Desde sempre e para sempre Chapter 12

Desde sempre e para sempre

Chapter 12

They reached the colony and the entire courtyard had been decorated for Naina’s welcome. As soon as Naina got out of the car, everybody tried to trample over each other to greet her. There was laughter, there was happiness, there was celebration but surrounded by a crowd which was anxious to meet her, Naina still found herself melancholic and alone. She shook her head, admonishing her behavior. She had waited for this moment for two years now.

Naina’s best friend pulled her aside when she had finally greeted everyone. Naina hugged her tight.

“What’s up? Why are you acting like Zaara when she returned home? Found your Veer and had to ditch him or what?”

“Jaya! Leave Naina alone. You have the whole night to catch up. I know you are going to spend the night on the terrace doing just that anyways! Naina, I will serve the biryani right away.”

“Spend the night on the terrace?! You will have dark circles! The boy’s family is coming to see you day after tomorrow! I won’t allow it! In fact, you should be in bed right now! I want you to get married and have kids not be spinsters for the rest of your life! Mayaji, just give the order and I will line up ten boys for Naina. We will finalize everything this week, she will get married the next and then she can leave the service and live a happy NORMAL married life!”

“Lataji, my Naina will find a guy for herself. That way if anything goes wrong, she won’t blame me!”

Everyone burst out laughing.

Lataji: “Oye Jaya! Why are you laughing!? Go to bed! Did you not hear me earlier?”

Jaya: “Mom! Naina is back after two years!”

Lataji: “And she is here for two weeks! You have the whole day tomorrow to spend time…”

Naina stood up and hugged Lataji, Jaya’s mother, from the back.

Naina: “Sexy…”

Lataji: “Naina! Don’t even try! It won’t work on me this time…”

Naina: “Jaanu…”

Lataji stepped away and took her slipper in her hand: “This time you, BOTH of you, are going to get one from me!”

Jaya and Naina burst out laughing as they ran away from her.

Lataji sighed and went to help Dadi set the table for dinner.

Dadi: “You know you can’t say no to them…”

Lataji: “I know! But thank God Jaya agreed to get married. I think this boy is going to be the one. I know we have been through many proposals and I would never accept the wedding for my daughter if I wasn't sure that she was absolutely happy with the choice…”

Dadi reassured Lataji: “He is an IFS officer and Naina speaks highly of him.”

Lataji: “Yes. It is only because of Naina I have even said yes to host this family. Our daughters are the best and I fear that there is nobody out there who is good enough!”

Dadi: “There is somebody for everyone out there. Destiny will always bring them together.”

Lataji: “Well, I hope Naina has given us the key to Jaya’s destiny.”

Naina: “Give it back!”

Jaya: “Why don’t you come and get it!”

The two girls ran up the stairs all the way to the terrace, their usual hangout.

Jaya: “Oooooo! Who is this Brazilian? And how in the world did he orgasmically enlighten you to the point of no return? NAINA MALHOTRA, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? DETAILS!”

Naina: “Oh shut up, Jaya! Nothing! HE wrote that bit! He was JUST joking!”

Jaya ditched her and ran away, Naina followed her.

Jaya: “You LET him READ your diary?”

Naina: “Does not mean I am going to let you…”

Jaya: “Not me? Not your best friend! And you would let a stranger WRITE…”

Naina: “Have I ever been able to hide anything from you? You have ALWAYS read my diary every night after I have written in it.”

Jaya winked at her: “Which means I have two years of catching up to do!”

Jaya: “I am digging his handwriting…its very authoritative!”

Naina: “I hope by that you mean barely legible.”

Naina gave up and sat down on one of the cots on the terrace. Jaya was going to have her way anyways. She waited for her to read what Gael had written.

Jaya read it aloud: ““Don’t confuse my capability with my ability.  I am not incapable of making mistakes but I am able to accept it and I am also able to never reiterate them. I wish I could say that I am NOT able to make mistakes but then I wouldn't be human. You see, ‘capability’ and ‘ability’ are not always interchangeable.”

She was silent for a couple of seconds. Jaya walked over to Naina’s cot and sat down next to her.

Jaya: “Wow…that just blew my mind. He is so sure about himself! He is talking about ‘capability’ and ‘ability,’ I have always considered them to be synonyms, but what he tells you is just how sexy and confident he is…and I have been enlightened too. Not orgasmically though...Naina, if you let him take advantage of you, I completely understand and you have my absolute support!”

Naina hit her on the side: “Only YOU would say that!”

Jaya laughed: “I am serious! Tell me you at least kissed him!”

Naina looked away and blushed.

Jaya gasped and turned Naina to face her: “Oh my God! You totally did! THAT was your first kiss! How was it? Tell me! DETAILS, NOW!”

Naina blushed but couldn't hold it in anymore: “OH MY GOD! IT WAS NOTHING LIKE WHAT I HAD IMAGINED MY FIRST KISS TO BE LIKE!”

Jaya: “WAS IT ANY GOOD?”

Naina: “OH! IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER! IT WAS JUST LIKE WHAT YOU READ IN ALL THE ROMANCE NOVELS!”

Jaya gasped: “Mills & Boons?”

Naina shook her head: “Harlequin!”

Jaya: “OH MY GOD! HOW MANY?”

Naina blushed even more: “I didn't get to see them but I felt them. Definitely 6 or more!”

Jaya: “Hai!”

She dropped down on the cot, Naina followed and both of them gazed up at the starry night.

Jaya: “HOW? WHY? WHAT? WHEN?”

Naina: “I was bumped up to the First Class and he was…”

Jaya: “First Class?!! Oh la la! Sexy and rich! Let me guess. You started talking and then realized that there was undeniable chemistry between the two of you…its just like in the novels!”

Naina: “Well…”

Jaya: “It does not matter how it happened but that it happened! What’s his name?”

Naina: “Breno.” She pronounced it the right way.

Jaya: “Breno what?”

Naina: “I don’t know.”

Jaya: “No strings attached?”

When Naina didn't say anything, Jaya turned around and faced her: “I am glad you met him and I can see that you had a good time but you are not going to see each other again, so just forget about him, okay? He was your time-out and you deserve to have some time-out and some fun!”

Naina nodded: “Then let’s not talk about him ever again.”

Jaya agreed. She could read her friend very well and knew that for her, it had been a little more than “no strings attached.” But she would respect her wish. Nothing would come out of talking about it anyways.

Naina: “You know why I am wearing a saree, why are you in one?”

Jaya: “Mrs. Ahuja is very traditional it seems. My mom wants me to get used to walking around in a saree. Not all of us can rock both the looks, you know.”

Naina laughed: “Kushal is the opposite of that! MRS. Ahuja, you are going to be with your husband and he has a mind of his own. Besides, as an IFS officer, you will be travelling the world. You will be in your sasural for just a week or two before you fly off to your next destination.”

Jaya: “You know he has not said yes. We haven’t even met!”

Naina: “I know him. He is very intelligent and he is a great guy. He will take care of you and from what he has seen and spoken to or heard about you, I showed him ALL our photos together, he really likes, no, LOVES…”

Jaya: “ALL? Naina, you didn't show him the one…”

Naina: “…in which you were wrapped in a newspaper? Of course!”

Jaya smacked her friend: “NAINA!”

Naina: “That was his absolute favorite, obviously!”

Jaya: “See, now I don’t even feel bad about reading your diary…”

Naina: “You never do! Jaya, he really likes you. Trust me, his family coming over to see you day after tomorrow is just a formality or actually it is to sit together and fix the big date. But don’t tell your mom that. She shouldn't find out that you have already Skyped! She will kill us both and then what will happen to Kushal?”

Both of them burst out laughing…

Jaya: “I really like him too. I have only spoken to him over Skype and phone a couple of times but do you think he will…”

Naina: “He is on a two-week break too. I think he is not just going to say yes but that during this vacation of mine, you are going to get married and will be off to your sasural leaving me behind all alone!”

Jaya: “Why don’t you let my mother look for you? Why don’t you find someone in the service? Heck, if Kushal is so perfect, why don’t you marry him?”

Naina laughed: “Kushal is perfect but he is like a brother to me. Le, you are supposed to be fighting for him not giving him away!”

Jaya: “I love you more than anyone.”

Naina: “I know and that’s why I found him for you. He is the one for you, Jaya. I know. When you meet him, you will know too.”

Jaya sighed but she was worried about her friend: “What about other young officers of the service?”

Naina: “I won’t marry anyone in the service and I think I might just ask your mother to find me a groom but only after she has taken care of yours.”

Jaya looked at her and smiled: “Naina, you really are one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen and I always tell you that but today, by God, you look the most beautiful! I don’t know what it is, I have seen this saree before, of course not on you, but that just means its not the saree, are you glowing…I don’t know! Naina, are you pregnant? Is there something we need to talk about?”

Naina: “Nothing happened in New York but about the Brazilian…well, its too early to say anything na?”

Jaya gasped but before she could smack Naina, Naina escaped and ran away. Jaya ran after her.

Jaya: “You know I will have a hundred pimples if I start worrying! Please, the fate of my marriage depends on it! What happened on that plane? Oh my God, my blood pressure is rising…”

Naina threw a pillow at her: “You are a drama queen. NOTHING happened on the plane or anywhere for that matter. And let me remind you that it was just a kiss and I am not going to get pregnant; so there is no need to get so hormonal about it!”

She gasped and stopped talking when she realized that she was repeating his words.

Jaya laughed: “Right! Now, you are going to have ‘the birds and the bees’ talk with me?”

Naina: “You were the one who introduced me to all the romance novels!”

Jaya stopped running after her: “I won’t lie. Naina, if your one and only would have seen you today, he would have never let you go!”

Naina stopped running away from her: “Well, that means that it was not him…”

Jaya realized that Naina had gone back to thinking about the Brazilian. Who was this guy? Naina was always practical and she was a smart woman then why had she lost all her marbles over this one guy?

“NAINA! JAYA! ARE YOU GOING TO COME DOWN AND EAT?!”

Naina: “Oh my God! What’s the time?”

Jaya: “10 minutes to 12!”

Naina: “Where is the cake?”

Jaya: “I have everything ready, just come with me.”

As soon as Gael helped Aaji out of the car, she rolled her eyes.

Aaji: “This! Of all the places in the city you bring me here!”

She was standing in front of the Taj! The entire staff was waiting outside to greet them.

Gael: “What do you mean? It is the best.”

Aaji: “Exactly! What part of ‘I am sick of your privileges’ did you not understand?”

Gael rolled his eyes: “THAT again! We flew on Air India! Do you know I don’t even remember the last time I traveled in a public plane prior to this one!”

Aaji: “Oh shut up! Stop talking like you took the public bus! Filho, you know that this last journey was perhaps the best thing that happened to you and don’t you deny it!”

He didn't.

As they started walking ahead which was actually Gael pulling his grandmother along, that witch was stubborn as hell, Gael leaned towards her.

Gael: “Please, no more drama tonight. I want to be in my room now. I want to watch Leo’s match and it will be broadcasted live at 12 am…”

Aaji: “Fine! But only because of Leo. Tomorrow, you and I are going to talk about changing our accommodation.”

Gael: “I am not moving.”

Aaji: “We will see about that.”

When they entered the suite, he noticed that, say what she may, she really liked the Maratha Suite. His privileges had spoilt her. He grinned when she tried to hide it from him. Spunky little brat!

John entered the suite with a couple of nurses and a doctor.

Aaji: “Why are they here?!”

Gael: “John is a bit under the weather.”

Aaji: “Ohh…filho, what happened to you?”

John: “Uhmm…”

Gael: “YOU are the only one who is sick over here. Why do you think the doctor is here? Why do you think we are in India?”

Aaji stuck her tongue out to Gael: “Doctor, how do you expect me to get well, when my grandson keeps on reminding me that I am going to die soon! Sometimes, I feel that he is just waiting for me to conk out…”

Gael: “Yes, that is precisely why I brought you here. I can dispose your body off in the slums and go back to Rio. No one would ever trace you back to me. John, where is the body bag?”

The doctor and the nurses looked at each other shocked.

Aaji turned around and started walking to her room: “Doctor, you come with me to my room! I don’t know what I will do about this boy! It’s all doomed! There is no hope for him! When you know what people are talking about you why would you…oh my God, just take me now! Were you keeping me alive to see this day?”

She heard him laugh as she walked away.