Sealed with a Kiss
"A party?" said Shreya quietly.
"Yes. On Friday night" said Purvi.
"Sorry Purvi... I really can't make it... it's just too far and I have lots to do..." Shreya's voice trailed off.
"Come on Shreya. Stop giving excuses! It's Christmas. The party is gonna be fun. And you can call Siddh-"
"No" said Shreya flatly. "I mean he doesn't know anyone. What's he gonna do there?"
"Okay. But you are coming" said Purvi.
"I'll try. I can't promise you anything right now" said Shreya.
"So that's it then, huh? You are not going to come, are you?" said Purvi looking disgruntled.
"Purvi I-"
"Shreya don't you want to chill out without friends for one last time? We won't be seeing you at all after you get married! You and Siddharth are moving to states. I thought you would come..." said Daya.
"What's up?" said Daya joining them.
"Shreya is not coming to the Christmas party" said Purvi.
"Why?" he asked, fixing her with his intense stare which made heat course through her body.
"I've other stuff to do" said Shreya, breaking the eye contact.
"Can't it wait? Can't it be done some other time?" asked Shreya.
"No. I am sorry" said Shreya.
Purvi scoffed and Shreya heard her mutter a distasteful remark under her breath.
"Stop lying, Shreya. Just tell the truth that you don't want to come. I would admire your honesty much more that your blatant lies"
"Purvi-"
"Just forget it alright?" said Purvi and she went away.
"Is he not letting you come?" asked Daya.
"What are you talking about?" said Shreya.
"You know perfectly well what I am talking about" said with a threatening voice which made her shiver.
"Stop it please. Nothing is wrong between me and Siddharth. He is not stopping me from doing anything" said Shreya defiantly.
"That's great... if you are telling the truth." said Daya.
"How dare you talk something like that about him?" said Shreya angrily. "He is going to be my husband!"
"Oops sorry to hurt you" said Daya. "Of course I have no right to say such things about your would be husband. But you know what? These thoughts just can't stay out of my mind. I think your heart is somewhere else. I think you are under some kind of pressure. I -"
"SHUT UP!" yelled Shreya. "That's enough, really. I will come if I want to. You can't force me."
"Fine" Daya growled.
A ringing silence fell between them. Shreya wanted to run away. Run away far from him. But her feet felt too heavy. She stayed rooted to the spot.
She tensed as she felt his warm hand touch her arm. Their eyes met. His hand moved slowly down her arm to encircle her wrist, sending shivers down her body. She hoped he couldn't feel her fluttering pulse.
"I want you to come. I really do" he whispered.
Shreya parted her lips but no words came out.
"Please" he said.
Shreya nodded softly, unable to break away from his intense stare.
His gaze dropped to her lips and then back to her eyes which were pooling with longing. His eyes darkened. He couldn't read her face.
She wasn't pulling away from him. Was it an unspoken invitation?
He leaned closer and before they even knew what was happening, his lips were on her neck. Her breathing was heavy and he was kissing her collarbone and then he moved over to the soft spot behind her ear.
"Ohhh" she moaned, pulling at his shirt.
He pulled her to him, as close as he could. She felt his weight onto her and then felt him sink farther into her. She gasped when she felt his hot hard muscle between her legs. Her entire body was aflame with desire.
All of a sudden she came back to her sense and made an attempt to pull away. But he held on to her firmly. His hands then slipped inside her shirt to caress her soft back and then -
"No!" said Shreya and pushed him away. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Shreya I am sorry... It was stupid really -"
"God, what have I done? I -"
"Shreya please stop... please-"
"Don't come any closer!" Shreya said swallowing the lump in her throat.
"Alright fine fine. Look, let"s just talk okay? Please don't walk away from me. Please" Daya said almost pleadingly.
"I have to go" said Shreya.
"Shreya-"
"Please Daya sir. Please" said Shreya.
"Alright. I am sorry, okay? I promise this is never gonna happen again. But please come for the party on friday. Please I want you to come. Bring Siddharth along if you like. But please come" said Daya.
Shreya neither denied nor accepted. Without another word, she walked away.
Friday, Night of the Christmas Party
The party had turned out to be really fun. All of them had met at a pub. Daya was glad that Shreya had turned up but he could make out that something was bothering her. She was not her usual self. She had not spoken to him after exchanging a few formal pleasantries. Daya was not complaining. The last week encounter was fresh in his mind as well. That night had felt so wonderful. He knew by now that she had feelings for him yet she was marring another person. He wanted to talk to her, to convince her not to fool her own self but she had refused to talk to him since that day. He had tried to talk to her after that in the bureau but she had clearly told him that they had no future together. It had been painful but Daya had accepted and respected her decision.
However, tonight Shreya looked different. He could make out her forced laughs as she tried to blend in with the cheerful crowd.
"Shreya are you alright?" he finally asked her unable to contain himself.
"Yes sir. I am fine" she answered smiling at him.
The renouned usage of "sir" was pissing him off but kept calm.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Ofcourse. Why do you you ask?" said Shreya.
"You don"t seem your old self tonight" said Daya.
"I am bit tired I guess. Yesterday Siddharth and I went shopping. It was a hectic day" said Shreya.
"What did you get?" asked Daya.
"Oh not for me. It ws his shopping" said Shreya.
"He took the entire day to shop his own clothes?! God, save me. And the worst part, he couldn"t even buy a single thing? Atleast for putting up with him the entire day?" said Daya.
"I don't want to have this conversation" said Shreya flashing him her dazzling smile.
"Fake" said Daya looking annoyed.
"What?" said Shreya.
"Do you think that I can"t tell your forced smiles from the real ones? Tell me what the goddamn problem is!" said Daya angrily causing those standing nearby to stare at them.
"I told you sir, there is no problem at all!" said Shreya. "Excuse me. I think Purvi is calling me"
Daya caught her arm before she could escape. "Stop calling me sir for heaven's sake Shreya. I want to talk to you. Alone. Please."
"Leave me" said Shreya and she pulled her arm out of his grasp.
Daya stared as she walked away from him, leaving him standing alone.
One hour later -
Shreya wasn't sure that she would be able to mask her feelings any longer. She continued to avoid him but now she couldn't bear it at all. She looked around but couldn"t see him anywhere.
She slipped outside the pub making sure no one was watching her. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be far away where she couldn't him.
She walked towards the car park and took out her cell phone to dial Siddharth's number.
"Leaving, are you?" said Daya appearing out of shadows.
"Daya sir?" she said.
"I knew you would try escape unnoticed. So I decided to wait outside for you. I want to talk to you" said Daya.
"I don't want to talk about anything. Please go back and enjoy the party. I am calling Siddharth. He is coming to pick me up" said Shreya.
"Not till we have talked" said Daya snatching the phone out of her hand.
"Give me back my phone."
"No"
"Give it back or I will scream for help. I will tell people that you are harassing me" said Shreya angrily.
"I don"t care" said Daya.
"Daya please... why are you doing this?" said Shreya.
"You won't talk to me. I can make out from your face that you are worried about something and you won"t tell me what it is" said Daya.
"Why should I tell you? You have no right to know everything that is happening in my life! I will share it with Siddharth not you!" shouted Shreya.
"You don't love him. I know you don't!" said Daya.
Shreya's eyes widened with anger."GIVE ME BACK MY PHONE!" she yelled.
"Tell me what the matter is and I will give it back to you" said Daya.
And then she started hitting and punching him with her fist, shouting angrily.
"Shreya stop it!" said Daya clamping her mouth shut and letting her cell phone fall to the floor.
He wrestled her and managed to pin her down against a parked car. He was so close that eventually she stopped struggling.
"Shh.. calm down" he whispered fanning her face with his warm breath.
He held her like that for another few minutes and then released her.
He waited for her to say something or at least shout at him but instead, she began to cry. Tears fell down fast, a few streaming down her face.
"Shreya? What's - why are you crying?" asked Daya.
"It's nothi-"
"DAMN IT, SHREYA!" Daya shouted slamming his fist hard on the car. "TELL ME WHAT"S BOTHERING YOU AND I"LL LEAVE YOU ALONE TO BE HAPPY WITH YOUR HUSBAND! I HATE TO SEE YOU BOTTLE UP YOUR EMOTIONS LIKE THIS!"
He couldn't see her looking so distressed.
"Please tell me, Shreya I am begging you" he said in a low voice.
When their eyes met, she could hold back no longer. Putting her arms around his waist, she embraced him crying her heart out onto his chest.
He let her cry, holding her tightly.
When her sobs finally died down, she blew her nose and faced him once again.
"I just don't know what to do" she said.
"What is this all about?" asked Daya.
"I don't want to go abroad" said Shreya.
"With him?" asked Daya.
Shreya nodded.
"Why?" asked Daya.
"I don't know. I just... don't want to go. This is what I love. My job. My people. I don't want to leave this and go somewhere else" said Shreya.
"Tell him -"
"He won't hear a word of it." said Shreya
"That's ridiculous. I mean he has no right to do that. If he loves you, he ought to think about you, your likes, dislikes -"
"He said I am too obsessed with my CID job. And it - it's because of you. He said I was in love with you" she said timidly.
He looked up at her. "What?"
"You remember Tarika's birthday party? When Siddharth walked in on us, when we were talking?" ssid Shreya.
"Oh yes. I remember quite well" Daya growled.
How could he ever forget that evening? Just when Shreya was about to confess something, he had walked in and messed everything up.
"And then after that he asked me were we... you know... dating in the past or something... I told him that you were just my senior and nothing else. Then a few days later he told me his wanted to him to take job in USA. So he told me we are going to shift to US after wedding" said Shreya.
"You lied obviously" said Daya.
"Wh - what?" asked Shreya.
"You lied to him that there was nothing more between us than junior - senior relationship" said Daya.
"N-no I didn't!" Shreya protested.
"You sure?" asked Daya.
"We didn't date in the past! Nothing happened between us which -"
"Except last week when I convinced you to come to the party" Daya murmured moving closer to her.
"Nothing happened that night, alright!" said Shreya going red in face.
"Shreya you and I both know the truth. I have trying to talk to you since that night... to make you see sense but you have built these walls around you. Don't lie to me. To yourself." said Daya.
Shreya stayed silent. She didn't know what to say.
"I was a fool! I waited too long. You know I hate myself so much even today when I think about all those times when I could have told you that I love and I just didn't. But even today, to this minute I live on a single hope that you will listen to your heart and nothing else. There's still time. Let me in. Let me penetrate those walls you have built around you. I promise I'll never hurt you - ever." said Daya putting his hand on the nape of her neck.
She stared into his eyes which were full of love.
"How do you feel about it?" he asked.
Shreya couldn't deny it anymore. She knew from a long time that she was in love with Daya and that he felt the same way for her.
She wrapped her hands around his neck.
"I have decided something" she murmured.
"What?" asked Daya.
"I've decided to stop fighting how much I want you" said Shreya sealing his lips with a kiss.
END