"Biwi, this shortcut will get us there in minutes!"
"Good! We're already late. They're probably all waiting….But RK…through the jungle…?"
"Arey, you're my jungle billi right? You belong here!" RK smirked as he turned to look at Madhu.
"RK…tum bhi na! Keep an eye on the path."
"What path?"
"Good point…"
RK and Madhu left their car after it broke down and were headed on feet towards their destination. They decided to take a shortcut through a jungle to reach where RK had planned for a picnic with the Maliks, Bhatias, and Kundras to get over what had happened at the wedding.
Fifteen minutes passed when they were still walking hand-in-hand around the jungle.
"RK! What type of shortcut is this?! This is a long cut! We would've been there already if we'd gone the right way!"
"Biwi chup! I'm thinking!"
"Are we lost?!"
"BIWI!"
"WE'RE LOST!"
"I'll get us out of here!"
"Hey bhagwan, we're lost…in the middle of a jungle…oh god what are we going to do?!"
"You're not helping…"
"Well at least I didn't get us lost out here!"
"Maybe we were meant to get lost! Now can you pull out th…what's that…?"
"Huh? WHAT? IS IT A LION?" Madhu looked around herself quickly.
"Madhu…the only sherni here right now is you. Now squint your eyes and look at that."
Madhu squinted her eyes and looked straight ahead.
"What is that?" she asked while trying to get a better look.
"I guess we'll find out soon!"
RK and Madhu sped up to walk in the direction of what they had just seen.
"Ow!"
RK turned to look at Madhu who was grabbing at her foot.
"What happened?"
"I think I stepped on a rock or something."
"Biwi! Watch where you walk!"
"Sorry…I wasn't given the memo to where my hiking shoes," she shot RK an irritated look.
As they argued, they saw a bull cart headed towards them.
"RK! LET'S ASK FOR HELP!"
Madhu pulled on RK's arm and he just stared at his eager wife.
"Bhaiya! Can you please help us out?"
The man controlling the cart came to a stop in front of them.
RK looked at the kids who were laughing at RK and Madhu because of the dirt on their faces.
"Sure didi, what happened?"
"Our car broke down, and we're lost. But we need to find a mechanic."
"Mechanic? There's a mechanic who lives in our village, I can take you to him if you'd like?"
"Village?" RK asked as he gave Madhu a look of disapproval.
"Yup!"
RK looked at the man and then the uninterested children, "Don't any of you want my autograph?"
The man gave RK a confused look, "Autograph? Why?"
"Because I'm superstar RK? A hero!"
The kids in the cart burst into more laughter, as did the man.
RK turned to look at Madhu who was also giggling. She controlled her laughter and took a hold of his hand.
"Shall we go?" she didn't give him an answer and dragged him towards the cart.
RK helped her in and then got in himself.
Then they headed towards the village…
----
"This is RK…a hero!" a child spoke to an elder man.
As RK and Madhu were introduced to the head of the village, RK bent for blessings.
"Now that you have my blessings, you'll definitely become a hero!"
Madhu giggled again as no one recognized RK.
"No, you don't understand…I'm already a hero!" RK spoke with full confidence.
"He says he's already a hero…" the child whispered into the old man's ear.
There was a moment of silence and then everyone, including Madhu, burst into a fit of laughter.
RK looked around and became irritated. His eyes stopped on Madhu.
"BIWI! You packed m…" RK stopped speaking as he remembered the night before.
"Packed? I thought you already brought along all your important stuff!" Madhu winked at him as she wrapped her arm around his.
RK gave up on trying to convince the villagers of who he was and changed the topic.
"Where's the mechanic?!"
"The mechanic can't fix it until tomorrow…it'll get dark by the time he gets back." The older man spoke.
"That's okay! Can we stay here until our car is fixed?" Madhu asked as RK opened his mouth to disagree but then closed it as he realized their dilemma.
"Sure, we have an extra room in our place! You can stay until your car is fixed."
"Oh that's wonderful!"
"Wonderful?" RK spoke out loud.
RK looked towards Madhu as she spoke.
He whispered into her ear, "Biwi…what are you saying? I can't stay here!"
"RK, we have to. If you want, you can walk through the jungle, but I'm staying here!" Madhu walked forwards and followed the elder man.
RK stared at her as she left and then realized he had no other choice, he followed behind.
----
After a couple minutes of walking, they finally reached a small door.
Vijay, the older man, opened it and then walked in and was greeted by his wife, Sushma.
They welcomed in RK and Madhu.
"Come, come! This is where we stay. We have a small extra room at the back there; you're more than welcome to stay! Oh and this is my wife Sushma!"
"HELLO!" the lady spoke with full excitement.
"Uh…" RK looked around the small home.
Madhu nudged him and he looked at her.
"Hello! Thank you so much for letting us stay here!" Madhu spoke appreciatively.
"No problem you cute little lovebirds! Come, I'll take you to your room."
RK shot Madhu a glance as she awkwardly stared up at him. He smirked.
They followed Sushma to the small room with one double sized bed.
"Make yourself comfortable lovebirds!"
Sushma left the room as RK and Madhu eyed the bed.
They turned to look at each other.
"Let me see if there are extra pillows," Madhu went to walk out of the room but RK gripped at her hand.
Madhu turned to look at him.
"Madhu, don't you think they've already done enough for us? Now you're going to take their pillows too? Tsk tsk."
"But…"
"I never even liked those stupid pillows between us."
RK pulled Madhu close by the waist. She looked up at him and blushed.
"RK…someone might come."
"Let them…they already call us lovebirds."
Madhu giggled and then freed herself. She looked at RK.
"What now? My phone doesn't even have reception."
"Oh biwi, you sure know how to spoil the mood…mine doesn't have reception either…"
"Ma and Malik will be worried!"
"Hmm I'm sure Vijay and Sushma may have a phone!"
"You're right!"
RK and Madhu walked out of the room to see the Marathi couple talking.
RK interrupted them.
"We were just wondering if you have a phone we could use?"
"Phone? Nope! We have all our family and friends in this little village, we don't need phones!"
RK looked at Madhu who seemed worried about what everyone at the picnic might be thinking.
"Don't worry, you'll be out of here by tomorrow!" Vijay reassured her.
"Why don't you two go look around the village?" Sushma suggested.
Madhu looked towards RK, "That's not a bad idea!"
"But biwi…"
"RK, now that we're here, we might as well enjoy! Thanks you two!"
"No problem, there are plenty of things you two love birds can get yourselves busy with," the lady winked at RK.
RK cleared his throat and grabbed his giggling wife's hand and ran out of the door.
"What do you want to see in this village?!"
"OH LOOK! Bangles!!!" Madhu ran full speed to the nearest mini cart full of bangles.
She began admiring them as RK watched her. She picked up a pair of purple bangles and held them up. She turned with them and looked at RK.
"These are beautiful…especially for you!" Madhu smiled as she reminded RK of the first time she had sent him purple bangles.
"Biwi! No more bangles for you! Especially not after that!"
Madhu laughed as she placed the bangles down and took a hold of RK's hand.
"Since everyone's probably enjoying the picnic…why don't we get something to eat too?" she suggested.
"Where?!"
"There!" Madhu pointed towards a mini outdoor restaurant.
"There…?" RK didn't approve.
Before RK could state how he felt about the place, Madhu grabbed his hand and dragged him towards there.
"Biwi, you're full of energy! Too much energy!"
She giggled and sat down at the nearest outdoor table.
She quickly ordered the food for the both of them and then stared at an uncomfortable RK in front of her.
"How's it feel to not be known patidev?" she smirked.
"…I'll have to get used to it for our cutsie world!" he reminded her.
Madhu smiled and blushed as RK admired her.
He took a hold of both her hands from across the table.
"This is what it'll be like. I'm willing to leave everything and live a life like this, as long as I have you."
"Really?" Madhu sighed lovingly.
"Really…"
"Really RK?"
"Really biwi!"
"Re…"
"BIWI!"
As Madhu laughed, RK became mesmerized by her beautiful smile. She slowly stopped laughing and smiled at him as he smiled at her.
She snapped her fingers in front of him.
"Earth to Mr. Hero!"
RK blinked and looked at her.
"Very funny biwi…"
"That I am!" she smiled once again.
"You're probably the craziest person I know…"
"Correction! Unique! I'm one of a kind!"
As RK and Madhu went back and forth, their food finally reached them.
RK looked down at the tray as Madhu already began to eat.
"RK eat!"
"This?" RK held up the roti.
"Just eat your food!"
"I'll pass…"
"Fine, give me your food!"
"Wow biwi, you eat a lot."
Madhu ignored his comment and ripped off a piece of the roti, she dipped it into the soup and shoved it into RK's mouth.
"HEY!" RK spoke while he attempted to chew.
Madhu laughed and took another bite herself.
"Wow…that's amazing. Anything from your hands can taste good…" RK smirked as Madhu blushed and shoved another bite into his mouth.
Eventually they finished eating. The restaurant owner walked up to them.
"You two might want to get under shelter! A storm's about to hit!"
RK and Madhu looked around themselves and noticed everyone was gone. They looked up to the clouds and noticed the dark clouds covering them above. They quickly stood up.
"Madhu, you made me forget that time was still going by!" RK took a hold of his wife and pulled her away.
"WAIT!" Madhu stopped in her tracks and RK turned to stare at her.
"What now!?"
"Those kids! I have to go tell them!" Madhu looked towards a group of kids playing with a ball.
Before RK could say anything, she pulled free of his grip and ran towards the kids.
He followed behind quickly.
Just as the Madhu reached the kids, it began pouring.
RK took a hold of her hand and pulled her into a dry area underneath someone's outdoor roof.
They looked as the kids ran into the rain and began enjoying themselves.
They danced and jumped around as though they were having the time of their lives.
Madhu suddenly freed her hand again and ran out to join the kids in the rain.
"Madh…" RK watched her run into the rain.
(Continued into the next post.)