late night- Samrat s car
samrat and gunjan in the car- both smiling especially gunjan. She suddenly giggled
" tumhaara ghar chashmish."
"thanks samrat drop karne ke liye." without getting down from the car, she looked at him brimming with joy and kind of giggling
"anytime chashmish." and unable to stop himself," aaj itne din baad tumhaara smile dekhkar achha laga par tum kis baat pe itna khush ho"she smiled more widely and told him," haan samrat. Mujhe yakin nahin horahan hain, di wapas aagayi. Aur jiju itne khush hain. " and held her hands as if in prayer or maybe she was trying to hold the happiness in her hands.
He joined her in her smile.she continued,
"kyunki...aaj club mein itna mazaa aaya na.maine kabhi nahin socha tha ki mujhe itna achha lagega dance floor pe par.."
"ajeeb hain ! Tumne tho dance bhi nahin kiya. Matlab gulmilaake teen ya char minute tak dance floor pe khadi hui thi."
"tumne dance ke liye tho poocha hi nahin aur phir tumne bhi dance nahin kiya. Main di aur jiju ko dekh ke khush thi." samrat noted the tumne dance ke liye poocha nahin and smiled.
"jo bhi jagda hua tha ghar pe uske baat tho... mujhe college jaane ka bilkul mann nahin tha.roz tho jaathe haina, achha hua ki nupur maangayi club jaane keliye...Un dono ka perfect match haina. Itne saal bad bhi"
she nodded. They looked at each other asking the same question- what went wrong between them? Could they do something now?
"tumhaara ghar." samrat repeated.
"haan. ...samrat, thanks."
"welcome but kyun?"
"bas aise hi...tum di ka jiju ka kitna khayal rakhthe ho."
"chashmish, maine pehle bhi yehi kaha hain- nupur aur mayank ke saath mera bhi kuch rishtha hain. "
she was quiet but her giggle had disappeared. Guilt -samrat thought. And to make her feel better asked, " phir bhi chashmish tum kya yaad kerke has rahi thi?"
she smiled at that," woh jaab us ladki ne jiju ke shoulder par haath rakha tho di ka chehra dekhne laayaq tha! Usiki yaad aagayi."
"kaun ladki? Wohi jo green dress pehni thi?"
gunjans eyebrows went up.
"green dress? Achha ? Tumhe uska dress ka color yaad hain?"
"nahin tho...bas ..."
and both burst out laughing
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MN house- imagine MN walking from frontroom to bedroom both with huge smiles , arm in arm
"...woh aadmi yaad hain, wohi jo ek ke baad ek shrab piye jaa rahaa tha. Khade nahin hopaarahaan tha aur dance floor pe us aunty ke upar girgaya!" nupur was in full swing...
"hello madam, woh aadmi ek college going young ladka tha and woh aunty tumse minimum 4 saal se younger hogi." and hit her softly on the head.
" jo bhi ho uski dress dekhi tumne? Nahin dekhi na, chote chote! Aur colour mayank- koi golden skirt pehentha hain kya?" and shook her head in disbelief
"golden ? Woh kuch silverish tha, golden threads the bas." he replied seriously
"ooohhh, achha! Aur kiskisne kya pehna tha mayank?" she asked in mock sweet voice
"sab ka tho pata nahin par ek ladki zaroor thi jo ek laal rang ke salwar pehni thi black leggings ke saath. Uski red dupatta uski dress ke saath saath uski gaalon ke rang ko bhi match kar rahaa tha, match kar rahaa hain abhi bhi.uski khule baal mere face pe kabhi kabhi aajaathe the tho...aur uski aankhen jo duniya ke saare baatein batate the par phir bhi bohot kuch chupaathe the, jaise ki usko kitna pyaar hain apne pati se..." she had started blushing and like he described her blush actually complimented her dress.
"mayank!"
he smiled," nupur achha hua ki hum college ke badle club gaye. Tumhaare saath itne din baad dance karne ka chance mila. "
"lekin mayank, jaise tum aaram se baithke enjoy karrahe the, us se tho yahin lagtha tha ki tumhe bohot aadat hain club jaane ka. Pehle tho nahin tha.tumne peena shuru kiya hain kya?"
he shrugged," kabhi kabhi jaatha tha jab tum nahin thi tho. Drinks zyaada nahin par dance karne keliye tum tho thi nahin. "
and both stared at each other- after ages they had been so close to each other, without any thing on their minds, just living out the present. The closeness alone had sent shivers down both their spines . It was as if they had determined not to let any negative thoughts come between them. And it had worked for the few hours they had been at the disco. Both looked and felt like they had got a new life.
Nupur finally broke the eyelock, they were in the bedroom by then.
"main change karlethi hoon."
"help karoon?" he asked naughtily
she blushed and went away.
Just as he turned to the cupboard to change himself, she stood in front of him and put her hand on his hands which were unbuttoning his shirt.he looked at her surprised , she was so near
"mayank", she asked apprehensively," tum abhi tak gussa ho?"
he didnt wnat to speak anything that would spoil the evening but he had to answer her.
"nahin nupur. Main shaam ko bhi gussa nahin tha. Mujhe bas takleef hua ki tum...chodo. Par nupur tum phir aisa kabhi mat karna." and patted her cheeks," main hamesha har kadam par tumhaara saath hoon."
she nodded.
"aur tum itni darr kyun gayi? Kya tumhe sach mein laga ki main tumpe ...haath..."
she shook her head vigorously," nahin nahin mayank. Tum tho mujhe pe kya kisi bhi ladki pe haath nahin utaoge. Woh bas...mujhe darr laga... achank se mujhe laga ki mere saamne tum nahin ...woh...chodo mayank. Mujpe gussa mat hona."
"ek condition hain." she looked, he held her hands," tumhaara fashoin show abhi bhi baaki hain!" he grinned, moving closer.
She grinned back though her eyes were a little wet," tum ticket kal ke show ke liye lelena." and removing her hands from his , went back to change.he kept the grin on his face and went to unbuttoning his shirt.
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Aaahhhaaa
the scream came from the bathroom door. Mayank , in his vest now, ran to the door just as nupur came out, her face showing pain.
" kya hua?"
"mera baal...atak gaye hai shayad ..."and she had turned her head to one side bent backwards.
He turned her around wondering what she meant. Her hair which she had left free had got stuck to her zip as she had tried to unzip her dress and pained when the zipper was pulled down. Mayank slowly led her nearer to the light in front of the mirror. She stood her head still bent back and side, facing the mirror. He stood behind her and attempted to remove her hair carefully.
Aaahh- a small noise
"bohot dard ho rahaan hain? Ek minute, tum hilna mat."
"nahin. Bas thoda sa." she replied
though her eyes had filled up and she was biting her lips.
Mayank looked at the pain in her face and suddenly got angry. Why was she not screaming if she had pain? He pulled the zipper down with one hand suddenly while holding the tuft of her hair in the other. the hair came off with a few strands sticking to the zipper . She straightened her head and turned her neck this way and that, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears.
"kitna zr se kiya mayank. Mere saare baal tumhaare haath mein aajaathe tho?! Phir bi teek hain. Ab dard nahin horahaan hain.ab tho baal choddo" she said looking at him through the mirror. He was still standing behind her , meeting her eyes through the mirrors reflection, his hand still holding the hair.
He let the hair fall from his hands , slowly moved them away from the back to the front on one side. His fingers as he moved the hair came to touch the soft skin , nupur closed her eyes suddenly aware of his actions magnified by the slowness with which he did them.
Mayank still looked at the reflection -now at her closed eyes, the reddened cheeks- and felt his heart say something loudly , something which he had been ignoring for the past few days , which he couldnt ignore now, not after the splendid evening they had shared today. He moved closer to her , one hand on her shoulder and bent his head to kiss the junction of the neck and the back.
Nupur reacted immediately, her eyes sprang open immediately and she placed her hand on his , pressing on it, conveying to him her acceptance.
Mayank kissed lower on her back and releasing his hand from hers ran it over her upper back. It felt smooth and...what was this. He stopped suddenly and lifted his head up. He made her stand
straight , turn her back to light and then saw the marks- marks of what? Or were they scars?
It hit him with an unexpected force- they were scars of some thing whipped on her back- belt or a whip ? Some were completely healed, some not.. and he lifted his eyes from the scars to look at nupurs face in the mirror.
Nupur looked back with fear and embarrasment on her face.
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hi, hope this was ok. the next part s a continuation. actually, i would have loved to see dance before this episde
