Crush - KarEena

Chapter 8

Karishma dragged herself up the stairs in the dark. Carrying her new heels and the department store shopping bag in one hand, she yanked on her dupatta with the other. By the time she reached the stuffy second-floor room, her hair was tied in a bun and the top two buttons of her Anarkali were removed.

From the Hall, she had trailed Haseena into her neighbourhood. She didn't turn down her street but took another route to the stakeout house, which put her there about the same time Haseena pulled into her garage. She went straight to the window and looked through the binoculars.

Haseena passed through her kitchen without stopping and disappeared through the doorway leading into the living room. Karishma removed her Anarkali and stood in her bra and jeans. The light in Haseena's bedroom came on. Like Karishma, she seemed to have found her clothes confining. She stepped out of her high-heeled sandals and then reached behind her neck to untie the blouse dori.

Haseena pulled off her saree in a smooth motion, worked the skirt past her hips, and then stepped out of her clothes. Karishma stood stock-still. Sexy undies tonight. Pale lavender. Mere suggestions of attire made Haseena look more naked than nakedness. Fabric is as sheer as breath. Totally inadequate, but damned effective.

Haseena replaced the sandals on a shelf in the closet and hung her saree on the rod, then went into the bathroom and closed the door.

Karishma closed her eyes. She leaned against the window panel to cool her forehead on the glass. Had she actually groaned? She was salivating. Jesus, she was becoming Bulbul.

Leaving the binoculars on the table, she took a bottle of water from the small refrigerator. She didn't come up for air until she'd drunk it all. Still keeping an eye on her house, she groped inside the shopping bag until she located the shirt she'd worn at the department store. She pulled them on but left her shirt unbuttoned. It was too damn hot up here to be fully dressed.

"What's wrong with that freaking air conditioner?" she complained to the empty darkness

Seeing Haseena come from the bathroom, she grabbed the binoculars. Haseena had swapped the fantasy lingerie for a tank top and boxers, which held their own against the fancier stuff but disabused Karishma of the notion that she might be waiting for a lover to arrive.

For the wedding, Haseena had worn her hair pulled back and wound into a bun at her nape. Now it was hanging long and loose. It was a coin toss which Karishma liked best. Both served their purpose. One looked like a professional woman. One looked like a woman, period.

Haseena rubbed her arms. Chilled? Or nervous? She glanced at the window and when she realized that the blinds were open, she quickly extinguished the light. Definitely nervous.

Karishma exchanged the regular binoculars for a pair of night-vision ones. She could now see Haseena standing at the window and peering through the open slats of the blinds. She turned her head from side to side slowly, as though searching all corners of her dark backyard. She tested the lock on the window, then she drew the cord that shut the blinds. A few seconds later she reopened them.

Was that a signal to someone? Karishma wondered.

She stood there for several minutes more. Karishma kept the binoculars on her, but occasionally swept the yard with them, looking for movement. Nobody climbed her back fence. Haseena didn't climb out the window. Nothing happened.

Eventually, Haseena backed away. Karishma refocused the binoculars. She could see Haseena turning down her bed. She lay down and pulled the sheet up as far as her waist. She plumped her pillow beneath her head, lifted her hair to fan out behind her, and then rolled onto her side, facing the window. Facing Karishma.