Love Lasts Forever (15 page)

The sun had settled itself nice and high in the mountains
, occasionally getting obscured and edging past the mountains offering oodles of sunshine. Below us a tiny river snaked past the foot of the mountains reflecting the indigo-blue of the cloudless sky above.

             
Aisha looked at me peering out and offered a faint smile. ‘Woke up sleepy head?’ she said tousling my hair.

             
I smiled back. It seemed to me her anger receded. ‘Listen Aisha, I’m really sorry if this trip doesn’t please you, I promise I’ll take you to Switzerland next year.’

I took her hand
in mine

             
‘But why could you not now?’

She didn’t let go off my hand this tim
e.

             
‘Because I didn’t have enough money,’ I said. ‘Next time when I do I promise I’ll take you there.’ After a pause, I added, ‘I love you baby and would never hurt you intentionally.’

             
She smiled under her breath. ‘Okay, I believe you and…I love –’

             
The tension between us waned and I leaned forward to kiss her on her cheeks. She retracted suddenly and placed a finger on my lips.

‘
I love you too but as I said before no love making or even kissing in this trip,’ she added cheekily.

             
I frowned and settled back in my seat.

We reached Nainital half past three. The driver had stopped once at a local restaurant for lunch. We ate scrambled eggs and bread as there was nothing much on the menu. From the bus stand we took a rickshaw for the hotel I had booked. My heart began pounding at the thought of her reaction hoping she would like it. Or rather love it.

             
She hated it.

             
‘Here?’ she screamed in horror as we stood on the road outside the “Hotel Grand”. ‘I thought you said we were staying in “The Grand”.’

             
We were staring at an old, tawny coloured building which appeared to be built during the British era. Located on the mall road, it offered a panoramic view of the Naini Lake in front. And that’s exactly what I thought while booking this place. You know, a nice romantic escapade, making love in the bed with a view of the lake and the hills in front.

Actually
, there was another reason I booked it.

It was
relatively cheap and I got a heavy discount through a reference.

‘
Oh gosh, it is only “Grand”!’ I gasped and squinted my eyes through its board. ‘Oh no, they cheated me, I was obviously booking “The Grand”.’ I turned my gaze toward her and she was still staring at the building in disgust. ‘Shit, we don’t even have a choice, I’ve already paid them. Now
we have
to live here. Oh God no, why did this happen to us? Our honey moon is screwed. I’ll teach that travel agent a lesson once we are back home.’

Very s
lowly, she tilted her face toward me and gave me a cold stare. Her eyes were a fiery red, eyebrows raised, forehead creased, nose scrunched up, and for a moment I thought she had turned into a devil. After a full minute of that glare she replied, ‘I’m sure it’s not your fault, YOU MISER OLD RAT!’

I cringed.
I don’t think she bought it.

And yeah, just so you know
, there is no “The Grand” in Nainital.

An hour later we sat on wicker chairs in the balcony of the hotel overlooking the lake. We had ordered tea and snacks. Aisha was gazing toward the lake. Although the view was obscured by a few tall pine and oak trees sprawled along the road, the sight was still mesmerizing, especially when you have been living in a place like Delhi. The Mall road in front was thronged with tourists from all over the country. But still it was not as noisy as one would imagine.

Beyond the road, the
Naini Lake - a slow moving mass of freshwater at the foot of the Kumaon hills - stretched either side till the eyes reached. It gleamed with shades of orange and yellow as it bathed in the generous sunshine. At night it would become a dark colour reflecting the charcoal sky above. In the distance I could see some boats paddling across it creating rippling waves behind them. Boating was one of the main leisure activities here and I had planned on one myself. Only if Aisha was interested, that is to say.

She finished her tea and without looking at me, headed inside ou
r room. Sensing the tension, I trailed behind her. I could almost hear her heels thudding past the floor as she headed to the washroom at the far end.

The room was large by any standards with
neat marble flooring. The king size bed occupied one corner of the room, but sadly it wouldn’t witness any love making in the night. A television screen nestled atop a beige wooden unit faced the bed in front. At its side was another wooden table offering a kettle, some tea bags, and sundry. So basically there was everything in the room which one would use and more. Why can women be never satisfied?

She came out with a bang on the d
oor - her favourite gesture to portend anger - and then marched toward me. My throat tightened.

‘
First you get me to this dull place and then this hotel.’ She threw out her hands and rolled her eyes. ‘The least you could have done is booked a five star hotel so I could have enjoyed my stay and at least
something
would have felt special about this trip.’ She let out a sigh of resentment and stared at me for an answer.

I buried my hands deep inside my pocket and shifted my weight
nervously from one foot to another. She continued glowering at me. I had to speak. Think…Something…The glare continued. OK, say anything…

‘
Sweetie, you know it was an honest mistake, I had booked The Gra–’

‘
Alright stop!’ She thrust her hand almost in my face. The same, soft and beautiful hand I used to
once
hold. ‘You think I’m a fool?’

I shook my head
, and said, ‘sorry baby.’

She didn’t react.

‘Okay I’ll tell you frankly.’ I held her hand and ushered her toward the bed. We sat. ‘Honestly, I hate spending money on hotels. And you know why?’ I paused, hoping to get a… never mind. ‘Because a five star hotel charges exorbitant amount of money and more than half the time we are not even in the hotel, you know, doing shopping, sightseeing and all that. Besides I never think they are worth it. I rather spend the money I save on shopping and…showering gifts on you, sweetheart.’

At that
, I sensed her expression softened. Not much, though.

‘
Actually,’ she said slowly, ‘you know what? You’re right. That somehow never occurred to me.’

‘Thanks.’
Wow!

‘
Give me your card then.’ She held out her hand.

‘
What?’

‘
Give me your debit card then,’ she said, flicking her fingers. ‘Whatever money you have saved by making me stay here, I’ll get something for myself in that much. Sounds like a fair deal to me.’ Her expression was dead-pan. ‘Good thinking, I must say,’ she added slyly.

I stretched my arm
slowly toward my back and pulled out the wallet from the back pocket of the jeans. She snatched it as soon as I got it forward.

‘
Thanks,’ she uttered before waddling off to the balcony.

Can somebody
please tell me what the hell just happened?

The evening was beautiful. We were walking down the flea market on a road perpendicular to the Mall road. The darkness had set in early with a cloudless sky above dotted with tiny white spots that twinkled at us. The temperature was mild and the air was filled with a thousand different and mellow sounds – few children playing in the dusty playground, vendors selling eatables and showpieces, bells in the nearby temples, unwary customers bargaining while a few games like hoopla, shooting the balloons being played on the edge of the road. In the distance a gentle patter of the lake against its bank could be heard. A crisp breeze added to the serenity of the atmosphere.

             
We had returned from the boat ride and it was a pleasant experience, especially because Aisha appeared to be in an affable mood (perhaps due to my wallet in her hands). We had spent close to an hour on the boat and thankfully I felt the romance that had gone missing for the last few days, rekindle. Often in the boat we’d cup our hands, immersing them in the lukewarm water, and then splashed it over each other. She cowered down while giggling to avoid getting wet. Then she wrapped her legs close to her body and tucked her head inside while one arm fetched for the water which she stroked it in my direction constantly. But in the end I’d won comfortably.

             
Her smile hadn’t faded ever since we left the boat and for a moment all seemed well with the world. With her wet hair and damp clothes she appeared more beautiful. I slipped an arm around her waist and she leaned into me, gracefully accepting my offer. I could smell the wonderful scent of her hair.

‘
I love you sweet heart,’ I whispered the words in her ear, ‘and I am the happiest person in the world for having you in my life.’

             
She looked up at me and a wide grin exposed her perfectly shaped teeth. ‘Me too,’ she blinked and then leaned further into me.

             
I held her even firmly. ‘So what are you buying?’ I dabbed at my wallet in her hands.

             
‘Oh,’ she thumped her forehead with her hand. ‘I almost forgot about it.’ She looked around her to decide what to buy.

Five minutes later she was still looking.
Like my buddy Joe Singh tells me – ‘Men go shopping to buy what they want; women go shopping to know what they want.’ A classic example was right in front of my eyes. She had a hand around her chin and appeared lost in thoughts. I could almost imagine what she was thinking,
how do I blow his damn money?

             
‘There!’ She pointed toward a candle shop toward our right. ‘We can start from there.’

             
‘Sure.’ I trailed behind her as she led me to the shop.
This is going to be so much fun!
 

We came out after half an hour. She bought a dozen candles in the shapes of animals,
birds, fruits and all sorts of weird shapes one would imagine. More importantly, I was poor by a close to five thousand rupees. I didn’t utter a word.

Next we stopped at a showpi
ece stall few hundred meters away from the first one. I asked her to carry on and waited outside. She returned after another thirty minutes. My face fell at the sight of her full hands. I took the packets from her and from the corner of my eyes flicked through the bill in her hands. It said 6530 rupees
only
. I didn’t utter a word.

As we walked down the Mall road, there
was a wide variety of garment shops sprawled along the road. She stopped at one of them. But I didn’t flinch, I was sure she won’t pick anything as she was very choosy about her clothes.

She
did pick; some seven, eight of them and then thrust the packets on me. She appeared thrilled with herself and almost patted herself for a job well done. I badly wanted to but didn’t utter a word.

As we walked
down the road toward our hotel I couldn’t help but wonder about a niggling thought in my mind.

Did I
really tell her that I am the happiest man in the world for having her?

We reached our room twenty minutes later. Something had been bothering me and I gushed out the moment I opened the door. I did realize my folly few minutes later though.

             
‘You spent over fifteen thousand rupees in an hour?’ I shook my head in amusement. ‘And just like that,’ I added clicking in the air twice.

             
‘Yeah.’

             
‘Yeah…yeah,’ I imitated her with an air of disgust. ‘That’s all you have to say.’

             
She threw the packets on the bed and swirled around to face me. ‘So what did you tell me this afternoon, huh?’ I didn’t look at her as she recounted my words. ‘Save money…shopping…showering gifts on me. So like any good wife that’s exactly I was doing, following the orders of my dear husband.’

             
‘Yeah, alright,’ I said, ‘but not one…two…three…FIFTEEN THOUSAND RUPEES? Are you completely insane? I mean no one blows money like that. It takes a lot of hard work to earn it, but how would you know, huh? You have never earned a single penny all your life and would never do so. I’M THERE FOR THAT, ISN’T IT?’

             
She drew a long breath and then shook her head. ‘I don’t believe this…you are actually shouting at me for…money. All you guys are the same.’ She poked a finger in my chest. ‘Priyank was right.’

             
‘What?’ I asked curiously. Suddenly something felt funny and I chuckled. ‘
Priyank
was right…that all
you guys
are the same…isn’t he one himself?’ I
had
to tell this one to Joe Singh.