Chapter 14:
"I'm tired of acting now! I'm tired of pretending things! I've hardly lied to my parents and see now...all I do is lie!" Kathy started talking to herself while she was packing her bags. Ronnie was done packing and was sitting in the study room, wondering about how he will spend a fortnight with his so-called wife who he did not love. It was just a contract marriage for both of them but they were getting wrapped in their own web. They were forced to act for the people they loved. It was weird for Ronnie also because he hardly thought about anyone else, he had lived his life on his own but he had become close to Kathy's family, there was some kind of pull, some kind of familiarity with this family ever since he met them. He did not have the answer to all these whys but he knew that he could not hurt these people; he respected them and did not want to let them down for some reason. Then there was Kathy who he had problems with. She was crazy, too tough to handle and he could not tame her like he did with others. There was hardly any time when he did not fight with her. Sure, she was the reason why he met those amazing people, she was the reason why he had the many firsts in his life, it was only because of her that he learnt about relations, he saw how love bonded everyone together, and he really started respecting all these things. Kathy could become his friend, he was ready to at least try once, if she did not get on his nerves that is.
Kathy on the other hand was petrified on the thought of going on a honeymoon with him. He was attractive to her ever since she laid her eyes on him. Those brown eyes, his black dense hair that were always set in a perfect quiff, those abs that she had seen only two days back, his dusky complexion, his height, the way he carried himself always appealed to her. She knew and accepted to herself that he was really attractive but only up till he was quiet, only up till the time he was a stranger to her. The moment she met him and got to know him, she was sure that she could never tolerate a guy like him. He always made her lose her cool, something that she was not used to, otherwise. No matter how hard she tried befriending him, he always had to act like the jerk. She always thought that her perfect guy would be someone like Monish. He was the one who had stolen her heart and she was heartbroken. She had lost her friend, her love and a part of herself with him.
"All set?" Mrs. Shenoy asked Kathy, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm almost done!" she replied.
"Where is Ronnie?" her mother-in-law asked her.
"Mr. Shenoy is in the study room!" Kathy replied.
"Okay that's nice! If you don't mind, I just want to talk to you darling!" Mrs. Shenoy said as she sat on the bed and looked at Kathy.
"Yeah of course we can talk, why I will mind!" Kathy smiled.
“Well, I want to inform you that umm…the weather conditions on the way towards Paris is not favorable and so we thought of booking a lavish room for you two in Goa, if that fine by you?” she asked.
“Yeah, that’s okay, in fact I love Goa!” Kathy assured her mother in law.
“That’s great! Kathy, I know you both are not at all excited about going on a honeymoon when you two are ready to kill each other! But please try, try to you know… um get him closer to you! Try to give your relation a chance at least! I know he’s tough to handle, you probably can’t even stand him even for a second but you two are married now! I want you guys to know that it is no joke…marriage is something that unites two bodies, two families, two souls and I know that you are aware of all this. I know you value relations and you respect and love your family a lot! So please if not for anyone else, try this for them?” she said and Kathy stopped packing and looked at the lady in front of her. She was the same confident, beautiful, sophisticated lady she met a while ago. She looked a little pale and unsure today. Kathy smiled at her as if that would make her more confident about all this.
“I know what you mean by all this! Don’t worry Mrs. Shenoy, I’ll definitely try and I promise I won’t let you down!” Kathy assured her and she smiled.
“I think you’ll have to take a car to Goa because all these booking are really sudden!” she added and Kathy shrugged.
“Now go because I don’t think Ronnie will get up and come to call you!” she said pulling Kathy along with her.
“So, we won’t be here when you come back, the house is all yours now on! I know you’ll look after everything and here, take these keys!” she said once they were all standing in the living room.
“Yes Mrs. Shenoy! I will look after everything!” Kathy assured her and they left the house.
“What do you think honey, will they come closer to each other?” Mrs. Shenoy asked her husband, as he wrapped his arm around her waist and she rest her head on his shoulder.
“I hope so!” he said, still looking at the door while rubbing his wife’s arms, soothingly.
Kathy and Ronnie got in to the car and the driver began driving. It was quiet for a while as both sat in a very uncomfortable silence, looking out of the window at nothing in particular.
“Airport’s this way!” Ronnie told to his driver, looking puzzled.
“Sahib Memsaab Ne Goa ke taraf jaane ko kaha hai mujhe! (Ma’am has ordered me to take you both to the hotel in Goa!)” The driver replied and Ronnie looked at Kathy, his eyes asking her if she knows anything about the sudden changes.
“I thought you knew about the changes!” Kathy said looking at him.
“You knew about it? Why is it always me who is kept away from all the developments?” Ronnie told her, as he pulled his hairs in frustration. Kathy suppressed a laugh at this.
“Well, maybe your mother is scared of you!” she said suddenly and regretted immediately. He was now angry, very angry.
“Are you going to act like this all the time?” he asked.
“I’m sorry!” she said, really meaning it.
“Better be!” he replied, still annoyed.
“Why do you act like you can’t bear them?” Kathy asked him after a while.
“Sorry?” he told her.
“Why can’t you bear them? They are your parents after all!” Kathy said and he looked out of the window, voiding her gaze. Kathy stared at him as he adjusted himself on the seat and moved more towards the door and took a deep breath.
“You really think we are going to talk about this?” he asked her after a while. He really wanted to talk it out with someone, anyone who was willing to know the real him, who won’t judge him by his behavior or after his confession; after all he was always alone in life and he really needed a friend who would understand him, support him, be with him but as he looked at Kathy and saw that curiosity in her eyes, he knew wasn’t sure if he could be friends with her. Kathy looked away when she heard him say that and he took that time to look at her and study her features. She was the regular normal girl with a wheatish complexion, her hairs were mostly black but the light falling on them gave it a little brown color that were a little below her shoulders, her lips were dull pink, her smile was something special with those deep dimples in her cheeks. She had a lean body and was an average height-ed girl. Well, shorter than him. She was not something extra ordinary but still pretty in her own way. There was a certain style, a certain confidence she carried in her even though she was really simple and hardly ever used makeup on her face. He looked away from her after he realized that he was staring her for almost five minutes.
“You’re so predictable, Mr. Shenoy!” she said and Ronnie scrunched his brows and wondered about the meaning behind her words.
“Huh?” he said.
“I knew it that you will avoid talking about anything serious. You always do that and I don’t know why! Even during our wedding, I did not see any of your friends; I really wonder how someone can stay alone, away from everyone, away from friends, family, loved ones! I mean you push everyone away from you, all the time and I don’t understand why!” she started and he knew what was coming now.
“Where are you going with this Ms. Dutta?” he asked her, tired of this conversation already.
“You know what I am trying to say, Mr. Shenoy!” she said and he sighed, his shoulders dropping as he felt conflicted now.
“Mr. Shenoy, stop calling me Ms. Dutta now! We’re going on our ‘honeymoon’, do you know that?” she said reminding him and laughing with no humor in it.
“Don’t remind me about it! I don’t know what we are going to do over there for fifteen damn days!” he said looking at her now and she smiled at him, showing off her dimples.
“I’m glad that we’re going to Goa, at least I know that place and I’m definitely going to enjoy this holiday! I would have been really lost if we were in Paris because I have never been there before and I don’t even know their language.” She said, she relaxed her body on the car seat and rested her head on it.
“So, you are not going to irritate me any further, right?” Ronnie asked hopefully.
“Not unless you invite trouble for yourself!” she winked at him and he rolled his eyes.
“Aha that’s what you do best!” he replied.
“Yeah-yeah, tell me about it!” she said.
“So Mr. Shenoy, we are not fighting on our holiday, right?” Kathy asked her husband and he made a thinking face.
“I won’t like to fight but hopefully you won’t push my buttons!” he said with a smile. Kathy looked at him and smiled back.
“You look good when you smile!” Kathy complimented him and he was surprised to hear that. His eyes widened and he looked at her.
“You don’t even know how many firsts I’ve had ever since you are around me!” he said and Kathy looked lost at this comment.
“Oh, I mean nobody has ever complimented me in such a way! That’s surely weird but felt nice! And please don’t let your train of thoughts go in wrong direction.” he said and Kathy understood him only then.
“See, you are bearable when you’re normal like this!” Kathy said.
“By the way, what did you think when I mentioned about my many ‘firsts’ with you?” he smiled a naughty smile and she cleared her throat and avoided his looking at him as she hid her burning cheeks with her hairs. Ronnie laughed at this.
“You don’t have to answer this! I get it!” he teased her.
“Ha-ha very funny, now stop laughing!” she said, embarrassed.
“Okay, sorry!” he said raising his hands up as he surrendered, still smiling to himself. The rest of the journey was mostly silent and constant except for when they took a halt for lunch and snacks.
“What’s your name?” Kathy asked the driver. It was late evening then, the clouds were a dark shade of red-orange, the sun had set and the air was cool and it did not look like it would rain.
“Shankar naam hai madam! (My name is Shankar!)” The driver replied.
“Shankar, zara music on kar dena, please? (Please turn on the music!)” Kathy said.
“Ji madam, karta hoon! (Yes definitely!)” He replied and switched on the radio in the car and the sound from some old Hindi song filled the car. It was ‘Ye Sama Hai Ye Pyaar ka’ and Kathy really liked this soft romantic number. She smiled as the song began. She had memories with this song. Monish had dedicated this song when they dated and she had instantly liked the lyrics of the song, they had even danced on this. Today, the weather was perfect and this song brought back the memories. She felt happy and sad at the same time and she knew if she continued torturing herself with this song, she would break down in front of Ronnie. Nobody knew about her feeling for Monish and nobody was supposed to know about it, so she leaned back on her seat and closed her eyes. Ronnie on the other hand, kept quiet and his face was emotionless. It was a decent song but not something he could grove on, so he only sat and looked outside the window.
Slowly, as it got darker and their car moved further, both of them were fast asleep. It was quiet mostly except for the sound of the music in the car. Kathy’s head slowly fell on Ronnie’s shoulder and even his head rested on Kathy’s head. Both of them looked very peaceful in their sleep and did not even know how close they were to each other. Sure, both of them will be beyond embarrassed when they wake up, but they looked really cute together. Suddenly the car came to a halt causing their bodies to jerk forward and both of them woke up with a start.
“What was that? Where are we Shankar?” Ronnie asked as he looked around. Kathy opened her eyes and saw herself falling on Ronnie’s shoulders, more like in his arms. She moved away from him and looked away and confusion took over her features instantly.
“Where are we, Mr. Shenoy?” she asked. She now missed the warmth of his body but she pushed away that feeling.
“Sahib, gaadi kharab ho gayi hai, kal tak thik nahi hogi! (There’s some problem in the working of the car and it won’t start until tomorrow!)” The driver said.
They were on the middle of an empty road with nothing except for an old little and weird looking motel.
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