Desde sempre e para sempre
Chapter 22
They were silent for a while. Naina rested her head on his shoulder her eyes closed. They were very close friends ever since they started together at the academy and she trusted him. He was just like a brother to her and there was no one happier than her that her two best friends were going to start, what she knew would be, a blissful life together. She knew that they were meant to be together.
Naina wriggled her eyebrows at Kushal: “Well, don't just stand there. You are less likely to have alone time with her henceforth and until all of the wedding is done!”
Kushal: “Where is Naina??”
Aaji: “Calm down, boy. Naina is fine. We are no strangers to her.”
Kushal: “But…Who are you?”
Aaji: “Here are the car keys, she is sleeping right now and so I would suggest…”
Kushal: “Where is she? First, I want to see her!”
Aaji: “How do you know her?”
Kushal: “I asked you a question first!”
Gael entered the room: “That is enough! She has given you all the information you need. Now take your keys and leave!”
Kushal faltered facing Gael’s personality and voice: “I…I can’t..WONT…leave until I can take Naina with me!”
Aaji: “Breno! Let me handle this!”
But Gael didn't move…he was eyeing Kushal who had already looked down unable to hold Gael’s gaze. Gael smirked. The Cuckoo was easily intimidated.
Aaji realized that Gael wasn't going to move and so she stood in between the two men.
Aaji: “Come with me.”
Kushal nervously looked at Gael as he quickly followed the old lady. Gael chuckled and followed both of them to his room.
Aaji signalled them to be quiet. She opened the door to allow Kushal to have a peek inside to see that Naina was safe and fast asleep.
They all looked inside to see Naina stretched diagonally across the bed, her hair a mess and her arms stretched in the opposite directions. She was absolutely not an elegant sleeper. Gael stepped forward and closed the door wanting to give her privacy.
Kushal cleared his throat: “So it seems like she knows you?”
Gael: “Yes.”
Aaji: “Son, I think you are staying in this hotel? Just give me your room number and I will let her know once she is up in the morning. She is safe here and so there is no need for us to…uhhh…disturb her now.”
Both of them looked at Gael and once he nodded, Kushal gave them the information needed. He wished them a good night and left.
Aaji sighed: “Well, that was taken care…”
But Gael wasn't listening to her, he was leaning on his bedroom door his eyes closed. Aaji smiled and left him alone. She trusted him enough to leave him on his own.
***
Naina was murmuring something whilst hugging her pillow tightly. She was so comfortable that…she woke up with a start. Her memory was a bit foggy for the first few seconds and then it all came crashing back to her! She swiftly pushed away the bed covers and stood up. Fighting the curls of her hair away from her eyes she opened her bedroom door…her? Whose was it? The last thing she remembered…Breno! She opened the bedroom door and stepped out.
Well, the last memory of the night AND him stretched out on the futon in the semi-living room…wow…she stepped back once again as she realized where she was! In a super expensive suite at the Taj…Kuku! Jaya! Dadi! Oh god! What had she done?!
Naina looked around…it was very early in the morning. The sun was about to rise and no one was up and about in the house…no, suite…she could slip out unnoticed…She started walking away but decided at the last minute that it would be incredibly rude (not to him, he deserved it for leaving her handcuffed to the steering wheel, but to Nani) She should at least leave a note before she left. She went back inside the bedroom and looked for some stationary…She walked over to the study area in his room and grabbing a hotel notepad on the desk, she started searching for a pen…
Naina opened the first drawer and closed it unable to find any. She pulled the chair back to reach for the drawer on the other side. She was in a rush as she wanted to leave before anyone woke up and hopefully before her Dadi back home woke up and realized that she had been out the whole night! It didn't even occur to her that she shouldn't be going through somebody else’s possessions until…she stopped.
She knew those pills. They were used to alleviate the pain of persistent coughing and wheezing that often leads to coughing up blood. While coughing and wheezing may be a symptom of common flu or even asthma, this particular medicine was especially prescribed for a certain illness. Why did she know this? Well, she had her good share of breathing problems to deal with. But what shocked her the most was that these pills were right next to a box of cigars! Naina frantically checked the information on the pills dispenser to confirm her fear. She was right!
Gael: “Weren’t you taught not to snoop?”
Naina looked up with tears in her eyes which startled Gael…He quickly made a mental note. Had she found out who he was? No, his passport was in his laptop bag. Besides, even if she had, she would have been spitting fire right now and not…
Gael: “Naina…why are you crying…?”
Naina: “No…no…this can’t be happening…”
Gael: “Wait…what…”
Naina: “I don’t know who you think you are but you cannot die!”
Gael: “What?”
Naina pulled out a box from the drawer.
Naina: “You can’t! What is wrong with you?! This is the reason!! And you continue…and to think you keep them together! What is wrong with you?!!”
She walked over to him with the box in her hand. She threw the box on the floor, the box burst open and his cigars rolled out of the box. She was crying, she was angry…she pulled on the front of his shirt and screamed…
Naina: “I may not know your full name, I may not understand the language you speak, I may not know who you are but I know that life is too precious to just throw it away! Have you thought about the people around you?! Your family? Your mother? Your father? What about your brothers and what about your grandmother! You cant just meet them one day and leave the next! You can’t…you just cannot!”
Naina pushed him away and started stomping on the cigars crushing them…
Gael was just frozen. He hadn't figured it out yet. But he felt her emotions. Whatever it was, she was hurt, she was scared, and most important, she was scared that he was leaving HER!
He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him, fiercely hugging her.
Gael: “Shhhhh!!”
Naina hugged him back and timidly looked up, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Naina: “Breno, what stage is it?”
And THAT’S when it hit him.
Cancer. She thought he was dying. Little did she know that it was not him, rather, somebody much more important…And all of a sudden he was overwhelmed. SHE was going to leave him! She was going to LEAVE him! And there was nothing he could do about it! He, GAEL BRENO BOURGEOIS, could do absolutely nothing but wait and watch, just wait and watch her wither away. She was his grandmother because he gave her that respect but that did not mean it was her time! She had sacrificed her life, her family all for nothing! He wanted to give her the world to make up for it and he could give her everything she wanted right now except for the one thing that was needed…
Unbeknownst to him, he pushed Naina away without answering her question.
He couldn't think straight, he needed to get out…he stormed toward the desk and opened one of the drawers. Pulling out another cigar box, Gael mechanically cut one of the cigars with a guillotine, grabbed a lighter and lit the cigar on his way out to the balcony of his bedroom.
Naina stood shell shocked. After a couple of minutes, she realized what had happened. What had she done? Wasn't it enough that life had….NO!
She stormed towards him to find him smoking the cigar like there was no tomorrow.
She grabbed the cigar from him: “Well, if you keep at it, there will be no tomorrow! Why don't you just jump of this building?! At least this way you won’t be polluting the air!”
Gael: “Naina! Be careful!”
But it was too late. Naina screamed as the lit part of the cigar burned her palm. Gael quickly grabbed the cigar from her and extinguished it.
He took her hand in his and gently blew on it.
Gael: “Naina…Naina…Naina…I…”
He loved saying her name. It was very soothing...
Naina pushed him away: “You have one life! One life! And you want to throw it away…”
Gael: “What’s the point?! She didn't smoke, she didn't use tobacco and yet SHE is dying of lung cancer! And there is nothing I can do about it!”
Naina: “What?”
Gael: “Yes, Naina! Aaji is dying! She is dying and I…”
Naina: “Aaji?”
Gael: “I have tried everything! She is going to leave me, Naina…she is going to leave me…Naina, I don't want to be alone…Naina, I am scared…I can’t…all of this…everything I have done…she is the only one…she is the only one who connects me to my mother…and him!”
Naina finally figured it out. It was not Breno…it was his grandmother…
She pulled him close to her and hugged him…
Naina: “Shhhh! It will be alright. Sometimes things just…”
It did not go unnoticed to Naina that just a few seconds ago she had felt like SHE was dying but now that she knew that he wasn’t, HE was not going to leave her…she really felt sad that Aaji was unwell but her grief came nowhere close to what she had felt but a few seconds ago…She looked into his eyes and he looked so vulnerable, his eyes were no longer the steel grey…
Gael accepted her comfort. He hadn't realized until then just how much he had needed it. It felt much better than what his cigars or alcohol had managed to do so far.
Aaji: “I… I heard all the noise…Breno, are you okay? Naina?”
Naina pulled away: “Nani…
But Gael looked at her and shook his head. Naina understood that he didn't want her to mention Aaji’s sickness.
Aaji: “Why are all of your cigars…”
Naina: “I…I don’t think he should smoke anymore…and I told him so.”
Aaji smiled: “Well, considering the condition of his cigars, you certainly did much more than that. I have always wanted him to stop…”
Gael: “She must leave now.”
Naina looked at him. He was pushing her out again and this time quite literally. His cement grey eyes made it difficult for her to connect with him. In fact, she couldn't even believe that she had connected with him only a few seconds ago!
Aaji: “Breno, why don’t you take her…”
Gael: “John will take care of it.”
Naina: “Thank you very much but no, thank you! This is my city and I am a big girl…I can take myself home!”
Without glancing back at him, Naina walked over to Aaji. She knew she shouldn't say anything but she couldn't hold herself back. She gave Nani a fierce hug.
Aaji hugged her back: “Oh my dear child, is everything alright?”
Naina wiped her tears away before Aaji could notice anything: “Yes, Nani. I…I just wanted to say thank you for…for last night. I…I must leave now…”
Aaji realized that something was not quite right: “Will I see you again?”
Naina: “Yes, of course! Now that I know where you are staying I will definitely come by to spend some more time with you!”
Aaji: “Oh but we wont be staying here for long! In fact, we will be…”
Gael: “That is enough! Naina, it was a pleasure seeing you again. Now, I would escort you to the door but I imagine, big girl that you are, you can manage it on your own.”
Without turning around to give him the pleasure of seeing just how worked up that had made her, Naina stormed out of the balcony, out of his bedroom and out of his suite!
As soon the door shut behind her, Naina leaned on the door facing the elaborate and private hallway for the rich in the Taj Hotel.
“Excuse me, Sir! You cannot just call on them without…”
Kushal: “Oh let me go! They are expecting me!”
“No, Sir, if they were, John would have been here to escort you…”
Kushal: “Escort me?!”
Naina: “Kuku?”
Kushal turned around: “Naina! Oh thank God! Are you OK?”
Naina felt the hotel walls closing in on her. And to add to that, the hotel staff didn't have to remind her anymore than HE had that she didn't belong here and was no longer needed!
Naina: “Let’s just get out of here…I…I can’t breathe…”
Kushal: “OK..OK..”
Naina and Kushal got into the elevator. But as soon as they were on the ground floor and entered the main foyer, Naina practically ran outside gasping for breath and beginning to wheeze.
Kushal: “Naina?!”
As soon as Naina was outside on street, she collapsed out of breath. The smoke, the stress, the confusion…
Kushal: “Naina!”
Naina: “Kuku, I need an inhaler…”
Kushal: “What? Why?”
Naina: “Kuku, please. Now. Go to the medical store, ask for a blue inhaler…now…please!”
Kushal: “OK…OK…stay right there…and don’t die!”
Naina managed to smile in between the coughing, wheezing and the attack that was slowly but surely building up…
Kushal quickly ran to the medical store and got her the inhaler she needed. As soon as she took a puff, she was much better. She took the bottle of water Kushal offered to rinse her mouth after the puff.
Naina: “OK. Let’s go.”
Kushal: “NO! We are not going anywhere! You are coming with me.”
He helped her walk over to the benches by the Gateway of India and made her sit down.
Naina: “Kuku, I am fine…absolutely fine…”
Kushal: “No! And I did not know you have asthma! And why don't you have an inhaler with you! Aren't you always supposed to have one…”
Naina: “Uhhmm, its not a big deal! I only have an attack once a month…believe me, sometimes even I forget that I have it.”
Kushal: “And you thought it was a good idea to walk around in India, of all places, without an inhaler!”
Naina: “Kuku, right now I don't even know where my cell phone is!”
Kushal: “You don't have it on you?”
Naina: “It was in the car…oh my God, Kuku, the car!”
Kushal: “Its back in the hotel. We can go back and ask the staff to check if there was a mobile…”
Naina: “Later. I just need to not move at the moment, please.”
Kushal: “OK.”
Naina: “You don't need to sit here. I know you have to go to ‘see’ Jaya and your family might be…”
Kushal: “I am not leaving you.”
But then her thoughts drew her to what had happened between her and Breno. She couldn't understand the emotional roller coaster she had been through from believing that he was extremely sick to finding out that it was his grandmother who was ill. There were so many questions to be answered. When she thought Breno was ill…why was she so scared…why did it terrify her that she would be all alone without him? What was he to her? And who was he and why did he affect her so?! Did it make her a bad person that she didn't react in a similar manner when she found out that his grandmother was unwell? Wasn't she fond of his grandmother more than she was fond of him?! Was she even fond of him? Damn right, she wasn't! Then why did she behave the way she did! She couldn't justify her behavior at all and that scared her more than anything else. She had realized that when she was with him, she just lost control over herself, her mind…and her heart?
She opened her eyes and saw Kushal staring at something to their right. She looked straight ahead at the majestic Gateway of India in the morning glory. Since it was still early morning, there was nobody around and the hustle bustle of the street vendors and tourists was yet to begin.
Naina: “It’s beautiful, na?”
She closed her eyes again as a cool breeze blew across her face.
Kushal: “Very…”
Jaya: “Naina!”
Startled, Naina opened her eyes to see Jaya standing right in front of them. She looked at Kushal with a knowing smile. Clearly he had not been referring to the Gateway of India.
Naina stood up and was immediately engulfed into a hug by Jaya.
Jaya: “Naina, are you okay? What have you been unto, woman! But wait, first, here, take this.”
Jaya gave Naina a few tablets. “I am sorry, I forgot to bring some water…I was in a rush…”
Kushal: “Here you go.”
It’s not that Jaya had not noticed that Kushal was right there. She was just too shy to even look at him! It was the first time they were meeting each other in person! She didn't know what to say to him and she was just too shy and nervous. When he had called her in the morning while he was buying the inhaler, she had panicked and left the house immediately, grabbing Naina’s medicines and without even looking at herself in the mirror. She chided herself for doing that. She knew that the inhaler would soothe Naina’s pain and that she could have spared sometime to at least brush her hair let alone put her makeup on before leaving home! If her mother found out…
Jaya: “Th..thank you.”
Naina was looking at both of them with a smile plastered on her face. She took the bottle of water from Kushal and took the tablets.
Naina: “THERE! Now, both of you can at least look at each other! Oh my god! Isn’t this the first time you are seeing each other!?”
Jaya turned around embarrassed and Kushal wanted to throw Naina into the sea.
Jaya still had her back to Naina and Kushal: “Naina, stop it! He is only coming with his family to meet mine. It’s not like he has said…”
Kushal: “Yes!”
Jaya whirled around surprised.
Naina: “Well, there you go!”
Kushal: “I just wanted to say that ever since I have spoken to you and this is even before I saw you…”
Naina slowly walked away giving them the privacy they deserved. She walked towards the water and smiled as she heard the waves gently hitting the rocks. She was so happy for them. No matter the uncertainty in her life, the ultimatum her Dadi had given her…and that mysterious man and the ever so more mysterious effect he had on her, Naina had taught herself to live for the little happiness wherever she found it and she was really happy for her two best friends.
