by P. G. Van
“Happy birthday!!” Nick whispered as I stood frozen looking at the elegant vehicle and added, “You promised that you will let me make my case.”
“Nick,” I said raising my voice and paused taking in a deep breath and looked at him and asked in a cool voice, “I am all ears baby. Why do I need another car when all the garages in the house are overflowing?”
Nick laughed and took my hand in his and led me to towards the brand new SUV. The full size SUV made the Porsche next to it look like a toy car. Nick made me stand facing the SUV and stood behind me with his arms around my waist teasing my new waist chain.
“Sameera, this vehicle is the safest one on the market and until our children arrive, this car with be transporting my heart and soul in safety,” Nick said his voice intense and added smiling, “This also helps you spot the bikers in your blind spot.”
I slowly turned around to look at him and said smiling, “You know I can’t be mad at you today. We will talk about this later.”
Nick laughed with his eyes sparkling at me and said, “I will take this for now,” and placed his lips on mine for a quick kiss.
“We should head back before everyone thinks we ditched them for our own private party,” Nick said as he led me towards the elevator doors.
“Nick, you are so sneaky,” I said giggling at him.
“Sameera, look at the car as your independence. It’s just a matter of time before you will want to go to work on your schedule and not mine,” Nick continued his pitch as we rode upstairs in the elevator.
I smiled back at him and nodded as the elevator doors opened and brought us back to our family.
*****
The day after my birthday, Nick had to go to the San Jose office for a meeting, and I rode in the back seat of my new car with Mitch at the wheel.
A few minutes into the drive, my phone went off and I looked at it expecting it to be Nick. I was pleasantly surprised to see Nate’s name flashing on the caller ID.
“Nate,” I cheered into the phone.
“Meera, are you on your way to work?” she asked.
“Yes, and I am going all by myself. Nick is in the San Jose office today for a meeting,” I whined.
“I know and that’s why I called. Srini ran out of the house at seven to prep for the meeting,” Nate giggled.
“Nate, thank you so much for helping Nick out with my birthday party,” I beamed at her virtually.
“You are welcome, Meera. It was an awesome party. So awesome, that I had to take a sick day today,” she said laughing and added, “I couldn’t even go to the airport with mom and dad.”
“It’s okay, Nate. Roger would have made sure they got on the right plane,” I said smiling and added, “and I am glad to hear you had fun.”
“So, I need to talk to you about something, and I don’t know how you are going to feel about it,” Nate said cautiously.
“Nate, you know you can tell me anything,” I encouraged.
“I know, but this maybe a delicate topic,” Nate said softly.
‘Nate, spill it,” I laughed.
“Meera, this is about Sam’s fiancée, Reetu,” Nate said after a brief silence.
“What about her, Nate?” I asked in surprise and added, “You barely talked to her before last night.”
‘I know, but I have a very bad feeling about her,” Nate said softly.
“Details, Nate,” I urged laughing.
“Let me start off by saying that she is definitely not your fan,” Nate declared laughing.
I laughed out loudly and said, “Nate, you are too funny.”
“I am not kidding, Meera. Nick’s mom would not stop talking about your dance performance in India, and I caught Reetu looking at the ceiling like she wanted to shoot through the roof like super girl,” Nate said giggling.
I laughed and said, “Anyone would feel that way Nate. Who wants to hear about the same thing over and over again?”
“Maybe she is pissed that you guys got married before them and are getting all the attention?” Nate suggested.
“That is entirely possible and that is totally normal,” I said and added, “I know she is on the reserved side, and I need to work on building a good relationship with her especially because she is going to be part of the family very soon.”
“Yeah, you are right on there, Meera. She was awfully reserved initially,” Nate agreed and added, “She is much older than you so she may feel like Sam is not moving fast enough.”
“Hmm, I don’t know, Nate,” I said wondering out loud.
“I found out that she is only a few months younger than Sam, and that puts her very close to thirty so that may be a factor too,” Nate said adding more color to her theory.
“Nate, that’s just a bizarre theory?” I mocked and added, “Just because she was bored of listening to people talk about me doesn’t make her bad.”
“I know, Meera, but something about her kept nagging me all evening,” Nate said and added, “I feel like she does a good job of putting on a different facet for different people.”
“How was she with Sam?” I asked curiously.
“Oh, she was a loving fiancée when Sam was with her, and I saw them chatting away happily in one corner at one point,” Nate said coolly.
“Nate, that is the most important thing,” I said relieved.
“Meera, she is not that way with Sam at all times,” Nate declared.
“Okay, that’s a bit absurd for you to say considering you barely saw them together,” I ridiculed Nate.
“Meera, she was borderline rude to everyone and to Sam when we met to play poker,” Nate declared.
“Nate, what are you talking about?” I asked surprised.
“You failed to pick up the sarcasm when she said that she doesn’t gamble away her hard-earned money and at one point, she said something not so nice to Sam,” Nate grumbled.
I remembered Reetu made a comment to that effect but it didn’t really bother me, and I wondered why it had bothered Nate so much.
“Nate, not everybody gambles like we do,” I laughed and added, “I am sure she didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
“I know, but I heard her talk to someone on the phone like she was having a panic attack, and then she went back to her deadpan expression just seconds later,” Nate said in a firm voice.
“That’s okay, Nate. She is allowed to mask her feelings from others,” I taunted.
‘Maybe it’s nothing Meera, but I had to tell you,” Nate said softly.
“I appreciate it, Nate,” I said smiling and asked, “What did you talk to Reetu about last night?”
“Well, we talked about our weddings and oh, we talked about the family love story,” Nate said casually.
“You mean about RajaRam and Jasleen?” I asked in surprise.
“Yes and she was so interested in hearing all about the story, especially our side of the story more than the Rajput side of the story,” Nate said cheerfully.
“That’s odd,” I said and added, “Nick and I narrated both sides of story to everyone in the family numerous times, and Reetu and I talked about it as well.”
“Really?” Nate asked with surprise and added, “She listened to it as if she was hearing about it for the very first time.”
I burst out laughing and said, “She probably preferred hearing that story again instead of listening to people talk about my dance performance, and I don’t blame her.”
“Other than that, Reetu is pretty cool and is lot of fun,” Nate said laughing.
“She is fun, Nate. You just need to spend a little bit more time with her,” I said laughing and teased, “Anyways, thanks for the information, Nick’s information goddess.”
I hung up the phone and wondered what it was about Reetu that ticked Nate off. I was pretty sure that Nate was being overly critical with Reetu.
Chapter Sixteen
“What time will you be done today?” I asked Nick on our way to work on Friday morning.
“Why do
you ask?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.
I scooted as close as I could to him in the back seat of my new SUV and whispered, “I was thinking we could have our date night that didn’t happen on Wednesday.”
Nick smiled and turned his face slowly to look into my eyes and very softly touched his lips to mine and said, “You know how much I would like that, baby.”
I felt the sweetness in his lips and at the same time felt the guilt of keeping him away from the pleasure, and it cut through my heart and my lips froze against the warmth of his lips.
As if he sensed the internal pain, “What’s the matter, love?”
I put my arms around him burying my face into his chest and held my head down taking in deep breaths. Nick put his arm around me and mocked, “Did you change your mind about our date night based on that kiss? You know I can do better than that.”
I laughed at his ridiculous comment, and looked up at him with lingering moisture in my eyes and said, “Silly Nick,” and hugged him tightly.
I stayed in his embrace for a few minutes listening to his racing heart and finally spoke up and said, “I feel bad about making you wait,” and added looking into his eyes, “I see now that I overreacted to how things played out in India. When I saw our parents together on my birthday, I felt relieved of my looming guilt that we got married without the other side of the family.”
“We all go through our phases of craziness,” Nick teased, and when he caught me giving him the stink eye, he laughed and added softly, “I went through a phase of craziness when we were still looking for you and almost everyone who talked to me was a victim of my crappy behavior. You did really well internalizing your craziness sweetheart.”
“It was no less painful,” I said feeling very pathetic about how I behaved on our wedding night with Nick.
Nick looked at me putting his palm on my cheek and said, “You have brought individuals living under the same roof to be a family again. Mom is ecstatic as it was her dream to have the family come together like we have in the past few weeks.”
I smiled and looked at him with immense happiness in my heart. Nick tightened his arm around me and asked in a soft voice, “You know what was painful the past few weeks?”
“What?” I asked feeling the weight of my own guilt crush me.
“I barely had you for myself for almost two weeks, and I will tell you I was not thrilled,” Nick said in a stern voice and added, “That was one of the reasons why I didn’t want to be here.”
“Nick, I have spent two hours a day this week in the car sitting right next to you. What are you talking about?” I asked surprised and relieved at the same time that he wasn’t upset about my behavior on our wedding night.
“Sameera, that was just this week because you got back to work; but from the time we got back from India, you have spent more time with everyone else but me,” Nick said in a serious tone.
“That’s not…,” I started to object and my voice trailed off when I realized he was absolutely right. I was overcompensating for the fact that Nick and I had gotten married without his family, and I went out of my way to spend time with them to relieve my own guilt. In that process, I had completely ignored the man that brought me into the family.
Nick looked at me intently as I muddled through the different situations over the past couple of weeks where I completely blew Nick off to hang out with Ann or to go out with his mom or to sit in the family room to watch and translate an Indian movie for his dad.
I looked into his eyes and said, “I am sorry baby. I didn’t realize I was ignoring you,” and put my arms around his neck and added nuzzling his ear, “I will make it up to you tonight.”
I heard his breath hiss and warm up my neck. I smiled when I felt the familiar shudder run through his body.
“What do you want to do?” he asked in a gentle voice.
“I have something in mind. I am also wondering about how I should make you pay for spending all the money on a car that I don’t need,” I whined.
“Oh no, and I thought we were cool with the car,” Nick chuckled and added, “We are in your car and using it.”
“You are not entirely off the hook for that, and I think I have a way to deal with that as well,” I giggled and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Nick smiled and said, “I am just glad that you will be mine tonight.”
“I will always be yours, but we have family ties that we need to nurture and respect,” I said smiling at him.
“Okay,” Nick said not thrilled to hear my statement and asked, “So, what do you want to do tonight? Should I make reservations for dinner?”
“I have a better idea and to implement that, I need to go home early,” I said smiling and added, “I can go by myself in my new car and you can take the train with Mitch.”
Nick burst out laughing and said looking at Mitch, “Did you hear that Mitch? Sameera wants to take the car home and wants us to take the train back.”
“Sounds like fun, Nick,” Mitch said coolly.
“Not happening, baby,” Nick declared and added, “I am not giving up the quality commute time for anything. We can go back home together, and you can do whatever you want to do after.”
“Whatever,” I whined annoyed at Nick’s super possessive behavior.
*****
I sat in the dark corner of the closet in the private wing waiting for Nick. He had dropped me off at home earlier that evening and went to meet Srini to finish work promising he would be back by seven.
He had texted me that he was running fifteen minutes late, and I decided to use the time I had to spice up our night. I texted him back saying that our private wing would be in complete darkness and he needed to find me without turning on the lights. The rule was that he could turn on a light only once and it had to be in the room that he was sure I was in. If he messed up, he would have to start all over again. He hadn’t responded for a few minutes and then responded saying that he was game.
“Sameera, I am here,” Nick announced as he stepped out of the elevator.
I giggled internally and suppressed my need to get up and run into his arms. The private wing was in complete darkness as I had taken the time to close every single blind and drape to make sure there was no light. I had moved the ottoman from the living room into the closet to be able to sit comfortably in the creative outfit I had on for the night.
In my effort to make the night special, I decided against buying another piece of lingerie. I used a sari and a scarf to pull my outfit together minus the undergarments. I used a hot pink square silk scarf, tied two ends around my neck and the other two around my waist as a cropped blouse, and paired it with an orange chiffon sari I wrapped around like a skirt multiple times around my hips without the traditional pleats in the front. I rolled the last couple of meters of the six-meter fabric to form a rope. I ran the rolled up fabric around my torso a few times and tucked it back into the waistband so the end of the fabric was not visible.
I sat and waited patiently and could hear Nick move around in the living room and then come straight to the bedroom. In a few seconds, he was at the entrance to the closet and stood at the entrance without moving. I looked at his silhouette and could tell that he was holding something in his hands.
I heard him take a deep breath and in a sudden movement turned on the light. The surprising stream of light made me squint, but I managed to catch the awe in his eyes when he saw me sitting on the ottoman decked up in bold colors.
He looked at me smiling, holding a beautiful bouquet of red rose buds in his hands. I stood up reaching for another scarf and slowly walked towards him.
“Sameera, you are burning me with your hotness,” Nick said in a sultry voice as I stood inches away from him looking into his eyes.
He looked down at me with a burning ache in his eyes making me blush and heat up my cheeks. I looked down at the beautiful buds he was holding and buried my face into the flowers for a cooling effect.
He let go of the flo
wers and pulled me to him crushing the beautiful bouquet.
“Nick you are late,” I said in a seductive tone and added, “and because of that we play by my rules tonight.”
“Really?” Nick mocked as he ran the tip of his tongue along my jawline.
“Yes,” I said laughing. I reached for his hands pulling them together and brought his wrists together and added, “Do not move, and I will tell you the rules in a minute.”
“Not happening,” Nick said in a mischievous tone. In an instant, he pushed the bouquet away from us wrapping his arms around me pulling me against him and took his lips to mine.
“Nick,” I objected against his lips and pulled back and brought his hands together and said, “My rules because you spent all that money to get me a car that I did not need and you were late.”
“Seriously?” Nick fumed and asked, “Why can’t you let it go, baby?”
“I will if you stay put for just one minute,” I said smiling, as I tried to put his wrists together again and as soon as he started to comply, I wrapped the scarf in my hand around his wrists with his hands in front of him. He looked at me with many questions in his eyes and continued to smile at me.
“Ready?” I asked in a teasing tone.
“Ready for?” Nick asked in a dry tone putting his tied-up arms around me by reaching over my head and pulled me to him.
I laughed as I had not expected him to move so quickly with his hands tied together and said in a quivering voice as he ran his lips on my collarbone, “Whatever we do tonight, you need to have your hands tied.”
He took in a deep breath against my neck and asked, “Are you going to undress by yourself?”
“I am not. You need to figure out how you are going to gain access,” I said in a trembling voice as he started a swirling action with his tongue against the tip of my collarbone.