Part-Time Devdaas... (14 page)

“What the fuck… What the fuck… What the fuck…” Voice One yelled.

“Bloody moron, I had told you there was something wrong,” Voice Two yelled.

“What were you fucking thinking?” Voice Three said,

“Did you see that guy? Voice Four said. “No wonder she ran back to him.”

“Why do you have to say that?” Voice One asked.

“Look you fucking cunt, this is why.” Voice Five said, providing visuals of me and the monster standing against the X & Y axis of the graph. He was so tall that he almost touched the infinity mark. I looked like a tiny pebble in front of the Everest plus my mind made every possible effort to make me look like a rag picker in front of the designer-clothes-clad dude.

“God knows if he was ever gone,” Voice Two jumped back. “She was possibly two timing you all this while.”

“That can’t be. Hrida would never do that.” Voice One returned back trying to dominate.

“You are so thick-headed! She flatly lied to you, don’t you get it?” Voice Three said.

“There has to be a reason. She has never lied.” Voice One was defensive.

“Arjun! Wait!” I turned and stopped as I heard Hrida call my name just before I got into Shashank’s car.

“I was going to tell you,” she said breathing heavily as she came close.

“Tell me what? That the love of your life that you waited for so many years is back and you want to get back with him?” I was so pissed that rest of the voices took over my mind.

“You are getting it all wrong, Arjun.”

“Oh really? Then why were you so scared back there? Or was I imagining that too?”

“I was scared because I didn’t tell you earlier.”

Shashank and Neha got out of the car.

“What’s happening guys?” Neha asked.

“Why?” I asked ignoring Neha.

“Because Abhi has wanted to meet me for the past month, and I knew it would bother you if I had told you. I didn’t want that.”

My anger totally looked through her genuineness.

“Abhi? Wow.” I said as she referred to him by his nickname.

“You knew about this?” I asked Neha.

“Abhi is back?” Neha asked Hrida.

“’Couldn’t you have told him that that your boyfriend wouldn’t like it?”

“I wanted to meet him too.” She said and paused. “I had to clear a few things with him.”

“Oh ya, I know the big closure and all,” I smirked.

“There is no need to be rude.”

“He wants to get back with you, doesn’t he?” I almost screamed.

“Poncho, don’t create a scene here,” Shashank said pulling me back.

“Yes,” Hrida replied.

“Wait a minute… does he know you are with me now? Have you even broken up with him, Hrida?”

She kept quiet.

“This is amazing, you stay away from me.” I took a deep breath and began to walk away from Shashank’s car.

“Arjun please wait ya,” Hrida whined.

“Don’t scream… don’t scream… don’t scream...” Voice One repeated.

“Scream! Scream! Scream!” the rest of the voices cheered.

“Rickshaw!” I screamed at the top of my voice.

I
was desperately swimming across the sea, my hands fiercely cutting through the dark choppy waters but the container vessel stacked with billions of containers tied to my shoulders was slowing me down. I turned to look back when I heard the thundering sound of the lightning bolt strike the conducting rod of the ship, and saw the eye of the storm forming just a few metres behind me. The load was too much to pull. I was exhausted but I knew I had to make it fast or the storm would have me and my containers for dinner and I wasn’t going to let it happen. I took a deep breath and fired up all the energy I had and began to pull my containers to safety. The lightening thundered again and it began to rain. The winds grew gusty, the water started freezing. The spine chilling temperature of the water was forcing my brain to give up the resolve to save my world I had locked in the containers, but my heart was determined not to give up. I turned on my back and wound the rope around my hands for better grip and got back to pulling it. The rains blinded me and I couldn’t see anything. Suddenly I felt land below my legs. I smiled and my heart began to race.

“Almost there... no giving up now,” I told my mind.

But then, as if some evil power heard me speaking to my mind, all hell broke loose upon me. The lightning struck the bolt again and lit up the night like a day. The winds began to whirl around me, dragging me to the eye of the storm. I tried to hold on to it by anchoring my heels on the rocks. My bleeding heels turned the dark waters below me red. I was slipping away. I could feel the warmth of my tears rolling down my face.

“No!” I wailed, “Please stop!”

“What you want isn’t happening,” a growling voice said followed by thunder.

And in a fraction of a second, I was right in the vortex of the storm with all my containers flying in circles around me. I looked at all of them for the last time before the water gulped me down. I felt the agonising salinity inside my throat as the cold, freezing sea water entered my lungs. Finally, I saw the last air bubble escape out of my body. Everything went silent and ‘the white light’ appeared.

I opened my eyes desperately, gasping and snorting.

“You planning to come out of that bed anytime soon?” Devika asked pulling the curtains aside.

“That explains the white light!” I whispered to myself, “What a nightmare,” I said to her. She smiled back.

My eyes kept following her all over the bedroom while my naked body lazed on the bed. She dropped the bathrobe revealing her black boyshorts and stretched her hands behind to hook the bra up. Her still wet hair dripped water on her bare back which slid down her spine to her hips. I could see her face in the mirror as she applied the moisturizer on her neck and chest. A wave of lust shuddered through me. I got out of the bed and slid my hands over her waist to her belly. From the goose bumps that sprouted on her body the instant I touched her, I could clearly tell that her body reciprocated with the same intensity. The scent of her body combined with the smell of the cosmetics was fatally intoxicating. She rolled her eyes and dropped her head back on my shoulder as I began to nibble her neck.

“Shhhhhhhhhh...” she turned and pushed me away placing her hands on my chest, “Away you go from me!” She said. “You are going to get me fired.”

“Yippie!” I said resting my bare body on the window wall and draping myself with the curtain.

I looked at her. The morning sunlight that bounced off her face made her skin glow.

“Dev, what’s this?” I said as I stretched to pull out an envelope lying on the parapet of the window. She began to laugh.

“God!! its been
there
all this time. I’ve been looking for it all over.”

“What is it?”

“Offer letter.”

“For what?”

“A post opened in ANZ last month. They are offering a good package but it’s in Delhi, so …”

“I think you should take it,” I said trying to mess with her.

“Really?
Chalo
I’ll mail them then.” She played along.

I stood there looking at her through the mirror drying her hair with the dryer, her eyes too locked on to me.

“Shit...” She said noticing the hickeys I had left on her neck the earlier night. “Were you planning to have me for dinner? Pass me the concealer.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because…” she turned to me, “I don’t want the bitches in my office to know that I am hiding a
Kratos
in my house who does atrocious things to me.” I passed her the concealer.

“The next thing I know is my house is full of corporate suit-clad sluts.” She sucked her lower lip in to control her laughter and began to nod her head. I just gazed at her jutting my lips out in sadness as her eyes fixed themselves on me again.

“Oh god...” She did a classic Devika-eye-roll and walked up to me stomping her legs on the floor. “Okay,  but let’s please make it quick.” She whispered putting her arms around my neck. “I can’t bunk office today,” she said, her eyes eyeing my lips.

I held her face and began to suck her lower lip. She pulled me closer holding my hand and placed it over her hips. Fingers of her right hand running through my hair while the left hand held them fiercely for grip. I let go of the curtains to lift her up and in the bargain my legs got tangled in the bathrobe that was still on the floor. So with her in my arms, I tumbled onto the bed. A few seconds of guffawing later, gnawing at each other’s bodies began, leaving a few more hickeys behind. I slid my hand up her back and clicked the bra open, mentioning that is of importance because I find it a gargantuan achievement. After tossing her bra away, she repeated the same action with the boyshorts she wore. Then the sheets covered us up to keep the act a secret from the ceiling fan, the wardrobe, the rest of the furniture and the pigeons in the window.

Devika and I, apart from each other’s bodies and the bed, shared one more thing – a similar state of mind. It was amazing how I had no absolute thoughts in my head. For the first time in years, there were no debates over what was right or wrong. The contentment of being together had brought the animals out of two empty and emotionally drained souls who wanted each other’s bodies and bodies only, or so we thought then.

It took us four hours and a wake-up call from Devika’s father to get done with the let’s-please-make-it-quick thing. The phone rang three rounds before Devika picked it up. Since I was sleeping, she began to sneak out of the bed to talk, but I pulled her back and snuggled up to her.

“Shut up it’s Pa.” She whispered gritting her teeth.

“Hi Pa,” she said groggily

“No I’m fine, was sleeping.”    

“Ya it’s an off today.”

“I mean I didn’t go.”

“I know I said I’m fine.”

“Because I didn’t want to go.”

“Pa, why have you called?”

“Yes I know. I’m booked on 5
th
night, so I’ll be late, but I’ll be there.”

“Isn’t it enough that I’m going to be there for the wedding?”

(Long silence and excessive noodling of hair.)

“What guy?”

“And why wasn’t I told about this?

“What do you mean why?”

“Who is gonna marry him?”

“Me? right?”

(Long silence)

“Because, I want you to meet someone.”

“Yes, there is someone.”

“Pa, stop yelling or I’m hanging up.”

“Stop yelling.”

“Pa?”

“I’m hanging up.”

“You are still yelling Pa.”

“No, Ma didn’t know. I was planning to surprise you guys.”

“I’m bringing him along with me.”

“No.”

“Okay.”

“Fine.”

“Yes.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“Phew!” She chucked her phone away and pulled her hair. “Arrrggghhh...”

“Dev?” I said and turned her towards me as she calmed down after three punches on the pillow. She wrapped her leg around my waist and upped her chin with closed eyes asking me to kiss her. I did.

“What happened?” I asked kissing her cheek a minute later.

“I told Pa I’m seeing someone and that I’ll bring him to Nishi bhaiya’s wedding.”

“I heard that, but why?

“Because he wanted me to meet some US-based big money IT guy,” she picked up the packet of grass and began to roll up.

“What’s the harm in meeting him?”

“Harm? If I agree to meet, they’ll conveniently assume I’ve said yes for the wedding and push me off their chest in fifteen days,” she slurred licking the Rizla to tape it. “You remember last time na?”

“Ooow, that got out of hand.”

“Right?” She lit the joint and took a long drag.

“So what’s the problem now?”

“I am
not
seeing anyone!” She said raising her eyebrow and held the joint between her fingers for me to drag it.

“I can play the part if you want,” I said and pulled in a hard one.

“You will? Really?”

“Ya, but on one condition.” I took the joint away from her.

“What?”

“For a month, you’ll roll up spliffs for me.” I smiled

“No way!”

“Then forget it.” I shrugged. She rushed to climb up on me and pinned both my hands with hers on the bed and kissed me.

Seven days later, I was on a flight to Gwalior with Devika.

Nishi bhaiya was Devika’s first cousin. I found it amazingly silly to call a guy year younger than you ‘
bhaiya
’, but since Devika called him that I blindly followed. The guy was a walking flesh shop. He was five-feet-one-inch tall with a round face, round body, moobs for a chest, a triple chin, permed-curly hair, scary L-shaped locks, bunny teeth and thick-glassed Gandhi specs. Years back, I had met him at Devika’s birthday party, He was a chubby kid then but now it seemed like someone had pumped air into him.

“Debucho, aye Debucho!” He yelled in his ultra rugged voice making himself the centre of attention at the airport.

“I didn’t know they called you that. What a cool name!” I goofed.

“Oh come on, your Poncho wins hands down.”

“Debucho, here!” He came running towards us. I moved away from his line of run as the thought of what if he couldn’t stop himself petrified me.