Sweet Tidings

Chapter 5

"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed." 
 Alexander Pope

"When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are." 
 Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

 

Another sunrise, another new morning, another set of hope...Gayathri mantra chants emits from the master bedroom. The doors of the room is pushed open, the lady of the house glides out with the Aarthi plate, moving gracefully towards Dadi's room. Abhi for once after his marriage opens his eyes without cursing his wife or wincing in pain. Really there was no headache. He touchs his head and shoulders, no stiffness, he feels great. Wow! The chasmish's fingers do have jadoo. Laying on the bed, he looks towards the altar and sees the lit diya. His mind goes back to yesterday night. Pragya does things for him effortlessly, taking out his clothing, giving him his coffee, hot drink and yesterday, the massage. Thinking of the massage drove his heart beat up. He had woken up in the middle of the night and had seen Pragya curled up in the balcony, shivering. The air-conditioner's temperature was on the lower side but she was still shivering. He had placed a duvet on top of her blanket; she had smiled in her sleep. Gosh! The smile had made him feel like a low life for all the misery he had caused her. Such innocence! After tossing and turning, he had finally fallen asleep.

After freshening up, Abhi comes down the stairs when he hears laughter from the kitchen. His breath caught in his throat as he stared at her, those gorgeous eyes shining with good humor, she really had eyes that spoke volumes, of course he noticed her eyes, her glasses were on the table counter; her teeth tiny and white against her pale pink gloss, a healthy color in her cheeks. She looked gorgeous. "mmm...what's all the commotion. Why is the stove smoking... Dadi, is Pragya trying to kill all of us. The smoke is making the kitchen hot". "Not Pragya, Abhi. My cousin was trying out Chinese cuisine, instead of boiling the water, she decided to boil the oil..." The 3 musketeer Daddis started laughing. He turned to look at Pragya, she had a look which he could not read. She strolls over casually to the fridge and opens the freezer, taking out a tray of ice cubes. "What are you doo...ing?", before he could finish his sentence, Pragya approaches him, reaching out to grasp the collar of his polo shirt and drops the ice-cubes inside his shirt. "Pragya!" Abhi grasps in protest at the first uncomfortable touch of the icy-cold cubes against the heat of is flesh. "I thought you were looking a little hot, Abhishek," she drawls as he steps back to shake the frozen cubes out of his clothing, several of them shattering on the marble floor. "Damn it, Pragya...," before he could finish his sentence the Ludhiana Dadi pulled his ears. "It's just fun Abhi, don't you dare to scold Pragya." Abhi fumes and goes to change his shirt. On the way out, he hears Pragya telling sweetly to Robin to clean up the ice-cubes from the kitchen floor. In case someone falls. She always sounds sweet with everyone. Everyone is under the hypnotism. Abhi thinks to himself as he climbs the staircase.

Another round of walking down the stair case and this time he hears the shriek of laughter from his sister. "Andy, you are here. Are you here to show us the results of the photo shoot?" "Yes my lovely Alia. I brought Tanu too. The photo shoot is the cover story of Women's Weekly", Abhi hears Andy telling Alia. "Call your babhi and Abhi". "Babhi?" "You know, darling, your babhi, Mrs. Abhi. She was part of the photo shoot too". "Call her Alia. I can't believe that chasmish was part of the photo shoot. She can't even spell the word makeup", Tanu taunts.

2 Weeks ago......

Andy had been awarded a dream project to design for the next Ms. Mumbai project. The chairperson of the project was a keen fundraiser for the blind children foundation. She had wanted Andy to come up with some design in desi and western fashion for a photo shoot which was to be used for fundraising purposes. He was to be awarded free hand with the Ms.Mumbai project if the photo shoot was well accepted by the media. Tannu, Alliya and Abhi posed in the western clothing, while Abhi and Pragya had done the desi designs. Pragya was not keen on the project but due to Abhi's taunts and his challenge which he had thrown in front of Dadi, Pragya grudgingly had agreed to do the photo shoot. All 3 of them had expected Pragya to fall on her face. The photographer took the longest for Pragya's shooting. Coming to think of it, Tanu and Alia were told strictly on how to pose, in fact, there were many times, the photographer had snapped at Tanu for not being professional. With Pragya, raised voices were never heard even though the photographer had to direct her on her positions constantly. There was one incident which Abhi had pushed  to the back of his mind...Pragya had modelled a wedding lengha which was medieval in style, with long, close fitting lace sleeves that tapered to a point at her wrists, their snug fit making it impossible for Pragya to reach the zip that ran the whole length of her spine without risking ripping the sleeves at the seams. It hadn't been a problem during dressing up, as Andy's assistant was helping Pragya. Abhi had no choice but to help her to undress. Abhi stood inches away from Pragya, he could see the nerves pulsing at the base of her throat and the slight trembling of her lips. "Turn around, Pragya, so that I can unzip your lengha," he suggested gruffly. She had swallowed hard. "I don't..." she broke off with a gasp as Abhi ignored her protest and stepped behind her. He slowly began to slide the zip down. Abhi still can't decipher what had happened next... When he slid the zip down, the gown gapped open; her skin was luminous,  a shine that he could not resist. He had pushed open the gown for better access, had his hands on her shoulder when she had arched her back involuntarily, giving him access to her long willowy neck. It was beyond his control, he had nipped at her neck. She had trembled and whipped herself away. Without a word, he left the changing room. The consequent shots, when both of them had to be with each other, there was a tension, very akin to sexual desire in the air. Now the photos were out...

Presently...

The 3 musketeer Dadis, Pragya walk out to the living area, where Andy, Abhi, Tanu and Alia had gathered. "Look darlings, I have the photos out and the editor of Women's weekly has given raving tribute to the dresses". Andy gushed. Tannu and Alliya were eager to check out the photos. "Wow! Tanu you look fab in the blue off shoulder dress," Alia raved. "Well your Cleopatra dress has given you the contemporary look," Tanu returns the compliment to Alia. Abhi's concentration was on the photos of him and Pragya. They looked as if they were in love. "Abhi, Pragya look at your photos. You are super lovely couple. Both of you have a look that in current, contemporary and more importantly the trendsetter style. Look at this photo, see the bite mark on Pragya's neck, it's the rave of the bunch. You naughty boy Abhi." Andy heaps praise on the young couple, earning himself dagger looks from Tanu and Alia. In fact Tanu was raving mad at Abhi for the love bite mark on Pragya's neck. She was staring at it as if she wanted to bit of Pragya's neck. Nothing could be uttered as the Daddis were around. All three were admiring Abhi and Pragya's photos, completely ignoring Tanu and Alia's snaps. While everyone was focused on the photos, Arjun walks in and listens to the comments made by Andy. He flips through the magazine and opens up the section where Andy's creation was the main topic. The star of the magazine lay-out was Pragya. Even the write up was about Pragya's outfit. "Hey everyone... look at the write up in the magazine. Pragya, yar, you are the star of the photo shoot. The writer says, you could be the next model in demand and with little coaching the next supermodel from India". Arjun interrupts Andy's gushing. "Really puttar. Let me have a look", Daddi asks for the magazine. "Yes, yes, Daddi ma, Pragya is a hit. I knew it. Abhi, will you allow Pragya to be my muse. I'll dress her fantastically. She'll be the rave of the town", Andy pushes for Abhi's approval. Tannu and Alliya were staring at Pragya, speechless. "For someone who can't understand the word makeup, you are moving up the ladder, my dear lady," saying this, Arjun taps Pragya on her shoulders  and holds her hands. Nothing registers on Abhi except that Arjun was holding Pragya's hands.