FF: New York times with Maan&Geet Thread 4 09/13 - Page 3

It was of course Daadima's idea. And she had instantly agreed to it for the weekend plan. The stubborn mustang that did not want to ride to SoCal was Naini who for some reason resisted her own horse whisperer: Abhi, the man she had a penchant to hate, or at least appeared to. Some spirits are too wild or too free to be reigned over and she was one. But there was a part of her that disliked to be the troublemaker and secretly desired to bring into light the romantic. Definitely romantic. For that is what had appealed to him among other things.

There were times they would be online over phone and fall asleep together, content just to hear each other breathing without the interruption of words. At 17, the rhythmic puff of air on the microphone was the silent lullaby of her world, she had told him. Coming from an affluent family that had generations of wealth and fame to their name, her simple wants had floored him. He had, many a night of the initial years, wondered if it was possible to be demented in love, reach the highest degree of obsession for one another. Then again he swore they had shared the same intense and insane love for each other. And yet after nine years they stood as an allegory for a couple who had fallen out of love, or not! But they sure were misguided to think that they had done all things possible to revive the lost love between them. Try speaking, Daadima wanted to scream at them, however she resisted the urge.

The three women drove down like the three spirits of Christmas itself to show the misery filled soul, that was laying low at Catalina, what it was missing out in life. Of course the spirit of the future was disinterested in doing its job and sulked and pouted every step of the way. In actuality the peevish of the lot was kept out of the plan what the other two had schemed for the time they will be there in Catalina. As for Rishabh he had no clue he was going to be bushwhacked by his wife and her theatrical family.

Upon reaching the pier, Geet, Daadima and Naini waited for the ferry to take them across the waters to the island. The waves splashed tirelessly on the high grey rocks that lined the docks in its constant efforts to be one with the shore; a taunt from nature, Naini had thought to herself. And the wind cut through their hair, whispering on its way of the storm clouds that were fast approaching.

"Oh! Perfect" Daadima spoke in delight, anticipating to be stranded in the island overnight.

"Huh! Daadi...we could be there all night. Think about that. We don't even have hotel arrangements" Naini cried as she swirled around to take a look at the dark loom of clouds making its way towards the island.

Geet smiled and cut her gaze to the old couple who were resting on the bench overlooking the sea. With the folds on their face betraying their age, their affectionate handholding gave out another number not exceeding 18. She smiled once again. Only this one came from a different place with hopes for a time far off in the future for her and him. To be seated the same way clutching one's hand in the other's and the very act speaking in a clarion voice that they weathered out the 7 year itches and mid life crises' even if their frail frames wouldn't allow them at that time. 

Naini shook her out of her consuming thoughts and they proceeded to board the ferry that they had waited for.

The day was beautiful when one could minus the grayness that lurked above their heads. Cold crisp wind tickled and played their senses reviving every emotion to play out differently...more buoyant on their faces, when their hearts carried a deadweight in wraps.

As they landed on the small mass of land surrounded by the pacific waters with the continental coast still in sight, the drizzle came down from the skies, having the little women scurry to a shelter.

Naini picked up her dupatta in her hand, that had instead thought it had another life as Catalina's official sweeper, and ran placing a hand over her forehead to shield her face from the sprinkles. Looking behind to catch a glimpse of the dark and thick clouds to gauge how long the rain was to last, her steps flapped on the rugged cut rocks and raced ahead to get to the euro style shops that lined the port. Just as she was about to turn, to face forward and join Geet and Daadi, her body crashed against a hard taut structure. How familiar? She thought to herself and faced the man she had deterred from running into the rain. That is when her wet lashes lifted to take in his face. The one she was not surprised to see at that time and place. Between the three, was this a conspired move too?  She wondered. Time must have tricked her, for it seemed ages she had seen him this close. His soft brown eyes dazzled as her gaze met his through the veil of rain that poured between them. At the forceful impact, she'd slipped back and he had held her by her upper arm dropping his phone in the jerk that shook him. It was the same accustomed touch she had lived, cried and run away from a thousand times. This touch was perhaps coming back to serve as a reminder of the days their world were just made of him and her. 

"Abhi..." she let out in a rush of a whisper amidst the roar of the crashing rain. Her eyes balanced the fearful tears by its brim and for once she was thankful it was raining that weekend.

Hurrying to catch the last ferry of the morning hours that was leaving to the mainland, he had dashed from the ticket counter, blindly texting and had run straight into her.

He had stayed indoors for too long. And the exotic Mexican villa was reducing to ruins without her that he had to get out to hold on to the vestiges of sanity that threatened to abandon him if he continued to stay there any longer. All reasoning had escaped his mind when he had tried to make sense why he was hiding in the same place they had come for their honeymoon. Catalina was California's well-kept secret and instead of taking off to the run-of-mill Swiss Alps, they had chosen his dad's new stake at the island. There were one too many memories to leave behind at the place and conceivably the one locale he must have fled from, but she was ingrained inside of him to such depths that he would have passed the moments with the same agony anywhere else.

How can anyone forget his or her first crush that had blossomed into love those visionless teen years? She had been his best friend's girlfriend to start with. And he being the arrogant rich brat had entered a stupid wager with his other friends to steal her in three days. Of course both she and her then boyfriend were unaware of the game that had started crazed betting among their little gang. Groups would gather and watch him make glib moves at her, leaving her perplexed at his reprobate behavior. It was not the age of cellphones yet and belonging to a time when pocketsize pagers were still the fad, they would all start beeping their heads off right after he would make a pass at her. When the truth had come out in the open, she had cried a bit before she walked into the middle of the playground to steak an unforgiving slap. And the dim-witted boyfriend had punched his guts and left him with a bloodied face using his own hockey stick, in the name of teaching him a lesson for his unethical ways. Up from that point, it had all gone anti-climax for the boyfriend after she had taken pity and felt sorry for Rishabh once he was hospitalized up to a month.  From delivering missing class notes, their dallying had matured to higher grades of juvenile relationship like ice cream parlor meets and incessant paging. She had been the teen goddess of their private school for him in her dark blue short skirt, white shirt, striped tie and stockings that ran up to her knees. And ever since he had stayed bound by her charms, willfully tied to everything that was hers.

It was no different now when he saw her, with an uncanny glow emanating from her porcelain skin, he was still in that age-old trance. Her eyes wavering from the shock, like that of a trapped gold fish in a net. The kajal, thick under her eyes, did little to the barrage of tears that threatened to fall out and mingle with the million blobs of rain that came upon her. White suit with a yellow dupatta soaked the moisture around her and stuck to her willowy figure, calling attention to his mind of the sylph that she was to him. If this was not good enough, his head echoed her voice as he heard her call his name. Though inaudible and more of an involuntary act, his name had a life and sound of its own when she let them slide off her lips.

When the whole world revolved around them those minutes, as they took their trips along the memory lane once again, Geet and Daadi watched them with untainted glee. Seemingly they didn't have to employ even the first part of their ploy to get Rishab and Naini at the same place. Supposedly the universe had already taken care of that part of the plan. They giggled and held each other quickly in an assuring hold. A quick word of prayer escaped Daadima's lips, as she eyed the pair not having moved far apart after having collided against each other.

But how long could they stand rooted to their spots. So when it was that second to cross each other and move further away from where they were until then in their hearts, Geet panicked and shot a nervous look at Daadi. It was time for execution of plan B. Geet fainted without another thought.

Thank you all for the wishes and the support. I always get excited seeing your enthusiasm whenever a new thread is opened. This update is more for Naini and Rishabh than our M&G. Pals, relax and enjoy them too as part of the NY Times package, because they have a part to play in this story. It was originally supposed to be Meera and Yash who should have taken up their screen space, but somehow these characters intrigued me more than the other. Hopefully you like their story too. THANK YOU...THANK YOU for all your lovely long comments. Keep it coming and I'm quite eager to see if you accept this couple too...

Photo Album: Rishabh and Naini