Cold Love

by Amieya Prabhaker

  Meanwhile, Riya runs back to her car and drives back home. Eventually Arjun returns home in another couple of hours, after wrapping up work. When he reaches home, everyone is getting ready for Puja’s engagement party.

  Puja is dressed in a traditional lehenga befitting the ceremony. Riya, who stood next to her best friend, is wearing a beige ethnic ghagra, and looks absolutely stunning for the occasion. The girls are giggling, as Arjun thinks of the quickest route to get to Riya. He walks towards the girls, reaches out to Puja first, to give her a big hug.

  “Congratulations, my baby! Love you!”

  “Thank you bhaiyya! Love you too!” Puja smiles back at Arjun as they hug, “Will you please get ready quickly... You’re always late!”

  Arjun looks over Puja’s shoulder at Riya. He is glad to see that she is smiling and does not look as offended as he had anticipated. The rest of the family is busy with various tasks, preparing for the guests who will arrive soon. Arjun spots an opportunity to reach out to Riya. He gently taps her shoulder from the back. Riya turns her head, looks at him but walks away, frowning and ignoring him. Arjun follows her, self-consciously.

  “Riya! Riya! Listen, to me. Hey! C’mon now forgive me please! Riya! Listen!”

  Riya is still very angry with Arjun, does not answer and continues to dodge him graciously. Arjun decides to give her some space and instead walks upstairs to his room. He pulls out his laptop to finish some work, which takes him 15 odd minutes, when he is interrupted by some noise from the next room. Arjun shuts his laptop and walks out to take a look. Riya is in Puja’s room, going through the wardrobe to pick some outfits and gifts for the event.

  “Hi! What are you looking for?” Riya doesn’t respond to Arjun’s question, and continues with her work.

  “Still angry with me, are you?” Arjun is desperate to strike up a conversation but Riya ignores him again and continues piling dresses and gifts by the bedside. Arjun walks over and with a flick of his finger dislodges the pile of clothes so they fall over the bed, scattered all around. Riya gives Arjun an annoyed glance, but doesn’t say anything; she simply puts the pile together once again. Arjun approaches her from the back again, and this time tickles her gently around her bare waist, visible through the slit of her beautiful outfit. Riya cannot help but twitch and giggle because of the tickling.

  “Arjun please!” She responds with a frowning, angry glance.

  “You know you look kind of cute when angry!”

  “Very funny!” Riya is not amused at Arjun’s attempt to deliberately copy the same comment Riya had used some time ago. She has eventually finished piling the clothes and gifts and gets up holding them in a neat pile in her hands.

  “Riya, I want to talk to you.”

  “But I don’t want to talk to you!” Riya starts to walk past Arjun, who is seated on the edge of the bed. He moves his arm swiftly to send the clothes flying down to the bed again.

  “Arjun!” This time Riya is really upset; she sits on the bed, her face covered with her palms. It takes a moment for Arjun to realize that she is crying.

  “Hey Riya! I was just joking!” Arjun immediately gets defensive, feeling a bit awkward. “Riya! Listen to me. I mean… Really, I’m sorry, I was just joking! Look, I’ll put these back… See.” He starts collecting the clothes, and immediately piles them back.

  Riya smacks her hands on the pile in a fit of rage.

  “Everything is a joke for you, isn’t that so? You don’t give a damn what anyone thinks!” She wipes her cheeks and is about to walk away, but Arjun blocks her path. Riya tries to squeeze past him, but Arjun stretches his arm out to block her again. Riya stays there for a moment, simply staring at him. After a moment she finally speaks again. “Why were you up there? Are you crazy? Do you realize how high that dam was? I get nauseous simply thinking about that place.”

  “Yes,” Arjun smiles back at Riya, “and you almost fainted out there Riya! If I had grabbed you a second later…”

  “Why? What would have happened? I would have fallen and died that’s all, isn’t it? What do you care anyway?” She responds in a stern, bitter tone.

  “What did you say?” Arjun squeezes her arm “If something happens to you… what it means to me? What do you think Riya, only you have a right to be angry? If I am smiling it doesn’t mean that I am ok with what you did out there! Do you even realize what could have happened out there?”

  Arjun pushes her to the wall as Riya tries to set herself free once again.

  “Arjun! What are you doing? Just let me go… else...”

  “Else what?” Arjun is furious now, as he recalls Riya’s stupid act at the dam when she was about to fall down. He pins her hands against the wall. They get into a mini tussle as Riya bites Arjun’s hands in a fit of rage to set herself free.

  “You want to bite me… Really?” Arjun smiles and then moves in really close to her face, holding her behind her neck. “Go on… seriously bite me! Let’s see how sharp your teeth are! Bite me as hard as you can, Riya! Are you a vampire?”

  “Arjun please this is not a joke. I am really angry. I will really bite you!” She tries to get rid of his grip, but Arjun holds her back. “Arjun let me go!” She pushes him, shouting, “Who do you think you are? You will do whatever you feel like? Just let me go …” She pushes Arjun with so much force that he falls on the bed. However, he holds onto her, so that she falls on top of him as he falls on the bed.

  “ Arjun!” Riya shrieks loudly and she bites Arjun’s neck, digging deep with her teeth, leaving red lipstick stains on his neck. In a fit of fury, Riya grabs Arjun’s face, clenching his hair in her fingers. She pulls his head to her and bites him hard on his lower lip, leaving a faint trickle of blood on the edge of his lips. Arjun is surprised at her sudden aggression, and smiles back, surprised. He raises his fingers to feel his lips, and notices a single drop of blood on his forefinger.

  “Show me!” Riya is immediately concerned, and scrutinizes the bite closely to take a look. “It’s just a little cut. Don’t be a cry baby!” she says defensively even before Arjun can complain. Arjun’s anger has vanished and he continues to smile back at her, extremely amused now. Riya instead feels annoyed at his smile. She is about to get up but Arjun pulls her back towards him, squeezing her by the waist. She is pulled back into an awkward posture, falling on top of Arjun once again.

  “Arjun! What are you doing? Are you crazy!” She tries to get up again but meets the same fate, as Arjun playfully tickles her on her bare waist.

  “Arjun!”

  In a fit of rage now, Riya bites Arjun again, though this time Arjun has taken the bait as they both end up in a long deep kiss. Riya’s hands slowly ease from that of a clasp to that of a caress as she wraps her arms strongly around Arjun’s neck and after a long deep smooch, ends up gently resting her head upon his shoulders. They rest peacefully, without saying a word as they can feel each other’s hearts racing. Riya closes her eyes to lie on Arjun’s shoulder peacefully for a full minute.

  Suddenly, they hear Kamla’s voice calling faintly in the background, “Riya! Riya beta!”

  Riya immediately sits up on the bed, realizing the awkward state they are in. “Oh my God!”

  Arjun is still lying on the bed. Riya starts to get herself tidied up, quickly rearranging herself and also gets the pile of gifts and clothes sorted again. Arjun gets up to sit on the bed as well.

  “What was that Riya?”

  Riya is suddenly feeling shy and is silent. She does not respond to Arjun’s question but blushes, realizing what has just happened.

  Kamla’s voice draws closer and is louder. “Riya!”

  “Coming Aunty!” she replies back, “C’mon Arjun please get up quickly!” She sees a red mark on Arjun’s neck and tries to rub it with the edge of her dupatta but it doesn’t come off, “One minute. We need to wipe this clean.” She grabs Arjun’s hand, leading him towards the bathroom, to clean the lipstick mark off his neck. Arjun follows his beautiful lead, smiling innocent
ly.

  “Riya… You… You kissed me!”

  “No I didn’t!” Riya responds strongly, “That was not a…! I mean… Arjun I was angry …that’s why!”

  “So is this what you do when you’re angry? I wish I had known before!” Arjun has a sarcastic smile, enjoying the moment.

  “Shut up Arjun! You are the one who irritated me! Listen … that was not a kiss!” She reiterates pointing her forefinger at him, but immediately feels extremely uneasy upon seeing Arjun’s disarming smile, “Just stop it Arjun, and stay still so I can clean your neck.” Riya puts some water on his neck and wipes it with a towel, but with little success. “Uff! This isn’t clearing out!”

  Meanwhile, Kamla is at the door. “Riya, where are you beta?”

  “Coming Aunty.” She leaves immediately, “Arjun, please come down quickly. And will you wear something nice? It’s your sister’s engagement party, for God’s sake and you are late as usual!”

  “You carry on, I’ll join you.”

  “Come quickly, Ok?” Arjun nods and smiles back at Riya.

  Riya rushes out and meets Kamla as they both move down the stairs together. What just happened out there? Was it a fit of rage or a true moment of love!? Whatever it was, it surely was a genuine outburst of emotion. “But no, it was not a kiss,” Riya tells herself again, “That’s not how a first kiss is supposed to be.”

  Just like any other girl, Riya had always dreamt that her first kiss would be in a romantic environment where her prince charming would dismount from a horse and gently hold her in his embrace for a long sweet cherished first kiss. There was no mention in her dreams about a tussle … or a bite!

  Whether a kiss or a bite, it was certainly a formidable outburst of emotion that had been bubbling over the last few months between Arjun and Riya. The dams (and perhaps all inhibitions) have now burst.

  The Golden Bangles

  Puja and Rakesh were at the heart of the proceedings as dance and merriment had begun at the party. Riya busies herself with various activities. Arjun walks into the party unnoticed. Riya spots him from a distance, and immediately excuses herself from the midst of her friends to stealthily walk towards him.

  “Arjun, did you get rid of it?” She asks him shyly.

  “You can’t get rid of a vampire bite so easily!” Arjun replies with a disarming smile, making Riya very uneasy.

  “Shut up Arjun! Oh my God! Listen why don’t you raise the collar of your sherwani suit…it will hide the mark. Wait! I think nail polish remover may clear it.” Riya frantically considers all the available options and pulls him along to a nearby washbasin holding him by his hands.

  Just then Arjun spots a pair of new bangles on Riya’s wrists.

  “These bangles?” he enquires.

  “Oh! They look beautiful, don’t they?” She flaunts them excitedly, showing off the two pairs of beautiful golden bangles on each of her wrists. “Your mummy gave these to me! They look really nice with my outfit today, don’t they?” The golden color did match beautifully with the beige outfit and the shining glitter on her dress.

  “These are my grandma’s!” Arjun continues softly, somewhat confused.

  “Grandma’s?” Riya looks at him in surprise as well.

  Earlier, taking advantage of this festive occasion, the Saxena and Sinha families exchanged lavish gifts with each other. Shanti gave Puja and Arjun several gifts and outfits. In return, Kamla gave Riya a new outfit and also this set of traditional golden bangles.

  “Riya, are you sure you can carry them?” Arjun decides to tease Riya a bit, “They are pretty…but 5000 ounces of solid gold on these tiny little wrists!”

  “Stop it Arjun!”

  “Oh wait! I’m sure my mum must be inspired by Mary Kom. You know, put these bangles in your boxing gloves and…” He jokingly poses in a boxing stance, moving his fists close to Riya’s cheeks.

  “Don’t you feel ashamed talking about your mum like this!? … Stupid!” She ignores Arjun’s banter and continues cleaning the mark on his neck with the nail polish remover. The mark has subsided a bit but still doesn’t seem to clear off completely. “Uff, this is not clearing out! What should I do?”

  Shanti and Kamla walk in that very moment. Riya hastily gets her hands off Arjun and hides the nail polish remover. Shanti spots Arjun first, “Arjun beta. Where were you? C’mon now.”

  Puja, Rakesh and Priya join in as well. Upon seeing Rakesh, Arjun goes over to greet him; they hug and Arjun thumps his shoulder. Rakesh notices the red mark as they hug each other.

  “Hey, what happened to your neck Arjun?"

  “Nothing buddy…” Arjun replies with a smile, “Just a bite from a naughty bee,” as he peers at Riya standing right behind his sister.

  Riya couldn’t resist responding to Arjun’s banter whilst hiding behind Puja, “You must be the one who might have irritated the innocent bee!”

  “Show me bhaiyya!” Puja comes in, moves his collar to inspect it closely, running her finger gently over it.

  “Hey! It’s nothing Puja. Just a little scar.” Arjun tries to shrug away her hand.

  “One minute!” As the others walk away, Puja observes closely. Arjun eventually shrugs her off casually and walks away, leaving Riya and Puja behind alone.

  Puja immediately turns around to face Riya as the two girls are left by themselves, “You kissed Arjun?”

  “Shhhhhh! Shut up!”

  “That’s your lipstick right? It’s the shade you are wearing!” Puja demands a response and continues with a mischievous smile, “So it’s come to this stage now? Did the two of you also…” she raises her eyebrows, “you know!”

  “No! Puja! Shut up! What kind of a sister are you? It’s nothing like that.”

  “Then what is it?! Tell me …these marks tell a different story my dear!”

  “It was… it was just that we had a small fight and I bit him on his neck!”

  “Just a bite? … Looks more like a love bite to me! God knows what else is going to happen next!”

  “Shut up you stupid! Drama queen!” They continue to giggle and continue their girlish talk.

  The celebrations last till late at night, amidst dancing, food, drinks and merriment to celebrate the union of Rakesh and Puja. Puja pulls Arjun in for the dance too as everyone has a great time at the festive occasion.

  Later in the evening, both the families are in the living room lounging after the party ends. While everyone is gossiping about sitting on the sofa settee, Priya’s son, Rohan is playing with Arjun in the open lounge area. Rohan wants to be thrown up in the air as Arjun catches him on the way down. The kid has been having a fun time. After a few such instances, Riya suddenly walks up to stand next to Arjun.

  “Arjun, please be careful!”

  Arjun responds reassuringly, “Don’t worry Riya. I won’t let him fall.”

  “Uncle, throw me higher!” Rohan shrieks, extremely excited. Arjun obliges much to Riya’s discomfort as she is getting extremely nervous now about this game. Priya is watching from a distance, sitting on the sofa; however, she is assured as even Rohan’s dad plays the same game quite often back home.

  “Rohan beta, that’s enough now. Please come down.” Riya tries to coax Rohan to stop the game but to no avail, “Arjun can you please stop now?”

  Rohan doesn’t allow Arjun to stop as the two continue and Riya continues to watch them closely. Suddenly Riya shouts at the top of her voice, “Rohan beta stop! Arjun, why don’t you listen to me? Can you please stop this game, for God’s sake?”

  Because of the hubbub in the background, no one notices Riya’s sudden outburst. She grabs Rohan as he descends into Arjun’s arms, and snatches him to hug him tightly in an embrace. Rohan is obviously annoyed at the disruption to his game and tries to wiggle his way out of the embrace.

  “Mausi, let me go!” he shrieks, and runs away to the comfort of his mother.

  Whilst everyone is too involved in their conversations to notice the incident, Arjun notices tears
in Riya’s eyes as she briskly walks out of the room. Arjun follows her immediately and quickly catches up with her outside the room.

  “Riya!... Riya… Hey, what happened?” Riya tries to shrug it aside, but Arjun holds her face in his palms. “Look at me!” A tiny tear drop lurks in her eyes ready to roll down her cheek, but Riya flashes her eyes quickly to hold it in.

  “Tell me Riya, which kid have you seen fall down like this?”

  Riya is surprised at the question. “No one!” she answers immediately and tries to change the topic of conversation. “Arjun, can I ask you something? Why did you go up there on the dam? Tell me the truth, please. Look, don’t lie to me.”

  Arjun doesn’t respond. Riya stares at him for a moment and then starts to walk away, but Arjun holds her hand and pulls her back, to face her.

  “There was a bomb!”

  “What! A bomb!?” Riya echoes back in shock.

  “Yes, a bomb. But don’t worry, it was a dud. We still don’t know who put that bomb there or why.”

  Riya immediately embraces Arjun, hugging him tight.

  “I was so scared Arjun; that dam was so high,” Riya speaks, her voice muffled in his shoulder.

  “Hey, it’s ok!” he pats her back gently.

  “Arjun, sometimes I get very scared! Scared for you…. What do these terrorists want, Arjun? Bombs, drugs, killings… where will all this end? Isn’t there something we can do to end this?… Once and for all… Can’t we stop all this …. Like forever!” Riya continues passionately, extremely agitated.

  “I wish we could!” Arjun responds with a smile.

  “I am sure there must be something we can do to wipe out their power Arjun!... You know like that movie,” she continues with a half-smile, “Independence Day… when the pilot struck the main weapon on the alien’s mother ship, the rest of the aliens started to fall down like flies. Don’t you wish we could do something similar?”