Love Lasts Forever (3 page)

Two decks below
, all our ship’s crew members, some twenty-five of them, have been assembled in the small mess room. They have been made to sit on the floor with the pirates strategically positioned around them, guns in their hands, with orders of shoot if any one moves.

Here on the bridge, the atmosphere is relatively
safe. Of course the ‘shoot orders’ apply here as well but they are a bit wary about it as they need us, at least till the time we get there. The pirates are not good navigators and have a limited knowledge of bridge equipments; they lack essential radio communication skills as well to communicate with their partners ashore. So till the time we reach their desired location, we are pretty much in safe hands.

Till the time we reach
we are safe!

M
y own thought has managed to send a shiver down my spine and props up disconcerting questions in my head.

What would happen after that?
Would they kill us? Would they torture us till we are dead? Will we ever be out of their custody?

4
.  OUR FIRST DATE

February 2004, Mumbai

Barely twenty four hours into our first meeting
, and here I was, already, on a date with Priyank’s sister Aisha.

After a cursory visit to the ‘Gateway of India’ we made our way to the Italian joint ‘Pizzazz’ in Mumbai’s up market Marine drive area overlooking the Arabian Sea. As we entered
, we caught an intoxicating whiff of hot dough and mozzarella cheese, and it was the most amazing smell. There was a rustic ambience about the place, and I couldn’t notice many unoccupied tables. The walls were adorned by posters of Hollywood stars, and some of them, I noticed, were peeling off from the edges. Western rock music blared from the speakers toward the left of the table we settled in.

As she checked out the menu dithering on what to order, I checked
her
out. I must admit that I was completely blown over by her beauty yesterday, and today, she looks even prettier than I remembered.

From the very little that I have known her, I would best describe her as someone with an understated elegance and a charming personality that oozes confidence and grace. She isn’t tall, few inches over five feet perhaps, has thin golden brown hair, immaculately manicured hands
, and smooth white skin like Priyank. With blue jeans complimented by a flowery mustard top and the slightest hint of make-up, she managed looking sensual.

I was so inundated by
her beauty yesterday that I ditched Joe Singh to have lunch with Priyank’s family. He’s not Priyanka by the way; I have stopped calling him that. After all, he’s my future brother-in-law, he deserves some respect now.

Yes, I have decided marrying Aisha some day in the future. Love changes us all, doesn’t it?

Yesterday over lunch we sat across each other and invariably I noticed her checking me out from the corner of her eyes. I felt a knot tighten in my stomach and sensed something skeptical. I smiled incredulously at her and wondered how on earth could a beautiful woman like her get attracted to me? Maybe her brother had told her about us, how we tease him and all that, and she’d decided to teach me a lesson.

But as sense dawned, I realized I was decent enough to attract pretty women after all. Closing in at six feet with sinewy body and chiseled features, I too was a catch for her. That’s when I decided to ask her out.

While bidding adieu to Priyank’s family and hugging him dramatically pretending how much I would miss him, I offered Aisha a
nice meeting you
hand shake passing her a little note scribbled over a tissue paper:

I don’t know if I’ve been searching for true love,

Or waiting for it to come knocking at my door,

But the moment I’ve rested my eyes on you,

I’ve found what I’ve been looking for
, and never want to let it go.

Tomorrow, 5pm, Churchgate.

She cast a furtive glance at the paper at once, rolled her eyes quickly through my words, and then deftly nodded her head with her eyes twinkling in unison. I almost screamed in excitement.

‘Why did you call me here?’ she asked, looking up from the menu, as though oblivious of the reason.

I rolled my eyes and exhaled sharply. Now that is something I hate in a woman. Why do they have to pretend they are dumb? And why do they think
we
are dumb?

OK, if that’s wh
at she wants, here’s the answer:

‘Because I love you,’ I replied unfazed, looking straight in her eyes. I really did. I had only heard about love at first sight, but yes it happens.

‘What?’ She sort of snorted throwing the menu at the table. She still couldn’t decide what to order. ‘You can’t love me, you barely know me,’ she declared.

‘Yes, I really do,’ I said, taking her hand in mine.

I knew I appeared a bit in a hurry, but I had no choice. I’d be leaving for my first ship next month for the next six months, and I didn’t want to wait that long to convey my feelings to her. Besides beauties like her have a very limited span of availability.

She blushed. Gracefully, she withdrew her hands from mine
, and a faint smile engulfed her face.

‘You’re so bad,’ she drawled, tucking her hair behind her ears.

‘I am,’ I chuckled, leaning back in my seat.
Was that a yes?

She cleared her throat, handed me the menu
, and we ordered. During food we chatted on inane topics and contemplated life. She thrust her brother in our conversation from nowhere and that’s when I almost threw up.

‘Priyank is such a sweet lad, isn’t he?’ I saw a gleeful spark in her eyes as she dug her fork in the pasta. ‘I mean he is the sunshine of our life, he’s so competitive and full of energy; no one can beat him in
anything
. He’s just
the best
.’

‘I can’t agree more,’ I replied non-commit-tally, looking everywhere else but in her eyes.

Sweet lad?

‘Isn’t it?’ She adjusted herself on the seat and moved closer to me. The exuberance in her expression was disconcerting. ‘You know my whole life revolves around my brother. He is my best friend, my mentor, in fact he is everything to me other than a brother.’

‘Really? Wow!’ I held the glass of Pepsi and took a long sip. The brother-sister talk brought tears to my eyes, well almost. Not due to affection, of course, but due to fear. Did she even know how much her beloved brother hates me and Joe Singh, and likewise?

‘Does Priyank know you are em…here with me?’ I asked, hoping for an outright no.

‘No, I haven’t told him yet…’ she replied almost instantly while chewing her food along.

Thank God!
I breathed a sigh of relief.

‘…And I’ve been feeling guilty about it all this while.’

She looked wistfully out the window. I followed her gaze. The sun was slowly beginning its descent down the horizon. The sky was orange, and the sea glistened in gold, reflecting its colour. In the distance, dusk was slowly making its way over.

‘You know
’ - she scooted her head over, facing me - ‘I never hide anything from him. I think I’m going to tell him about you today. You guys are friends, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled by the news.’

‘Oh sweetie, you have no idea.’ I took a small bite of the garlic bread before dipping it in ketchup.

‘What do you mean?’ she raised her brow, wiping her lips with a tissue paper.

‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘I just feel this is not the right time to tell him, let’s see where we go first. We should take it easy for a while.’

‘Yeah, actually, you are right,’ she agreed.

Thank God, again!

She took a slow breath. ‘He’ll be so bamboozled by the news, I mean, you know, you are his friend and all, dating his sister. That might shock him.’

I smiled. ‘There you go, sounds about right, SHOCK!’

She nodded. I relaxed my muscles, unclenched my fist, and suddenly air flew more comfortably to my lungs.

But suddenly, a very unnerving question popped up in my head.
What would happen if Priyank tells her about me? Will she kick me or slap me?

‘But you know Ronit,’ she resumed in a concerned tone, breaking my thought. ‘Priyank tells me there are some rowdy and unethical batch mates of his who are so jealous of him that they’ve been troubling and ragging him right from the onset of this course. I want to kill those guys.’

‘Em...sorry…what?’ I preferred pretending I never heard that.

She repeated her statement verbatim but ended with a question, ‘Do you know who those guys are?’

‘No idea at all, absolutely no idea,’ I answered spontaneously and avoided looking in her eyes again.

‘I hope those guys rot in hell.’

She said it with so much power and conviction, I was pretty sure Joe Singh and I would actually end up that way.

‘Hey look!
’ I pointed through the window toward a horse cart galloping down the Marine Drive, primarily to change the topic. ‘You want a ride later.’

‘Love to.’

We left the restaurant an hour later after settling the bill and I ensured Priyank’s topic was completely knocked out her head.

On the ride, as the cool wind of the Arabian Sea blew past our face and caressed us, I looked at her and couldn’t help but wonder, how could I possibly be in love with a person so madly, whom I met just yesterday. 

5
. Joe Singh’s advice

February 2004
, Mumbai

Joe Singh resided in Jalvayu Vihar in Powai; a complex developed by the naval and air force housing board. Although he spent more time in Delhi than Mumbai, he preferred the
Mumbaikar
tag over a
Delhite
one. And I didn’t know why, but I hated him for that.

With the
morning sun shining nice and bright in the sky, I found myself reaching for his place. After my first date yesterday with the love of my life, I’d been bubbling with excitement to share the news with him. I wanted to see the reaction, or perhaps shock - as Aisha had put it - on his face; hence I decided to meet him in person. Joe Singh’s parents left home early so their maid opened the door. Joe Singh once confided in me that he had the hots for her daughter, and well, that was the weirdo in him.

Talking about the
‘weirdo in him’,
he also had a
thing
for Priyank. Correction – a
thing
for his arse. That ‘toothpaste night’, Joe Singh had brought a camera with him.

And I hated that screensaver on his computer screen.
It was there for two months!

Shunning my best friend’s
thoughts, I approached his room. A poster of ‘Rabbi Shergill’ and ‘Beatles’ competed with each other on the wall opposite the bed. The room was tiny yet looked elegant with just the bare minimum furniture - an ebony coloured TV unit, two side tables on each side of the mahogany coloured bed, a wooden attached wardrobe, and two bean bags occupied the side.

Joe Singh’s
head was buried under the pillow and the blanket slovenly covered his body.

‘
Wake up you moron, its eleven.’ I jostled him.

             
‘Um…’ He moaned.

             
‘Get up man, got some interesting stuff to tell you.’

             
‘Um…’

             
‘I was with Aisha yesterday.’

             
Still nothing.

             
‘Aisha…is…Priyank’s…sister,’ I drawled to create a dramatic effect.

             
‘Whhaatt?’ He threw his blanket and as if like a sorcerer sat beside me the very next moment. ‘Who?’ he asked; his curled lips and narrowed eyes manifested his curiosity.

             
‘Yes! You heard it right! Aisha, Priyank’s sister!’

             
‘Hold on dude,’ he cut in, thrusting his arms at me, ‘first things first. Since when did you start calling him Priyank? We’d already established he’s a girl, right?’