The broken window

Chapter 6

I hurried for a Rapido ride, from my room to Silpukhuri. The ride was on 80km/hr. according to my order. I was constantly ringing Armaan, who sobbed over the phone for an injury on his ankle, 15 minutes back. Meanwhile, I was begging God, to keep the situation laxer.

As the bike stopped, I rushed into his rent room's campus. The noisy campus was silent that day. All the five doors were hanging a lock on each, that used to remain open every day, communicating with each other and creating a familial environment. I was about to knock Armaan's door, but someone curtained down the darkness in my eyes. I was blindfolded by someone. That someone held my hand, to support the blindfolded girl. The warmth of the palm sketched a particular living being in my mind. We walked in and then my legs were ordered to stop, as that someone switched in front of me.

Two of my senses - 'touch and hear', made me feel the air breathed out beneath my ear lobes. I was stuck to the floor, unaware of what was happening.
"Happy Birthday baby!" Armaan whispered in my ears and hugged me. My blindfold got wet. My hands searched for his cheeks and cupped them.
I hushed, "Thank god, you are alright."
More tears got soaked by the blindfold.
He placed a kiss on my forehead and asked, "Is my girl ready for the surprise?"
"No, I am not," I replied with a curve on my lips.
"I know how to make you ready," he lifted me up and continued, "Now you are ready, I guess?"
I giggled, "How do you understand every meaning of the different curves of my lips?"
"That's a secret," he giggled back.

He gave me permission to unknot my blindfold. A chorus followed my ears, "Happy Birthday to you..." Armaan too joined the chorus. Embarrassment blindfolded my eyes and gestured Armaan to land me down.
I responded, coyly, "Thanks a lot, everyone."
Then I turned towards Armaan and hushed, angrily, "Why didn't you inform me that you are not alone. Gosh... You lifted me up in front of everyone." Armaan was giggling, staring at me.
A voice interrupted, "Jupi we have not seen anything." And everyone started cackling. I smile creepily looking at everyone but threw an angry glance at Armaan.

He held my hand and took me towards them. They were standing beside each other, compactly. Everyone forwarded me some empty frooti packets. I starred confusingly at Armaan.
"Pick the packets and crash them. It's your day girl, so, do whatever you love doing," Armaan gave permission.
I laughed and dropped down the first packet and yelled, "You are crazy."
"But lesser than you," Armaan yelled back. Everyone laughed at us, aloud.

As soon as, I leaped over the packet, a paper folded into a 'sensu', emerged from the top of the packet. The folds of the sensu revealed some abstract works. Inside the Facebook icon, our faces were sketched with some red hearts popping out of the folds. The hearts were represented using some 3D effects. Crashing the next explored our first meeting with pop-ups of some prominent scenes like - a handshake and his favorite angry look of mine. Similarly, crashing the other three revealed some more artworks. Compiling the artworks, served a serial scenario of our love story. Watching them, a nostalgic flow tickled me.
"I didn't know you are so talented," I said, winking towards him. Our gazes froze for a while.

"Armaan, reveal your love's next surprise," Chandana aunty broke the silence, in a teasing tone. Their line was curtaining the center table which they uncurtained by scattering. Everyone was gossiping and smiling, looking at the love birds, standing hand in hand. A red-colored velvet heart was fixed, at the back of the white soft toy, placed on the center of the black couch. That was a kitty, looking at me, wishing me - "Happy Born Day", by grabbing a card with its paws. The round center table at the front was decorated with something, which is my tummy's favorite. There laid a heart-shaped large cheese burst pizza garnished with red sauce, curving some of the alphabets - "Happy B'day baby." Armaan lit a red-colored heart-shaped candle beside it, that engraved - "Armaan's heart might melt but love for Jupi in the melts will remain persistent."

Armaan directed me to blow off the candle and do the cake cutting ritual with the large pizza. As I blew off that energy quanta, again the chorus was played by everyone. I sliced off the pizza, that leaked liquid cheese from it. I fed the first slice to Armaan from which he scooped up some red sauce with his fingers and applied on my face. Then he fed me back, that same slice. The crust was filled with oodles of yummy liquid cheese. I served coke and pizza slices to Niva and Chandana aunty. Meanwhile, Armaan helped me to serve Nishant, Raghav, and Rishi bhaiya. Finally, the party came to an end. I thanked everyone for the surprise. They said that it was all Armaan's effort and I was a new member of their family, so, I should get accustomed to their surprise trends. The two ladies blessed us to live in love forever and left. The three boys bid us bye and teased Armaan with some boyish signals, as they were of the same age.

*****

I was gathering the disposable cups and plates. Suddenly, I felt a touch on my waist and a poke on my right cheek, with the tip of the kitty's nose. I tapped the hand that was placed on my waist.
From my back, I heard Armaan's voice, "Let me clean the red sauce on your cheek first."
I shooed him away and said, "I can do that myself."
He argued, "No, babies can't."

He turned me and licked the sauce. I hugged him tight to hide my eyes, as shyness didn't allow me to face him.
He hushed, "I love you."
I replied with a giggle, "I know."
He started to poke me on my waist and tightened his grip, so, that I couldn't run away. That's the way he punishes me when I don't reply to his 'I love you.' Somehow, I escaped from his grip and ran away. But my hunter held me back again, in his grip. We both laughed to the fullest.

Alas, Armaan interrogated, "You didn't say anything about the surprise. Didn't you like it?" "Yes, I was about to ask you from where did you copy the pizza idea? We Indians are great at doing that," I teased him. His mood turned down.
I knelt down and said, "I love you too Armaan."
He too knelt down holding my hand. I could see some tear drops sparkling in his eyes. I pulled his collar and placed my lips on his. We lingered our tongues over each other.
After a minute our lips departed and I said, "That's my way to thank you. It was not possible to do that in front of everyone."
"How you are always ready to make me speechless?" He got emotional.
"Oh hello.. that was an act of revenge. I had just made you speechless but what had you done today? Literally, you made me anaesthetic," I replied with a bit of rudeness, to pull him away from an emotional trap.

He crawled so closer to me that he was over me. Our nose tips touched each other, to lock ourselves in an Eskimo kiss. I could sense his breath over my lower face.
He hushed, "Do you really feel that I copied your surprise?"
I punched his cheek politely and laughed, "I trust your creativity nincompoop."
"What? You told me......Wait and watch it now!" He warned me and locked both my hands with his.
He bit my ear lobes, sliding down towards my neck. Lingering over the neck, he directed his tongue towards my collar bone. Slipping his fingers, to zip down my t-shirt's chain, exactly below the collar bone. His touches triggered my level of oxytocin. I grasped his hand, with my freed hand and nodded a 'no' to his action and closed my eyes.

Suddenly, I felt his lips on my eyelids. My hands were freed and he switched off beside my right. I turned right, smiling with hidden shyness behind. We both laid on the floor facing each other. We were under a blanket of silence, looking deeper into each other's eyes. I was searching for the lacking love within me, deep inside him.
He broke the silence,
"The dimple on your left cheek enhances your beauty,
your gaze through these almond-shaped eyes make me fly towards heaven,
the more your lips curve the more my heart gets flattered..."
I placed my hand on his forehead and investigated, "Are you high on fever or alcohol?" "Your hotness raised my temperature and your gazes made me alcoholic. I can be alright only with your medication baby," he replied. I giggled at my psycho lover.

*****

"Why don't you return home and leave this rent house?" Armaan asked me.
"Because I'm preparing for my entrances which won't be possible at home. I'll keep playing with the little one, instead of studying. Now, I'm habituated to concentrate in an isolated environment. And home is all about spending time with each other rather than staying isolated."
He argued that I'm not safe there because yesterday night, while I was chatting with him, I again complained about the noise of footsteps. So, he requested to drop me to my room. He peeped through the main gate sitting on his bike.

I took him to the backyard, from where the noise came. Thankfully, my other rent mates were out for their workplaces, or else, they would have cooked up stories about Armaan and me. A girl and boy together is the most highlighted topic of interest, to society. Everyone couldn't create a family bonding, like Armaan's rent mates.