SS - A Night to Remember(Awarded) - Page 4

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Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that's so hard to bear

You give me fever, when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
Fever, in the morning
Fever all through the night

Thou givest fever, when we kisseth
Fever with thy flaming youth
Fever, I'm afire
Fever yea I burn forsooth

~~~ Lyrics From the album -- Fever by A Fine Frenzy

For the full song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vsObnzivL1A

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Part5

The stage was set in the open air auditorium.  The circular stage was surrounded by coils of seating in ever widening circles up wards and outwards enabling viewers a three-hundred-sixty degree view of the play.  Arnav held Khushi slightly back from the rest as they settled down, so that they were seated at the edge of their row.  Maya had stationed herself in the middle so she could translate the play.  Akash and Payal had found themselves a seat a couple of rows away seemingly by coincidence.

                Fairy lights were draped over the plants and trees and strategically placed Tiki torches lit up the path ways while leaving the audience in a cloak of intimate darkness.  Arnav let his gaze roam leisurely over Khushi; In the flickering light of the tiki torch, her skin glowed, the creamy white saree that she had draped seemed to shimmer like pearls and had blended with the color of her skin; she was easily the most beautiful woman in that place if not on this planet and she was his, thought Arnav possessively.  Khushi's skin heated under her husband's gaze.  Her treacherous mind and heart had already wreaked havoc on her senses throughout the day.  She had somehow managed to get through dinner with dignity while all she wanted to do was grab hold of her Arnavji and gulp him up in big hungry bites.  Alarmed at these foreign thoughts and powerful surge of emotions, Khushi had remained silent for most of the evening, racking her brain for a suitable way to convey her feelings to Arnavji.  Every time he smiled and fed her choice morsels from his plate, Khushi had felt her temperature rise by several degrees. "Hey Devimayya Shakti dena", she prayed silently

                As the play started, Arnav drew Khushi closer and slid an arm around her, "This is the story of Nala & Damayanti" he said.  "Kya baath hai Arnav ji, humhe nahin patha ki aap ko hamare pauranic kahaniyon ke bare me itni jaankari hai; Yeh tho aatva ajooba hogaya hai" exclaimed Khushi in wonder.  Arnav chuckled and looking in her eyes replied," Yeh jo Maya hai na, thodi si pagal hai tumhari tarah.  College ki days mein cultural club ki excuse dekar humme dedh sare kathakali ke performances dhikayi thi.  Mein chah kar bhi bhool nahin sakta.  Iss language ko samaj nahin sakta per in artists ke expressions our dance form dekhke saari kahani bata sakta hoon" finished Arnav.

                The dance was a romantic rendition of the exchange between the newly wed king Nala and his beautiful wife Damayanti.  Khushi's romantic soul was lost in the beauty of the story, the husky translation by Arnavji only added to its ethereal appeal and made the story all the more personal to the point where Khushi experienced every emotion that Damayanti did.  She became increasingly aware of Arnav's hard body pressed close to her side, his arm across her shoulder seemed to be branding her as his, and the air was thickening with the smell of his cologne.  Arnav leaned in closer and continued narrating in his husky voice "Nala is pointing to the tree and telling his wife that when he was alone, the climbers that were hugging the tree seemed to laugh at his lonely state; but now he is addressing them and saying look at my lovely wife, your queen; with her by my side I am never alone".  Khushi shivered as goose bumps erupted on her skin at these words.  Looking deeply into Arnav's eyes she implored in a voice thick with emotion, "Arnavji hamme yehan se le chaliye. Humme aapke saat akele rehna hai.  Aaj din bar har ek pal ek yug samaan laga hamme.  Humne aap ki raah dekte hua kitni bechaini se yeh pal guzaare hain, yeh sirf humhi jaan the hain.  Ab hamse yeh doori bardasht nahin hoti, aur naahi ek aur pal hum aapko kisi aur ke saat bhaatna chahte hain bass bahut hogaya dammit!" 

This was it! This was the moment that he was waiting for patiently all day. Arnav's eyes darkened with a blazing desire as the blood ran hot and swift in his veins at his wife's disarming expression of desire and longing.  He swiftly and smoothly pulled her up and glanced around.  Everyone was engrossed in the play.  Akash was running his fingers up and down Payal's back and whispering in her ears while the rest of the family were listening spell bound to Maya's translation of the play.  Pulling Khushi along, Arnav silently slipped out of the place and retraced their steps back to the villa.  The moon seemed to hurry in the clear night sky along with them lighting up their path and hastening their departure from the crowds.

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