Part XC
One week later
It was the eve of Valentine's
Day. Sameera had been busy at work ever since she got back from
Bangalore, trying to clear all the pending cases. No matter how tired she felt
at the end of the day, she looked forward to spending whatever little was left
of the waking hours with Dev, engaging in long conversations with him. He
too seemed equally keen to spend time with her, making her laugh till her belly
hurt with his poker face witty comments on the events of that day. The
guy had no qualms making fun of himself.
For instance that morning she noticed that he came in from outside in his track suit, sweating from head to foot, his hair sticking out like the spines of a porcupine. When asked where he had been he responded that he had hit the gym to develop his body. Sameera was astonished that he would suddenly be conscious of his physique. When she teased him about it, he smiled wryly and said that not every guy was naturally blessed with a good physique like her good friend Maan. Some guys who are pigeon chested like him needed to work out to tighten and tone up their chest and pectoral muscles. When she still pressed on as to why he suddenly felt the need to build his physique he replied that he had been beaten to a pulp by a nymph-like girl in the not too distant past which only underlined how hopelessly under-toned his body was. So he was only ensuring it is well primed to withstand any future blows that may come his way. Sameera smiled guiltily, reminded of her misplaced valour.
That night after they had retired to bed Sameera lay awake for a long time on the bed. Her heart seemed to burst with all the pent up love she had for Dev. She felt she had to let him know how much she loved him and convince him to give a second chance for love in his life. Her feminine intuition told her that he was definitely more than attracted to her. Somehow she felt that his hitting the gym to tone up his body was more to impress her than for anything else. Maybe knowing that she once dated the well-toned Maan whipped up his insecurities. As Geet advised, maybe she needed to make the first move. She needed to assure him that she loved him as he was; nothing can make her love him less. Making up her mind, she went to his room and knocked on his door. Not getting any response, she slowly pushed open the door and realised he was not sleeping in the room.
Wondering where he could have gone, she was about to go searching for him when she saw light streaming from the bottom of the closed library door. She went in and found Dev stretched out on one of the chairs, a book on Finance lying on his chest. He had apparently dozed off while reading the book. Seeing his sleeping face which looked so innocent and vulnerable, she felt her heart strings tugged. She knelt by his side and removed the book from his chest, replacing it with her head. She heard the steady thumping of his heart beat which seemed to reassure her that he was always there for her. She could not restrain her feelings any longer. She felt the sudden urge to pour her heart out to him even if he was not in a position to hear or respond to her. Maybe it is just as well, she thought. She will practice what she will tell him the next day when he was conscious by saying it all to his unconscious sleeping form.
"Dev," she whispered hesitatingly. "I know you are sleeping and may not hear a single word of what I am about to say but I am going to say it nevertheless. I never thought I could ever fall in love with anyone. I fiercely guarded my independence and considered myself self-sufficient. That was before I met someone like you. In your quiet unobtrusive way you made your way into my heart. I could let my guard down and expose my vulnerabilities to you without feeling ashamed of them, for you never let me feel weak or helpless. I feel more human in your presence, more alive. You cheer me up when I am down. At work you give me complete freedom to operate on my own but I know I can always count on your guidance and wisdom when I need it. You are always sensitive to people's problems and difficulties. At the same time you are firm when you have to be. No wonder you are so loved by your employees. But I don't want to be just another employee. I want you to love me as a man would love a woman. I want to own your heart as you own mine. Yes, I can be very demanding you know. I am aware that you have been hurt in love. You may be scared to let yourself fall in love again, wary that you will get wounded again. But let me assure you that I will never play with your feelings. I will never hurt you. I may not have much to offer except my undying and passionate love for you. I am short-tempered, obstinate and willful and may always remain so. I will not promise you that I will change myself for you. I know you would not want me to do that either. Neither do I want you to change anything for me. You don't need to build your physique, for I find you physically attractive as you are. All this may sound very cliched for I am not much of a romantic, but I mean every word I said just now."
She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips, feeling their softness and warmth under hers. She hastily withdrew lest he wakes up and retreated to the door. Before she turned off the light she turned to look at his dear face once again and blew him a kiss.
After she left the room, he opened his eyes and smiled as his heart sang a happy song. He had heard every single word she said.