The Date - Turned Sour

As he pulled her up to stand, his arm came around her waist again, holding her gently, till she stood straight. Shivani looked at Mrityunjay, who had let go of her and was walking towards his studio. There was something about him, that was different from usual. He seemed to be much more relaxed than when they had met before.

She walked silently towards his makeshift studio. His behaviour was confusing the hell out of her. Why wasn't he being dismissive as he usually was? Why was he making an attempt to be nice to her? As she walked towards the studio, lost in thought, she saw the painting that he had just removed the covers from. It was a painting of a girl riding a horse, against the backdrop of the setting sun. The pale orangish glow in the background, perfectly setting off the dark silhouette of the girl and the mare in the foreground.

"Beautiful," she appreciated, going automatically to the painting and standing in front of it. Mrityunjay came and stood next to her, adoring her admiration of the painting. "Do you know what inspired me to make this?" he prompted her to ask, gazing into her eyes.

"No?" she replied, looking up at him expectantly. His face lit up with a broad smile that reached his eyes, that made him appear bewitchingly handsome. She felt herself smiling too. "You!" he confessed, his smile slowly fading away.

"Me?" she was taken aback at the unexpected answer and glanced back at the painting, noticing it more closely.

"Yes," he nodded, going towards the painting. He put his finger to the lines of the girl's silhouette and traced her curves with his finger. Shivani felt as if his finger moved on her skin. "This is what I saw one day as I woke up from my sleep," he revealed, eyeing her to gauge her reaction.

She was so flustered that she turned away immediately, looking at his other paintings. Mrityunjay stood watching her, while she examined his work.

"Why don't you have any pictures of your family here?" she asked, looking around. Mrityunjay stiffened at her question.

"They're in my bedroom," he said, his expression guarded. Shivani turned around to look at him and at that moment, the realisation hit her, that they were alone - in his house! She stood staring at him.

"Ah....that's why!" he commented, out of the blue.

"Sorry, what?" questioned Shivani, not able to follow what he said.

"From the time you've come, you have been unusually quiet and I have been wondering what the reason might be. Now I know," he remarked, coming towards her slowly.

"What?" she queried, her brows knotted.

"You are hungry," he commented wryly, tapping her nose with his index finger.

Shivani bit her lip and smiled, despite herself. "Yes, I am famished. We should eat," she conceded, following him into the

kitchen.

She could smell the aromas of exotic preparations as she entered the kitchen, which made her more hungry. And then, she saw all the food that had been ordered and wondered if he was expecting more people. "Are you expecting some friends of your's to joins us?" she inquired, peeping into the huge casseroles which had chicken, mutton; the smells were mouth watering.

"No, just the two of us," he returned, looking at her a tad longer.

"Why did you order so much food then?" she asked agitatedly.

"Oh!” said Mrityunjay coming over to her. "Its not ordered, its cooked at home," he corrected her, leaning against the kitchen platform.

Shivani's eyes sparkled. "Wow! Did kaka cook it?" she asked, clapping her hands like a small child.

"No, I know a master chef who can cook up quite a storm," he teased, amused at her reaction.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "No! you didn't," she exclaimed, grabbing at his arm tight. "Really? You actually got a Masterchef to cook for us? Who? Tell me please....." she was almost jumping with excitement.

Mrityunjay burst out laughing. He laughed so much that he held his stomach, looking at her. Shivani had no idea what the reason was. "What! What happened? What's so funny?" she asked him, irritated.

"The Masterchef I was talking about is I, me, myself!" he relented, still chuckling. "Seriously Shivani, you really thought I got some special chef to cook today?! Hahaha," he continued making fun of her.

But Shivani was staring hard at him, awestruck. "You prepared all this?' she asked with a tone of disbelief, pointing to all the food on the platform.

"Yes ma’m, I did," he answered, grinning at her playfully.

"And to what do I owe the honour of this lovely meal?" she queried, her eyes all serious.

Mrityunjay realised she was no longer amused about it and stood up to his full height . He came up close to her. She had to crane her neck to look at him. He gently stroked her cheek, "thank you..." he acknowledged, his eyes more serious now. "For taking care of Tuscany, the way you did," he said the simple words, his honesty, showing in them.

Shivani closed her eyes as his hand stroked her cheek. Mrityunjay pulled her closer to him, though keeping a little space between them. Shivani opened her eyes and stared at him, his eyes looking into her very soul. "Dinner time!” he pronounced abruptly, catching her hand in his and walking her to the dining table.

It was quite a scrumptious meal and Shivani relished everything he had made, until her stomach could hold no more. Mrityunjay was a very persistent host, cajoling her to try everything on the menu. He just would not take a no for an answer. After they had finished the meal, he handed her a small plate of beetroot halwa with vanilla ice cream. "So? How was the food?" he questioned her out of curiosity.

"Excellent! I enjoyed every morsel," she complimented, finally loosening up and warming up to him.

Mrityunjay beamed at her indulgently. "There is something else I want to show you," he confessed, his eyes sweeping over her face. "Oh, show me then," she said inquisitively, getting up along with him.

He led her into his bedroom, pulled out something from one of the drawers on a corner table and brought it to her. He handed what seemed like a photo frame to her silently.

Shivani took the frame from his hands, her eyes turning somber, as she beheld the picture. She observed that it must've been taken in a studio. The man and woman stood close; one look and you could tell, they were husband and wife. You could also tell Mrityunjay had the eyes of his mother.

Shivani asked him with a questioning look, "Where are they......" the words hung unfinished, as he shook his head slowly, a small smile filled with regret, curving his lips.

She had held herself back all evening, but after the past few minutes spent with him, she could restrain herself no more. His pain reflecting in her eyes, she went into his warm embrace and hugged him tight. Mrityunjay caught her close to him, his eyes more gloomy now.

She withdrew slowly, her hands coming up to cup his face. "I am so sorry," she mumbled, meaning every word with sincerity. She was so close to him, her soft hands on his cheeks. Mrityunjay did not ever want to let her go. His eyes searched hers, as he slowly titled his head. Shivani waited with bated breath, as Mrityunjay came closer, lingering, watching.

He noticed her anticipation, waiting for his lips to conquer hers. Gently pulling her closer, he allowed his lips to touch her’s gently at first and then he pressed harder, increasing his intensity by several notches. Shivani moaned in pleasure at the contact, her arms encircling his waist. He held her hand as he deepened his kiss. She did not resist, kissing him back just as tenderly.

His arms touched her waist, where her saree gave way and Shivani felt a tremor begin inside her. Mrityunjay kissed her eyes, placed tender kisses on her nose and came back to take her lips. Shivani grabbed his shirt hard, to hold on to

something for support. He traced the line of her jaw with his lips lazily, before going down further to place tender kisses on her throat. She arched back slightly, to give him access to her bare throat. His lips descended further, gripping her necklace , to move it out of his way.

As Mrityunjay's lips were tracing lines of fire on Shivani's skin, his hands were scripting a different story on her back. One by one, he began to unbutton the hooks on her blouse, until there were just a couple more left. Mrityunjay lifted his head up and regarded her. She opened her eyes when he stopped and searched his face. In that moment, he realised what he was about to do and began to withdraw from her.

Shivani caught his hands before he could move away completely. He watched her stunned and what she said next, took his breath away. She stepped closer to him. "Mrityunjay, I'd like to stay the night with you," she proposed, no hint of shame or embarrassment evident in her face.

Mrityunjay was panting hard, both with need and shock. Shivani waited for his reaction, but none was forthcoming. Then it struck her, like a bolt from the blue, what he must be thinking. The hurt, was unbearable. She had just proved to him, that his judgement of her was correct. After all, she was throwing herself at him. Her eyes filled up with tears.

"Oh.. of course... you must be used to spending your evenings with girls like me," she blurted, her tears spilling out.

"Shivani!" Mrityunjay's voice rose menacingly. "You don't know what you are saying," he warned her.

She moved away from him, the hooks of her blouse almost undone. Mrityunjay caught her hand, pulling her back, colliding into him. "No, no... it's not what you think. You are too precious to do it like this," he tried to tell her.

"No, stop, please... don't patronise me Mrityunjay. I know exactly what you think of me," she tried to withdraw, but he wouldn't let her go. Mrityunjay caught her face in his hands and forced her to meet eyes. "Shivani," his breath was rough, as he touched his forehead to hers. "Please... try to understand.... you are very special. I am honoured by what you said, but this is neither the time nor the place for you. You deserve a lot better than this. There will be another time, another place, I promise," he implored, trying to make her understand.

Shivani pushed him away from her, her tears spilling out freely from her eyes. "Another time.... another place?" she blasted, looking at him with pain filled eyes. "Can you guarantee that both of us will be alive for that time and place? No, you can't. I don't have another time or place Mrityunjay. All I have... all YOU have, is now and here. I asked you what I did, because I thought, that ounce of love, was mine, that I had a right on it, but I guess, it is not to be. I hope we never meet again Mr Mrityunjay Gaekwad, never, ever," she cried and walked away.