Part 3
When they entered the shopping mall, Gopi could not help but look with her big round eyes at the various shops displaying stuff of all kinds. This was her first visit at any mall and she was feeling very nervous and unsure of whether she would be able to help her Ahemji in his shopping properly. They reached near an escalator inside the mall. Gopi had never seen anything like this before. Ahem got amused at her chidlike expression.
"Gopi, this is called escalator and we will use this to go to the first floor." he told her, giving out his hand to her for support. She immediately took it as if her life depended on it. As she took the first step on the escalator just after Ahem had stepped on it, she lost her balance and was about to trip backwards, when Ahem in an immediate reflux action, reached out to her and held her from the waist and squeezed her right into him. She was shaking vigourously and had shut her eyes anticipating the fall, but upon realizing that she had ended up clinging onto him, she lost her breath and felt as if the time had come to a standstill.
Ahem unable to control his delight at his good fortune, just took advantage of this unexpected gift and was lost in looking at her face, inhaling her sexy, subtle smell. Few seconds later, he realized where he was."Come back to senses , you crazy fellow!", he muttered to himself.
"Ji, what did you say?" Gopi asked, setting her hair straight after regaining her composure.
"Nothing. Let's go to the left side. Men's section is over there." he said stepping onto the first floor, holding Gopi's hand tightly to avoid having the same situation they had moments ago.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Where are men's shirts?" Ahem called out to a salesgirl standing nearby.
"Sir, It's right there.", she said, pointing her finger towards numerous racks with neatly placed shirts. "But what size are you looking for, Sir?"
"It's 42, regular fit!", replied Ahem, feeling a little shy with Gopi standing next to him.
"Okai Sir, I'll help you", salesgirl said, following Ahem.
Ahem and Gopi placed their hands on top of each other on the same shirt simultaneously. She withdrew her hand as if stung by a scorpion! "Ji! woh...h...this shirt is good...I mean it would look g...good on...you...b...but if you think..." stammered Gopi. "Thank you! It's a nice shirt with off-white and golden stripes. Please help me in finding some more." chipped in Ahem, smiling at her. She searched and brought out three more shirts, one blue and black striped one, other light lilac and lemon striped and the last one in bottle green color. He had to admit to himself that she had a good taste in clothing.
"Sir, you should try at least one of these shirts on you as we don't have a return or exchange policy.", salesgirl advised Ahem.
"But this is my size and usually it fits properly. But to avoid any problem after going home, I'll try one of them.", replied Ahem.
"Gopi, come with me. I'll just try this off-white and golden one while you wait outside. And just stay here, okai!" Ahem instructed her.
Inside the trial room, while he was changing the shirt, he saw that it was one size small. Suddenly, a mischevious smile swept across his face. He called out to Gopi who was standing outside the door. "Gopi! This is one size small. Please can you bring one size big?", he requested her. "Ji Ahemji! Give the shirt to me.", she said. Ahem opened the door just enough to let her have a glimpse at his toned biceps and handed over the shirt to her. She turned as red as a beetroot and immediately took the shirt and went away. Ahem was silently smiling to himself at the innocence of his wife. There was an undefined shyness in their relation upon which he had to work to make both of them comfortable with each other. He was responsible for creating it and only he could dissolve it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After making payment and collecting all the shirts from the counter, Ahem was about to leave, when the salesgirl asked Gopi whether she would buy anything? "We had come here to buy shirts for Ahemji. I don't want anything. Thank you." Gopi replied softly.
"You also buy something Gopi. Moreover you hardly come out of the house and buy anything for yourself." Ahem said looking at her. "Please show where women's section is, we'll see some sarees for her." Ahem asked the salesgirl.
"Sir, its on the second floor. You'll get to see an amazing collection of designer sarees by some renowned designers like Mr. Manish and Mr. Tejas. The second name sounded familiar to Ahem. He remembered he was the same person who had come to their house on the very first day of Navratri and gifted Gopi a designer chaniya choli. He clenched his fists tightly and turned red in jealousy at the thought of his wife being admired by another man. "Today I'll gift her a really nice one, nobody can match Ahem Modi!" he thought to himself.
On the second floor, salesgirl showed them some of the most elegant and beautiful sarees. Gopi was lost looking at them and Ahem at her. She was unable to decide which one she wanted to buy. Realizing that it is his turn to select something for his wife, Ahem picked up a ravishing glass tissue saree beautifully designed in green and red colour. It was adorned with sparkling sequins, resham embroidery and shiny jari jall work.
"Sir, you've picked a lovely saree! It has a rich sheen and fancy look. It would give your wife a unique look. Though she's so beautiful that anything would look good on her. You are lucky to have such a beautiful wife, Sir." "Thank you! I know that very well." Ahem replied smiling at Gopi.
"Its getting late Ahemji. I think we should hurry up now." Gopi requested Ahem, sinking in embarrassment, unable to look up at him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On their way back home, both sat quietly in the car. Ahem was feeling very calm and satisfied. He was amused at her timid behaviour. She rarely expresses her love for him these days, he thought. Earlier she always used to shower smiles at him. Whether he got angry or irritated, she came back smiling the very next day. She used to get conscious even for the small favours he did for her. He remembered all those times when she had saved him from the snake, decorated their room after Diwali incident, gave him hot water in the middle of the night... and when she went out of his life without saying a word...and he had forgotten all of that.How could he, after treating her so badly? And she forgave him each time and continued supporting him as a true friend, never asking for anything. He got filled with remorse, thinking how could he start expecting her to behave normally with him now.
He got so lost in his thoughts that he didn't see a truck coming in front of him. "Ahemji!!!!!!! Look in front!!A truck is coming." shrieked Gopi. Terror struck Ahem, as he tried to rotate the steering wheel rapidly. Tires squealed and dust filled the air...Wham! came the sound!!!!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you,
Shruti.
comment:
p_commentcount