Story 66

It was so easy to love him, she thought as she sat next to him in bed, while he lay sprawled – fast asleep. This was not how she had thought the day would go; even though she had hoped it would. Despite all her attempts to stay away from him as per the warnings of her best friend, she could not control herself once he had taken the initiative to kiss her. That had been the breaking point, she had then melted in his arms and allowed him to take over her body as if it never belonged to her but was always and forever in his possession.


They’d met not many days ago through a dating website. She had been the one to send him a request. He seemed to be an introvert, not good at communicating and seemingly very shy. She had taken a liking to him almost immediately.
Her friend told her it was her mistake that she had decided to meet him so soon. Her friend had given her an hour long lecture about how dangerous it could be to meet a stranger.
Is this not how arranged marriages worked as well? She had asked her friend. Aren’t the two people meeting each other strangers as well? 

That’s different, her friend had said. That involves families as well, she had added. The moment her friend had said it she had regretted the choice of words.
I do not have a family; she had replied to her friend. The discussion had ended there because her friend had known she had unknowingly opened a box of painful memories. Her friend had then changed the topic, ordered pizza and talked about anything and everything that did not concern the matter at hand.

Was it really too early, she thought. Was she making a mistake of trusting a stranger so soon? It made sense, her friend was worried for her. Maybe it was the right thing to pay heed to the advice and cancel the meeting. She had convinced herself. But when he had called to finalise the place and time she could not say no.
Her friend had even objected to exchanging numbers.
But she was tired of living alone, living with caution. She wanted to live a carefree life, wanted to take decisions at the spur of the moment, wanted to take risk. She was prepared for the heart-break if that is how the things were going to end.


She decided to play it safe for the sake of her friend. She told him they would meet at a mall. It made sense, meeting him at a crowded place. She had not known they’d proceed to go to her apartment after that.
She did not believe it when she had felt aroused after he had put his arm around her. The way her body reacted to his touch embarrassed her a bit. What if he could read her body language? She wondered.


They had been walking, trying to find their way out of the mall after having a coffee at the cafeteria. It was weekend and the mall was crowded, the space between them dangerously reduced they had ended up holding hands. That was the first time he had even attempted to touch her. She liked it – the way his hand felt in hers. He had put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer when a man walking in their direction had almost dashed against her.
The arm then stayed there, over the shoulder for the rest of the walk out of the mall. He had then let go and maintained the safe distance while walking.


At least do not let him know where you stay, her friend had pleaded. So, she did not let him take her home. She said she’d love to walk some more. They had walked for almost an hour, the cold breeze starting to prick her skin. She half expected him to take his jacket and put it over her shoulders. She had laughed out loud at the thought and he had stared at her with surprise asking her what was wrong?


The way he looked at her made her skip a heart-beat. It was too much for the first date. It was not supposed to happen like this. She was not supposed to fall for him. She was supposed to say goodbye, let’s meet again soon and take her time to meet him the next time or even contact him again. That was supposed to be the right thing to do.


She had taken a route opposite to her house and then told him that she would take a cab and go home. Unfortunately, there was not a single cab around and after waiting for a long time she finally decided to take the bus. He waited with her at the bus stop. And when her bus arrived she’d wished him good night and climbed in only to regret her decision a while later. There were four men in the bus who looked at her as if they could see her through her dress. She took the seat closer to the driver hoping that the guys would leave her alone but one of them came and sat next to her.
She made up her mind to climb out of the bus at the next stop and so when the bus slowed down she started to get up but the man sitting next to her put his hand over her thigh and showed her the knife he was holding.


She felt relieved when she saw a familiar face getting into the bus. When she had gotten into the bus he had seen the four guys looking at her and had ran the distance to the next stop to climb in.
He stretched out his hand for her to hold and when she held his hand he pulled her closer and kissed her on the lips. I forgot to wish you a proper good night, he had said and smiled. The guys had then left them alone.
She got down from the bus one stop before her lane but he refused to let her go alone. They had then walked together towards her house and she had ended up inviting him inside. She visualised her friend shaking her head. That made her smile and he stared at her with a smile on his face.


She’d offered him a drink and that’s when he had kissed her again. Deeper and longer this time. She could not stop his advances after that. In fact, she had started to undress him as he continued kissing her on the mouth and then tracing a line from her jaw to her throat reaching her shoulder blades and then on to her breasts.
She had not felt so electrified ever before and she found herself gasping when he continued kissing her bare skin. She could feel the desire building up in her and reaching a climax, too soon for his liking, she realized. Even though he had been momentarily disappointed, he had masked his reaction.
He let her take a breather and then let the desire build up again, being careful this time, stopping and teasing her until he was ready and then they had come together.


After holding her in his arms for some time, he had finally fallen asleep; leaving her awake and alone with her thoughts. Had she done the right thing? She thought as she watched him. It had been the best sex she’d had since a long time and every second of it was worth the risk she had taken.
She had chatted with a stranger, given him her mobile number, met with him and then brought him home. And, to top it all – she’d just had sex with him. She did not want to think what her friend would say to her or think of her. She decided she would not share the details with her friend.


It was so easy to love him, she thought as she sat next to him in bed, while he lay sprawled – fast asleep. She ran her fingers through his hair and felt him stir in his sleep. She slid back in bed and pretended to be asleep.
He moved closer to her and put his arm around her. His forearm pressing against her chest, he held her close and she felt his breath in her hair. He was still asleep, she concluded. She turned to look at him and found him staring at her.


Caught you, he said and smiled. Within minutes he was kissing her again and was on top of her. She readily agreed to what he did and what he asked of her. The sex this time was not as she had expected it to be. He had opened up to her a little and had asked of her a few things she least expected. He yelled at her when he realized that she was on the verge of orgasm. Not so soon, he had warned her and pushed harder, covering her mouth with his hand. Tears of fear had spilled out from the corner of her eyes as he had screamed with pleasure.


If given a second thought, this was not exactly something she had to fear about. There were men, she had heard, who liked to have their ways while having sex. But, she had found it difficult not to be scared of him, so much that she had failed to come with him and had to pretend.
Don’t ever pretend again, he told her as he stepped out of the bed and walked to the bathroom. He peed leaving the door open and she pulled the bedsheet closer to her chest, faced away from him and pretended to fall asleep.
She felt him slid into the bed and touch her. She felt his arm against her breast, his breath in her hair and his body against hers but she did not move, she held her breath until he let go.


She woke up the next morning to the sounds coming from the kitchen area. She sat up straight in bed and pulled the bedsheet to her chest. She looked around for her clothes and found them neatly folded and kept on the chair. She picked up her clothes and got dressed. She stepped out of the bedroom and smelled the burnt toast.


“I am sorry” he said when he saw her. She assumed he was apologizing for the burnt toast when he added “I should have not been so rude with you at night”.
She simply smiled and checked what he was up to.
“I was trying to fix you a breakfast” he said following her gaze.
“You should have not bothered.” She said, it came out rude, not how she had expected to say it.
She could see the hurt in his eyes.
“Let me make breakfast for both of us.” She said and walked towards the counter. He shifted away from her, giving her the space.


They had breakfast in silence. She hoped he would say that he was leaving but he did not. He got up and walked back to the bedroom. To shower, she realized later when she heard the running water. She thought he was already in the bathroom, hence she jumped out of her skin when he called out to her. He was wearing her towel and asked her to join him in the shower. She wanted to refuse, she wanted to use the time to call her friend so that she could come home and find a way to get rid of him but he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bathroom and dropped her in the tub while she was still dressed. He dropped the towel to the floor and undressed her and climbed in the tub.


When he wrapped his arm around her he could feel her fast heart-beat and realized she was genuinely scared of him. He let go of her immediately and climbed out of the tub. He picked up the towel and wrapped it around his waist.


“You are scared of me” he said, each word laced with hurt. His eyes brimming with tears. “You are scared of me” he repeated again and walked out of the bathroom, leaving her alone in the tub. She brought her knees closer and wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her head. She needed a minute, she decided. Then, she would step out of the tub and explain it to him.
But, before she could gather courage she heard the main door being shut closed. She straightened up and stepped out of the tub and put on her bathrobe. She ran out of the bedroom, leaving a trail of soapy water on the floor. He had definitely left.


“You are scared of me” his words echoed in her ears; she could see the hurt on his face. Why had she been so scared of him? She walked back to the bedroom and picked up her mobile phone. She was about to call him but she decided perhaps she needed a breather. He had done the right thing by her, stopping his advances after realizing that she had been scared of him. She needed to do the right thing by herself by making the decision. Was she prepared for the previous night’s happening to be repeated in future?

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