Love, Death and Vodka | A FEATURED STORY

Chapter 7

It was time to start for their trip and Arjun waited for Tanvi at the hostel foyer very early morning. It was empty since most of the students left for their hometowns. The security guard was not around too.

She came down and gave him a sunny smile. He smiled that intimate one and held his hand up as was customary and knew she wouldn't take it but hoped. She looked at him poignantly, took his stretched hand and intertwined their fingers.

A thrill ran through him at her mere touch and he kept looking at their linked fingers. It took him a full minute to realize the significance of this gesture. He looked up at her and found her staring at him barely breathing.

He closed the distance between them and hugged her. She relaxed in his embrace and lay her head on his chest. He relished the joy of holding her and tightened his grip around her. It was more than a pleasant feeling and much more than his dreams. Her nearness brought an instant hard on but he controlled it.

He loved the feel of her in his arms. He bent down, cupped her face tenderly and kissed her. She was shy at first but warmed to the spellbinding feeling. She slowly wound her hands around his neck and lifted her head up. What started as a simple, sweet kiss quickly turned into burning desire. He held her more closely if at all that was possible.

They were completely immune to the outside world. He mildly coaxed her to part her lips. He groaned and claimed her mouth when she did that. It was more than a kiss, it was a lifetime of bliss and it was going out of hand. Given a chance he would take her on the foyer floor. There was still some sanity left in him and with it he willed himself to break the kiss.

He was elated to find her utterly lost in his kiss when she took time to recover. He reluctantly broke the embrace and both were breathing hard. Tanvi leaned on the nearby wall to steady herself and finally looked up. He saw the same kind of desire raging in her eyes. He so wanted to hug her again but had things to do and quickly too. He just gestured her to wait in the foyer and moved out to call Abhishek.

"Hey Abhi, we are not coming man. Yes... Come on don't be an ass now."

He exploded and spoke in a menacing tone, "See you asked me to bed her and I'm in the process of doing it. Now do you get it dunderhead?"

He heard a chuckle before he cut the call. He went back and took her hand.

"Come with me!"

He paused took a deep breath, turned to her and said softly, "Will you please come with me now Tanvi? I'm going to take you somewhere close to my heart."

She nodded with a pleased smile.

"What? You are not going to ask where I'm taking you."

She shook her head and said, "No, I trust you Arjun."

He was shaken to the core. This small female always surprised him. He couldn't hold back and again claimed her lips. It was a soft, tender kiss which held a lot of love and most importantly mutual trust. He took her hand which was a small dainty little thing but held a promise of togetherness for a lifetime.

A lifetime? Since when had he been thinking in those terms? Since her... It would always be her for this lifetime. He promised to himself, he would fight until his dying breath for this relationship to survive and succeed the test of time and be a wonderful one at that. No matter what, he would never let her go. It was a commitment for a lifetime.

He would cherish her and love her. Love? There it was again that magical word. Was he in love with her? If all these feelings were true, then it must be love. Yes, he loved her. It was a breathtaking thing to realise that he was in love. A tremor ran through him. His fingers shivered and knees wobbled. Somehow, he stayed upright and realised she was his anchor.

She felt him shiver once and quickly control it. Tanvi did not know what it was, never really cared. All she could think about was the overwhelming kiss they had shared just a few moments ago. She felt safe and secure in his strong arms and felt at home there. She was amazed that a kiss could do all this.

Nah, it was being with him for some time now. She never gave her trust easily. Her mom's words came back to her. She spoke to her mom about him a few days back. As usual, her mom reached to the core of her problem without her explaining much.

"Tanvi, I know you and I know what you are going through. He could be the good looking, sensible young man on earth or he could be any Tom, Dick or Harry. All you need to do is trust your instinct. It will never go wrong. And if it's about us, you know we'll support you in thick and thin. Just go with what your heart says and you'll just be fine. Just stay safe."

Her mom added playfully before finishing the call, "And send me some of his pics darling. I want to see if he makes my heart sing too."

"Mom please, you already have the most eligible man on earth on leash with you."

"Haaa haaa, that your dad surely is, I'll tell him you told that. Now send his pics. I want to get a background check done on him before you do anything else."

"Mom now you are being ridiculous."

"Just being cautious dear. Whatsapp his snaps and details after this very call ok?"

That was a tone Tanvi never crossed. So she sent his snaps and other details. She never knew the outcome of the background verification. Since her mother did not mention it the next time they spoke, she assumed everything was fine. Tanvi's instinct told her this was right. He was the correct person for her and finally decided to trust him.

She snapped back to reality with his amused tone, "Since our bags are already packed, we are saving time. Just one backpack Tanvi?"

"I'm a light traveler. It's only for the weekend right. Arjun before we go, I need to take the Monday morning flight to Hyderabad. I miss my parents and at no cost want to delay the visit."

Arjun was disconcerted at her tone and insistence. He did not understand what she meant so he asked the same.

"I know what we are about to do now. After the weekend, if you insist I stay much longer, I won't. I don't want to hurt you and at the same time, I don't want to delay the trip."

Then she added jokingly, "And if I insist that I stay with you then you'll have to drill some sense into me to go to Hyderabad. I'm sure I'll regret the moment I realize what I have done."

Arjun was both stunned and slightly embarrassed with her candour. He had experienced it before but this was too direct for him. He liked it nevertheless. She was one woman who never minced words or never acted slyly. He was grateful for that. He need not break his head about reading in between lines. She just meant what she said.

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