Rahul’s Story-2

…..Continued

Next afternoon Rahul went to Rajesh’s office and went straight to his friend’s cabin after giving a curt nod to Jaya. She was surprised by his attitude but didn’t say anything. She was quietly doing her work and kept glancing in his direction but saw that Rahul was least interested in looking at her and was furiously making some notes in his diary.  Rahul’s mind was in a complete turmoil and to try and make some sense of the situation, he decided that he will avoid Jaya altogether. He liked the attention he was getting from her but he was still not sure about what Jaya wanted. He finished his work and went to his office

Meanwhile, Jaya was intrigued about his behavior and decided to find out what was plaguing Rahul. She called his cell phone but their conversation was very short and devoid of any emotions.

“Hi Rahul How are you?” she asked.

“I am fine”

“What happened today, why did you leave in such a hurry?”

“Nothing, I was expecting a couple of important customers so had to leave early”

“Oh!! Ok. I hope everything went well”

“Yes everything was good. Jaya, I have to go to the hospital to see my friend so I’m in a bit of a hurry, I will talk to you later. Please don’t mind”

She said “Oh, that’s fine, please carry on. We will talk later”

They said their byes and hung up. Rahul’s heart was again thumping wildly….he was breathing heavily and couldn’t understand why speaking to Jaya was causing him to react like this. He couldn’t concentrate on his work and decided to go and spend some time at his secret place. His secret place was a small, secluded bridge about 7-8 kms away from the city where he would go with a bottle of beer whenever he wanted to unwind or introspect.

Sitting there, he remembered his childhood when he used to spend time during the monsoons tossing pebbles in the stream below. He drank his beer in a few gulps and smoked a couple of cigarettes and let the alcohol take effect. He felt a little tipsy and thought “Why do I feel like this whenever Jaya talks to me or looks at me?” “Is it love or lust?” “Does she have any amorous feelings towards me?” “How should I find out?”. With no answers to his own questions,  he proceeded home, had his dinner and quietly went to sleep. But as usual, sleep eluded him and he was torn apart from within. He finally decided to let the situation chart its own course. If Jaya was interested in furthering their relationship, he didn’t have a problem and decided to play along with whatever she was doing.

Next morning went to Rajesh’s office and saw that Jaya was wearing a yellow saree and was looking absolutely ravishing. He cheerfully wished her “Good morning”. She gave him a very sexy smile and returned his greeting equally enthusiastically.

“How is your friend?” she asked

“Rajesh is fine I just spoke with him this morning. He is returning this Saturday.”

“I’m not talking about sir, I am talking about your friend in the hospital”

“Oh him!!! He is fine” suddenly remembering about the lie he spoke yesterday. The way she looked at him, he knew he was caught but chose not to react.

He went to Rajesh’s cabin and started working as usual. This time, it was his turn to stare at her since she was busy sending payment reminders to their customers. Jaya had long hair which ended just above her waist and today, she had kept it open. Jaya had an absolutely stunning figure which could make any guy lust for her. Poor Rahul was now completely hooked and decided that he is going to have her come what may!!

He went out and sat next to her, pretending to see what she was doing. He wanted to start a conversation but wasn’t sure what to ask. He was sitting there tongue tied and thought it was better if he moved away otherwise she may suspect something. She could sense his discomfiture and broke the ice since she was more experienced of the two.

“Rahul please help me with this new version of accounting package since I don’t know how to make entries.”

The computer screen was turned towards Jaya and he couldn’t see anything from where he was. Rahul had to lean a little closer to Jaya to be able to see what she was doing. He was intently looking at the screen trying to understand where she was stuck and suddenly she remarked…

“ Hmmmmm Brut”

“I beg your pardon” He said.

“I love the scent of Brut, it is so manly”

“Ohhh even I like it so I use it regularly” Finally realization dawned on him that she was talking about his deodorant.

Suddenly the software was forgotten and he also noticed the sweet scent of the light jasmine perfume she was wearing. He was caught in a whirlwind of emotions and wanted to hold her tight. She was looking at him intently, smiling inwardly at his predicament but made no move to encourage or discourage him. He was in suspended animation, waiting for some reaction from her but she was too smart and mature enough not to let her emotions get the better of her.

Suddenly he broke the silence and asked her to give him the demo CD which came with the software so that he could help her. Very innocently she inserted the CD in her computer and Rahul started clearing her doubts about the software. Couple of times, Rahul felt that she was not interested in what he was saying and had to ask her if she was paying attention to what he had to say.

She didn’t say anything much but he could see that she was looking very upset about something and he could feel that she wanted to burst forth and cry but she was holding herself back. Gently he said “Jaya you don’t look ok to me. Please tell me what is the matter.” “Nothing” came back the reply. But he was persistent “Look I know you are upset about something. Please be honest with me, if I have hurt you in any way, please let me know because I think we are friends and we should be honest with each other”

“It’s not you.” She said.

“Then who? What is making you so upset?”  He asked with genuine concern.

“Nothing, I just remembered my past with my husband and was shaken by the thoughts of what I have suffered so far. I still wake up in the middle of the night with my body covered in sweat because of the nightmares. He was a brute…would beat me black and blue at the slightest pretext.”

Rahul heard this and was filled with loathing for the man. How could someone be so cruel specially since she was the one supporting the family financially. He was a good for nothing bum who couldn’t hold on to one job for more than 6 months due to his nature and bad habits. He asked her “So what is the status now? Has the divorce been finalized?”

“No the case is pending before the family court and they have given him an ultimatum to improve his ways and start contributing towards the upbringing of our children. But he has not given a single penny and I am managing everything myself. I hope this ordeal ends soon. I am going mad” saying this she started crying softly. Unsure of what to do, Rahul quietly told her “Don’t worry, everything will be allright. You are smart, hardworking and focused towards your goal so everything will be fine.” Saying that, he closed the topic tactfully. To cheer her up, he told her a stupid blonde joke and she started laughing uncontrollably.

Once she was done laughing, she smiled at him sweetly, took his hand in hers and said “Rahul you are such a sweet guy. I am glad you heard me out, it really helped me.”

As usual, Rahuls brain went numb, he couldn’t react and stood there like an idiot. He murmured his thanks and tried to take his hand away….she gave a slight squeeze and let it go.

Rahul was electrified by her touch. A warm tingling sensation ran down his spine and he had a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach, the kind you feel when the plane takes off or your are hurtling down in a roller coaster at break neck speed. He seriously couldn’t understand what she wanted. Was it just a friendly squeeze or there was something more to it? He was really confused and desperately wanted to talk to someone about his situation…..

To Be continued.