Tag Archives: Romance

The Win

Posted in Leaving Contrails by

Wrapped in a white fluffy towel with her hair tied up, fresh out of the shower she was standing in front of her wardrobe, staring at it blankly.
The room was almost dark. The blinds weren’t open yet, it was just about day break.
“This was supposed to be easy” she whispered to herself as she sat down on the bed.
He ran his finger on her back. Tracing the line the an errant water droplet had left.
“The black one” he said “and the black diamond pendant”
It was a perfect choice for the day she had lined up.
“Go back to sleep” she said, kissing him on his cheek.
“What! No payments for the consult?” He was grinning!
“Add it to the IOU account!” She retorted.
“hmph” he replied grumpily
She picked the black dress that hung in the line of power suits and skirts.
“The shoes we picked from that crazy store in Amsterdam” her favorite voice said half asleep from inside the comforter.
Her day needed a dash of black on it. His choice was perfect.

It was a one of the biggest cases of her career. The butterflies in her stomach were a constant reminder of it. She was prepared to fight it and win it but she was as always a little nervous.
Her usual ride to the office was from the back seat, in complete silence. Today she chose to drive herself.
Dismissing the driver, she took over the controls of the car. Searched her playlist patiently to find the song that she needed to hear, increased the volume to louder than the thoughts in her head and hit the gas.

The courtroom seemed colder than usual, also extremely silent.
“I’m not scared to be seen, I make no apologies, this is me” she hummed as she walked towards her team huddled up together.
“How does it look?” she asked the extremely tensed faces.
“We only have closing statements left, it could go either way from there”one of them replied.
“Shouldn’t we have taken the bargain we were getting?” asked a pair of eyes that were holding back more than just pressure.
“There is no bargain on beliefs Missy” She sighed
“The media is going to crucify us, if we don’t make it” another said
“Until we don’t have to die for some else’s sins, I think we will be able to take it” She said as she stood up.
The phone on her table silently flashed a “All the best love”

The court was in session.

“Is the prosecution ready with their closing statement?” said her favorite voice in the entire world
“Yes Your Honor” she replied looking straight at him
She spoke with words that came right out of her heart. Every sentence carrying its weight. By the end of her statement she saw faces around her change. A whole lot of emotions ran free. A pair of eyes on her team had finally let it go.
“Thank you Counselor” His voice was composed and very calming.
She walked back to her seat.
“Is the defense ready with their closing?” He looked at the other side of the room
The defense attorney went on to make his statements to the judge who was not just listening but seeing through each of them too.
“The defense rests” the gentleman had already made his way back

It was the moment of truth for both the sides as the judge began to speak
“After hearing both the sides of the argument very diligently made by the attorneys, the facts compel me to rule in the favor of the defendant”

There was an uproar of voices in the court. The defense was celebrating. Her team was shattered. They had lost.
There was complete silence in her head, she could only hear what his eyes where telling her while not saying a word. He stood up, the courtroom stood up for him and he was gone.

“Chin up guys” she said to her people who were still in disbelief “we know we did our best”
“The media is at the front, would you want to leave discreetly?” her associate asked
“We went to war for something we believed in. We lost. The scars that come from the battleground are not to be ashamed of” she replied
“There is no compulsion for anyone of you to walk with me” she meant every word she said

She walked out to a frenzy of cameras and microphones. Everyone on her team behind her.

The reporters were brutal with their questions. She replied to each of them with a stoic face and a modulated voice. Her demeanor was ice cold.
The questions kept getting nastier in search of a reaction, the reporters were getting frustrated. That only got her more in control of the situation. She wasn’t going to lose this one.
“How does it feel to have Justice Singh rule against you?” one asked
“He did his job well, as I did mine” she responded
“Did he not help with your case?” another one asked
“I did not need help” She replied
“Clearly you did! I mean what’s the point of being with a Judge then?”
“Sir, I wear heels higher than your standards of life” was the last thing she said to them

The team decided they needed to drown the day in cheap alcohol. Her associate asked her if she would want to join them at a dingy watering hole in downtown. She agreed.
“I don’t think they will have premium alcohol you drink” he smirked
“Today deserves cheap rum” she said “I will meet you there”
She walked towards her car, dragging her feet. The heels that had made her feel like she ruled the world were now feeling like shackles. The idea of driving didn’t seem very appealing at that time.
As she opened the lock of her car, her driver walked up to her. Almost mechanically she gave him the keys and settled on the back seat.
“Aap yahan kya kar rahe hain, maine to nahi bulaya tha na?” she asked him how he was there
“Sir ne phone kiya tha ma’am, bole zaroorat padegi aapko meri” he replied
She smiled for the first time since the day had begun.

Reaching home inebriated wasn’t something she had done in a long time, but the copious amount of rum had made sure it had happened.
She fumbled with her bag, to find her keys. Standing outside the door in dim light she saw her name written on the name plate. Just below her’s was his name. “Justice Singh”
The house smelt like someone who knew how to cook was at it. She saw him as she climbed up the stairs, as he saw her.
He walked up to her, took her bag off her arm, held her head and pulled it into his chest.
The ice cold prosecutor who had faced the world with composure just melted.
“Did you cook?” she asked face still buried deep into him
“I did!” he replied holding on to her
“Did you not need to be at the office?” she asked, still not letting go
“I needed to be here more than anywhere else” he tucked her hair behind her ear.
“I lost” her voice was heavy “I am disappointed in myself”
“You did good, Love. It was just a bad day at work. Or a bad judge may be?” he chuckled
“Hey! I love that judge” she wiped her tears, still holding on to him
“And said judge loves you back” he hugged her a little harder
“I am wasted” she said sniffling
“As is my white shirt with all the kohl marks you are leaving on it” he smirked, distracting her
“Will get you a new one” she said moving away “Or you could just add it to consultancy charge from the morning!”
“Did we make the news?” her sentences were taking time to form
“You made the headlines counsellor” he replied “As did your heels”
“The ones we got from that crazy store in Amsterdam” she laughed
She took off her shoes, stood on her tip toes and kissed him.
“I am glad you chose them” she said “And I am glad you chose me”
“I will choose you over and over and all over again, every day” He hugged her
His choice was perfect. He was perfect!

Apparitions

Posted in Paper Planes, Short Fiction by

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“The moon has awoken
with the sleep of the sun,
the light has been broken the spell has begun”

It was the night of the full moon. The ivory satin from the skies fell upon the snow, bringing the heavens along for one night, unabashed. She walked into the thick of the forest, where the trees whispered charms to each other and giggled. Taking off her hood she stood there stark as the shimmer soaked every inch of her body with divinity.

In that moment the moon was awoken. The gleam arose.

She felt the warmth of his cold hands on the narrow of her waist.
“Did you have to wait long?” she asked
“I have been waiting for you for an eternity and will do so for another.”

She couldn’t say a word but every jot of her mortal being recognized his voice.
They had been together from time immemorial. She was given the powers of creation and destruction, while he was created only to watch over her.
He moved his palms over her shoulders as if soothing them and taking away the burden they carried. “Relax” he said
“If I relaxed now, I’d fall apart. I’ve learnt to live like this and this the only way I know how to go on living. If I relaxed for a second I would never find my way back. I’d go to pieces and the pieces would be blown away” she exhaled all the emotions she had held on to.

“You are a star wrapped in skin. While everyone sees you shine, what they see is just a little light that leaks outside. I have peered inside you. I’ve seen the fire and the glow within” he replied as he hugged her

“I am losing a little everyday.” She spoke into his chest

“You weren’t sent here to be a master, you were sent here to learn. Love in all its glory and forms. Universal love, Crazy love, broken love, love infused with divinity. Lived through the grace of stumbling. Demonstrated through the beauty of messing up. You didn’t come here to be perfect. you already are. You came here to be gorgeously human. Flawed and fabulous.” he tucked her hair behind her ear.
“You weren’t sent here to win, my love. You were sent here to live” he continued

In that instant, time took a moment to see romance being immortalized between two of the oldest lovers he had known. Once in a an eon, the moon could descend from he heavens to be with his consort, the earth.

Hiraeth

Posted in Fiction, Leaving Contrails by

 

 

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“It’s raining” her phone lit up with a text
She looked at her watch. It was almost time for her to leave. Finished the sentence she was writing and shut her laptop.
Walked out into the usual commotion at the work place. People having conversations that she on another day would be very interested in. But today she had a flight to catch.
As she walked passed her associate after saying a quick bye who smiled at what she saw.
Black shirt, blue jeans and black Louboutins striding like they ruled the world. Which  they did!
“You forgot to take your laptop” the associate tried screaming after her.
She shook her head and smiled back faintly.

Sitting on her usual seat on the aircraft amidst the furore, she dug out her earphones to keep the voices from the outside of her head having conversations with the voices inside her head.
“Boarded” she typed on her phone and sent it before getting off data.
Tracing the raindrops on the window, she drifted off away from the chaos into much needed sleep.

She knew she would be awake just before landing. It happened on every single flight she took. Her phone would be turned on the moment they touched down, and she would be back into the tempest of negotiations.
This time was different.
She just got off the aircraft and into the car that was waiting for her, without a word said.
Despite being in love with words she was a big fan of silence. It was arduous to explain. Voices around her only got louder when she wouldn’t respond, tipping the balance in her head.

 The driver opened the umbrella for her as she got off the car. She shook her hand to signal that she didn’t need it. By the time she walked into the gate she was dripping wet and loving it.
She opened the door of the house and shut it behind her. Left her bag right there. The room was lit just enough. She pulled her neatly tucked in shirt out of her jeans as she climbed the stairs to her room. unbuttoned it all the way through, took it off and left it on the floor next to the bed. She walked towards a tiny door at the farthest end of the room. Took off one shoe after another just before entering it.

He was sitting there with his back to the wall, and legs stretched across, far away from everywhere and everyone they knew, on a tiny terrace which opened to the entire sky. Smoking. He looked at her as she walked towards him. Her hair was falling over her shoulders almost making up for the lack of clothing. She sat down next to him. Her back leaned onto the roughness of the wall. He passed the smoke to her. She took a long drag, let it dissolve the everything she was holding in and then let it out.
He moved his hand behind her hair over the neck. Tilted her head just enough to make her snug. She could taste a familiar feeling in her mouth. She could smell the sense of belonging on him. His hand moved in on her waist like he meant every thing that he wasn’t saying. For a minute, or an eternity there, time stopped.

She breathed again as he pulled away. Opened her eyes to his peering through hers.
“Hi” He said
“Hi” She replied.

 

**Hiraeth
(Noun)
Is a Welsh word that cannot be translated to english. It means longing for something or someone

Besotted

Posted in Paper Planes, Short Fiction by

 

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She sat across from me, in her shorts and tank. Legs pulled up to her chest and arms wrapped around them. Holding a warm mug with fingers intertwined. Eyes with smudged kohl and a sleepy smile on her lips, that she couldn’t help.

She said she loved the way I made it, that it was the best coffee in the world.
I believed her!

It was a little chilly and she probably should have worn some more clothes, but she knew I liked to touch her skin, and that wouldn’t let her sit for too long.
She didn’t plan these little things, that made me want her. But they did.

She said it was the eyes. Mine devoured her, while her’s craved me.
I believed her!

Unbroken 

Posted in Thinking Aloud by

She had a smile that twinkled at the curve of her lips. A laugh..like when happiness tickled a kid.

The dark of her eyes was sad mostly but sometimes it sparkled. Like she was trying to break away and yet was in love with her shackles.

She was hurt, broken into pieces in parts unknown, yet holding it together like repaired with gold.

He knew she was torn, ruptured, and damaged.. but all he could see was how beautifully she was sewn!

Book Review: Lovers Like You and I

Posted in Reviews by

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Author: Minakshi Thakur
Publisher: Harper Collins India
ISBN: 9789351160298
Genre: Fiction, Literary Fiction
Pages: 224
Source: Personal Copy

When the master of words Gulzar pens down a line for the cover, slaves like me pick it up without another thought. He calls it a novel with a rare ambiance of art and love. That put the book at a certain standard in my head. When I began reading, I was hoping it lived up to what I was expecting.

Lovers Like You And I is set in Delhi during the nineties. The book is a journey of young Nayan, born to an aloof doctor and an Assamese musician. It elaborates her experience of love as she transforms from a young girl to a woman. She meets men and women from varied backgrounds, generations and places, a film maker, a doctor, a student, a painter, who have at some point or the other in their lives, not only been in love but felt it and expressed it differently. It is through these encounters that she is exposed to the various faces of love. However, it is her own story with Salil, a drifter who alternates between poetry and backpacking that forms the core of the plot.
This is an unusual novel that evokes a lost era a time when people wrote letters and cherished the ones they received. With its effortless bilingualism and its seamless use of prose and verse, it challenges our notions of conventional storytelling to take us into a world where emotion rules and where time and leisure take on new meanings.

“Love is the magic word. Minakshi Thakur has revealed the hearts and souls of lovers like you and I. When love is real, the lovers are so unreal. Salil and Nayan never think of the thinkable and tangible. Its a novel with a rare ambience of art and love.” says Gulzar and I whole heartedly agree.

My favorite lines from the book are:
“The sweet delusion of my soul rises in ecstasy like a bubble in a champagne flute, only to kiss the brim and burst into a union with the fluid twilight within… I can see two gold bands swim towards each other, intertwine, then disengage and chase each other, play and frolic in that sea of intoxication. I can almost touch the momentary exuberance of the mad convergence of my world with yours. That joy, fleeting, yet so eternal in its brief permanence, is like the world’s last sea wave lapping at my feet and ebbing away.“

The book moves slowly into your bloodstream and makes you high on emotions. It is a must read if you are a romantic at heart.

Rating: 5/5

A Cabin in the Woods

Posted in Leaving Contrails by

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Arjun was having a regular day at work, long meetings, frantic calls, managing his team, making good for the mistakes they made at the same time stopping them from making new ones. He had done this for more than half a day, everyday for a long time. He had gone from having trouble buying his first tie to having a collection of the best ones in a short time.

His phone buzzed again, he looked at it while answering an email. “S calling” it said. He rejected the call. “will call her back” he made a mental note and continued with his mail. It took him less than a minute to forget all about it. Somewhere between discussing the final quotes for one of the overseas deal and ordering pizza for dinner his phone buzzed again. It was a message from S, “I have reached, what time do you land?”
“will take the last flight out, don’t wait up” He replied hurriedly.

A thousand miles away, Seher stood holding her coffee and looking out into nowhere. She was startled when her phone buzzed. The silence was too loud for her city ears. She read the message and smiled.

She picked up her book and walked out into the porch.

She didn’t mind being alone in the house. She loved every corner of it. It was far away from civilization, tucked into the forest. It was very tastefully decorated. The hall had book shelves all around with books neatly placed in them. The walls were lined with framed pictures that Arjun clicked. The kitchen was a small modern unit, with everything they needed. The bedroom had large windows, with white drapes on it. The bed took most of the place in the center of the room. On the wall behind the bed hung a picture titled “Seher”. It was one of the pictures Arjun was particularly fond of. He had captured the sunlight kissing her bare back at dawn.

They had first come to the place with friends from college, fell in love with it and continued to do so at every chance they got. They had bought the place a couple of years ago. The owner of the house was surprised at the unusual transaction. The deed was made in the name of two separate individuals. They weren’t related, dating, or even planning to get married. They even saw other people once a while. They worked and lived in different cities, spoke to each other when they got the time. They did not profess love for each other or claim togetherness for eternity.
They were just together.

It was 3 am by the time Arjun parked the car into the garage. He loved the chill that he felt as he dragged his bag into the doorway. He opened the door as silently as he could and locked it behind him.
The house smelled of Seher. He saw her lipstick mark on the coffee mug next to the sink, her jacket on the chair, her book on the counter. He couldn’t wait to see her. He climbed up the stairs taking his jacket off, then unbuttoning his shirt. He stood at the door looking at her sleep peacefully. He took his shirt off, slipped into bed from behind and put his arm around her.

She snuggled into it without opening her eyes.
“I missed you” he said
“I missed you too” she mumbled as he kissed her.

The cabin was the place where Arjun and Seher met once a year. They stole time from their schedules and lived a lifetime in seven days of togetherness.  They then went back into their worlds, only to come back again, the following year.

Cross posted from http://dailybluepill.com/