Chapter 9
— RITU —
The sun was in her eyes, mild but there.
So there. Her body felt light. Lighter than it had felt last night, when she had thought it was at its lightest. Ritu felt every breath going in and out of her body.
Slow. Deep. Relaxing. There was a man sleeping behind her, on his side of the bed.
She smiled, thinking of his arm that had pulled her into himself last night before they had decided to call off their third round and go to sleep.
They both were in an advanced decade of life, or at least — he was.
His heart was in good condition, but needed rest and sleep to return to normal without any hitch.
And, Ritu felt heat suffuse her neck at that thought — she had been scared of breaking down if he went on. Both physically and emotionally.
Last night had been… a liberation. A discovery. A good moment. In the silence of this morning, the memory of it felt even better.
His breaths behind her made deep, laboured sounds.
He had not crossed the line or tried to pull her into himself after she had denied his invitation.
Ritu didn’t need to look behind to see that he had rolled closer to her through the night though.
The heat of him, the smell of him, the feel of him…
she felt like crying happy tears. Who had ever imagined a moment like this would come
for her? Even if they returned to hating each other tomorrow, this was her moment. Even if she did not ever fall into another man’s bed, she would take this memory and live with it.
She smiled into the sunshine, the soft sounds of birdsong punctuating the wintery silence.
“You don’t need a cover or weight on your eyes from the sun, Doctor?” His heavy voice broke it.
“Are you taunting me?” She adjusted the silk eye mask that was pushed to her forehead, trying to sneakily pull it down to her eyebrows
A warm hand came to her shoulder, trailing down her bare arm and to her hand.
Surprising her, his fingers meshed with hers.
But he did not come closer. Or call her out on her sneaky move.
That had been her excuse to sleep on her own, away from him.
She needed some weight on her eyes. She really did.
A pillow or a shawl or her trusty eye mask.
He hadn’t fought it. He had just pulled the duvet over them both and waited until she had put on her white silk eye mask, turned and then slipped in behind her.
That had felt a little distant, but Ritu needed it. This morning though… even though he was farther behind her and she hadn’t seen his face yet, the hoarse texture of his voice, roughened from last night’s activities, made him feel more intimate than when he had actually been intimate.
“How long have you been awake?”
She really liked that rough voice. She could record it on her Voice Memo app and keep it locked in one folder for all of eternity. Her chest felt funny.
“Ritu?”
That’s when she turned. There was sudden concern in his voice. And, she had discovered last night, he never called her by her name unless he was serious.
She fell on her back and he came on his elbow, the worry on his face melting into a smile. The crumpled hair and welts on the side of his face aside, his beard was sticking out like somebody had shagged it. Her face felt warm, remembering who had. His smile widened.
“Why are you smiling at me?” She scowled.
“You look cute.”
“Cute?” Her scowl deepened. His hand reached out and fingered the eye mask she had forgotten was still half over her eyebrows.
He pushed it up her forehead and over her head — “May I assume that you are not going back to sleep now and won’t need this?”
“You may.”
“And may I assume you are ok with morning breath kisses?”
“Plural?”
“You won’t be able to stop at singular.”
She wanted to laugh. So bad. She bit the insides of her cheeks to hold back, and lengthen his agony. His face closed in on hers, his dark eyes coming closer and closer, his shiny pink mouth curved under that beard.
“It’s morning, Nilay.”
“That happens again and again when the sun comes up,” he left a soft kiss on her closed lips. “God knows who started it.”
Ritu smiled, and respected his restraint of not opening his mouth until she consented.
“Only one,” she found herself saying.
“Only one,” he agreed, and fused their mouths together. His body came over hers and she found her arms going around him, making space for him as his hard body met her soft one. She moaned, and his heart thudded over hers.
“Nilay!” She pushed him back.
“What? I wasn’t done. That will be counted as half…”
“How do you feel?” She asked.
His brow cocked, an evil smirk on his mouth.
“Not for that! Any pain, pressure? Discomfort?”
“No,” his stance softened. “Although…”
“Although?”
“I should ask you that.”
Ritu stiffened.
She pushed him away and he fell to his back beside her. She pulled the duvet tighter over herself, even though she wore her loose tank nightshirt over striped pyjamas.
“Just because we have spent a night together doesn’t give me the right to ask you. But if you trust me with a little more than your body, I would like to know.”
Ritu remained silent. His breaths were the only sound. Hers were shallow and silent. She didn’t know from where but she felt a tear slip down from the corner of her eye. She was grateful it wasn't from the eye close to him.
“I never found somebody to do it with,” she uttered. “Never the time or the occasion. Ok?”
“Ok.”
She turned her head and glanced at him. His head was turned towards her just like hers, so much space between them on the bed.
And yet their eyes connected and made words flow out of her mouth — “I left Mumbai, started at Harvard, and began to put on weight. Weight issues had started in Mumbai but I carried them with me into school life and then work life. Eating habits, stress, lifestyle… time was not a commodity I had either. This break is my first one in… forever. Ever since I left Mumbai. That’s 20 years.
I never found myself attracted to this facet of life. ”
“Not a boyfriend or a colleague?” He asked.
“A few tried. Maybe I have never had enough headspace until now,” she tried to laugh it off.
“You should have told me.”
“Ok,” she sat up. “Please. Don’t make this into some weepy virgin-and-the-wolf drama. I hadn’t experienced it before tonight. Big deal! Have you experienced holding a live beating heart in your hand?”
“No,” he smiled, sitting up and crossing his legs beside her. “But can we go back to the virgin and the wolf?”
She squinted disgustingly up at him.
“Why do I sense a Mills & Boons fan here?”
“I am shocked that you know Mills & Boons exists.”
“So you know what Mills & Boons is.”
She stilled, caught. And he gasped. “Wow, Doctor.”
“Oh fuck you!”
His brows rose knowingly.
“Tell me, Nilay…” she turned towards him and crossed her legs.
“Ask me, Ritu,” he aped her, looking incredibly obnoxious and handsome in the early morning light with that weird, amused, softened, annoying mood.
“At 41, do you derive petty pleasure from middle school jokes?”
“When it is in front of you,” he grinned. “Absolutely.”
Don’t make me feel special. Please.
“How is it that you are an obnoxious diva with your staff and a toddler with me?”
“Talent. Some say I was born with it, others believe I picked it up along the way. I would like to believe I honed it.”
Don’t make me laugh. Please.
“Why do you not like your body?” He asked her, and succeeded in making her choke back on that laugh. Her smile began to die and he snaked an arm around her waist. She gasped as he hitched her close — “After all that we did last night, don’t even think about me not liking it.”
“You are deluded if you think my body was made to please you.”
“It was made to hold your lovely biting personality but it pleases me nonetheless.”
Don’t do this. Please.
“I don’t have body image issues, Nilay. I like how I look. Maybe a few kilos down would make it better. But it’s not bad at this point either.”
“Then why stiffen whenever it comes up?”
She gazed away from him, at the rising sun outside the window.
“Ritu.”
“I know, you will say I am not answerable to you after one night. And you have still made me do everything by saying that.”
He chuckled. And his mouth pressed to her cheek. She was surprised at the affection of that gesture. Ritu looked at him.
“Whatever your reasons to stiffen when your body comes up, whatever your beliefs or assumptions… as a man who designs clothes for women’s bodies and now a man who knows yours intimately, I can say this with authority that I am smitten by every curve, every dip, every line.
If my opinion matters at any point to you, replay these words. ”
She nodded.
“Now come here, Doctor. That half of my kiss is still left,” he tugged her over and into his lap.
“We said one night,” she warned him before his lips could capture hers.
“Until we bathe, the night is not over.”
“I can agree to that.”
————————————————————
Bathing happened late that morning. In fact, it happened way past midday, minutes before they were supposed to leave for the airport.
Nilay went to meet his team without a bath, in a fresh pair of clothes and a spritz of perfume.
Ritu couldn't stop grinning at his singleminded effort to keep last night going, even as he spent a good hour and a half reviewing rushes from yesterday.
She also appreciated his hospitality in ensuring that she was well-fed, comfortable and entertained with Netflix, mainly so that she would stay in his room and not escape to hers.
She was finally stepping out of her room with her duffel when she found him standing there, hands empty as always. One of them reached for her duffel, the other for her waist.
“Nilay.” She warned.
“They already think you are more than my friend. No harm in playing it up.”
“They think you, me and some boyfriend of yours are into a threesome.”
“What? Why?”
“That’s just the gossip going around.”
“Who said that to you?”
“As if I’ll tell you when you ask like that.”
“Like how?”
“Angry?”
His face relaxed. “Tell me now.”
“Ha. No.”
She began to walk and he had to match her footsteps or risk letting go of her waist.
“Ritu!”
“What does it matter? You don’t care what they think.”
“About me. Not about you. Was it Kedar, my assistant? He spent the most amount of time around you…”
“Nilay. Quiet. Relax. I don’t care. I am not going to meet any of them ever again.”
He went silent then. They reached the lift and entered in silence, his arm pulling her closer into him as a white couple boarded on the next floor. She tried to pull away but he tightened his fingers — “Stop fighting.”
“This is a village.”
“And this hotel hosts foreigners, who are openminded. Or can’t you see?” He nudged his chin to the European couple in front of them.
“We said only last night.” she whispered into his ear.
“And we agreed to keep playing in front of my staff.”
“You decreed. I did not agree.”
“You drive me nuts, Doctor,” he hissed.
“You are nuts!”
“I’ll show you nuts…” he was cut off when the lift landed on the ground floor and the grille was pulled open. They stepped out behind the couple and Nilay’s team was already camped there, bags and equipment and luggage stacked on trolleys.
“NiP,” his assistant found him. “Your town car was punctured and the hotel cars are all occupied. Are you ok travelling on the bus with us?”
“Call another town car…”
Ritu’s phone beeped and she dipped her hand inside her bag for it.
DR. SHRAVAN (LONDON)
Hi Ritu
Boarding the early morning flight for Mumbai. I should be there
by tonight. Will come to the clinic tomorrow. Thanks for holding fort.
Talk soon
“Ritu?”
“Hmm?” She startled up from her phone.
“We are going in the bus with everybody else,” Nilay grumbled. “If we wait for another town car, we may miss the take-off slot… Are you listening to me?”
“Yes. Yes. It’s fine with me.”
His brows drew together. “Is everything ok?”
“Yes,” she worked to pull a smile from some long-lost corner of her chest. “Dr. Shravan is back tomorrow. Good news — you get to be treated by him now.”
His frown remained knitted, his mouth remained turned down. A long minute passed. And then he nodded.