Mid Morning and Late Noon
I am in the middle of deployment you know that!! How can you ask me to take longer?
She coughed continuously for three minutes...
"I have pushed out Paris by a month I was supposed to go on Feb 22nd and now wont go until after March 12th or so, so I cant push it out any further"
She fumed..."since we are not getting married in February why dont you go now?" she offered
"Well because I have to go to Oslo and Paris and it will be a good month long trip and I wont be able to return until middle of March if I go now" he said softly
A longish pause, he never sat by her just lounged on a runner table... hands in pockets
She never ate... just rotated that single piece of chocolate on her plate
"We are not talking about my schedules we are talking about ur vacation"
"How long do u think is ideal?" she asked flatly
"I am hoping 6 weeks" he said equally flatly
"Impossible I cant do that, they have mid year reviews sometime in April I cant be gone during that, there are 3 levels before
Directorship, Senior Manager, Service Manager and Deputy Director... its been two years since I got this one, mujhe agla waala lena hai" requesting
"I am not interfereing with your professional goals" furious
"I want you to take it as seriously as you take your business trips" she spat back
"Do u want to get married and go off to work in a couple days? he asked lacking any expression
"Thats a low blow" she said her voice quivering, and coughing
They were both quiet for over 20 minutes, he fixed a router or some device near the TV, she flipped a magazine... GQ...
"There is a lot of competition in every role in India, its not easy to land a job in a company like KMPG, I dont take any time off even when I am partially sick
He looked at her like "OH! I SEE THAT NOW"π‘
"We all dont have the luxury of working for a job in another continent while in our sweats you know...
I am sure we would all love that, but kaise milega? I dont have $2M to start my own business. I have to make do with being employed"
He stood up hands in pockets, wandering towards her and away from her...
"Do u want to be an entreprenuer?" he asked
"I want to become a Director in the job I currently have" she said
"Taking a month off for your wedding somehow deters that?' he asked reasonably
She stood up startled at that direct hit...
"Just like being gone to Paris for a month after your wedding" she shot back
they scoped each other out... she leaned on the wall far from a sectional couch... he walked up to her and didnt touch... just stood at a foot or two distance
"You think my career is not as important as yours" she said firmly but softly
"I dont think I ever said that" he said not getting carried away
"But you sound like it when u say how can I not take a month and a half off"
"I dont think I even implied that II" he said as a warning
"Put urself in my place and tell me what would you do, if u worked in deployment and it was go live time" she asked
"I would lay down all my options and work something out with my supervisor, definitely something more than two weeks" he said flatly
"Similarly I wouldnt take off a week after my wedding to go live in Paris for 6 weeks" she countered
He just stared.. didnt respond... "youve been working here since November why do u have to go away for so long?'
"I am never in India for more than a month, I usually leave in 6 weeks max" he said
"This was an exception?" she asked her eyes big and moist
"Ya" he said connecting with hers...
She turned crimson at the implication, he had stayed on because of the prsopect created by their "new found attraction?"
"U have a job here with.. your... I mean at Excelsior" she offered an olive branch, coughing
"Its not my day job..." he shrugged carelessly
BUT YOUR DAD DEPENDS ON YOU, HE IS SO PROUD OF YOU, HE TRUSTS YOU AND WANTS YOU TO BE THERE, HE HOPES YOU WILL CONTINUE TO CONTRIBUTE AND NOT GO AWAY
RAKSHASAN
"Uve been working for Argent JUST fine the last three months sitting here in Delhi"
"Because Ive farmed off all the fund seeker visits to my other partners, " he said angrily
"Is there no one else that can do that?"
"I am not sure, but thats my expertise, I ve worked in mergers and acquisitions and assessing buy outs, so I do it" he said informatively
"To hamesha aise jaana padega???" she asked in despair
He was quiet...
GOOD GRIEF!!! II!! YOU FELL FOR A MAN THAT IS NOT ONLY A NOMAD BY NATURE HE CHOSE A PROFESSION THAT WILL HELP HIM SUSTAIN THAT LIFESTYLE!!
AYYOYO!! RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN II, HE IS TOTALLY UNLIKE YOU. HE HAS NOT ONE STABLE BONE IN HIS BODY
I DONT CARE I ONLY WANT HIM... I AM TOO FAR DOWN THIS PATH... HE TAUGHT ME WHAT PARADISE MIGHT BE LIKE I WANT TO SEE IT FULLY
I DONT CARE I WANT TO SEE IT SO JUST SHUT UP
She shut her eyes... letting it all sink in... it shook her like the first kiss by the Monet downstairs,
except today she stood by a HUGE framed Andy Warhol print that said "I think everybody should like everybody"
When her consciousness returned...
"What would Mr Bhalla do after you leave?" (if u didnt stay here more than 6 weeks)
He looked at her baffled... "What ever he did BEFORE" he muttered
"Uve never worked at Excelsior?" dumbfounded
"No, not willingly" he said flatly
(As of now she has no idea he didnt plan to be in Delhi after August either...but that bomb can explode after the wedding...)
She let her head roll side to side on the wall, trying to comprehend the overload,
sensory and visual because of his proximity, and data overload because of what he was saying to her
"The week after (wedding) we can head to Paris"
"Go with you?" she asked as a whisper, not believing it... eyes flying open
"Go with ME" he said equally softly
He took a step forward... the gap was closed, yet he didnt touch...
"Tum Paris to rahogey nahi, U have to go to other places in that month"
"So?"
"U know I cant work remotely" she pleaded
"I want u to take time off II not take time off and work" he said dismissively.
"U want ME and u want me not to work??" she said derisively
"Ditto" he said gasping for breath, aroused at that sudden angry accusation.
Their mouths hovered over each others'... like her fork circling chocolate cake, or her spoon stirring chocolate syrup around fudge cake
Greedy, hungry but unwilling to dig in for some reason
They both were famished
He hadnt gone to bed alone in 12 years... the last three months were a record for him, first and only.
She had gone to bed with Subbu ONCE on that hot summery afternoon in Vasant Kunj, a clumsy, fumbling, unfulfilling 20 minute stale snack.
R&B was the chhappan bhog meal (56 varieties), or the steaming hot dal chawal after a lousy two week Intl biz trip to Russia or Kazhakistan
"What are u willing to offer?" he asked, as a skilled negotiator, doing this for a living daily, making deals with money.
"three weeks" she groaned, watching his lips like a hawk... angling and reaching as
he dodged, unmindful of scraping her with his stubble as he evaded her seeking mouth
"Four" he said letting her feed at first... her soft body, reaching trembling, arching... as she grabbed his lips,
her fork scooping out the moist cake and letting it go down the throat, a real sob escaping her throat... an outraged sob at being left hungry for hours
He enjoyed being devoured... still not holding her, hands in pockets,
she slammed and shook on him holding on to his tee crushing and pulling as he pretended to move his lips away from reach.
She put her nose ring on his lips, tempting him... he still didnt budge, let his tongue dart out for a nano second instinctively before he held the errant organ back
she stroked his chest, her hands under his tee, as if saying "Work with me now"... "Please da"...
She was hot and moist in arousal... he was still... errmm... relatively... OK fine... she was skilled...
She held the back of his head/neck slowly, on her tippy toes and kissed him softly... like she kissed him at the office when she returned his money to even the score, her palm rubbing his neck
She took her right hand under his shirt and rotated her palm the goddamn jar opening trick on his pecs..
He slammed her on the wall and pressed on her, his hands grabbing her curves on the back... pressing her to his arousal...like puncturing and
releasing air from a sleeping bag after a camping trip... she turned on him, shoving him on the wall, kissing him fully, he tasted like beer? and R&B...
her cheeks and chin on fire because of his stubble..she travelled to his ear... and inhaled remnants of
shave foam scent? soap? he never shaves so cant be shave foam, groaning,
II WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT MALE SCENTS ARE SO GODDAMN AROUSING. HE DOESNT EVEN WEAR MUCH, YET HE SENDS YOU GALLOPING
"Three and we will make love every night" she said letting go of his soaked ear lobe "and some mornings" sucking again... "and many Noons"
"U forgot mid morning and late Noon" he said savagely, pinning her back on the wall.. as he took... finally suppressing her
They both will rejoice privately at having won tonight... but the three week vacation is just the beginning of attempting to live a life togetherπ€£β’οΈ