Blurred Lines

Blurred Lines

Pratap woke up with a pounding headache as his cell vibrated nearby him. As he moved, he felt a figure pressed against his body. His eyes snapped open as he recalled the night he had drunk himself out and then woke up next to Jalal. He gulped down a lump in his throat scared to look at the figure beside because if it turned out to be Jalal then before Ruqqaiya, Jalal’s aunt Salima begum would definitely kill him and hide his body at her infamous farmhouse. Before he could turn, the figure tossed and threw its hand over his shirtless chest. The skin was soft, arm slender than Jalal’s and fingernails were painted in a soft shades. There was a female beside him, he sighed in relief before panicking over the identity over the female figure. 

His eyes widened as the figure beside him snuggled into his side,

“Ajab” he whispered as the girl moved again to make herself comfortable and continued sleeping. Pratap gently removed her hand and placed it on the bed before scooting away without waking her up and walked outside.

 He was 100 per cent sure that they did not take any alcohol because they were out on a business trip.  “Then what happened?” he wondered when his eyes fell on the crinkled newspaper spread on the centre table that made him remember everything,

“Bhole ka prasad hai” the old monk smiled as he offered them the wrapped up newspaper, “Bam bam bhole.”

Ajabde walked slowly towards the living room completely scared. She had woken up alone in a huge bed, wearing a men’s shirt with her own clothes nowhere to be seen. The pounding in her head made things worse as she tried to recall the events that led her to the present situation. She found her cell phone that had been plugged to the charger and her clothes were all neatly folded and kept on a chair.

“I made us some coffee,” Pratap’s voice startled her. Her eyes fell on his well-built torso which was completely naked and quickly looked away. She took a sip of the coffee as her feelings danced inside of her.

“It was the laddoos,” he told her making her come out of her thoughts. She looked at him confused when he pointed at the newspaper. “Remember baba said Bholenath ka prasad - they had bhaang in them.”

Ajabde gulped down the laddoo in one go, “this is the way to eat laddoo” she told Pratap who nodded his head in agreement.

“Next one, we eat together on the count of three,” he told her as they picked up another laddoo from the pack. As they were about to eat she stopped him, “let’s feed each other just like we used to do…”

“No wonder we have this headache,” she said taking another sip of the coffee. 

His cell rang and the name on it scared him to the core. He looked at her worriedly, “Ranimaa is calling. What should I say to her?”

“Answer the phone, baba,” she told him as the cell rang away. The call lasted five minutes that seemed like a lifetime to both of them. Pratap answered in one-word syllables while Ajabde held her mug like her life depended on it.

“We want a room,” Ajabde told the guy at the reception desk who was in his late thirties. He looked at the duo from head to toe and then tilted his head as he asked, “do you want it for a couple of hours or for the whole night?”

 “Ranimaa said that all the grown-ups are travelling to Udaipur for the mahapuja at Eklingji temple,” he looked up to see Ajabde biting her lower lip. 

He frowned at her lack of interest when she blurted out, “did something happen between us last night?”

“I hate you,” Ajabde told Pratap as she held him by the collar, “you hurt me the most. All promises were just words for you- no weight at all. Did you even love me?”

“You chose to leave me,” he retorted, “you went so far that I couldn’t even reach you.”

Her eyes softened only to turn into a glare, “but you moved on. Left me for Phool. Did not even think about how I would feel”

Pratap stared at the pained look on Ajabde as he pulled her into a tight embrace, “I broke my engagement off with Phool. That relationship was a compromise that was offered under the guise of a business deal. She deserves a far better man than I can ever be for I’m in love with another”

“Teesri bhi aa gayi. Maybe Phool and I should start a club- Pratap Singh Sisodia exes club,” she looked into his eyes and smiled, “I like your eyes- they are so deep that I feel like drowning in them.” 

A hiccup made her stop and then laugh as she took a sip of the lassi they had got from one of the many shelters where kanwariye were resting for the night.

Pratap’s gaze made her turn red as she fiddled with her fingers, “I mean…I’m in a men’s shirt which is yours seeing you are completely bare-chested and it’s just us so it means…”

“I dreamt of being in the same bed as you,” Ajabde confessed as she snuggled to him. “You are warm, cosy and all nightmares stay away when you are there.” Pratap smiled as he pressed his lips to her head, “I’ll keep all the nightmares away even if I have to stay up all night. I’m not going anywhere, you sleep.”

“Nothing happened between us,” he told her, “I want to be close to you but only when you want it. I have made a lot of mistakes in the past but now, in this present and coming future, I’ll do everything in my power to make you choose me as your partner. I love you, Ajabde.”