kr os : I Love you

The clue to everything a man should love and fear n her was there right from the start n the ironic smile that primed and swelled the archery of her full lips. There was pride in that smile and confidence in the set of her fine nose. Without understanding why I knew beyond question that a lot of people would mistake her pride for arrogance and confuse her confidence with impassivity. I didn't make that mistake. My eyes were lost swimming floating free in the shimmering lagoon of her steady even stare. Eyes as deep, as Dark as the night, yet there was something that sparked with warmth, that kept those eyes from being cold. The air seeming to gather around her like held breath. As if this whole place were a story about her.

"Rey, what took you so long man? I can't believe you're late to your own company's success party". I turned around to face my best friend Vicky. "

"Who's she "I asked interrupting him turning my head in her direction to indicate her.

There was something elemental to her beauty, like a mile-high thunderhead, a gathering avalanche, or a tigress prowling the darkness of the jungle. A phenomenon of inherent danger and overwhelming perfection.

"Who do you think she is?" he asked, fuelling my curiosity "I thought you'd be the only one to recognize her but I guess I was wrong

"Come on Vicky just tell me who she is" I pressed, starting to get mildly annoyed with his vagueness.

"Sorry bud, buts something you got to figure out for yourself. I can't be of any help, I've promised I won't"

"Fine I will. Thanks for being so supportive by the way" I retorted, walking away from him.

"You'll thank me later Rey" he called from behind me just before his voice got lost in the buzz of the crowd.

She was a vision in a white gown her dark hair forming a hazy halo around her rosy heart-shaped face. Her long lashes fluttered to touch her cheeks and then her eyes opened fully in his direction. Her small round mouth flexed in an immediate and knowing smile as I approached her.

There was something elemental to her beauty, like a mile-high thunderhead, a gathering avalanche, or a Bengal tiger prowling the darkness of the jungle. A phenomenon of inherent danger and overwhelming perfection.

"Congratulations on your deal Rey. I believe you had been vying for it for a pretty long time now"

"Thank you. I am sorry but my memory fails me, have we met before?"I asked

"Do you think we've met before?"She countered, confusing me further.

"Yes, but I cannot quite remember where from."

"Do you still dance Rey?"She asked ignoring my previous statement. Her lips formed a smirk, as if she was laughing at my confusion.

"Occasionally. Would you like to dance?"I asked, hoping I might receive a few answers this way.

"Of course" she replied before walking in the direction opposite to where the other couples were dancing.

"Excuse me, but the floor is this way" I called pointing towards temporary establishment.

"And the exit is that way" she replied, resuming walking in the same direction.

The lawn outside was empty; it was just me and her. The night was brilliant, the stars seemed to shine brighter than ever and the full moon was beginning to peep out from behind the clouds, making her seem to glow.

"Why did you bring me here? I thought we were going to dance" she was driving me insane. The look in her eyes told me, that she had the answers I was looking for but she liked having the upper hand.

"To dance" she answered simply.

"Here?" was she joking or was she really that crazy. I parked myself on a bench, having decided that she really was crazy but too interested to actually get up and leave.

"Well, that depends, I suppose. I heard someone once say that men dance the same way they have sex. So, if you want everyone here to think you're the kind of guy who just sits around and""
He stood up. "Let's dance."

"Having her in my arms feels like coming home. I am not one to believe in all that love at first sight bullshit, but even as cynical as I am, I can recognize something bigger than lust at work. My body wants her; that is no secret, but the level of want is borderline craving. I need her. Needing someone is not something I am used to. No, I am used to being needed... something this woman clearly doesn't want."

"Do you remember anything now? Years ago, when you had asked me to dance?"She asked. As hard as she tried she couldn't prevent a tiny bit of hopefulness seep into her voice. As much as I hated to hurt her, I was still oblivious about this beauty in front of me. My silence answered her and the hopefulness was replaced by a look of hurt on her angelic face.

I have to go" she said all of a sudden turning away from me

I called after her as she walked away on the path.
"Wait? Why were we dancing?"
"Take your mind there again," she called back. "You'll remember!"
To herself she murmured, shaking her head with amusement as her eyes glazed over at her own memory.
"Only thirteen. But we were barefoot and flower-strewn and foolish with first love. At least I was"

The answer dawned on me only after she had walked away from me and I could still barely believe it. I had never forgotten Kriya, there was no way that I could. She was my first friend and my first love. I still remember confessing I had a crush on her in the park so many years back. We had danced in the park, with the stars looking down on us till our feet hurt. But that was also one of the last times I saw her; her family got transferred to another city and we only had time for a hasty goodbye.

It was always that last image that remained with me. I had never pictured Kriya growing up, but know that I knew I could make out the resemblance between her former and current self.

I felt a sharp, sweet ache in his chest: my life would never again be complete without her. But I felt no fear, only excitement, wonder, and desire. We fitted together like the two halves of an oyster-shell. I was Narcissus, embracing the pond in which I was about to drown. However much we had to hide our love, however guarded we had to be about our pleasure, I could not long be miserable about a thing so very sweet.

I ran in the direction she had left hoping to catch up with her coming face to face with my childhood love a few minutes later

"Would you like to?" I ask. My voice is hardly audible above the wind"so low it's barely a whisper.

"Would I like to what?" My heart is roaring, rushing in my ears, and though there are still several inches between her hand and mine, there's a zipping, humming energy that connects us, and from the heat flooding my body you would think we were pressed together, palm to palm, face to face.

"Dance," I say, at the same time closing those last few inches and finding her hand and pulling her closer, and at that second the song from inside the hall hits a high note as a she wraps her arm around my neck

She looked up at me her eyes pleading me to say something, to do something, but believing somewhere I wouldn't. But in that moment, I didn't want to be trusted. I wanted something far more primal. I bent my head and leaned in. I closed my eyes as her scent overcame me. When her lips touched mine it felt as if she'd caressed them with a feather. It was all I could do not to wrap myself around her and do things I'd never really thought about doing before.

The feeling of loving her and being loved by her welled up in me, and I could taste the adrenaline in the back of my throat, and maybe it wasn't over, and maybe I could feel her hand in mine again and hear her voice contort itself into a whisper to say I-love-you as if it were a secret, and an immense one.

So many thoughts ran through my head. Most of them contained the same, simply three words so often strung together that it was too much a classic cheese or clich to say it, but they still had meaning, no matter how many times they had been repeated.

"Kriya?" He looked at her to find her eyes already focused on him.
"Yes?"
"I love you."