Chapter 19 #2
“These,” he plucked the bunch of sunflowers from the island and held them out to her.
She began to reach for them when he dropped to a knee and held them up dramatically.
Her laughter this time wasn’t as watery.
And he saw the hope of this night reviving.
Nilay had discovered that she wasn’t too sold on surprises.
That was one of the reasons he had kept this one as mellow as possible.
He would have to get her used to his level of ostentatious plans slowly.
“Thank you.” She accepted his sunflowers and caressed their petals. “What else?”
“Materialistic Doctor,” he got to his feet, snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her close. He leaned down to her ear — “Malai Dark Chocolate Chips and Sitafal ice cream chilling in the fridge.”
Her chuckle was loud in his shoulder; the same shoulder where she had wept once, and made him hers.
He swayed with her, without any music, because that was one department he had planned to outsource to her.
She was the queen. The tapori. He said as much and this time her laughter opened up, completely.
He swayed some more, letting her neck bow back.
Nilay kissed the column of her throat. And her laughter died, her breathing slowly picking up.
“Are you hungry?” He asked. Her eyes met his, wide and stupefied. She nodded.
“Good. Come here.”
He walked her to the dining table and stood her on one side. Then circled around to the other side, grabbed the rag he had set there for this express purpose and threw it over his shoulder. Her mouth widened, those perfect teeth making an appearance.
“Butter mat dalna, Bhaiya.[19]” She played along.
“Pakka?[20]” He cocked an eyebrow.
“Pakka. Aur, chutney ekdum kam. Ek hi side pe.[21]”
He went full ballistic with the chutney on both sides for her.
She bit her lip, looking naughty again. The last few days had sucked the energy and joy out of her.
It hadn’t been apparent, but now that he saw that bright smile, he realised how scared she must have been.
He had all but blackmailed her into performing his angioplasty. He hadn’t asked her what she had felt.
“Extra salad!” She demanded, and he blinked down at the cucumbers he was slicing. Nilay grinned up at her — “Masala?”
“Ekdum kam.[22]”
“Taste hi nahi aayega, Madam.[23]”
Her shoulders hunched in glee, vibrating.
He lay the bed of veggies one upon the other, now an expert himself because he had spent his entire adult life eating this sandwich on Mumbai streets.
He threw a generous dash of Sandwich masala and closed the bread, pressing down and cutting it into nine pieces.
She grabbed a plate but he held up his finger, bringing out the newspapers he had torn and readied earlier.
“I am impressed,” Ritu observed as he set the newspaper on the plate and slid the sandwich from the chopping board onto it.
“Kaddu wala sauce?” She asked.
“Sorry, forgot,” he winced. “It was a hustle to get everything before you came. I promise you, next time.” He held the plate out to her and she leaned in to get it. At the last moment, he pulled the plate back and pushed his face — “Payment, Madam.”
“Khaane ke baad.[24]”
“First pay, then eat.” He tipped his mouth closer to hers. She smacked it and kissed his cheek, taking the plate from him.
“No more sandwiches for you,” he rubbed his mouth.
She laughed, her mouth full of his sandwich.
And Nilay leaned forward and stole that kiss before jumping back to save himself from her whack.
He didn’t even stop to think if this date was romantic or not.
It was them, eating some of their favourite food, laughing. That was all that mattered.
————————————————————
She was a two-flavour of ice cream kinda girl.
He had discovered this the first time they had gotten ice cream together, but now it was reiterated and set in stone.
She wanted to eat one flavour but also needed to enjoy the other flavour.
And he happily supplied in that department, sitting cross-legged on the coffee table with her aping him on the sofa in front of him, spooning ice cream from her cup.
“Want?” He offered her his Sitafal.
“Then you’ll say I ate all of it.” She turned her spoon full of vanilla ice cream with dark choco chips upside down and popped it into her mouth. She had a unique way of eating ice cream.
“I won’t. Here,” he scooped some and held it out to her. She pulled her spoon out and leaned forward, just in time for him to turn the spoon for her so that she could have it on her tongue. Her eyes fell closed and she smiled. The kind of smile he had been dying to see again.
Ritu opened her eyes and saw his expression; her smile melted.
“Nilay…”
“I am ok now,” he said softly. “You can take the kiddie gloves off.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have been exhausted, I see it, Ritu. I am sorry you had to deal with my illness and then my horrendous patient behaviour. I swear it was to have fun and not trouble you…”
“I know,” she sat forward. “I know, Nilay.”
He exhaled. “Good. Good. Then I can move on to what I want to say next.”
Her eyes fell shut again.
“What is it, Ritu? You don’t like me?”
“That’s not even a question,” she chuckled, eyes still closed.
“You don’t like the other side of my behaviour? I can’t say I will change completely but I will try and remain as non-obnoxious for you as I can. I have been trying, and I think I have been successful… hmm?”
She opened her eyes, and the naughty hours they had spent were a thing of the past. She looked… conflicted, sad, confused. He touched her cheek, so soft, so smooth, inviting his knuckles to run over its curve.
“You have, single-handedly,” he said, “brought me back to life. You make me want to live again and again, start a life, have children, raise them, make something more than just a… what do you call it? Grand brand.” Nilay chuckled.
“I am asking you now, do I do something even remotely similar for you?”
She stared into his eyes. Silent. Blinking.
Her long lashes fluttering. And then, quietly, she leaned forward and took his lips with hers.
Nilay inhaled, feeling sparks burst inside of him.
He threaded his fingers through her hair and pushed her back, kissing her like he had not been able to kiss her since Patan.
Like he was finally ready to lead them there again, from where there was no return. Not this time, and never again.
“Doctor,” he pulled back, breathing heavily to match her panting. Her eyes were squinty, hooded, staring up at him. He pushed the bangs back from her temple — “Am I cleared for the bedroom now?”
Her palm pasted on his chest, over his heart, and she pressed until he was straightening to his feet and she was following him, leading him towards his bedroom. He turned midway and twirled her in his arms, spinning her into the open doorway.
“Last chance, Doctor.”
She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him, shoving the door shut with her shoulder.
————————————————————
The chirping of birds and honks of stray cars broke into his sleep. Just like every day. Except, today wasn’t every day. He smiled in sleep, knowing he would open his eyes to the woman of his dreams, now the woman of his life.
He turned and reached out to pull her closer. This time, he wasn't letting her escape him. His arm hit empty mattress. Nilay squinted his eyes open.
“Ritu?” He called out. The cracks in the curtains let some light in, enough to make the clock readable. 6.15 am. He frowned and sat up.
“Ritu?” He called out towards the bathroom, then winced. He was screaming in his sleep voice at dawn. She was bound to flatten him with a lecture. He cleared his throat and lowered his volume — “Doctor?”
No answer.
Nilay pushed the duvet aside and stepped out onto the cool marble. The winter was intense this time, even for Mumbai. He limped to the bathroom, straightening out the kink in his knee. He knocked. “Ritu?”
The door gave way and opened to darkness.
Panic set in. Nilay exited his room, seeing the hall just as they had left it last night.
The small entryway light was on. Her shoes were missing.
He ran back into his bedroom, pulling open the drawer that she had claimed in the last week here.
Empty. There had to be a reason. Maybe she had gone to her flat to exchange the clothes.
At 6 in the morning?
He lunged for the mobile lying on his bedside and found a paper under it.
Nilay,
You made my short time here brighter than I could imagine. But our life goals are very different. I don’t want the same things as you do. What you feel for me is gratitude, spun into hero worship. Soon, it will die down. Life will move on.
I wish you the best, take care.
Ritu