"Jab raat andheri ho, Subah mai deri ho,
Tum suraj banjana, aur kehna meri ho."
I recently heard these lyrics on TV, and they instantly reminded me of them. Here, am I trying to write fiction for the first time. The full story is already typed out, but I just wanted to dip my toe in before. Honestly, if it doesn't give you butterflies, it hasn't worked. Let me know what you think! thanks!
“Thank you, doctor. I will get these charts to the patient right away. Your case files for tomorrow are all ready and kept in your right-hand drawer. Good luck with your reports, and call me if you need anything!”, her assistant Shreya finished with a smile. She was one of the best Sonakshi had ever got. Always on the top of her game, mature, trustworthy, and ingenious in her ways of working through the hospital administration and politics. It had been a blessing to have her, especially now when her personal life was a mess, Sonakshi thought to herself.
“Thanks Shreya! I think I don’t need anything else right now. (Liar: Dev?!) Just me, the reports and coffee it is for tonight. Please go home, rest.”, Sonakshi said genuinely concerned. Shreya was with her every hour she was in the hospital – too many hours lately – and she often worried about working her too much.
“Have a good night, Doctor!”, Shreya greeted cheerfully and left. Sonakshi turned her attention to her desk. A big pile of case reports sat on the desk in front of her, which she needed to update by tonight. Of course, she was armed with a ceramic cup of steaming hot, freshly brewed coffee (drinking lukewarm milk-powered coffee from those plastic cups was barbaric, Dev had explained to her. “and very bad for the environment, I hear”, he had added very seriously.”), and a flask filled with enough coffee to get her through the night.
Sona smiled softly. Who would have thought that habits could change go easily, so fast? A year ago, she would have berated anyone for consuming so much caffeine in succession, in one night. But this had become their routine, Dev and hers, their non-verbal ‘I want to hear all about your day’; and she had fallen in the habit as she had fallen in love.
Sona looked at the watch on her desk, it read11.52pm. Good! She had 8 more minutes to day-dream before she had to get to work. She laid back on her chair, with her hands clasped in front of her on her lap. Coffee always reminded her of him. Maybe that was one of the reasons, this habit had stuck. It made her feel closer to him, and that was better than loosing all of Dev completely. This time was no different; the smell and taste of the coffee brought memories of Dev to her mind. But it was a happy nostalgia, and not the blunt bitterness of their break-up. Today, now, she felt engulfed in their love, and it was just enough. She wrapped her hands around herself, perhaps to hold on to this rare feeling ‘just enough’. She had just closer her eyes, when a knock sounded on the door.
“Yes?”, she answered straight away. The door opened to reveal an awkward looking Shreya. Sonakshi wondered what had happened to through that girl off her balance. No sooner had she raised an inquisitive brow at her assistant than Shreya moved aside, opening to door wider, to reveal Dev: in person, in her favorite light-blue shirt teamed with his cream-colored pants.
As a knee-jerk reaction, Sonakshi quickly stood up as her heart started beating faster in lieu of seeing Dev in front of her after so long. Sona couldn’t help but stare. He had come here to see me! Her beautiful Dev with kind brown eyes, soft black hair, simple shirts. And hands. Was that a weird body part to notice? His hands – rather arms- were very masculine, very attractive, she had always thought. She had imagined multiple times how it would feel to have his arms wrapped around her, to be enclosed within them. Today, she noticed, he had rolled his shirt sleeves up, exposing the lower half of his arms. Hair, veins, muscles – she recognized the current buzzing through her as arousal.
Dev had held her eye contact with equal passion, until Shreya cleared her throat bringing Sona back to the situation at hand. Him at her hospital. “Thanks, Shreya”, Sona nodded and smiled. No other words were required, as Dev stepped aside allowing Shreya to leave and close the door behind her. They held soft smiles for each other, unmistakably relieved to be seeing each other. This had become another one of their routines. He would come visit her at the hospital; sometimes calling in before, sometimes unannounced, sometimes for a late lunch, and sometimes in the deep of the night when he knew she would be alone in her room. She likes these the best, though. He would come here after work, or when things got too much at home, or simply because (as he had put it) “buss, tumhe dekhne ka mann kiya.”
Dev was still standing at the door – not guilty or sheepish – just waiting for her permission to enter. Sona gave him her softest smile and spoke, “aaj kya lautane aye ho?” Dev smiled, almost embarrassed about the silliness of his last excuse, and looked down a this hands to avert her gaze. His eyes fell to his latest one.
“Coffee?”, he stood with a flask of coffee and two small cups in his outstretched hand. Oh! How this man knew her! They were synced. Sona laughed an amused smile, and indicated the coffee cup and flask already on her desk with her eyes.
“Oh”, he let out a sigh. This time there was no embarrassment though. He knew that Sona knew that he had come to see her. He simply walked to the coffee table to keep the flask and the cups before striding towards her. Confident. He came and stood very close. There was not easing or malice; just a satisfied – if somewhat painful – smile on his face at being closer to her after so long. He stretched to hold her hands, and pulled. She came easy, into him, wrapping her one hand around his waist and the other curling around his bicep. She rested her head against his chest. As if he was complete now, Dev almost purred with satisfaction and tightened his arms around her to pull her closer. He closed his eyes; he had all that he needed.
Sona snuggled deeper into him, moving away his shirt collars with her nose to sniff his neck. She let go off his bicep and waist to spread her fingers, slowly brushing her hands up the expanse of Dev’s back. It had been an innocent move – she had just wanted to take him all in – but her touch made Dev shiver as he draw in a sharp breath, opening his eyes.
The air around them shifted, charged up instantly. Sona opened her eyes, realizing now the effect of her move. She slowly extracted herself from his neck, her hair brushing his cheek, and hands moving teasingly slow to settle at his elbows. She wasn’t looking at him, her eyes cast downward at his chest. Dev, slowly but boldly, brought up a hand to caress her cheeks. Sona pulled her gaze up his collarbones (sharp), his Adam’s apple (seeing it move as he gulped), his neck (his pulse beating at its side), his chin and jaws, and then straight to his eyes. They had never done this before, but she had imagined soft, loving, fiery, passionate, searing kisses between them. If she looked at his lips now, she knew she wouldn’t be able to control.
Dev had already been looking at her, intensely, passionately. She had rarely got the opportunity to meet, let alone explore, this side of him. She was sure he hadn’t either. After all the time apart, they were craving to be close to each other. But they had never really talked about this; the exact conditions of their break-up. The uncertainty coupled with the proximity made their heads spin, as their breathing became labored. Then, suddenly – as if deciding something at the same time – they moved towards each other purposefully.
But before their lips could meet, there was a knock at the door again. The moment had passed them, the tension dissolved momentarily. Their hands fell to their sides leaving each other bodies; Sona stumbled back against the table. Her head fell, teeth pressing her lips to suppress a smile as her hair covered her blush. Dev stood to her back, with his hands on his hips and breathing heavily, frustrated at the missed opportunity.
To be continued...
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