"I want to make him jealous," Aarti said frankly.
Arjun smiled mischievously at Aarti. "I know how to make others jealous. It comes naturally, just follow my lead."
Aarti smiled and nodded at him.
They immediately began to dance to the song Jalebi Bai. She walked around Arjun, placing a hand on his arm as she did so. Once she was in front of him, she swayed her hips from side to side, moving her shoulders back and forth. She dared not look at Yash, in fear of feeling guilty.
They continued to dance for a while, with somewhat seductive dance moves. Her time with Arjun came to an end though, when she felt a firm grip on her arm, twirling her until she hit something rock hard. It was Yash's chest. Aarti smiled to herself, realizing that Yash had come to take his Aarti away from the other man.
He placed a hand on her waist and swayed along to the music with her. He turned her around so that her back was facing him and slid both of his arms around her belly and pressed her against him. Aarti held his hands to her tummy. They continued to move to the music like this. She closed her eyes and breathed in his cologne, smiling. Although a nightclub wasn't her type of setting, she had to admit that she was glad she came. Yash was loosening up and dancing. His face was buried in her hair and she secretly hoped he could smell the strawberry scented shampoo she washed her hair with this morning. She had a gut feeling that he was enjoying himself as well.
Yash was indeed having fun with Aarti and it was something he felt ashamed about. Arpita flashed in the back of his mind and he wondered if he was being faithful to his dead wife by dancing like this with Aarti. He could smell the strawberries in his current wife's hair and it really attracted him to her, momentarily making him forget about Arpita.
He squeezed her hand and twirled her around once more, bringing her close to him, her hand on his chest. He could see the same passion in her eyes that he felt. The hand which was previously on her back slithered upwards into her hair. He felt her grip getting tense and since she was so close to him, also heard her gasp. It wasn't a bad kind of gasp, it was a surprised one... a good surprise.
He gazed into her eyes again and started to move closer to her. He could see her closing her eyes, able to foresee his next move. He closed his own eyes. Then he finally came to his senses and jerked open his eyes. He was so close to her lips; a centimeter more would have sealed the space between them. He staggered backwards guiltily.
"I'm – I'm sorry," he said, looking ashamedly at the ceiling, and then walked out of the nightclub, leaving Aarti there alone.
Anupamaa
