Chapter-3
"Where are we going now, Ranveer?" Ishani asked him, her enthusiasm overboard. Ranveer drove the car, simply smiling at her, "Guess it. Actually I'll take you there after sometime. I have something to show you." Confused as usual, she rolled her eyes, in disbelief.
"You have something to show me? What will you show?" she asked him, cocking her eyebrows.
"Something...something personal. I feel that I have got some special attachment towards you. I don't know. I just want to show that to you. It's something close to my heart. It's about someone whom have I dreamt of, all my life." Her heart sank. Yet, she did not show it on her face.
She rolled her eyes again taking in the cool breeze of the place. The smell of the soil and the fields made her feel as though she was back in India. She was missing home, naturally. The place was Loire Valley, the countryside of France. It did not have any humdrum of city life of the loud cars, trams everywhere. It was pleasant, according to her. The breeze which she felt was pure and fresh unlike the city ones with smoke and toxic. And it was even more pleasant for her with him being around her.
"When are we reaching, Ranveer? It's going to be six now!" she said, looking at her metal strapped watched gifted by Nysa on her twenty third birthday. Gazing at her brown ones, he said, "We've made it to the place! Look over your right" he said, stopping his smokeless car with the tight brakes. Switching off the stereo which had a mellow music of the piano, he got down of the car, opening the door of hers. She looked at the place, stunned and astounded. Beauty, they say.
It was a countryside beach, twelve kilometres away from the Oakley's. She swiftly got down from the car, startled by its beauty and the natural effervescence and scent. The beach was huge, very huge in terms of its size. It had a number of tourists and French mates around the place. Some were in shorts while the others in swimsuits. It was summer, after all.
"Wow! I love the place! But why?"
"Why?" Ranveer, asked, bemused. The place was his favourite spot apart from his secret one.
"I mean, why a beach?"
"This is my favourite place and there is the rum festival going on. So I wanted to take you here, also." His last word's emphasis got her attention.
"Also? Where else are we going?" she asked, starting her beach walk.
"You'll get to know it, very soon." He said and took in the fresh breeze with a pleasant smile, contended.
"Okay. What is the rum festival all about?" she asked, enthused.
"It is like; people will have to stamp on the purple grapes which are dropped in huge amounts on a particular place. It is a closed one. You gotta stamp those and extract the juice out of them which will in turn become rum." Ranveer said, heaving out. He was praying god that she shouldn't accept that because he came here just to spend time with her.
"Oh. Shall we do some other thing other than this? My legs are tired. Sorry" she said. Her legs were perfectly fine, actually. But she didn't want to. Introvert, as she is.
"Great!" he squeaked as she saw him, unusual.
"I mean it's fine. Shall we go towards the shore? You'll feel good." Ranveer said, taking his coolers from his trouser pockets.
"Yeah, sure!" was her answer, which came with an instant. Waking towards the shore, they were in silence amidst the huge noisy crowd. Some having their rum with three glasses in hand, some taking up surfing and rafting as their adventure sport. It was summer time in France and no one wished to let go off the opportunity. Ishani and Ranveer though wanted to spend time; they felt it was too much to talk. It was only silence for them this summer.
Sitting down, their stiff legs now stretched out pleasantly. Ishani looked at the movement of the waves, which weren't huge and, the tides of the currents. Ranveer laid down, heaving out a huge sigh.
"Are you okay, Ranveer?" she asked him, concerned. She did not get of why she was concerned for him. But all she knew was he meant something to him.
"Yeah, I am. Was just bored. So..." he quipped.
"Get up. Let me ask you something." Ishani braved herself in asking that question of hers which was running on her mind since the previous night. She knew it was not ethical to ask. But then, her curiosity grew overboard.
"Yeah, tell me." Ranveer got up, dusting off his shoulders.
"Yeah, so the thing which I wanted to ask you was..." Ishani started off, scared, whether to proceed it or not. Just then, she noticed a group of girls and guys approaching them. Looking at them, she stared at Ranveer who was now eagerly listening to her. Sensing her distraction, he looked towards the group when he noticed-
"Nora!" he squeaked.
"Don't tell me that you are not Ranveer!" she said, her enthusiasm level spurting out just like the waves.
"I am Ranveer!" he got up from the place which didn't go unnoticed by her. Dejected, she looked the sand, her hands drawing some weird faces on them.
"Hey! It's you!" Nora exclaimed, hugging him tightly. Ishani was disheartened. Her question was answered, according to her.
Breaking from the tight hug after a few minutes, Ranveer asked her "How're you?"
"I'm pretty good. What about you? You have settled in the same place?"
"Yeah, I did. Why?" he asked, now distancing himself from her.
"Nah. I was just asking. Personal or professional?"
"I have both at the same place. Heard of Oakley's? That's mine." Ranveer said as everyone looked at him in awe for being the owner of such a big resort.
"That's nice to hear. Well...Beach? Something made you happy today?" she asked, tucking her blonde hair back in place.
"Yeah. I'm really happy today." Ranveer said, beamingly while she asked "Personal or professional reasons?" and smirked.
"Of course...it's personal" he said now looking at the now-dejected Ishani.
"Well, meet Ishani...Ishani, Nora." Ranveer introduced them with each other as they both exchanged greetings.
"Ranveer, who's this?" Nora asked with a heavy French accent.
"Ishani...my f...friend. Ranveer said, decently enough as everyone chuckled.
"So this was the reason for your happiness!" Nora bellyached as everyone shared a hearty laugh. Ishani who was now completely dejected, left the place quietly after excusing herself from them.
"Oops! Did we ask anything wrong?" she asked him, sadly as Ranveer said "I guess. She's an introvert, actually. She finds it difficult to mingle with people. But she's not exactly one, though." He heaved out a sigh, worried.
"Okay. You love her?" she asked him as she noticed a slight blush on his face.
"I don't know. It's surreal, as of now. It's like I've known her for decades and yet, I'm not able to talk with her freely. May be, it is." Ranveer said.
"All will be fine. Just chill and by the way this is Benjamin, my fianc." Nora said, showing her engagement ring, glittering in the sunshine.
"This is something great!" Ranveer exclaimed as he gave him a bare hug, congratulating him.
"I know. We've been seeing each other since college and we just got engaged, last week. I'll call you upon for marriage." Nora said, blushingly as he hugged her congratulating her.
"Okay. I gotta go now. She must be sad." Ranveer's face fell as Nora said "Talk to her normally. She'll be fine."
"Okay" He left the beach and leaped towards the parking lot where he found her sitting inside the car, alone with deep thoughts, assumed by him. He went forward and shook her calling "Ishani?"
She looked at him giving a fake smile and asked "Done? Shall we get back home? I guess it's getting late. We should be home by now."
"Hey, it's only 6.30 and you want to leave? So soon?" he asked trying to be joking but miserably failed. Somehow he did not like her being unhappy.
"But it's getting late, right? Or then, I'll get back home. You may come later after talking with her." Ishani said, the last word of hers completely in vanish.
"Who? Nora?" Ranveer asked, as though he didn't even know what had happened.
"Yeah...Nora, whatever" she said, carelessly.
"Ishani, you seem disturbed, is everything alright? Why are you tensed if I talk with her?" he asked stressing upon his last few words which made Ishani come back to her consciousness.
"Uh? Why would I? I mean, she's yours...I mean, your girlfriend and you both will have a lot to discuss about, right By the way, when is the engagement?" she asked him, without breathing.
"So this is the problem!" Ranveer controlled his infectious smile from her and continued "Who said she's my girlfriend? She's my childhood friend...I mean; we studied together during school."
"Oh, really!" her happiness knew no bound as a broad smile crept upon her dull face.
"Yeah. But that doesn't mean that I don't have one. I do have." Ranveer said.
"You do have what? Girlfriend?" her face back to the original one.
"Yeah. And that's the place where I'm going to take you now. I'm sure; you're going to love her!" Ranveer said, sitting inside the car.
"Are you sure?" she asked him, dejected that he had one girlfriend.
"I am." Ranveer said, fastening his seat-belt and starting the car.
It was 7.15 as per Ishani's metal strapped watch as her heart beats grew faster and faster as they came nearer to that place of Ranveer's girlfriend.
"Ranveer, the world knows about your girlfriend?" she asked, disheartened.
"No. They don't. Even Maa doesn't know about her. It's only between me and her. In fact, I don't like it to be disclosed it to the world. Personal matters are personal. It's something intimate and you shouldn't grudge upon that."
"Then why do you have to say it to me? You just said it was personal. Then why me?" Ishani asked him, jokingly though she wasn't, in actual.
"Um...Because I feel I have got that attachment towards you. I think that I should take you there and introduce her to you. More than anyone, I feel you'll feel happy. Right?"
"Uh? Oh, yeah" she answered him, blankly.
"Ishani, are you disturbed? You see distorted from the incident with Nora. It wasn't an incident at all! I met her after so many years and I was engrossed. Sorry that I did not spend proper time with you, if you felt so." Ranveer said, expecting quite an answer from her.
"NO! I mean, not at all! I was just thinking about your girlfriend. That's it." Ishani made up the situation.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I am. Trust me." Ishani said as he sped up the car.
The valleys and the mountains of the Loire Valley seemed quiet, as usual but there was something disturbing Ishani. It was his girlfriend. How would she look? Will she be more beautiful than her? Is she more sensible than her? Why did Ranveer love that girl? How old is their relationship? So many questions arose in her mind when she asked-
"Ranveer, how old is your relationship?"
"Em, well, it should be around twelve years now." He said, turning the steering.
"Twelve years! Gosh! That's huge!"
"I know right! I love her so much! And she does, too. But there are a lot more of things other than love. I mean, we share something more than love. It isn't physical. It is emotional. Oh c'mon Ishani. Please don't let me reveal the details of her. I am bad with keeping up suspense."
"Okay" she said thinking of who the girl is after all! She asked him, again, "Can I have her name?"
"What's with the name, Ishani? I', sure you'll trust me and my love for her. Don't you?"
"Oh Ranveer, that doesn't mean that I'm testing your love for her. I just asked her name." Ishani answered, tensed.
"I'll reveal everything once we reach the place. Now quiet." Ranveer said. Ishani didn't open her mouth after that statement though her mind wasn't.
Done. Constructive Criticism will be more than welcome and sorry for typos :D