KAREENA: A Love Story

11. Decisions

Karishma Singh was feeling happy. She was happy in a way she had never thought she could feel — wholly, uncontrollably and overwhelmingly.

After their SHO, Haseena Mallik, had left the police station — the MPT team found their bhaukaali SI roaming around the station with a silly smile on her face... and humming.
They tried to wheedle her for the reason of this unusual good mood, but she shrugged them off with vague excuses.

Meanwhile, Karishma's mind kept drifting back to the moment when Haseena's shoe heel had broken and she had fallen right into her waiting arms...

*Flashback*

It felt so right... in each other's embrace... like they both were finally where they belonged.

'Aap thik hain Madam Sir? Paon mein moch toh nahi ayi?'

'Nahi hum thik hain,' replied Haseena even though she was limping. Because only one heel had broken, causing her disbalance.

Without saying another word, Karishma got down on one knee in front of Haseena.

Haseena's eyes widened. 'Yeh aap kya kar rahi hain Karishma Singh?'

'Propose nahi kar rahe hain Madam Sir,' said Karishma with a smirk. 'Aap humara kandha pakde rahiye.'

Haseena quickly grasped Karishma's shoulder as the latter wrapped her fingers around her ankle and lifted her leg a little. Karishma broke away the half-broken heel first. Then proceeded to lift her other foot and break off the pairing heel as well so Haseena would have no trouble walking.

As Karishma's fingers wrapped around Haseena's ankle, she felt Haseena's hold on her shoulder tighten. Karishma was fighting the urge to feel her way up those smooth tempting legs. Why the hell had Santu chosen this skirt for Madam Sir? Also thank you Santu for choosing this skirt for Madam Sir...

Haseena leaned heavily on her shoulders, and Karishma's thumb softly (and disobediently) caressed the bare skin above Haseena's ankle. She chanced a glance up at Haseena and found her Madam Sir red-faced, with eyes closed, biting her lip.

Karishma felt emboldened by the lack of protest from Haseena and testing waters, she slid her hand under the skirt and touched Haseena's toned calf muscles. The nails dug into her shoulder painfully now. But there was still no protest from the other woman for this very unprofessional behaviour.

All of Karishma wanted to push the boundaries a little more, test the waters for slightly longer, check how much her audacity would go uncontested, but she was aware that they were still in the police station and she was in her uniform. So, decorum had to be maintained. Moreover, she didn't want to take advantage of Haseena, she wanted to woo her properly. And before anything else, she needed to come clean to Haseena about her marital status. So, she slowly removed her hand and brought it back to Haseena's ankle.

For a few brief moments, she leaned her forehead on Haseena's skirt-clad leg – letting her know that Karishma's love was worship, not seduction. Finally, she put Haseena's foot down gently and stood up.

Haseena was looking at Karishma with all the wonder in the world. Like all the goodness and magic in this universe was all contained within this five-feet (two and a half inches, Karishma always insisted on adding) frame of the woman in front of her. She felt overwhelmed. A single tear fell from her eyes, screaming out all the words she couldn't speak.

And really there was nothing to be said or done. No cover-ups or explanations would work now because their very bodies had betrayed them and laid their real feelings out in the open. Now whether or not they had the courage to accept the inevitable, remained to be seen.