The dance of love

Sameer:

I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel. I was fuming within for the welcome we were meted out with at my dear Wife's maternal house. I was not expecting to be showered upon with rose petals and a grand welcome but some civility would have sufficed but alas! The fact that naina's father was a mute spectator in all of this didn't quite help his case. Till now somewhere I had pitied the fellow but today I lost all respect for him. Anyways this entire idea of pagphera was anyways bad. I knew it, I could smell trouble even from afar. But all because of my mother we had to, she insisted that it is as per the customs and that its considered a bad amen to not complete this very ritual. I would have still managed had my dear wife complied with my excuses that I was trying to cook up to suit the scenario but no! she had to defy me and now here we are! What was taking her so long?! I was engrossed in my own tirade. Too irritated to notice that my darling wife was trying to lug her two big bags of belongings all by herself. It was only when she knocked on the windows did I notice the sorry state. I at once leaped out of my seat and through the door to be at her side.

Sameer: mujhe bula liya hota

Naina: aapko gussa karne se fursst hoti, tab bulaati, khair chodiye samaan rakh dijiye.

Sameer: itna bhaari! Baba re, kya hain kya isme?

Naina: meri kitabein, kapde toh sab kkamya ne jala diye

Sameer: my hands at once fisted in anger and I abhorred that god forsaken creature called Kkamya all the more. 'chodo, naye khareed lenge'

Naina: nahin... who

Sameer: naina we are man and wife and I have every right to buy you clothes so shut up and get in the car. We are going shopping with no more ifs and buts in between. Am so done with this drama. Better don't fight me.

Wow! For the first time ever she didn't fight me rather simply nodded and got inside the car and waited for me with a somber expression. I couldn't help but smile. I drove her one of the best malls and guided her through shops. Though I was keen on buying her clothes but this entire chore of shopping had never interested me ever. In fact my own clothes are still bought by my mother since am always too busy to take time out for these things. Hence I asked her to continue while I strolled along the aisles with disinterest until my eyes fell upon something very interesting. My devil mind yet again starting churning out ideas and while my beautiful innocent wife chose from a plethora of suits and simple dresses while I chose something for her which she couldn't even imagine in her wildest of imaginations. I laughed at the thought of how her mouth would curve into an o on seeing my choice.

The break in my self musings came when she appeared in front of me

Naina: kya hua, poore paagal hogaye hain kya?

Sameer: what do you mean?

Naina: toh yahan khade khade apne man mein kyun muskura rahein hain?

Sameer: meri marzi, waise tumhari shopping hogayi ho toh ghar chalein?

Naina: haan main toh pehle hi ghar jaana chahti thi, aap hi yahan le aaye

Sameer: haan thik hain, maine wohi kiya jo zaroori thaa, ab chalo.

At home my mother waited for us with a plate in hand at the very doorstep, to welcome her Bahu. I could see her eyes wandered over to the bags in hands, and her curiosity was etched on her features. I nodded in her direction beckoning her not to ask any more questions. She could sense my exhaustion and without a single word, ushered us. When I looked at Naina, I noticed a sense of relaxation in her features and stance alike. She moved with confidence as if entering a territory not alien to her. I somehow felt proud of the fact that me and my mother could actually put her ease and now she considered this house as hers. I smiled at the thought.

She moved around in the room, taking out her clothes from the packets and setting them in the right shelves in our cupboard. Today she moved with confidence and I admired her while standing in one corner.

Naina: aise kya dekh rahein hain

Sameer: kuch nahi bus dekh raha thaa

Naina: mat dekhiye!

Sameer: kyun? Kyun naa dekun?

Naina: uff! Aap se baat karna bekaar hain, issey acha main apna kaam karloon.

Sameer: toh maine kab roka hain, karo apna kaam, yahan wahan dekh k, idhar udhar ki baatein kar k kyun time waste kar rahi ho mera aur tumhara

Naina: main idhar udhar ki baatein kar rahi hoon!? Uff! Aap matlab...!

She stomped her feet off!

Sameer: acha suno, tumhara gussa karna khatam karna hogaya ho toh ek kaam karna, shaam tak ache se taiyaar hojaana, tumhaare liye kuch laya hoon, mere side mein rakha hain, I mean my side of the cupboard. Whai pehen na thik hain?

Naina: aap mere liye kya laye hain?

Her voice almost held a suspicious tone while I couldn't help my smirk

Sameer: jo bhi laya hoon wahi pehen na aur 6pm tak taiyaar rehna hum bahar jayenge

Naina: kahan bahar?

Sameer: sawaal bahut poochti ho tum, tumhara naam naina nahi Prashnaa hona chahiye

Naina: kya matlab?

Sameer: itne sawaal jo poochti ho isiliya prashn se prashnaa

Naina: aapke faltu k jokes hogaye ho toh please yahan se jayenge

Sameer: thik hain par tum ready rehna 6 baje.

With that he winked and glided away.

Naina Maheshwari

Somewhere this idea was not sitting right. What was he planning? My mind went around In circles while I stuffed the cupboard up. Was he again planning some mischief? God!? No! I was terrified at the thought of being alone with him in one room. What was he planning? My curiosity wouldn't let me rest. And hence I marched to his side of the cupboard to check what he had got for me. his side! Wow! It felt like a war had ensued within the closed confines and while his clothes lay in a wide disarray, it didn't take me much time to spot what was mine. Wrapped in a white and pink glittery paper, it looked like a box, the box looked wide and quite big and when I tried shaking it to get an idea about the contents of the same, I couldn't hear anything. This piqued my interest all at once and I simply tore while discarding the box within only to reveal a light pink shimmery fabric. It looked beautiful when I held it up to have a closer look, I found a note.

"Naina am pretty sure in your hurry to find out as in what I had got for you, you must have by now torn the package to shreds and I also know while you did the same your mind must have churned out some crazy ideas for you which you must have thought that I had while I bought you this! I knew it! You know when I first saw this I couldn't take my eyes off it not because this is beautiful saree but because I couldn't stop myself from imagining you in this. In my imagination you looked divine and I know when tonight you wear this for our date, you would knock me off my feet! So my dear wife I will be waiting for you to do so in the evening while I whisk you off for a date! Please be ready on time my love, the minutes are already excruciating!

Yours always yours... yours forever

Sameer Maheshwari"

My heart wouldn't stop beating, I could feel the butterflies do somersaults within. The note made me go dizzy. All my life my grandmother regaled me with stories of Prince and I would often laugh at her suggestions that one day a certain Prince would come to whisk me off my feet but today all those theories all those words felt true. This note, felt like straight out of a fairy-tale and the man in question was no less a Prince. Yet my mind wouldn't stop sounding the alarms. It would always try looking for those nooks or crannies, the what ifs, the ulterior motive. I berated myself, for such thoughts especially since we met Sameer has only saved me and always fought for my honor. Hence keeping all the bad thoughts aside, I smiled at the note.

Sameer Maheshwari

I was pacing up and down in the hall while my eyes wandered over to the clock. 10 minutes to six! Is it my imagination or is the time moving exceptionally slow today? I did have an opportunity to go to my room once but the object of my adoration was missing. I tried looking for her, checked in the kitchen even knocked on the toilet and roamed in the garden but she was nowhere to be seen. Did she simply vanish into thin air? Well I had not checked my mothers room and something told me that the two ladies were together since now my mother was missing along with my wife. The clock now said 5 minutes to 6. God! I could think so much in a span of 5 minutes and this clock its like some snail, rather may be a snail must be sitting on it. I tried looking for a physical one while I checked the spokes.

Visakha: ghadi ko ghurne se ghadi jaldi nahi chalegi beta! Patience! Patience is the key!

She giggled at her own joke

Sameer: hahahaahahahah! Such a crass joke Mummy, you could have done better you know!

Visakha: arey am serious beta, you need to check your expressions in the mirror, you literally glaring the clock as if prodding it to run faster as per you. I know you are eager to see Naina in your gift but itna bhi kya utaavlapan

Sameer: oh please! Am not Utaavla! Stop making a mountain out of a mole

Visakha: acha! Thik hain, if you are not so eager to see her in that saree, better I tell her that she could take all the time in the world, infact she was saying an extra one hour would do her good. Great! I'll tell her that.

Sameer: one hour! What do you mean?! One hour! No way I have waited enough and already the wait has been painful and now she wants an extra hour, no way is she getting any and Mummy please.....

My rant was broken by the laughter! Yes yet another crass joke by my mother, this was exasperating! I almost turned to leave when I bumped into something soft, her!

She looked stunning, divine , heavenly, gorgeous, stupendous, yes I was awestruck. Time stood still, when I first laid my eyes on her. The saree clung to her and her curves were accentuated just right. The small crystals embedded in the saree glowed while her skin glowed to match its shine. She had kept the make up to minimum, just a bit of kohl around those orbs and light brush of pink on the lips. She had let her hair down, that fell in a cascade across her back while a part of it fell across her face. I could see the mangalsutra being the only piece of jewelry that adorned her neck and the diamond glinted just right. She was yet to put on her sandals and hence she looked so petite and I had to stoop down a bit to meet her eyes that looked everywhere but not at me. I took see her rosy cheeks go red in blush, gosh! This woman would be the death of me. while her attempts at dodging my eyes continued, I remained invested in my pursuit and finally she relented. She looked at me and I lost myself in those eyes. My eyes roamed across her face drinking in her beauty, only then did I notice the hint of Red hidden in the thick mass of her hair. She had not forgotten to put sindoor. This made my heart swell in love and pride. This beautiful woman is my wife, she is mine and am all hers.

Visakha: Sameer aise toh mat ghuro meri bahu ko, dekh kitna sharma rahi hain.

Sameer: I had completely forgotten that we had audience, my mother had chosen the moment to interrupt our moment, "oh please maa stop making it awkward, you are the one who is embarrassing with these anecdotes of yours which I should tell you are not welcome"

Visakha: acha baba ok! I wont say anything, its better you two scoot off now and please be careful with my Bahu, bring her back home safe. Off you go now.

Naina Maheshwari

He looked dapper in all Black, his hair as usual danced in the wind while a soft smile adorned his face. he wore a fancy watch that glinted in the dark. I loved this habit of his, it looked so manly. He smelled of musk while his shirt was the perfect fit, his shoulders looked broad yet his form lean. Control Naina control are you ogling at him? Yes I was and that smug smile confirmed my fears. he wouldn't talk, wouldn't say where he was taking me and I could see him taking the highway

Naina: exactly where are we going?

Sameer: patience lady!

Naina: enough either you tell me where we are going or I just jump off the car

Sameer: whoa! Wait! It's a surprise, why cant you hold on to your horses for a little while long

Naina: little while long! Its already been an hour in the car and we are nowhere near our destination

Sameer: and how do you know that

Naina: have you seen the road, its almost empty and you just took a detour from the highway and now we are trudging along a road that's just so dark

Sameer : here we are

While I went on a rant, he had steered the car over in front of a what looked like a sprawling property. Though dark yet I could see the garden in the front, the grass had recently been cut and there were flowerbeds around while a white mansion stood in the background, it had been lit with fairy lights, though the part of the garden was left out and that was perplexing, the garden looked too dark and that just didn't sit right with me. I continued with my scrutinization while he parked the car.

Naina: where are you taking me

Sameer: you'll see for yourself

Naina: but...

Sameer: no its no buts just come

Naina: stop dragging me, already I cant see because of this thick blindfold around my eyes and then these heels are making it worse and now you are constantly dragging me, any moment I will stumble and fall.

Sameer: I will never let you fall love, and what you are calling dragging, I call it guiding, I know, my beautiful wife cant see through the blindfold and hence am helping you to walk. You see am your eyes at the moment, and though your limbs are yours yet am your guide for the moment and you gotta trust your guide sweets.

Naina: fine but when do I get to take this blindfold off? I cant take the suspense anymore

Sameer: bas thoda intezaar

With this I felt him guiding me towards something hard and then pressing my shoulders down as if urging for me to sit down and so I did. It felt like a chair since my back had a support. Next he took my blindfold off and the sight that greeted me was beyond words.

Sameer:

Arranging for a date could be this exhausting I had no clue about the same. I had spoken to the caretaker about the cleaning and he had taken care of the same but when I had come in to check for the progress last evening, it had all been in a disarray, I had been mad at them all and that helped since in a flurry I could see my the caretaker, watchman and the allotted maid for the farm house all got to work and when I left, everything looked spic and span. Next, task at hand had been fairly easy. With the help of the event manager, i decked the house up with fairy lights. In the garden, i made him set up a canopy that had been decorated with red white and pink orchids and fairy lights in abundance, a teakwood table sat underneath with two chairs that were antique style. The cover of the table had been kept at white while a candle burnt within a oval glass jar. I had arranged for the caterer to leave the food with provisions to keep it warm. That set up had been done in the corner of the garden. Though I chose Belgian glass for tableware today, the cuisine is of Naina's choice, continental. And now looking at her I could tell that I had done good. The smile looked beautific!

Sameer: like it?

I could see her face getting all scrunched up, she had been lost in the moment up until now and my question caught her off guard. I knew the reaction would be somewhat tempered now that I had caught her being mesmerized and hence when she simply shrugged, I wasn't disappointed rather the laughter bubbled up from within but I kept it in check because today I didn't want to do anything that would make her fly off the handle rather today I wanted us to come closer amidst the stars and for the moon to witness our growing bond.

Naina: its nice

Sameer: just nice! Never mind, lets eat, btw its your favorite continental!

Her mouth had formed the perfect o of awe and somewhere the urge to pull her to me and kiss her senseless clawed at me. but I knew it was too early to be moving at first base, and hence I scooted off to get our plates loaded with food. Once the table was set with all the food. I sat myself down. I served for both of us while she kept staring .

Sameer: khaana khudh se pet mein nahin jayega, usey haath se uthaake muh mein daalna hoga phir sahi se chabana hoga tabhi who tumhare pet htak ka raasta taye kar payega.

Naina: kyun?

Sameer: kyun? Kyun matlab? Kya kyun? Sab aise hi khaate hain, am sure tum bhi aise hi khaati hogi, ismein kyun ka kya kaam?

Naina: main khaane ki baat nahi kar rahi

Sameer: toh kis cheez ki baat kar rahi ho?

Naina: yeh sab... mera matlab... yeh itna sara taam jhaam... nahi matlab... yeh arrangements, phir khaana meri pasand ka, aur aap itne sweet

Sameer: haaye chalo kam se kam isi bahane se tumne meri tareef toh ki nahi toh humesha aankhein dikhaate rehti

She blushed at my comment

Naina: why are you doing all this? I mean am not used to people making efforts for me. yes I did have a few friends, rather two who would pamper me and also my Daadi but then apart from them no one cared and I had stopped bothering as well. If it is any game of yours, I would request for you to stop since... somewhere you are making me expect, the hopes that were long lost are again rearing their head up because of you and somewhere its making me fear for the future. Am not used to....

Sameer: I don't know when I had gotten up from the chair and was at her side, but all I knew was I had to stop her, her emotional rambling made my heart pierce, this girl had gone through so much, she lost her mother at a tender age and then her father rejected her while she grew up under the love and care of her grandmother, and though her friends had tried to keep her ample company and give her some hope, she had actually lost all zest for life and now she was in denial that a man could at all love her.

"bas bahut hua, I know it had been tough for you, one doesn't need rocket science to tell that the relationship between you and your father had been strained and also that your childhood had been rigged in sorrows and rejection in spite of the fact that your friends and Grandmother tried their level best yet you were always lonely within. But now you have me, and am doing it because I love you, I know you don't believe in love but I do and this is my promise that I would make you fall in love with me with love. And for all this I think its high time ki tum aadat daal lo, kyunki mujhe aadat hain, jinse mein pyaar karta hoon unki fikar, parwah karne ki and yes also to pamper them them and I promise these would never stop and hence you are free to expect as much as you can! And another thing, Naina you always have me to share you pain, so please never hesitate to share all that you want to. I have no ulterior motive love, now lets eat, since am famished"

Naina: yes, am starving too

Sameer: good, lets dig in then

Dinner was a quiet affair, our eyes would meet every now and then while eating and I couldn't stop myself from marveling her perfection. The way she chewed on to the food, her lips dancing in perfect synchrony made me want to jump her but keeping a tight leash upon my not so innocent thought I kept eating. We had set some 4 speakers around the four willow trees in the four corners that played soft music and the mood had suddenly turned romantic.

Sameer: care for a dance, a waltz may be

Naina: I cant dance

Sameer: oh c'mon, you don't have to dance just waltz

Naina: I don't know how to do that

Sameer: yes you do, I will teach you, come lets go.

I pulled her close to me, she fit in perfect into my arms. My hand on her lower back while our bodies so close that there was no space left in between for air to pass even. I gazed at her eyes to check for hesitation or uncertainty but instead I was greeted by a shy smile. This made my heart swell in joy, she was ready to give us a chance though she had not spoken the words, yet I could tell that she was in this with me. our journey as a couple had began. We kept moving in sync with the slow music, I twirled her once pulling her closer that closest. Her chest brushed with mine and an electricity ran through the veins, I could feel her shiver while my gaze turned heated. My hands roamed shamelessly around her waist taking her in as much as I could. The music was soft and our dance heated. I kept turning her in my arms, while making her body come in closer than closest contact of mine. She felt like a puppet in my hold, she did as per me and all the while her eyes never left mine. I could see the flicker of embers in them. The fire of love had been ignited and that fire pulled me to her like a moth. The next time I turned her in my arms, I did it in a way that I held her up in the air and during the slow descent I made sure, that every inch of her being touched mine. When her back touched my chest I couldn't help but lean down to pepper her shoulders with soft kisses. I could sense her labored breaths. I took this opportunity to bite her earlobe while whispering,

Sameer: I love you love, now I would like to ask for something

Naina: what?! What do you want?

She trembled

Sameer: you!

With that I turned her around, the fire that was burning within me, I could see the flames in her eyes and hence without further delay I pulled her to me while my lips descended on hers. She tasted of strawberries and chocolates, gosh! she tasted so good. My hands moved along her being, I just couldn't get enough of her. I sucked on to her delicious lips while she followed suit and licked mine in slow but confident strokes. This stoked the fire and I bit her lower lip, to seek permission within, she moaned in my mouth and let me in where our tongues lashed against each other entangled in a battle of love. I leaned her down while I bowed on to her. Leaving her lips i started giving her slow over mouthed kisses on her neck and shoulders. I knew I had to stop but the storm within made me glued to her all the more. In all of this, she had turned into a doll of clay, never for once did I feel any hesitation on her part, as if she was surrendering herself to me. I picked her up and proceeded towards the mansion.