Part-Time Devdaas... (27 page)

“Let me know, is your packing done? else I’ll come to help in the morning.”

“It’s done. Gayatri took care of it, I’ll see you at the airport directly.”

“Cool. Let’s leave,” she told Viren.

“Why aren’t you guys waiting for the party?” I asked.

“It’s late. I better rush back home before the baby gets cranky,” Radhika said, “It was nice meeting you, Gayatri. Come home sometime. Even if Poncho is gone, we are here.”

“Oh sure, I’ll come,” Gay said.

“Take care baby, I’m proud of you.” Radhika hugged me.

“I love you,” I said.

After all of them left, I exhaled in relief.

“What did you just make me do back there?” Gayatri asked.

“Save my ass from getting married to a grocery store owner’s daughter.”

“Whatt?”

“Run run run, we’ll be late for the party,” I said and pulled her with me.

“Get a room, you guys!” Leo’s drunken voice yelled in my ears from three inches away, while drunk me and drunk Gayatri chomped on each other’s lips on the dance floor. I pushed him away as soon as he handed me my drink.

“I’ve never done this before, you know,” I said taking a break from kissing her.

“What?” Gayatri said breathing heavily.

“Making out in full public view...” I said as she circled her tongue on my neck, her fingers griping me by my hair.

“Okay...” Gay said. Her antics were blowing my mind beyond explanation, I gulped the drink in one go and chucked the glass to lift her by her butt.

“I haven’t done it in a loo after we did it in college. Come on, let’s go...” she said and dragged me with her.

“Where?” I slurred.

The ladies room was buzzing with girls. All eyes stared at me as Gay pulled me by my arm into one of the cubicles.

“Shit! That bloody hurt, you vampire!” I wailed in pain as she bit my neck not so gently.

“You’ve been a bad bad boy,” she said in a Russian accent.

“Ooooooo... what are you going to do to me masterrr?” I replied as she pushed me on the toilet seat. Even inside the loo the music from the dance floor could be heard clearly, Gayatri began her pelvic thrusts to the beats, occasionally running the nail of her index finger on my face. She looked so godfasakenly hot that I slid my hands across her waist and pulled her towards me. She pushed me back.

“No touching... okay?” Gayatri ordered her voice full of lust.

“Why?” I whined.

“Because the master says so.” I inhaled heavily and blew the air out.

The cubicle of the loo had officially transformed into a private room of a strip club as she began her lap dance on me. With her body thrusting against mine and her hands running all over me, it was getting horribly hard to control myself from keeping my hands off her. I gave up my resistance and fiercely turned her around holding her by her hair and began to kiss her violently. Though the pheromones from our bodies did an amazing job of trancing us, the stench and the congested area of the cubicle was killing the buzz.

“I don’t think this is good idea...” I whispered in her ear.

“Ya, my butt’s cramping too... Let’s fuck off from here.”

Both of us ran out of the club.

Mumbai or LA, cabbies everywhere play a hard to get hot lass. It was past midnight, so hoping to get a cab was like asking to legalize marijuana. She removed her heels and prepared to walk, for next twenty-three odd minutes, Gayatri and I brisk walked holding each other’s hand. As we neared the building of our apartment, I let go of her hand and began to run and she followed me. Rushing through the pavements and stomping heavily on the stairs to climb up, huffing and puffing I struggled with the keys to open the door.

“Fuckkkkkk.” I grunted in frustration as I dropped them a couple of times before I finally unlocked it. The door banged open as Gayatri pounced on me and pinned me to the wall resuming the wild kissing. I clamped my hands to her butt and carried her to the living room. Her body smelled so heavenly that I felt like kissing every square millimeter of it. She, in the meanwhile, ripped the buttons of my seventy-three dollar shirt. In normal circumstances, I would have battered her to death for it but at that point of time, her furious passion had zonked me out of my mind. I unzipped her dress carefully and crashed on the fluffy rug on the floor with her in my arms. The clothes left on our bodies perished subsequently as the romping progressed. Nothing about Gayatri had changed in all these years, except for a few tattoos in explicit places. They might have existed even when I was with her. I wouldn’t know since I had never gone beyond second base with her then. Since it was my last day in LA, we spent the rest of the night pleasuring each other in every possible corner of the house – living room floor, kitchen platform, bathtub in my room, and finally concluding on the bed in Gayatri’s room.

A huge thud woke me up the next morning. I saw a guy pulling a suitcase out of Gayatri’s wardrobe. I knew I had to shout for help, but I was so tazzed by sleep that by the time my brain registered anything and opened the mouth, the suitcase was out of the bedroom. I helplessly looked around for Gayatri since she wasn’t in bed.

“I’m so sorry, dude. I was just taking some of my stuff out,” he said as I continued staring at him with sleep-glutted eyes.

“Arjun right? I’m Aneesh, please sleep. We’ll catch up later.” I hardly managed a smile before he left the room. Thank god for the quilt for I was practically naked under it. I caved my head back into the pillow and went back to sleep. A few minutes later, a voice yelled in my head “Aneesh! Gayatri’s boyfriend is here! Wake up, wake up wake up!”

I woke up, hurriedly got dressed, and walked out of the room.

“You are up extraordinarily early today...” Gay said.

“Shit... I’m so sorry I woke you up!” Aneesh said.

“It’s fine.” I croaked, “Hi again, we finally meet.” I extended my hand to him.

“Ya man, finally.”

“I’ll just freshen up and be back...”

“Sure sure,” he said.

“Coffee?” Gay asked.

“Will love some...” I said and smiled at her before entering my room.

I locked myself in the bath, sat myself down on a bathtub wall and began staring at things. It took a while for what just happened to sink in. I mean Aneesh actually found me naked in his girlfriend’s bed, but he didn’t have a single frown on his face. In fact, the guy was more concerned about disturbing my sleep. Hearing about the concept of an open relationship was weird, but witnessing one so closely was altogether a different level of weird.
I
felt guilty about the whole set-up when I walked into the living room, but both of them were at such ease with it that they behaved as if nothing had happened. It was indeed love that had kept both of them together for so long, otherwise their arrangement was a perfect recipe for a classic disaster. The price you pay for love, I thought. Wow!

“Hey...” I said, interrupting an after joke laughter between both of them.

“Hey buddy, come sit,” Aneesh said.

“I’m so glad I got to meet you before I left,” I said.

“Me too man, ever since I started dating her, I’ve heard about Arjun and Arjun only.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“No, I am serious.
y
ou are the case of one that got away for this one here.”

“You were the reason for our first break-up,” Gay said, as she handed me the coffee mug and the breakfast plate to Aneesh.

“God!!!
t
his is so embarrassing.” I said and buried my face in my palms. Both of them laughed at me.

“You know, we were actually each other’s rebounds.” Aneesh said. “I was tending to wounds of my break-up when we first hooked up.” He said, while chomping on to the piece of bacon.

“Ya we’d drink and cry to each other for hours and then fuck,” Gay said.

“Language lady!” Aneesh hush snapped.

“What?
t
his bitch doesn’t mind. Do
you
bitch?” I smiled and shook my head in a no.

“I was so jealous of you that the jealousy doused the grief of my break-up.” Aneesh laughed. I laughed. Then they kissed.

“But it’s good to see you guys together like this,” I said.

“It’s crazy, I tell you, sometimes I wonder what’s kept us together for so long.” He burped indiscreetly as he finished his breakfast.

“Well, what’s important is there
is
something that’s keeping you together.”

“True that bro,” he said as he took his plate to the kitchen.

“Here, spray some.” Gay said handing me an antiseptic spray.

“Where?” She touched my neck, and I asked “Why?”

“Because you look like a victim of domestic sex abuse,” She whispered.

“Guys you know what, we should go out partying tonight. What time is you flight, Arjun?” Aneesh said.

“I don’t know. Two o’clock I guess,” I got up to go to my room.

“Why haven’t you still checked the ticket?” Gay yelled. “Where is it?”

“What?” I yelled back from the bathroom as I sprayed the antiseptic.

“Your ticket, you dumbass.”

“In my sack somewhere.” Gayatri had indeed left me looking like a raped wife.

“What the hell!” She screamed at the top of her voice, I ran out of the bath. “Arjun????”

“What?”

“
It’s a two PM flight!”

“Ya so... Why are you... oh bloody shit...” The wind knocked out of me as I realised my blunder. I had made a common hareheaded mistake of assuming
PM
as night.

“Shit...” Aneesh said.

All of us paused and stared at each other in horror.

“It’s ten we can still make it,” Gay broke the silence.

“I’ll go get a cab,” Aneesh said.

“How can you be so fucking dumb, Arjun?” Gay scolded me, “Seriously.”

“Its no big deal, Gay, I’ll postpone it, chill.”

“Are you mad? Why do you want to waste money for just twelve hours?
y
ou are anyway packed.”

I was so stunned by the fall of events that I stood there unable to move.

“Run, get ready fast. I’ll call Radhika.” She pushed me into my room.

One hour fifteen minutes after realising my blunder and hurriedly stuffing my bags, I reached LAX. Even though I was slated to leave LA that day, I wasn’t prepared for the abrupt exit I was about to make.

“You are the limit, Poncho.
h
ow dumb can you get?” Radhika said as I pulled the bags out of the cab.

“Please don’t lecture me anymore. Gay has chewed enough of my ears already.”

“Okay fine. Here, put this in your bag.”

“What is it?”

“Some stuff Mom asked me to send.”

“I am not going home if that’s what you are suggesting.”

“Ahh whatever, just courier it home,” she gritted her teeth.

“Bye bye, Baby Ki,” I said to the baby kissing her. “Come soon to Mamu, okay?”

“Bye, Viren Bhai. Thank you for everything. Say sorry to Kamal Aunty, I was going to come home but...”