Betrothed

13 \ The Talk

Divya had no recollection of how they managed to walk like sane people through the corridors and stumble into their suite. The passion that overtook them had sent them into a frenzy. All she could think of was him. She did not know if this was it or if the night had just begun for them. Divya looked at the creaseless bed in front of her, her mind now calm.

She heard him exhale softly after clicking the door shut. She heard his feet softly hitting the carpeted floor and realised he was standing right next to her.

"So" he began.

"Should we go home?" she worded the first thought that came to her mind.

Vikram weighed the options. If they left now, it would take them  a good two hours to reach. They could stay the night in this suite that had been readied for them for dressing up. But she probably wanted to go, he thought.

"We could if you want to." he said feeling a little awkward talking to her as if he hadn't just kissed her like he needed oxygen.

"We should stay. It will be long before we reach home and we are tired." she spoke after contemplation.

"Sure."

"Great."

Since when did one kiss make things this awkward. Divya could not, for the love of God, understand how flustered she felt. Given, it was one minblowing-ly amazing kiss, but she had had many before, some even close to what they had just shared.

"Let's get changed." she suggested putting an end to the mindless corner spotting that they were indulging in.

The two of them walked into the adjoining bathrooms. It was going to be one hell of a night.

-

"This is insane." she said throwing the covers off her body.

The two had been trying to go to sleep since the past 40 minutes. However all they had managed to do was too and turn. The restlessness was driving her crazy. The fact that the bed here was slightly smaller than the one at home was not helping either. She could breathe his scent if she turned her face the slightest bit. And the fact that they had been avoiding the kiss that had transpired between them was making things all the more unbearable.

"What?" Vikram asked after having stayed in silence for practically an hour.

"THIS." she explained moving her index fingers between them.

Vikram opened his mouth to talk but shut it close soon after realising he did not have the right words.

"Oh, come on!" she sighed in desperation.

He flipped on his stomach to face her better, "Fine. what?"

"This is just plain awkward for some reason. We should talk about it." Divya said feeling slightly intimidated by his eyes trained on hers.

He bobbed his head up and down, "Alright, talk about it."

"I don't- I mean- It was-" she fumbled unable to string words into a decent sentence.

Vikram put an end to her fumbling and said, "Yes, we kissed. There you go. Now what?"

When she said they were going to talk, she had no idea he was going to get this direct.

"I am pathetic at post coital small talk. I say nothing the next morning, I just leave." she blurted.

Vikram felt his lips twitch at her statement. He had never thought that within a span of two months, they would be talking about this. He teased, "Well, lucky for you, we did not have sex."

Divya scowled narrowing his eyes at him. The audacity. To joke about a situation like this. She nudged him with her elbow and said "Oh, shut up. You are finding this amusing?"

"You are not?" he said chuckling making the frown on her face disappear. She found a smile steadily making way to her lips. She, however, forced a straight face. They had to talk.

"Well, we kissed. Big deal? No. Then why are we being awkward about it?" she finally said.

He shrugged nonchalantly. Truth be told, he had absolutely no idea why they were letting the kiss be a big deal. It wasn't like it was never going to happen.

"Don't just shrug, say something." she said looking at him squarely.

He arched his neck to look at her better. But wasn't it easier to just talk and not look at her while he spoke? So, he flipped back on his back and began speaking looking at the ceiling above.

"I knew that would happen eventually. I mean, its stupid to convince yourself otherwise. I am glad that it happened. It was, err— for the lack of a better word, hot." he said looking at her and laughing towards the end.

Laughter bubbled through her throat as she heard his last sentence. As the laughter subsided, she teased, "True, it would have happened at some point. Besides how long could you have stayed away from a woman as gorgeous as me?"

"Ah, is that what you thought?" he said steadily reaching for her arm.

"I did. I was thinking 3 months maybe? But I am irresistible. 2 and he's down already."

He pulled her closer making her throw her head back in laughter.

Her eyes met his and she felt the warmth on her lips bubble down her throat and spread to her heart.

-