Hearts At War

Shivani went back to her cottage, deep in thought. If this young looking chap was her boss, then she was in a soup, BIG TIME and if she wanted to keep her job, she had to make sure she made it up to Jay. All through the night, she lay awake making plans about how she could placate Jay to not fire her from the job for her behaviour.

Mrityunjay had not slept a wink all night. The exhaustion from the campaign along with the recurring image of the girl's eyes, had kept him awake till the early hours of morning. Finally when he drifted off, he dreamed of her.

In the mountains, somewhere far away, they were all alone... just the two of them. The lush green valley all around, the beautiful, warm weather, a perfect setting for love. He held her close to his heart as he kissed her passionately. It was a kiss full of need, to know her, to see her reciprocate to his need. And she did not hold back. As he withdrew, her hands came around his neck almost like a garland and she pulled him back into her embrace, this time taking the lead and

kissing him back with equal passion.

Mrityunjay woke up with a jolt, as he lay on his back, all alone on the large king sized bed. He looked from his left to right, as if searching for the girl from his dreams. The bed was empty, he was alone. His heart was pounding hard against his chest. Mrityunjay sat up, still a little disoriented. Where was that girl?

He looked all around him and realised he was in his bedroom. What was that? It must've been a dream, but so real that he could feel her soft lips, pressing into his, almost as if it was a real sensation.

As he sat trying to decipher what it was that he had just conjured up in his head, he heard the door bell ring. He startled at the noise and looked in the direction it came from. It must be Paras Kaka, with his breakfast tray. Mrityunjay took in a deep breath, throwing his head back, to calm himself down. He dragged himself out of his bed and opened the door.

The small human form in front of him, held the tray between them, to cover her face. It was not the usual breakfast he was used to. The tray was full of puris and a big bowl of chole. He was least interested in the food on the tray and was

more fascinated by the girl holding the feast out for him.

"May I come in sir?" she mumbled, in a soft tone.

Mrityunjay simply moved out of the way and stood watching, as she expertly carried the tray that seemed to weigh as much as her and put it on his dining table. He clutched his forehead with his hand. This was an impossible situation and he wished no man should have to face it. A part of him, wanted nothing more than to throw this girl out of his life and get back to the electoral preparations. He reminded himself that the elections were his priority. It was crucial to win if he wanted to get Milind released from jail; it was their only hope.

There was too much riding on him. His party-men were putting a lot of hard work into the campaign so that he would win the elections for them and push his grandfather's welfare programs forward. They had waited a long time for a scion of Gaekwad family to helm the affairs of the party and they had reposed all their faith in him. He could not, would not, let them down.

But there was another part of him, which wanted nothing more than to tell Shivani what was going on his mind right at that moment, to tell her what she did to him every time she ran into him. Mrityunjay clenched his fists hard. The only way to deal with her, was to tell her how he felt about her and then, leave her to decide what she wanted to do with him.

As Shivani was arranging the contents of the tray on his dining table, Mrityunjay walked towards her slowly.

He had barely taken a couple of steps, when he stopped in his tracks. What was he doing? How could he forget who he was? Godha ma’m? Brihannala? His life was far too complicated. And he could not expect another person to plunge into his dark life. And for what? Love? For all he knew, what if the girl was already in love with someone else? She was probably already in a relationship. What right did he have to expect anything from her, without knowing the first thing about her?

While Mrityunjay was busy fighting with himself, Shivani turned around to look at him. "Luchi and Cholar Dal-Bengali special breakfast, prepared just for you, by your's truly,” she rolled her hands in the air and bent in an elaborate bow,

as if she had just finished a performance on stage.

Mrityunjay could only stand and watch, amused despite his inner struggles. He didn't know what to do. He just stood with his hands dangling on his sides, his legs spread apart, watching her with a keen interest.

"I am very sorry about yesterday and the previous time we met. I actually didn't realise you were ‘The Gaekwad’," Shivani went on blabbering about how she thought he was one of the trainers for the horses and how her image of Gaekwad was that of an old man and that she didn't realise she had such a young boss and so on.

What she did not realise was how Mrityunjay was watching her, his eyes, studying every contour and feature of her face. How her brows arched and her eyes widened when she spoke, everything.

"I think the name Mrityunjay is too serious, old fashioned, if you like," she continued. "I would prefer calling you

Jay, only....."

He was on her before she realised what was happening. He had caught her by the sides of her arms and was pushing her back, pinning her to the wall behind. His eyes were stormy, serious. "I was named by my mother and you will not

tamper with my name. You WILL call me Mrityunjay!" he growled.

They both stood facing each other, both panting hard, she in fear and he in rage. His eyes moved down from her eyes to her lips, that seemed to quiver from the tension between them. Her eyes remained on his face, the square set jaw, the wide forehead and the wide eyebrows.

"You are so handsome......" the words escaped her, unwittingly.