The next few days were a blur for Rishi. He hardly saw Lakshmi as she was either busy with house chores or was out, and he too had so many meetings lined up that he hardly had any time to think.
Despite all this, Rishi could feel that Lakshmi was intentional in ensuring that she is never present in his vicinity. The few instances when he got her glimpse, he noticed that she looked happier, her smile was back and he knew it was due to Varun. He knew he should feel happy for her...his guilt should diminish a bit, but he got no such relief.
His parents and family were away for a wedding but Rishi was not able to make it due to his meeting. Malishka, as usual, was with him in the morning, but by afternoon she was feeling feverish so she went back to her home. Rishi was relieved to find himself alone in his cabin after so many days. He closed his eyes, and felt Lakshmi creeping in his thoughts. His Lakshmi, smiling, from days when she was oblivious of the truth, when all he could see was love and care in her eyes, when her village stories brought a smile on his face, the night when she had in such simple words said "I love you" to him.
Rishi got up from his reveries due to his phone ringing. It was his dad calling to inform him that they will be returning tomorrow instead of today. He asked him to have his dinner at time, and also inform Lakshmi about it.
The weather had changed in the evening, and it had started to drizzle. Rishi had dropped a message to Lakshmi, but it seems she had not seen it.
It was 8pm, and Rishi was having his dinner, when Lakshmi came in, all drenched. She was shaking due to cold, and was also sneezing. Rishi immediately rushed towards her, and gave her his coat, which she gratefully accepted. She started moving towards her room, when she started feeling faint. Rishi saw this, and quickly rushed towards her, holding her in time, and picked her up in his arms. She looked weak, and as his skin touched her skin, he realised she had high fever.
"Suresh, jaldi se fever ke medicine leke aao and thanda pani and Patti" a worried Rishi commanded his help, and carried Lakshmi to her room. He put her in the bed, and realised her clothes were drenched which would make the bed wet too. With frustration, he realised there was no female help in his home as of now, and he had no one he could ask for help to change her clothes.
"Lakshmi will kill me if she realise that it was me who changed her clothes" Rishi murmured.
He again lifted her and put her on the couch, while Suresh got the medicines and thanda Patti to the room, along with some food to eat.
Rishi called the doc who prescribed the regular fever medicine.
Now, he was alone in the room, with Lakshmi on the couch. He touched her forehead, and it was burning.
"I will have to change the clothes..it looks so easy in the movies..I can close my eyes and do it."
Rishi had no idea how difficult it is gonna be. Closing his eyes literally meant he had to touch her to understand where to pull off her dress from. Every accidental touch of her skin sent an electric current into him and unfortunately aroused him. He had such intense desire to open his eyes, that he had to mentally scold himself for having indecent thoughts at such times. He literally was sweating when he had to remove her undergarments..but somehow he managed to put on a loose tshirt on her..but then had no more strength..so he covered her bottom with the duvet.
Exhausted, he placed her on the bed, and put the cold water strip on her head. After half an hour, Lakshmi slowly opened her eyes, and as if in a dream, saw Rishi close to her, and smiled. Rishi was surprised to see her reaction, and then he realised she was delirious due to high fever.
Rishi slowly helped lakshmi to sit with his support, and made her have the medicine. Lakshmi was continuously smiling, and when Rishi was trying to put her back in the bed, she slightly tugged him, making him fall on her, their lips inches apart.
"She is going to kill me today,she is really testing my control" rishi mused, and put his hands on the other side so that he can get up. Lakshmi put her arms around his neck, smiled shyly, and sapid i love you, you know that right? Fever and the medicine has made her delirious, and Lakshmi thought she was dreaming, and so her true feelings were coming out.
Rishi was in shock hearing Lakshmi's words. It has been ages since she had said anything nice to him. Rishi was lost in her words, and her beauty. He slowly moved his fingers on her face to move the wet hair from her face, and unconsciously, his fingers traced her lips. Lakshmi suddenly had tears in her eyes
"Every thing was so good Rishi, why did you break my trust, why don't you love me, am i not beautiful?"she said with a pout. She looked adorably cute, but her pain was not lost on Rishi. He could feel his eyes tearing up too. "You are the most beautiful girl I have seen, both inside and out" he said, while his fingers continued to trace her face. Lakshmi looked into Rishi's eyes, and suddenly lifted herself up a bit, and pecked his lips.
Rishi's control completely gave up on him, and despite being in complete senses, he smashed his lips on Lakshmi's lips hungrily, and it soon turned into the most passionate kiss he ever had. He was surprised with Lakshmi's intensity and felt he was being sucked into a whirlpool, where there was no sense of time, and place, just desire. After few moments, when they were breathless, they came apart, and Rishi started kissing her neck and pulling down her t-shirt exposing her collars. Rishi then moved to her collar, and bite her to mark her as his own. It left a red bruise, and Rishi smiled seeing his mark on Lakshmi. He was completely in the moment now, and he removed his tshirt, climbed up on Lakshmi and kissed her other collar, while his hand moved under her t-shirt. Lakshmi moaned loudly, so he kissed her again on the lips, his tounge in her mouth, exploring all the unknown corners.
A shrill phone ring broke Rishi's haze, and he realised what he was doing. He immediately moved away from Lakshmi. Lakshmi was annoyed with the loss of touch, but she was overcome with sleep, and in few minutes she dozed off. Rishi meanwhile stood like a statue, processing what just happened. What the hell was I doing..what's wrong with you Rishi..she is not in her senses .but you are..how can you take benefit of her situation..he held his hair in frustration.
The phone rang again in Lakshmi's bag, so he went to mute the phone, and was surprised to see Varun calling at this hour. Before Rishi could think anything, a message popped up from Varun. Rishi was not sure if he should see it, but curiousity got the better of him.
Varun's message:I am sorry Lakshmi, I should not have proposed so soon, but I don't want to lose you again. I know you stil have some feelings for your husband, but trust me, he doesn't deserve you. You deserve to be happy, with me. I will wait for your answer.
Rishi had tears in his eyes. Yes, she deserves all the love and respect, which i am not able to give her. He moved towards Lakshmi, quickly straighten her dress, checked that her fever had gone down, and then wore his tshirt and moved to his room.
He tried to sleep, but sleep was away from his eyes.
What have I done? Why is everything so complex? What will Lakshmi say when she gets up tomorrow? She will kill me for sure
Cursing himself, he coaxed himself to sleep, dreading the next day
