The First True and Everlasting Love—Part 5
Three months had passed and we were still together, we were still very very much in love. So, what was special about this love that wasn’t there in the first two? Or that didn’t really happen in later ones too?
I had gone berserk.
We met every day for I found it hard to stay away from her; distance pained me. Nothing even came close to rivalling the time I spent with her. She was so perfect in everything she did. Be it how she always smelled or the way she tied her hair behind her head in a neat bun or when she used to wake up before me and caress my hair while I pretended to be asleep. It was perfect. We never ran out of things to do, she often used to take me to these book launches that only the authors and their families attended, and though I used to be reluctant at first, I started loving them eventually. She told me that the greatest joy of any author is to see the twinkling eyes of the reader whose life he or she has changed through mere words on paper.
I used to spend whatever little money I had on her. And more.
‘Mom?’ I asked.
‘Yes, baba?’
‘I was thinking I should join the JAVA course. It really helps during placement time.’
‘Didn’t you do it last month?’
‘Umm … err … that … was the foundation course. This is the more advanced version. Everyone is doing it,’ I lied.
‘Fine, Joy, but I thought you weren’t interested in computers.’
‘Mom, you have to be multifaceted to get a good placement these days,’ I said, ‘By the way, I have to pay them today. It’s eight thousand and the discount only lasts till today.’
‘Fine Joy I will write a cheque. What’s the name of the institute?’
‘Mom! The discount is only on cash payments, they don’t accept cheques,’ I said.
‘Why?’
‘How am I supposed to know?’ I said. ‘Maybe it has something to do with saving tax!’
‘Fine,’ she said, counted and handed over eight thousand to me.
That money went into a handbag that Manika loved, and I got mauled by her when I told her how I got the money. I couldn’t have lied to her! I kept joining dozens of fictional computer courses to fund my spending on her. Mom used to think I was getting serious about life. Yes, I was getting serious about my life, it being Manika.
Just one shy smile of hers used to make my day. The best part of being with her was that the initial rush and the excitement of a new relationship showed no signs of wearing out! We just couldn’t get over telling each other how much we loved each other. We told each other how lucky we were to be in love! We did everything we would see other couples do and then say, ‘That’s so tacky! Gay.’
Manika was a great girl, a little intimidating, but that was what made her so special. Unlike what I had first surmised about her, she was incredibly cute at times. It was like dating a completely new person every day—every day I uncovered a new layer, a new side to her. I loved the mystery and the aura around her. Some days she was a taskmaster and the very next, she would be a little kid, but what didn’t change was how attracted I was to her. Those seductive eyes of hers, the wet-hair look, the intentional brush of her hands against mine, the occasional nibble on my ear—still gave me the chills.
She was everything I ever wanted or needed. Her face was the first one I wanted to see in the morning, her voice the first sound, her hair brushing against my face, the first touch, her hand was the one I longed to hold, her stories were the only ones I was interested in, her smile was all what mattered. The twinkle in her eyes sparkled with a light that was beyond a thousand stars. I loved her to bits and beyond; it was almost as if everything else had stopped to matter.
‘And what would you do to me?’ she whispered in my ear seductively as we sat in a room full of people in a creative writing seminar.
Manika had always wanted to write a book, and she was writing one since very long; she wasn’t making considerable progress though. She had renewed the effort after she met me, saying that she had finally found the male protagonist in her story—ME! Needless to say, it was very flattering.
These seminars were what she attended whenever she hit a writer’s block, and since I couldn’t stay away from her, I always tagged along. I could have gone to a funeral with her and still have had a good time (and that’s morbid). This is how much I loved being around her. Plus, with Sidharth always being busy with his projects and experiments, she was the only person left that I ever wanted to be with.
Anyway, the reason why we were there at this seminar was that she was stuck at a sex scene.
‘I am really bad at this verbalizing-sex thing. Why don’t you just write what we do? That’s awesome lovemaking, isn’t it? Or you can write about your ex-boyfriends if you think they were better!’ I said.
‘Stop it!’
‘Fine,’ I grumbled.
‘And anyway, what we do might just be a little too much for the readers to digest,’ she winked. ‘But whatever, say something. Help me in this. C’mon, just talk dirty!’ she said a little too loudly than she intended and people around us looked back to see who had said it. Manika just smiled at me, almost threatening me with a look that told me that she would say it louder the next time.
‘Okay,’ I whispered. ‘I will rip the clothes off you.’
‘That’s boring, Joy. Where are the details? The fun is in the details!’ she whisper-shouted again.
‘Okay. Fine, fine. Just keep the volume low,’ I told her, though she was least bothered and still laughing. She was really having fun at my expense. ‘I run my fingers down your neck as my lips are breathing down heavily on your nape. You look down with your dreamy eyes, with quivering pink lips and—’
‘Quivering lips? My foot! It’s you who has quivering lips!’
‘Do you want me to shut up?’ I feigned anger.
‘Sorry, sorry. Go on.’
‘So yes, quivering lips, and I hold you by your nape, my lips on your bare neck, my tongue on your skin, and I press you onto me, and your breasts are heavy against me as you dig your claws into me. My hands wander on your back and untie the straps of your dress and it slides down your body and my fingers caress your back and clench you and you gasp.’
‘Go on,’ she said, no longer smiling. She breathed heavily and her hand had crept up my thigh. I just hoped no one else saw or listened as her hands grazed and moved further up; my breathing shortened and quickened.
‘You step out of your dress, your ripe breasts lay naked in front of me, as I lunge onto you and kiss you on the lips, long and deep, my hands all over you, pulling the last shreds of clothes off you, laying you down naked,’ I paused to catch my breath.
She clenched her hand on my thigh harder and added, ‘And I fight to get your shirt off you, and hastily unbuckle your belt and let your manhood free. Go on …’ she breathed heavier.
‘Our naked bodies collide, skin against skin, tongue against tongue, fire against fire, as I take you down. We fight for dominance, as you struggle beneath me, as I pin you down harder, and get deeper inside you as you moan and bite my neck just to keep yourself from screaming. I bite you back and you let go, letting out a huge scream.’
‘And I beg you to fuck me harder,’ she said under her now laboured breath.
‘And I gladly oblige, against the wall, against the table, on the table, on the bed, I take you down. My back becomes a battlefield for your nails; your breasts become the same for my teeth.’
‘Hey, Joy,’ she said, as she lifted her hand from my thigh. ‘We need to go,’ she said seriously. ‘Just follow me.’
And I did, like a puppy behind its master.
‘Where?’ I said as she walked in front me and frantically looked for a place.
‘Here.’ She pointed out the men’s washroom.
‘No, you didn’t!’ I said.
‘Yes, indeed,’ he said, nonchalantly.
‘You made out in the men’s washroom? That’s gross
even by your standards!’
‘My standards? Stop making me out to be a dirty bastard. She suggested it, and frankly I really wasn’t in a position to make a sound judgment at the time,’ he said.
‘So did she break out of her writers’ block?’
‘So much so, that her book had almost twice the number of intimate moments than what she had initially planned,’ Joy winked. ‘It was all testosterone and oestrogen from there on in the book! She was so embarrassed by the time she completed it that she thought twice before telling her parents about it. I have to say, a few scenes were quite explicit.’
‘But you don’t look the good-in-bed type!’ I said.
‘Take that back if you want me to continue my story!’ Joy gasped.
‘Just kidding! Why do guys take this so seriously?’ I mocked.
‘I don’t actually. Maybe I really sucked at it, but she never told me so,’ he said and continued.
The First True and Everlasting Love—Part 6
‘Why can’t guys have multiple orgasms?’ she said and kissed me.
‘And that is exactly why I prefer females in bed—multiple orgasms, sweet smelling hair, smooth skin and beautiful eyes! Aren’t these enough reasons?’
‘Oh, you just know what to say, not so much as to what you have to do,’ she said and hugged me. This is how she usually taunted me about my inexperience in bed. Since I was her eighth boyfriend and she was only my third girl, she was much more experienced. She was older! What could I have done?
‘It’s not funny when you refer to all the other guys that you have been with,’ I said, not pleased at all; just the mere fact that somebody else had touched her before, would send me into fits of frenzy, and there were eight guys!
‘Whatever I may say, and I hate to say this, but you are by far the best!’ she said.
‘That’s sweet. But then you are a writer. It’s easy for you to say these things!’ I said, though I had really fallen for those words again.
‘Aww baby, that’s just an occupational hazard of dating me,’ she said. ‘But fancy words or not, I mean it. You are awesome,’ she said, rolling me over and nibbling at my ear and giggling. We were at it again, and like always it felt like a million explosions.
We lost count of days we had spent lying about idly at her place, reading books together, talking, trying out new recipes together, and spending hours after hours cuddling and watching our favourite shows and movies. She was in between jobs for a few months and it seemed we never got off the bed. We definitely never ever made it out of her apartment. It had become our own little world with books and food and love; it seemed we didn’t need anything else. I had hated the kitchen before, but now I loved serving her horribly burnt food, early in the morning while she purred in her sleep. At least, I made brilliant coffee, and I have to say, she was a bit of an adoring-fan girl!
My mother was tired of my frequent night-outs at Sidharth’s place, but she didn’t complain a lot; she thought I was studying hard for my CAT exams.
One day while we were cuddling and had buried ourselves in each other’s arms, we heard footsteps in the main hall; it seemed like I had forgotten to bolt the main door again.
‘Hey! Man! You guys disgust me. Fuck. This room stinks!’ Sidharth said, as he entered through the door.
‘Sidharth! Would it break your knuckles to knock before you enter?’ Manika exclaimed as she pulled the blanket over herself. ‘You’re HORRIBLE!’
‘No, but it would surely not give me a chance to see you naked,’ he chuckled.
‘Fuck you, Sidharth,’ I said.
‘Oh shut up. I would rather do it with her,’ he chuckled.
‘Whatever,’ I said.
‘And why don’t you guys pick up the phone, damn it! I have been calling all morning. I wanted to tell you guys something, but you just can’t seem to keep your hands free! Perverts!’
‘Look who’s talking! We are trying to avoid you, asshole,’ she muttered. ‘Is that too hard to understand?’
‘Back to you, unemployed journalist and failed writer and the one who snatched my best friend away from me!’ he retorted.
‘Don’t say that, Sidharth,’ I said and hugged her. ‘Her book is going pretty well, trust me!’
‘Yeah, yeah. I know all about the never-ending book, which has you as the main character. Call me when she manages to finish it within this century!’
‘You told him about the book?’ Manika asked me. She had asked me not to tell anyone until she finished it; she said it would jinx it.
‘You are all he talks about, Manika. I don’t remember the last time he talked about anything else. I just want to know what spells you have put on my innocent friend. I always knew you were bad for him!’ he said and smirked.
‘As if you talk about anything other than your stupid projects,’ I defended.
‘Shut up, you two,’ Manika said. ‘Stop fighting like a married couple. Get a life!’
‘I have a life. It’s you,’ I said and kissed Manika.
‘That’s so gay and so gross. Anyway,’ Sidharth said, ‘I have to tell you guys something really serious.’
‘For a change,’ Manika smirked.
‘Whatever. The thing is that I have taken a transfer. I got the scholarship! So I will do the next three semesters, and maybe even my Master’s, in the most romantic city in the world, PARIS!’ he said and threw his arms wide open, grinning widely.
‘What?’ I said, staring in disbelief. ‘THAT’S AWESOME! Really? Come here!’
We hugged and jumped and I congratulated him repeatedly. I was so freaking happy for him. Out of all the geeks and the nerds that infested our college, one of us won the scholarship. My best buddy! I felt like I had done it, like I was going to France, not him. For all the times we were thrown out of class, this was the sweetest revenge.
‘So when do you leave?’ Manika asked.
‘I am leaving this coming Monday,’ he said, his voice now solemn.
… And that’s when we realized the gravity of the situation; it struck us that he could be gone for a year, maybe more. Yes, at a certain level, I was extremely happy about him because he had always wanted to go there and study for a while, travel a little, and do all sorts of crazy stuff that only he did, and get some respect back, but we never thought he would actually make it. Even when he was working night and day for this scholarship, we thought a moment would come when he would give it all up and join us. But he didn’t. Manika told me a few times that he would really see it through, and I felt guilty, because even I, his best friend, really didn’t believe he had it in him to go through with it. Eventually, I was so glad he actually did it.
We never thought he would really go!
And now that he was going, it just sucked balls. The moment he said it, it felt like he had always been around and now, suddenly, he just wouldn’t be there to get me into trouble as he always did. Sidharth would never be a part of our plans. Manika and I had gotten Manika’s sister interested in Sidharth and we had decided to set her up with him. We had imagined the four of us together!
‘But then again, long-distance relationships do work sometimes,’ Manika said out loud, trying to lighten up the mood. ‘You two will still stick it out. There is too much love to be lost,’ she winked.
‘I will ignore the homosexual jibe you just took, Manika. But I am going to miss you guys. Yes, Manika, I will miss you too. IMAGINE,’ he sighed.
‘I never thought I would be saying this, and it pains me to say this, but I will miss you too,’ Manika replied. ‘Especially since you were such a central character in the book! Now who will be Joy’s best friend in the book?’
‘Shut up,’ he said. ‘I will still be the best friend. I will always be. And if you don’t remember, let me remind you that you wouldn’t be naked next to him if it wasn’t for me and that rave I dragged him to.’
Sidharth was going away. It was almost like a break-up, just that he was a guy with hairy legs and a little paunch, but I lo
ved him.
‘Sidharth?’ Manika said. ‘You know what? None of us believed that you would actually make it. Not him. Not me. So now that you have, you deserve a big party from us.’
‘You really thought I couldn’t do it?’ he asked in all seriousness.
‘Nope,’ we echoed.
‘Heck—even I thought I couldn’t do it!’
That night, we had a big party for him. We didn’t invite very many people, but there was a lot of booze, and then, there was us. We didn’t need anyone else. We drank (I had started drinking occasionally), ate and cried together, and we promised each other that we would remain the best of friends no matter how many miles separated us. Then, one by one, everyone puked, passed out and slept, leaving just Sidharth and me awake and in our senses.
‘So, Paris, eh?’ I said. ‘French girls in short summer dresses, depressing winters, and lots of wine. I am really happy for you.’
‘Thank you,’ he said, wistfully.
‘And what did your parents say about it?’
‘They are pretty happy. They never thought I could do something like this. But it’s somewhat sad that I have to go now. I mean, it’s Delhi. I never imagined myself anywhere else. The roads, the girls, the food, nothing will ever match up to this …’
‘Fuck off. I am sure you can’t wait to land there with all those firang chicks all around.’
He laughed. ‘Yeah, that’s something I am looking forward to, but it wouldn’t be fun without you.’
‘Bastard.’
‘You shouldn’t be jealous, Joy. You have Manika. And you are great together. Generally people say this to a girl, but I am going to say this to you, because we know how weak-ass you are—I hope she doesn’t break your heart.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I am seriously happy for you guys. You look so complete with your books and your favourite authors and your old movies. Remember when I was with Vani? I thought that was it, but then I see you guys and I say to myself every day … that this is it. I would kill for where you are,’ he said.
‘I always knew you had the hots for my girlfriend!’ I joked.
Ohh Yes, I'm Single: And so is my Girlfriend Page 10