“Hum jab bhi saath hote hain, main apna koi rona le kar baith jaati hoon. Aapko gussa nahin aata?” Nidhi asked sheepishly after they were back in her room. She was sitting on a chair kept near the window. Ashutosh was standing nearby, leaning on the window sill.

“Ye phooli hui aur laal naak tum par achchhi lagti hai,” he joked.

“Dr. Ashutosh!”

“Sach kah raha hoon. Aaine mein dekho!”

Nidhi gave up on the self-recrimination and looked at him lovingly for making her do that.

“Plus rona ho ya hansna,” he said seriously now, “Mujhe bahut achchha lagta hai ki tum apne man ki baatein mere saath share kar paati ho. Khul ke… Tumhein idea nahin hai isse mujhe kitna… main kitna secure mahsoos karta hoon…”

“Secure?”

“UmmHmm…”

“Aapko insecurity hai hi kyon? Woh bhi mujhe lekar?”

“Insecurity to apne andar hoti hai, Nidhi. Tumhari zindagi ki problems kissi aur ke galat faislon ki wajah se hain. Lekin apni zindagi ke baare mein main ye nahin kah sakta. Ranjeeta meri choice thi, Rahul ka paida hona mera faisla tha… Aur phir hamara separation, Rahul ki parvarish ek broken ghar mein hona… ye sab mere faislon ka nateeza tha… I have too much to answer for… Mujhe dar lagta hai apne faislon se…”

“Dr. Ashutosh!” Nidhi had seen him so vulnerable for the first time.

“Tumhein shayad gussa aata hoga mujh par… Ki tumhare man ki baat jaante hue bhi maine kitne samay tak tumhein beech mein chhod rakha tha… Na tumhein accept karta tha, na tumhein jaane deta tha…”

“Aise kyon kah rahe hain aap, Dr. Ashutosh? Aapne mujhe thode hi na kissi cheez ke liye majboor kiya?”

“Tumhein door bhi to nahin kiya tha khud se. Sach ye hai ki one way or the other – mujhe kissi bhi faisle par bharosa nahin ho raha tha.”

Nidhi got up and walked closer to him. “Main poori koshish karoongi ki aapka ye faisla galat na ho.”

“I know,” he smiled, “You will never let me down. Shaq mujhe khud par hota hai Dr. Nidhi Verma.”

“To ab tak to sufficient ro chuki hoon aapke saamne ki ye shaq door ho jaana chahiye aapka. Aap completely secure hain.” Nidhi grinned and put her arms around his neck.

He also wrapped his arms around her waist and replied, “Waise main mazaak kar raha tha. Main nahin chahta ki tum ro. Bas tumhare man mein koi bhi baat ho to main janna chahta hoon. Chahe woh achchi ho ya buri, hansane waali ho ya rulane waali… meri taareef ho ya mujhse shikayat… Main bas ye nahin bardasht kar paunga kabhi bhi you drift away from me aur mujhe pata na chale…”

“Aaj main promise karti hoon aapse Dr. Ashutosh ki apne man ki koi baat aapse kabhi nahin chhipaungi.”

“That means a lot to me.”

“Waise sach to ye hai ki main aapse kuchh chhipa sakti hi nahin. Mere man ki baatein apne aap hi aapke saamne nikal jaati hain. Tab bhi nikal jaati thi, jab main chahti nahin thi. Isliye to main aapse…”

“Kya?” he prodded urgently when she fell silent.

“Mujhe bhookh lagi hai.”

“What!” Ashutosh was exasperated.

Nidhi giggled, slipped out of his slackened arms and ran away towards the mini-fridge.

“You are going to regret this,” Ashutosh also got drawn into her playful act and went after her. That started a meaningless chase between them and Ashutosh finally managed to catch her, but lost balance due to her struggle and they both fell on the bed with Nidhi on top of him. They laughed hysterically, but then became conscious of their closeness and fell silent, their gazes locked with each other. Nidhi gave Ashutosh another surprise by planting a quick peck on his lips.

“If you do that again Nidhi, I won’t be able to go back to my room,” Ashutosh’ voice was hoarse.

She responded to that by bending down again and engaging in a passionate lip-lock. After they separated, Ashutosh pulled the rubber band out of her hair to let her hair free and then rolled over so that he was on top of her.

“This wasn’t my plan,” he cautioned her again, “Aur main faisle lene ki halat mein nahin hoon. You have to decide the limits.”

“There are no limits,” she knew what she was doing, “I love you, Dr. Ashutosh.”

That was all he could have done to hold himself back. He bent down and kissed her senselessly on every inch of her face and neck available. She had meanwhile freed his shirt from the pants and had slipped her hands inside it to caress his spine, which was pushing him over the edge. He suddenly sat up, still keeping her pinned beneath him and grabbed her hands. He forced them above her head and then took out her jacket. He slipped the noodle straps of her dress off her shoulders and treated himself to the feel of her bare, soft flesh. She unbuckled his belt and ubuttoned his pants, when he sat up again to catch his breath for a moment. She wasn’t helping him be patient. He pulled up her dress to bare her legs, relieved her of her innerwear and entered her. He took just a moment to see her reaction, which was nothing but encouraging. The next countless moments was pure madness and bliss for them until they reached the climax and he finally collapsed on top of her.

After he had finally caught his breath, he looked up and kissed her on forehead. “Tum theek ho?” he asked. For some reason it overwhelmed her. She just hugged him tight in reply. He rolled over to her side and pulled her in his arms. She willingly complied.

“Kuchh bologi nahin?” he asked softly while playing with her hair.

“Kya boloon?”

“Specchless, eh?”

“Aap apni taareef sunna chahte hain?”

Ashutosh laughed, “Taareef to main tumhari karna chahta hoon. You are a seductress. Tumhara ye side to pahle nahin dekha.”

“You don’t like it?”

“I love it,” he tightened his arms around her.

—

Ashutosh was asleep on the other side of the bed, when Nidhi woke up in the morning. She looked at Ashutosh and recalled last night. With a big grin on her face, she slipped out of the bed and went to the bathroom. When she came back after freshening up, Ashutosh was not there. She looked around and was about to walk towards the balcony to look for him, when his voice startled her, “Mujhe dhoondh rahi ho?” He was standing at the door, giving her the smile that made… not just her, but any woman around him go weak in her knees. He had apparently gone to his room and freshened up. He had changed into a pajama and t-shirt. Last night they slept off in whatever they were wearing… or not wearing… Nidhi was still in her crumpled dress, which she had straightened to the extent possible.

She smiled in reply to his question and then suddenly felt very shy. “Aap… aap kab uthe?” she asked an inane question not knowing what else to say and walked to the dresser to keep herself busy.

Ashutosh caught up with her and turned her around to face him, “Tum theek to ho?”

“Haan. Mujhe kya hoga?” she was going red!

“To phir aise nazarein kyon chura rahi ho?”

“Kya? Main? Aap… Oh God! Aapki kuchh samajh mein nahin aata kya?” she freed herself from his grip and turned away again.

“UmmHmm… Sharma rahi ho?”

“Seriously Dr. Ashutosh. Mujhe nahin lagta tha ki aap itne tactless hain,” Nidhi was exasperated.

Ashutosh laughed out loud, “I’m sorry. Lekin kal raat ke baad maine ye expect nahin kiya tha…”

“Aap bahut bure hain,” Nidhi pretended to be annoyed.

“Lekin ek gadbad to ho gayi,” Ashutosh held her again and brought her close to himself.

“Kya?” she was alarmed.

“Aadamkhor sher ke baare mein suna hai tumne? Man-eater? Ek baar use insaani khoon ka taste lag jaye, to phir woh unstoppable hota hai.”

“Huh?” she did not get the reference at first, then blushed deeply as she realized what he meant.

“Ab to lagta hai mandir mein shaadi karni hi padegi,” he grinned.

“Nahin!” Nidhi objected hastily.

He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

“Mera matlab hai…” she stammered while explaining, “Ki shaadi jab bhi hogi waise hogi jaise aap chahte hain.”

“Aur tab tak hum bachchon ko ghar par chhod kar yahan to pade rah nahin sakte. Aur unke rahte living-in is not a good idea.”

“I know… But who is talking about living-in? Log ghar ke badon se chhip kar apni love story chalate hain. Hum bachchon se chhip kar chalayenge. Aur of course, apne colleagues se bhi…”

“You are…”

“Kya?”

“Naughty.”

Nidhi blushed, but giggled.

“Chalo,” Ashutosh said, “Swimming ke liye chalte hain.”

“Yahan?”

“Haan. Kyon?”

“Par woh…”

“Kya hua?”

“Dr. Ashutosh… Main… generally public pools mein… jaati nahin hoon… College ke pool mein they had separate slot for women…”

“Are… Pichhli baar to…” he fell silent as he realized. She did not mind it before him. Even when he had not accepted her or their relationship. He smiled and then said, “Swimming suit nikaal lo aur chalo. Mere suite mein private pool hai chhota sa.”

—