Desde sempre e para sempre Chapter 8

Desde sempre e para sempre

Chapter 8

Aaji was standing right in front of him.

Aaji: “What are you doing?”

Gael: “Please, not now.”

Aaji: “NO! I want to talk to you now! SIT DOWN!”

A few of the men were gathered around some seats in the back, talking, and so there were a few empty seats in the front at the moment. Gael obliged because the doctor had given him strict warning. She was not to get worked up. And she was getting there…

Aaji sat down next to him and took the glass of water he offered.

Aaji: “How did YOU…”

She looked away. She could not say it.

Aaji: “Just because I pronounce you husband and wife, you go and…you drag her in there…how could you…”

Gael: “What are you talking about?”

Aaji: “How could you go in there and seal the deal?!” She pointed at the bathroom already getting worked up.

Aaji: “Gael Breno Bourgeois! She is not like the women you and your brothers spend time with…she is a…she is an Indian girl and there is a…what have you done…what I am going to say to her…how am I going to console her…poor girl must by crying and scared…I must go talk to her…Gael! HOW COULD YOU…Did you…” She was practically shaking…

Gael: “CALM DOWN!”

Aaji: “Calm down? Gael, I know you kissed her and she seemed okay with that but did you force her to…”

Gael burst out laughing.

Aaji: “This is not funny!”

Gael: “You really think I would seal a deal like that in a matter of few seconds? I think I can last longer than that!”

Aaji: “Huh?”

Gael: “Aaji, my sweetheart, I don’t know about Indian men but Brazilian men go at it for at least a couple of hours, even the whole night!”

She smacked him on the side as she sighed with relief and smiled. She had not really believed he would do that but he had been angry and all sort of inappropriate body language was going on between them: “Shameless, is this how you talk to your grandmother!?”

Gael: “I am surprised you would even think I would do that…”

Aaji: “You have kissed her! Twice!”

Gael: “How do you know?”

Aaji: “You are on a plane, Breno, might I remind you? And you are surrounded by people who can hear, talk and see what is happening all around them!”

Gael: “It’s a good thing then that we are married, don’t you think?”

Aaji:  “You are insufferable! We both know that this is a lie! You are taking far too many liberties with her!”

Gael: “I am taking liberties? You don’t know Naina at all then!”

Aaji: “And you do? Didn’t you just meet her too?”

Gael: “Why are you going around telling people we are married?”

Aaji: “Did she really convince you to move to the economy class? And you listened!”

Gael: “If this is how you are going to behave, I am going to take more liberties as her husband.”

Aaji: “You will not. As much as you like to deny it, India and my culture is just as much a part of you as is Brazil.”

Gael: “India and our culture.”

She smiled as tears clouded her vision: “Will you be okay without me?”

Gael looked away: “It’s not like I have a choice.”

Aaji: “Oh, Breno...” She touched his head lovingly and pulled him in for a hug. He rested his head on her lap as she gently stroked his hair and kissed him on his forehead.

Aaji: “I have heard so many things about you. You don’t tell me anything…you don’t tell Davi and Leo anything but we know you are suffering. The things they talk about you…I don’t believe them. I want you to know that I have never believed them…tell me they are not true, please. If you just tell me, I can die peacefully…because my Breno would never do such things. My Breno would never…”

Gael immediately pulled away and stood up: “If only I could tell you what you want to hear.”

Meanwhile,

As soon he had slammed the door shut, Naina did the potty dance to hold it in while trying to wiggle out of her pants. She could think about what had just happened after she took care of her urgent need.

Finally relieved, she splashed some water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror. 

He is a Brazilian and not Indian! How can you fall for a guy who does not appreciate or understand your culture, your traditions and customs? Wait a minute, falling for him? This was not DDLJ or K3G where there was a flutter of eyelashes, hair and scarves flying in the air and falling in the arms of the hero whilst falling in love with him at the very first sight!

Follow the rules, hit the pause and the play button when indicated. It will be fun, hopefully! I am trying to experiment different ways to make this interesting…

What was she doing?

This was dangerous. Things like this were only supposed to happen in movies. Things like what? Don’t get any ideas, Naina Malhotra! She smacked her head with her hand, her bangles jingling…

The sparkling grey, when she had been fortunate enough to catch it, had gripped her thoroughly and she felt like she was the one running in the desert in the orange lehenga, breathing heavily, as she ran to him, her oasis.

Pause!

She touched her forehead to feel for temperature. She felt warm; maybe she was coming down with something…Oh God, she was heating up! She held on to the side-bar to steady herself. Was the sun burning or was it the moon…Naina had lost it…

The song playing in her mind resumed.

She instantly remembered that while she had not fallen in his arms, she had definitely hit the floor, literally, when she had first seen him and he had helped her up.  And his eyes! Oh, his eyes! They were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen! Granted, when they lacked the luster, the grey cement eyes could steal her soul and absolutely terrified her, but even a hint of a spark in them and the world began to dance around her! His glance could melt her in a matter of seconds! Without the light, they scorched her like the blazing sun. But as soon as the merriment had settled in, they could soothe her like the luminescent moon. It was like a switch would turn on and she could drink the elixir that he had hidden behind the harsh realities of his eyes. The plane lurched a bit, but she was lost in his arms, in a desert far far away…her heart was beating so fast…what was happening to her? 

She had never felt like this before. She had many good-looking men who were her friends. At the United Nations, the Brazilian delegate was quite charming too! Then what was happening? What was this man doing to her? What was this particular Brazilian doing to her?!

PAUSE!

She shook her head clicking her tongue, making the sound of admonition, and washed her face again. She looked around. Only a few minutes ago they had been standing here together…no he was standing here while she had wrapped herself around him like a wanton…

The song started again...

And now she was in a bright green saree just waiting to have her arms around him once again. For the first time ever, she was singing the song for somebody else. For the first time ever, it was not Shah Rukh Khan who was walking towards her…it was a tall man in a black 3-piece suit….The tall man smirked as he made his way to her. The suit impeccably framing his gorgeous body making her look and feel beautiful as she waited for him to embrace her. But when this man grabbed her hand and turned her around to face him, he didn’t just slide his hand across her heaving chest close to the arch of her neck…

“STOP IT! STOP IT!”

She grabbed her head with her hands. She was losing her mind!

 

She turned around and opened the door before the song could resume once again...

Gael: “Please don’t talk about me or our family in front of Naina. As far she is concerned, I am Breno and you are my grandmother. She does not need to know anything more about me or you.”

Naina: “You really think I don’t have the balls to get all the information to win out from you?”

Gael looked at her and winked: “Believe me; no one’s happier than I about the fact that you don’t have balls.”

Naina ignored him and knelt before Aaji taking her hands in hers.

Naina: “Dadi, why did you tell everyone that Breno and I are married?”

Aaji laughed and tenderly tucked a loose strand of Naina’s hair behind her ear: “This is the only way I will have the opportunity to experience a grand daughter-in-law.”

Naina: “Why? Is Breno gay?”

Gael: “I think that is enough.”

Before she could say anything, Gael grabbed her hand and pulled her up roughly. He then dragged her all the way down the aisle and out of the First Class. All Naina could do was smile and wave at the rest as Gael flew past them dragging her along.

Gael flung her inside their row and sat down on his seat. He stretched his leg, as much as he could, reclined his seat and closed his eyes waiting for her to blow up.

Naina: “Mr. Jackie Chan…”

And IT had started again.

Naina: “I don’t understand what your problem is! You can’t just manhandle me!”

Gosh, she was so loud! Was there a mute button…he could only think of one…too bad there was no turbulence at the moment…damn, he had given her the paper bag and with it lost his opportunity to devour her.

She was still talking…

Naina: “You have a problem with everything, do you? Well, Mr. Chan, let me remind you that you are losing this game…oh, you are losing big time! And also, let me remind you that, unlike you, I am NOT a Brazilian and we don’t go around kissing people. The Brazilian culture is a bit too forward for my liking, too forward for anyone’s liking! But it does not matter, as long as I win this game, that’s all I care about. And I don’t need your grandmother's help to win it…I will show you and you won’t get any more information about me from me!”

Gael: “Is that so, Ms. Naina Sanjay Malhotra?”

Finally, FINALLY she shut up.

How did he know? She replayed everything she had said to him so far…no, that wasn’t it. Could he have asked the in-flight staff? They could have easily given him her surname, but how did he know her father’s name? Besides, Breno did not seem like one to go behind anyone’s back or use somebody else to earn points like she had.

She gasped and stood up. She turned around and stuffed her hands in her back pocket. It wasn’t there!

Gael: “Looking for this?

He was waving her passport in the air.

She lunged for it but he stretched his arm away from her and she could not reach it. His arms were deformed too, just like his legs.

Naina: “Give it back!”

Gael opened it: “I will be damned. You are an Indian Foreign Service officer.”

While he had sneaked her passport a while ago and checked her full name, he had only opened it now and realized that she was a bloody diplomat. An Indian Foreign Service Officer? This made her one of the smartest people in her country. Considering the country in question was India with one of the largest populations in the world…

Why did she have to be a diplomat?

WHY, GOD DAMMIT!?

His father had been a Brazilian diplomat…

He made it a point to never sleep with his enemies…

Gael: “WHY COULDN'T YOU BE JUST A DANCER?!”

Why was he furious? What did it matter whether she was a diplomat or not? However, the look on his face and his eyes! They had turned cement again! She sat down quietly, no longer struggling to get her passport from him.

Gael had lost control. He threw the diplomat’s passport at her and stormed away.

Aaji looked up when he entered the First Class. She smiled but instantly lost it when she saw the look on his face.

He stormed to her seat and without a word opened the luggage compartment on the top. He pulled his laptop bag and slammed it shut. By now everyone had noticed that he was in a mood.

Aaji: “Breno, is everything alright?”

He ignored her question; he ignored all the stares and stormed back to the economy class. He really didn't even want to sit next to her but that would be juvenile. 

He sat down on his chair, flipped open the table and booted his computer. As soon as his files popped open, he began typing away.

Naina was just looking at him, dazed. What had just happened? Well, with her passport, he now had all her information. From her place of birth, birth date to her current address, countries she had visited and even her profession…there was something about her profession, the moment he had discovered that she was a diplomat, it seemed like it had pressed all the wrong buttons!

Naina: “With my address, my date and place of birth, my full name, my parents’ names, my profession, I guess you have stacked up at least 6 more points…”

Gael banged the armrest with his fist making her wince and literally jump up in her seat.

Gael: “I don’t give a damn about your puerile game!”

Naina: “Okay! There is no need for you to shout at me…”

Gael: “Don’t you get it? I DON’T WANT TO TELL YOU ANYTHING ABOUT ME AND I DON’T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING MORE ABOUT YOU! I DON’T CARE, SO, STOP DISTURBING ME!”

Naina: “FINE! I guess me being here disturbs you too!”

She got up, grabbed her stuff and faced him.

Naina: “Let me go!”

Gael pulled his legs back making her space to leave: “By all means!”

She didn't know where to go, what to do and so made her way to the First Class. She would find another seat later on. Right now, she would sit on the floor if she had to but she wanted to be around Nani.

Naina walked over and sat down on the seat next to Nani. One of the ladies had gone to the back to chat with her son.

Aaji: “What did he do this time?”

Naina: “I am not here to talk about him. I don’t care about him. Let him do whatever he wants, I don’t care!”