Rishabh lay on the couch in their TV room and turned the TV on with muted volume. He surfed through the channels for some time, then switched the TV off and dropped the remote casually on the floor. He knew sleep was not going to come easily that night, although he was terribly tired. He stared at the ceiling and sighed audibly. He could still hear the waves splashing on the shore at a distance, the night sea breeze passing through the leaves, and all he could think were two eyes of the colour of warm honey, looking at him, seeking answers which he wished he knew.
Madhu slowly opened her eyes, stretched her hands and legs and took a deep breath. At first she thought she was in her room, but suddenly noticed some men's clothes piled on a chair in front of the bed. She sat up with a jerk and looked around more carefully to understand where she was. It was right then Madhu realised that her head was feeling heavy, with a faint pounding in between her eyes.
"Oh god, where am I?" she murmured to herself and pushed the cover away from her.
Before she could get down the bed, the door opened and Rishabh entered.
"What are you doing here? How did I come here?" asked Madhu angrily.
"Good morning Madhu ma'am. I brought you here last night, as you passed out and I did not know your room number," replied Rishabh hesitantly.
Madhu looked at him with narrowed eyes as she tried to remember events from the last night.
"Ma'am, I am sorry I should have tried to wake you up, but you were in deep sleep," said Rishabh and on hearing no further angry retorts added quickly, "and it is early in the morning. My friends are still sleeping. You should go back to your bungalow before anyone notices you."
Madhu glared at him and walked passed him to go out of the room. As soon as she stepped out on the veranda a gust of wind with a spray of rain water welcomed her to the early morning hour of Maldives. Madhu turned her head sideways and raised her hands on reflex to cover her face. Then slowly she opened her eyes again to see the gorgeous skyscape in front of her, where the early rays of the rising sun were playing hide and seek behind the light grey clouds, and somewhere the horizon between the sea and the sky blurred by the morning haze. Madhu felt all her anger vaporising, and did not budge as Rishabh came behind her.
"If you allow me, I can drop you to your bungalow," said Rishabh and pointed to the buggy cart parked outside the bungalow.
Madhu nodded in approval and followed him to the cart in silence. Rishabh steered the cart out on to the beach and on getting Madhu's room number steadily drove towards that direction.
"Thanks for last night, and sorry for shouting at you this morning," Madhu said softly, as she spotted her bungalow at a distance.
"No problem Ma'am," replied Rishabh with a smile.
For the first time in the past one day Madhu noticed the deep curves of the dimples with his smile.
"Did I see that before?" thought Madhu and felt quite amused to have discovered something new to admire on top of his aura of fascinating looks.
"What is it Ma'am?" asked Rishabh seeing Madhu smiling.
"Nothing, and stop calling me Ma'am. It sounds as if I am a 40 year old lady. Call me Madhu, only Madhu."
"As you wish Ma'a..sorry Madhu," replied Rishabh and received a wide beaming smile in response.
Madhu opened her room's lock as quietly as possible and tip-toed inside. On entering she found her room empty and the shower room empty as well. She wondered where Raika could have gone so early in the morning, as she was definitely not a morning person. Then it struck her that something fishy was going on between Raika and the drummer last night, whose name she could not remember.
"Typical Raika," commented Madhu with a wry smile and headed for a hot shower.
The four girls met at the breakfast table after a couple of hours. Madhu did not divulge anything about her or Raika's last night's adventure to the other two girls. Raika too did not ask her about her time with Rishabh.
"So, what now?" asked Madhu while sipping her fresh juice.
"All day long water sports. Snorkelling, scuba diving. We will be water-babes all the day," replied Trishna excitedly.
"Umm, sorry babes. I can't come," replied Madhu hesitantly.
"Why?"
"I got my periods this morning. I won't be comfortable," replied Madhu reluctantly.
"Oh nuts!!" exclaimed Preeti and Raika.
"Don't worry. Please go and have fun. I would rather go to the spa and have a relaxing time. I would rather indulge myself than get a tan before my wedding," replied Madhu with a wink.
As her friends went for the water sports with Krish and Danny, who were also scuba instructors, Madhu headed to the spa centre.
After a tranquil hour at the spa, Madhu walked back to the small pier where her friends had started their water sports, but could not see anyone.
"They must have left for the scuba diving on a speedboat," thought Madhu sadly and settled at the edge of the pier. She touched the water with her feet as she sat there idly.
"You did not seem hydrophobic last evening," commented Rishabh as he approached Madhu after some moment of her solitude.
"Hydrophobic? Why on earth would I be hydrophobic?" asked Madhu with a smile, as she was quite relieved to see Rishabh there and then blushed slightly remembering their volleyball match.
"Then why didn't you join them for the water sports?"
Madhu contemplated how to answer him without giving away the truth.
"Umm, did not want to get a tan," replied Madhu without meeting Rishabh's eyes.
Rishabh raised his eyebrows in surprise and kept grinning.
"What? What's so funny about that?"
"You don't look like that kind of girl who would shy away from doing anything in fear of getting a tan."
"You seem to be quite an Oracle about the girl population, eh?"
Rishabh blushed a little and nodded his head.
"I have a sister and I have seen some of her fussy friends. But you are different," said Rishabh and looked straight into Madhu's eyes.
Madhu felt her toes curling as his gaze pierced through her eyes. There was something much deeper and intricate in his eyes than the beauty they reflected. She tore away her eyes from his gaze and looked to the open sea in front.
"Do you want to see the marine life? From the boat I mean," suggested Rishabh after a few moments of silence.
"Yes please," replied Madhu enthusiastically.
"Ok, come with me."
Rishabh walked up to a small motor boat tied to the pier and jumped on it. He helped Madhu to get on it and started the engine. He steered the boat into the open sea, still within the photic zone where they could see schools of small colourful fishes, sharks, rays, turtles. Although it was not as close as being in the water itself, Madhu had a good time spotting the fauna. Then Rishabh manoeuvred the boat to a small atoll which was surrounded by numerous colourful colonies of corals. Rishabh carefully steered the boat so as not to destroy the corals and brought it close to the land. It was still a few feet in the water so both of them jumped in the knee-deep water to wade through up to the dry sands.
Madhu was super excited and jumped at every new thing she spotted. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and in no time she and Rishabh were running in the small strip of beach sands like small kids. Suddenly Rishabh grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the thick foliage at the end of the beach.
"Where are we going?" enquired Madhu as she was struggling to keep pace with Rishabh.
"Close your eyes. I have a surprise for you," replied Rishabh and placed his palm over her eyes.
Madhu did not protest, and giggled all her way till she was asked to stop.
"Now open your eyes."
Madhu saw the most beautiful scenery that she could ever imagine in her dreams in front of her eyes. There was a small lagoon surrounded by the coral reef and lush green foliage at the centre of the atoll. The water was crystal blue, and the gorgeous reflection of the sky made it look like out of the world.
Madhu's mouth was agape and her eyes as big as they could possibly be. Rishabh smiled contentedly seeing her amazement and lazily strolled towards the lagoon.
"This is so breathtakingly beautiful, Rishabh. I am so glad that you brought me here," said Madhu elatedly.
Rishabh just bowed a little and replied, "Pleasure's all mine, Madhu. Will you join me?" and pointed to the lagoon.
Madhu stood still and nodded her head in disagreement. Rishabh did not insist any further and took off his shirt before diving in the clear blue water. He swam to the centre and then came back to the place where Madhu was waiting. She had picked up his shirt from the sand where he had left it and subconsciously held it close to her chest. As Rishabh came out of the lagoon, water dripped from his dark brown hair, his body and pants. It was quite a sight in addition to the scenic beauty for Madhu and her logical brain had completely lost control of her eyes. She kept staring at Rishabh unceasingly as he came close to her to get his shirt.
Till date Rishabh cannot explain what exactly made him do it, but he cupped Madhu's face with his palms and kissed her gently. It started as a mere touch of the lips but soon Madhu gave in to the sheer passion of the moment and both of them deepened the kiss while holding onto each other closely. Rishabh's fingers entangled with her hair and pulled her back slightly to get more access. Madhu's fingers struggled to get a hold on Rishabh's wet skin and managed to get a grip as they held the tufts of hair at his neck. Only for the lack of air they could part their lips after some uncounted moments, and without a further word they resumed their hungry feat after replenishing their lungs with enough oxygen.
Madhu rested her head on Rishabh's chest while he placed his arm around her shoulder with his back resting on a tree trunk. They did not speak a word to each other after their bouts of kisses. Neither did they fondle or try to get cosier. Rishabh felt the need to apologise to her for his effrontery but checked himself from making the situation more embarrassing for Madhu. Somehow, he felt satisfied; if not by providing answers, he could help Madhu purge out her mental anxiety he had seen in her eyes through their lip locks.
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