Nisha shivered from the cold... She was soaking wet from head to toe...
“Dammit... This is the only thing I hate about Mumbai... Why does it have to rain without any rhyme or reason?”
She looked at her watch... It was 3:24 am... She was wet from the rain; she had told Sushant that he could go on home... She had said she would be fine... But would she be fine???
Let’s rewind everything... Let’s tell you a little about Nisha...
Nisha Chauhan is your regular 24 year old... She has a 9 to 5 job; which generally turns into 9 to 9... She would rarely reach home before 10:30 p.m.; taking into consideration her travel time from Parel to Vashi...
When Nisha landed in Mumbai, she was fresh out of college... She had just completed her Masters in Mass Media and had landed a job with a leading news agency in the city... People from her neighbourhood in Jabalpur, where she had been brought up, had told her mother not to send her off to Mumbai... After all, they didn’t even have any friends or relatives to fall back on in Mumbai, in case of any undue emergencies...
Nisha, however, being the steadfast one, held her ground and had her way done...
MAY 4TH, 2008:
Nisha landed in Mumbai... She initially started staying with a senior from her college, who had landed in the city a couple of months before her... Sasha was working with a leading radio channel and seemed to be enjoying herself thoroughly... She would always come home late... And on most occasions, she came home reeking of smoke smell and Nisha was pretty sure that she used to consume drinks as well...
Sasha invited Nisha out with her on more than one occasion, but Nisha knew better than to fall prey to such behaviour... Sasha wasn’t a bad girl... She was just with the wrong kind of people...
JULY 17th, 2008:
Someone was ringing the door bell at their house... The ringing seemed insistent... Nisha got up, rubbed her eyes and checked the time on her cell-phone... It was 3 am... She went over to the door and looked through the peep hole... There was a young man, and in his arms was Sasha... He was carrying her like she was a baby... She had passed out...
Nisha opened the door and let them in... He set Sasha down on her bed... Nisha didn’t have to give him directions to Sasha’s room... He seemed to know his way around the house pretty well... Once he had shut Sasha’s door behind him, he turned to look at Nisha...
“Ummmm... (Clearing his throat) Could I have a glass of water???” he asked...
“Oops!!! I’m so sorry” Nisha replied sheepishly and rushed to the kitchen to fetch him a glass of water...
When she returned to the room, he was still standing...
“Why don’t you sit down?” said Nisha.
“I wasn’t sure if you would be okay with me hanging around for awhile... It is rather late and it’s not like Sash stays alone any longer... I can’t come and go as I wish anymore...” he said... “You must be Nisha... She always says you’re the homely kind of person... Her description about you was pretty apt... Sorry about waking you up from your sleep...”
“Am sorry...” Nisha replied; “But I didn’t recognize you... Have we met before??”
“Nah... We haven’t met... And it’s a pity that we haven’t... You have already been staying with Sash for over a month... We should have met before, man!!! Why don’t you ever join us for our parties??”
“Errrrr... I still didn’t get your name” Nisha said, almost impatiently... Who was this man?? How did he know so much about her??? He seemed alright, given the fact that he hadn’t sat down or waited until she offered him a seat... Sign of a gentleman...
“Oh... There I go again... Chattering off like an old lady... I’m Sushant... Sash’s friend... Hasn’t she mentioned me ever?? We work together... I’m an RJ with Radio One... Sash works on the production of the show that I host... Please tell me she has mentioned me before... Or I’m going to look like a total loser who is trying to impress you...”
“No no... You seem like anything but a loser Sushant” Nisha replied... “Of course, Sasha has told me about you... She talks about you and Paritosh a lot... I believe he works with you guys as well...” She motioned him to sit down...
“Oh yes... Parit is a dear friend of ours... “He said while dragging the closest chair he found... After sitting down and crossing his legs, he continued... “He does work with us... But he is currently working on another show... We hope he will join us on our show soon... I love having him around... You must meet him someday Nish... He’s absolutely cute... Or that’s what women say about him... Waise am not that bad looking myself; am I?”
“Ahem... Ummmmmm...” Nisha struggled with a reply, wondering what the right thing to say was... She had never been alone with a man in a room, and never in her wildest dreams would she have let a man speak to her at 3 am, unless he was married to her of course... Nisha had never even had a boyfriend...
Sushant noticed her uneasiness... “Hmmm... I don’t think the time is right for us to speak about such frivolities... I should take your leave... I shall see you around girl... Do join us sometimes... Would love to see more of you...” he said with a wink...
Nisha could feel herself blush... Was that wink specifically meant for her? Or was it just part of what the Mumbai men do?
JULY 23rd, 2008:
Sasha was getting ready to go out for a party... It was the weekend... Nisha was doing her favourite weekend activity... She was blogging... Nisha loved to write... She wrote about almost everything that happened around her... Sushant and Sasha were now frequent names on her blog and most of her followers knew their names and character sketches...
“Hey Nish... Come here na” Sasha yelled from her bedroom...
“What’s it Sash??”
“Arey baba... Come here na!!! It’s an emergency...”
A flustered Nisha walked into Sasha’s room...
“What’s the matter Sash??? I was at such an interesting juncture on my blog... Okay am here now... Tell me, what’s the big emergency about???”
Sash giggled... “Should I wear the mauve dress or the black little number for today’s party??”
“Oh!!! So that’s what this was all about... I should’ve known...” she replied... “The empire cut one... The mauve one... That cut suits you better...”
“Cool...” said Sasha; “So I will wear the mauve one... And you can wear your olive green dress... It perfectly complements your skin tone... C’mon hurry up... We’re going to be late...”
“And where exactly do you think we’re going? I mean why should I get dressed up??? Oh!! I get it... May be it is to open the door for you at 5 am when you come home drunk!!!” Nisha teased...
“Chal chal... You’re not going to have to open the door tonight... Coz you’re going to be out with me... It’s Sushant’s birthday... And we’re throwing a surprise birthday party for him... He would love it if this could be your introduction to our social scene... It would be the best birthday gift for him...”
(An hour later)
Sushant walked into the Lounge where they regularly met on Saturday nights... He was pretty amused when the lights came on suddenly and everyone was there to wish him ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’... Sash and the others brought in a huge cake with 27 candles on it...
Just when Sushant bent down to blow the candles off, his eyes fell on Nisha... She smiled at him... He smiled back... A private smile... A moment, shared between the both of them... Just them...
After the ritual of cutting the cake was done with, Sushant walked over to Nisha... She air-kissed him on either cheek and wished him a very happy birthday... She was slowly getting accustomed to the ways of Mumbai life... Air-kissing, she had learnt, was not a big deal at all... And was, in fact, a preferred way of greeting friends and acquaintances at a casual or semi-formal event...
“You look fantastic Nisha... I am so glad you came... You may not know it, but you have made my day”
“Actually I didn’t know....”she was about to complete her sentence, when she had to stop...
“Excuse me... May I have the pleasure of interrupting you guys???” said a voice from behind Sushant...
“Parit... Of course you do...” Sushant said warmly... “Paritosh, meet Nisha...”
“Of course, Sash told me you had come... I’m so glad you could make it... Make yourself at home and enjoy the party... Why don’t you have a drink in your hand??” asked Paritosh...
“I’m sorry gentlemen, but I don’t drink” she replied politely...
“A mocktail then??” offered Paritosh... Sushant smiled and shrugged his shoulders...
“Errrrr... I guess that would be alrite...” Nisha said...
“In the meanwhile, may I have the pleasure of a dance with you?” Sushant had his hand outstretched in front of Nisha... She accepted the offer... He led her to the dance floor... His hand placed securely on the small of her back...
From the side of her eye, she saw Paritosh walk away to get her a drink... He didn’t seem to like her very much, or so it seemed... He was being nice for the sake of being polite... Or so she thought... He stopped to talk to a rather attractive looking woman... She was gorgeous... She had an unusually slender neck... And her goldilocks curls fell softly on her shoulders...
“Omigosh woman... I didn’t know you could dance this well!!” exclaimed a rather surprised Sushant...
“That’s all I did for the first 3 months after I got to Mumbai, Sush... I have a 5 day week and since the work load wasn’t that heavy initially, I took some dance lessons over the weekend... And it seems to have worked in my favour... I was always good at dancing anyways...”
“You’re one chhupa rustam, man!!! What else do you have hidden down your sleeves??” teased Sushant...
She could feel herself blushing again, as Sushant pulled her closer... She didn’t know what it was about this fellow; but she always felt her heart skip a beat when he was around...
JULY 24th, 2008:
It was 6 am in the morning... The after party had happened at Sushant’s suave new bachelor pad at Lokhandwala... The key turned in the lock, and the door swung open... As Nisha pulled in a rather tired Sasha in with her, she knocked off her own shoes...
She got Sasha to sit down and went about making some coffee for the both of them...
“Sasha... Can I ask you something??”
“Yeah sure!!!” answered a groggy - eyed Sasha...
“Is Sushant seeing anyone?? I mean, like is he involved with someone or anything??”
“WHAT THE FFFFFFFFF!!!” replied Sasha.
Nisha walked into the hall room sheepishly... “Did I ask the wrong thing??”
“Of course not silly... You finally asked me the right thing... See, Sushant is my best friend... And so is Parit... Paritosh... You met him yesterday, didn’t you??” Nisha nodded her head...
Sash continued “A lot of people at work thought I was dating Sushant... Then they thought maybe I was dating Paritosh... Finally they all saw the light of the day when they realized we were not more than a bunch of fools who were unfortunately joined at the hips...”
Nisha giggled...
“Sush is a great guy... He’s sincere, hardworking, good looking, well settled, of marriageable age, is SINGLE... Go for him, girl!!!”
“Uhhhh... Ummmm... I didn’t mean...” Nisha began to look away from Sash... She had pretty much hit the nail on the head with her last reply... “I don’t know what to say, Sash...”
“You like him or not??” Sash had her hand on her hips... When Sasha struck this pose, it indicated that she meant business...
“Errrrr... Yeah...” Nisha said sheepishly....
“Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” jumped an ecstatic Sash... “Done!!! I’m so going to set you guys up... Just behave like you don’t know anything...”
“Alright...” Nisha struck a salute to Sash... “Your wish is my command!!!”
OCTOBER 29th, 2008:
The door bell rang... Sash answered it...
“It’s for you Nish!!!”
Nisha walked up to the door... It was Sushant... She ran to the door and hugged him... He hugged her back... Why did he always smell so yummy??
“Happy anniversary baby!!!” she squealed... “Well I know it’s just been 3 months since we started dating, but it’s the first time I am celebrating a 3 month anniversary... Am excited...”
“Congo you love birds...” mocked Sash...
“Ramesh Babu... Tum kya jaano; ek chutki sindoor ki keemat!!!” Nish teased back...
“She’s just jealous that you don’t spend enough time with her anymore... Honey, what will you eat for dinner??? And you’re staying back tonight, aren’t you??? I have made all the arrangements you asked me to make... I have bought the DVD of Casablanca, the movie that you wished you could watch with me... I bought some Red wine... I have cooked some Dum Aloo and Paneer Pasanda... I have also bought some condoms... Just in case...” Nisha turned and winked at him...
Sushant stood there... Frozen...
“Nish... I... I... We need to talk...” he said slowly.
“What’s the matter baby?? Is it something that I have done?” Nisha pleaded...
“No... It’s not you... It’s me!!!” he replied...
Nisha had heard this sentence in movies a million times... Little had she known that time, that this statement would come back at her, to stab her to death!!!
Tears started welling up in her eyes... “But... But I don’t understand... It’s all so beautiful...”
“I know sugar... It’s perfect... Except for the fact that I am not perfect...” he said... His tone changed to being a little more serious as he took her by the elbow and led her to her room... “Let’s talk alone” he said...
Sash had entered the room by then... She seemed to have heard part of the conversation...
Sushant closed the door behind himself after they both had entered the room... He motioned for Nisha to sit down on the bed...
“Please try to understand what I am about to tell you... It’s a truth that has not only shocked me, but will shock you and all the others who know me as well... I... I don’t know how to tell you this... But I need you, of all people, to understand me... I love you a lot Nisha... I still love you... But...”
He paused...
Every passing second caused more heartache to Nisha... She wished he would just get it over and done with... So she asked him “Sushant, have you slept with someone else?? Is this what this is all about??? Then, hear it out loud and clear... I don’t care if you slept with someone else... I love you nonetheless... I am not capable of loving anyone else... Not the way I love you... No one can replace you...”
He clamped his hand over her mouth...
“Woman, woman, woman!!! You’re not listening to me... It’s not a problem that can be dealt with like this...”
He continued, “But if you want to know the truth, yes... I did sleep with someone else... And you know the person; which makes things worse for me... I don’t know if you guys will ever see eye to eye ever again... But I hope that you do... Coz both of you are equally important to me...”
When he mentioned the term ‘equally important’, Nisha knew what was going to come next... It had to be Sasha... Who else was equally important to him?
“I knew it... Sasha can’t keep her hands off men when she’s drunk... But you, Sushant!!! I didn’t expect this of you... You are the same guy who used to get her home safely every time she was drunk... I trusted you... At least not with her!!! She’s like family to me... How could you, Sushant!!!”
“Nisha...”he said, with his voice lowered... “It’s not Sasha, its Paritosh!!!”
FEBRUARY 14th, 2009:
Nisha and Sasha entered the mall... The entire mall was decorated with pink balloons and red roses...
“How mushy, na!!!” Sash said...
“You are the one with a problem... You are so bloody unromantic... I think it’s cute...” replied Nisha... “C’mon let’s take the elevator quick... I can bet they must be angry as hell with us!!! We’re late by half an hour...”
“This is toh usual...When have we been on time?? So what’s the big deal?? I hope they have gotten us nice gifts!!!” said Sasha, as she checked herself in the mirror in the elevator...
“There you go, you hypocrite... You hate Valentine’s Day... But you still want the gifts, eh??” mocked Nisha...
“I am not being a hypocrite darling... I ‘m just being a girl!!!” giggled Sash... They hi-fived and left the elevator... They headed towards Bombay Blues... That’s where they were to meet the boys...
The boys waved out to them and Nish and Sash walked up to them...
“You look fantastic Nisha... You don’t look half as bad, Sasha...”
“Hey... Stop picking on my girlfriend all the time” he replied...
(Time to pause the rewind... You don’t know who it is that I’m talking about here... Welcome two new characters... Inderjeet or Inder as they fondly called him... He is Sasha’s boyfriend... And then there was his best friend, Clive; who was extremely fond of our girl, Nisha... But she still wasn’t over the Sushant episode...)
Nisha hadn’t seen Sushant after that day... He had tried to get in touch with her a zillion times... But she didn’t wish to keep in touch... Sasha and she made a deal, Sushant and Paritosh were never to enter their house ever again... Nisha didn’t know if Sushant asked Sash about her or not, but she had specifically forbidden Sasha to act as the mediator... Sasha had agreed to the deal...
This time around Sasha knew better... So she didn’t really play for or against in Clive’s case... Though she secretly hoped things would work out for the better... Clive did seem like a good guy... But then again, she herself was shocked after finding out the truth about Sushant and Paritosh’s relationship... She had begun to keep her distance from them... Not because they were gay, but coz they hadn’t trusted her enough to even come and tell her the truth themselves... They preferred her knowing via Nisha... That had been a rude awakening for her...
BACK TO STORY:
Clive ordered Nachos and sodas for everyone... They planned on hitting Clive’s club after that... Clive’s uncle owned a rather posh club in South Mumbai... Clive used to handle all the PR and Marketing of the club...
“Girls and guys... I hope you’re all geared up for a night of fun and frolic” announced Inder... “But before that, I have something for you girls...” He brought out two packages from underneath the table... One was bigger than the other...
“I bet the bigger one’s for you” Sash said... And she was right... Clive must’ve bought it for her... But he was the shy kinds... He wouldn’t give it to her himself...
She opened the packaging... It was a lovely red dress... She checked the tag... It read ‘Falguni and Shane Peacock Signature Collection’... It also had matching accessories with it... ‘At least he has good taste in clothes’ Nisha thought to herself...
“Sasha, why don’t you girls go and change??” Inder said... He had bought her a teal coloured, halter neck short dress... It had some lovely sequinned detailing on it... She had matching stilettos in her size... “Aren’t boyfriends like God’s blessing to womankind?” she joked as they walked off to the ladies’ room...
“Can you help me zip up?” Nisha asked Sash, who was busy touching up her make up...
After Sash had zipped her up, Nisha turned to look at herself in the mirror... She knew she looked gorgeous...
As they were leaving the washroom, Nisha caught the figure of a woman from the corner of her eye... She seemed familiar... Especially the goldilocks curls and the slender neck... She seemed to have a captivating smile as well...
“C’mon... let’s get goin!!!” Sash yelled...
Clive couldn’t get his eyes off Nisha throughout the drive to the club... Sash and Inder were too busy making out in the back seat... Nisha shifted nervously in her passenger seat... She knew Clive’s attention was completely affixed on her... He was only pretending to be interested in driving...
When they stopped at the parking lot, Sash rushed out of the car saying she had to visit the washroom; and Inder escorted her...
“Nisha... May I have a word with you?” Clive asked nervously...
“Ummmm... Sure...”
“Did you like the dress??”
“I love it... It’s gorgeous...”
“I have something else for you” he said, pulling out a box from the inside pocket of his jacket... It looked like a jewellery box... Nisha could feel her heart beat racing... ‘Could he be?? Was this happening for real??? Should I say yes?? Should I say no??? Should I run away???’
He opened the box and inside it was the most beautiful pair of pearl ear-rings that she had ever seen... She almost breathed a sigh of relief...
“I couldn’t, Clive... I mustn’t...”
“I would love it if you accepted... Please don’t break my heart...” he pleaded... His eyes searched her face for any signs of emotions... There were none... But she smiled and accepted... She tried them on... They matched the dress perfectly... She looked like a princess...
He escorted her to the club... On entering, he excused himself, saying he had to go and have a word with his uncle... It was after all, Valentine’s Day, one of the busiest nights for the club... Nisha wandered off amidst the crowd, hoping to see Sash and Inder...
She felt a hand on her shoulder... She turned around saying “Where were you??” and stopped mid-sentence... She could feel her face turning red...
He was the last person she had expected to bump into... She didn’t know how to react... “Happy Valentine’s day, Nisha!!” he said...
“Wish you the same, Paritosh!!!” she replied...
Just then Clive came over... “I believe you haven’t been acquainted... This is Clive... Clive, this is Paritosh!!” she said, slipping her hand over Clive’s elbow... This act came as a surprise for Clive, coz Nisha hadn’t as much as touched him before... Clive and Paritosh shook hands...
To make matters worse, Nisha heard a voice that she was hoping she would have heard, but dreaded hearing now... “Nisha... Is that you girl??”
She turned around to face him... He still looked as gorgeous as ever... “Hey Sushant...” she managed to say weakly...
He had a man standing right next to him... “Oh!! Pardon my habits... This is Saul... Saul this is Nisha...” “And this is Clive” Nisha quickly added...
“It’s really nice meeting you guys... Please excuse us for a second... Honey, can I have a word with you please...”said Saul...
Nisha looked away... She couldn’t deal with someone else calling her Sushant ‘honey’...
“Alrite then... See you guys around...” replied Paritosh and walked away with Saul in tow...
Nisha looked up at Sushant in bewilderment...
“Oh!!! You thought Saul was my boyfriend?? Nope!!! He’s Paritosh’s boyfriend... I’m single...”
“Sushant!!! OMG... Is that you??” squealed an excited Sasha... She could never manage to hate Sushant... No matter how much he wronged her... She loved him and Paritosh a lot... It showed from the way she cared for them...
“Why don’t you join us?” offered Clive... Sushant took up the offer... Nisha managed to keep her distance from both Sushant and Clive through the night...
That was the first time she tasted alcohol... She wasn’t going to remember much of the night... She wouldn’t even remember who got her home...
FEBRUARY 15th, 2009:
Nisha woke up with a start... Where was she??? Who was she with??
She looked around... It looked familiar... She was in Sasha’s room... Sasha was asleep next to her... She checked under her sheet... She was in her own pair of shorts...
“Morning!!!” said Sasha, as she woke up and rubbed her eyes...
“Hmmmmm....How do you deal with this every weekend, Sash?” asked an inquisitive Nisha... After all, it had been her first time getting drunk... It was her first hangover...
“F**k all that... Sash, who carried me home?? Please don’t say Sushant!!!” she pleaded...
“No... Not Sushant...”
“Was it Clive then???”
“No... Inder brought you home; although both Clive and Sushant were waiting downstairs in the car...”
“Sash, I think I need to speak to Sushant...”
“I think that’s a good idea” Sash smiled and replied...
FEBRUARY 18th, 2009:
They met at the Cafe Coffee Day outlet at Malhad...
“2 cappuccinos please...” Sushant placed the order... “I’m so glad that we can meet like this... I thought I had lost you...” He looked around casually, as he waited for the order to reach the table... Nisha noticed him looking at a female with goldilocks curls as he drummed on the table with his fingertips...
“I thought we were a lost cause too... Don’t get me wrong Sush... But I want to clear out certain things right at the beginning... I just want us to get back to being comfortable with each other for now... The rest of it can take care of itself later... Are you okay with this settlement??”
“Sounds perfect” he replied... A broad grin on his face...
A long conversation ensued between them... They spoke about a lot of things... Work... Life... Parents... Religion... Etc, etc, etc...
As they left, they took a rickshaw to the railway station... Sushant’s car was at the garage for his bi-monthly servicing...
They reached Malhad station at 10 minutes past 10 pm... One train came, and they missed it, coz they were busy conversing with each other... They swore that they would take the next train that would pull into that platform... They eventually missed over 23 trains... It was around 12:40 pm by then...
“I don’t feel like letting you go, Nisha” Sushant said suddenly... Gripping her wrist, he pulled her closer to him...
She could feel her heart beating faster... She had always dreamt of kissing this man... But did she want it now?? And like this?? At a railway platform???
“Not here, Sush!!” she said...
“Can we go to my place??” he asked...
“Alright” she heard herself reply...
Why was she agreeing to this???
When they got to his place, he gingerly placed his hand on her chin and pulled her face upwards towards his... His lips lightly touched hers... She could feel the heat of his breath on her face... Her palms were getting sweaty... He kissed her on the forehead and whispered “I will always love you”... She couldn’t believe this was actually happening...
He kissed her lips, lightly at first... He started unbuttoning her blouse slowly... The feel of his hands on her skin made her get goose-bumps all over... She had seen dreams about this moment, all through the 3 months that they had dated each other; and also in the months of separation that had followed... She had fantasized about him, as she masturbated in her lonely moments... She could have never thought of another man like that...
In the eye of her mind, she had seen him make love to her a million times... The only difference now was that it seemed so much better...
He fell back on the bed, sweating profusely... She was also panting... She turned over to him and whispered ‘I love you’ in his ears...
Seconds ticked away... No reply...
“Am sorry hun... It’s not you, it’s me...” he said... And a devilish smile spread over his face...
She felt like she had been hit in the pits of her stomach... How could he say that???
She picked up her clothes and ran into the bathroom... She stood under the shower and let the ice cold water beat against her not-so-clean skin...
When she came out of the bathroom, he lay down on the bed, fully clothed... He held a lit cigarette in his hand...
She took one step towards him, and then walked up to him, with every single ounce of energy left in her body... She wanted to slap him... But she couldn’t... Maybe that would be what he expected...
It was almost 2:30 am... He offered to drop her half the way... It was too late for her to go home alone...
She wasn’t surprised to see Sushant’s car standing in his parking lot... The whole thing about the car being in the garage had also been a guise...
Sushant didn’t even look at her once on the drive back from his place to Malhad... Nisha told him she wanted to be dropped back at Malhad coz she at least knew the management at Ecstasy... It was a hookah lounge at Malhad, which was open for 24 hours...
While they were driving to Malhad, it started pouring... It was February and it was raining... Global warming sure was affecting the whole universe...
Nisha, however, felt that the rain was a direct effect of the turmoil that she was facing inside her own self...
Sushant dropped her in front of Ecstasy and was about to leave...
“You sure you’re going to be alrite?” he asked...
“Yeah, I’ll be fine...” she replied half-heartedly...
Nisha shivered from the cold... She was soaking wet from head to toe...
“Dammit... This is the only thing I hate about Mumbai... Why does it have to rain without any rhyme or reason?”
She looked at her watch... It was 3:24 am... She was wet from the rain; she had told Sushant that he could go on home... She had said she would be fine... But would she be fine???
She didn’t even have an umbrella.... She was getting wet... But she didn’t want to go inside Ecstasy...
“Ma’am... Why don’t you just come in??” asked Shantanu, the manager of Ecstasy... He had come out with an umbrella... Here was a man who seemed genuinely concerned about her...
She walked in to the lounge... She sat down at the corner table and ordered for a glass of water...
“Can I offer you a cigarette, Madame?” asked a familiar voice...
“Thanks... I desperately need one... Where the hell were you??” Nisha asked...
“I was right here waiting for you... So are you done with him???”
“Oh yes... I am done with him... I’m done with men, in general...”Nisha replied as she took a long puff from her cigarette...
Ecstasy was the only place in Mumbai where people knew who Nisha really was...
“Good... So now, does that mean we can go on to have a peaceful life of our own?”
“Yes, we can...”
They got up and held hands... They interlocked their fingers and walked out...
FEBRUARY 14th 2010:
Couples walked into one of Mumbai’s posh suburban clubs... They looked ecstatic as their host for the night welcomed them...
“Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all...” she said proudly... She loved hosting these parties...
“Happy Valentine’s Day to you too, Nisha... Where’s your better half???” asked Deepesh... Tell Nagesh here the story of how you guys met!!!”
“Oh, the good old Nisha love story, eh!!! I met the love of my life at my ex boyfriend’s birthday party... I hadn’t started dating my ex then... We got down to dating later... And it ended really badly... He turned out to be gay... I wish I had known you guys then... You would have loved him...” she giggled...
Just then Nisha’s better half walked up from behind her and gave her a tight hug... And they shared a rather passionate kiss...
“Deepesh... This is my better half, Nandita...” Nisha said, beaming with pride as she held onto the love of her life...
(Nisha met Nandita at Sushant’s surprise birthday party... Right from the time she saw her goldilocks curls, she had been captivated... But obviously, lesbian tendencies didn’t seem normal to her...Nandita and she had bumped into each other at a work-related function once... After that they started meeting regularly... And like they say, ‘THE REST IS HISTORY’... They would only meet at Ecstasy... Almost a year later, they were hosting parties together; and these parties were exclusively for gays and lesbians... The only exceptions to this rule were Inder and Sasha, who joined Nisha for most of her parties... Poor old Clive got married to a woman of his parents’ choice and he disappeared from the social scene altogether... Paritosh and Saul were regulars at Nisha’s and Nandita’s parties... And Sushant, what do I say about him??? God bless his soul wherever he may be...)
