Bidding Shanaya goodbye at the pub itself, Anay walked out alone. He stepped out, unable to bear the uncomfortable silence any longer that had suddenly crept up between them.
He was hailing a cab when someone called out to him. He recognized the voice at once. He turned.
"Renee?"
She was dressed in a bold black gown, unbothered by all the male eyes around her that were trying to rest upon her. It appeared as if the gown was a deliberate attempt to remind the world—and herself—of how alluring she could be, and she was being darn successful at that.
"Is Vishwa in there too?" Anay asked.
"No," she said, her straight shoulder-length hair bouncing as she shook her head. "We were to have dinner but he didn't turn up."
"Oh..."
"I saw you with her. Your childhood friend. You aren't dropping her home or something?"
Anay sighed. He could hear many questions hidden within that one rhetoric interrogation. He said, "About that, Renee... see, she's a childhood friend. We just met each other all of a sudden and..."
"...sparks began to fly..."
"It's not like that, Renee. I mean, it could be but not yet. She doesn't feel the same way."
Renee took one long hard look at him. Then she shook her head. "Well, I don't care."
"Y-you don't?"
"Why should I?" she said. He realized she was drunk. "I mean, you have a great body and I'd like to be on top of it right now, but I'm no fool to think that you'll be only mine. Nor am I made to be for one person only. I don't believe in wasting this great body on only one bloke."
It was Anay's turn to stare at her. He then looked at his watch. In another half hour, it would be midnight. "So, should we book a cab like always?" he said. "Same direction and all?"
She nodded.
Anay busied himself with his phone. As he booked, he asked, "Why did Vishwa not turn up?"
"Let's not talk about that bastard. You know this is not the first time he has done this."
"But you waited too long for him. You probably came here hours ago..."
"Well, I had dressed up and all, so I thought I'd rather have a drink, after all," Renee said. "I spotted you guys an hour ago. You were discussing something important, or so it looked. So, I didn't bother you."
A cab stopped on the other side of the street. They crossed the street and got in.
Renee went on, "I don't know why I am such a sucker for him. I don't like him anymore. I mean, I have thought a hundred times to dump him, but it will get tricky. We work in the same office. I have a feeling he'll dump me first. Hallelujah if that happens."
Anay looked at her as she spoke. He was amazed at how pretty she looked. Renee had always been the flawless one, the one who woke up beautiful and got better as the day wore on, peaking at her most beautiful self at the night hour like this. A true queen of the night.
"Fuck it all, Anay... take me to your place," she said.
"What?" Anay said, shocked by the change in her tone.
"Why not? It's not like we haven't done stuff before. What has changed?"
"I don't know... I mean, I just met Shanaya and..."
"So it's okay if I can fuck you when I am with Vishwa, but you cannot do the same because now you are with some other girl? Don't worry anyway. You are not committed to her yet. You are not cheating on her."
Anay was blown away by that outright assessment. A part of his brain, the one governed by hormones, told him that was what he wanted to do. The night was long and lonely and with him was a beautiful woman making the first move.
"What do you say? You know a woman does not ask twice."
"Well, okay. Let's go."
They sat in near silence as the cab stopped by his building gate. He led her into the compound of the old building and got into the elevator. Her finger brushed against his and he felt his adrenaline beginning to pump. He led her to his house. As he thrust the key into the door of the apartment, the neighbor's door opened. Renee stepped back for no particular reason; she had nothing to hide from the neighbor.
"There was some mail for you in the evening," the elderly woman who stepped out of the neighbor's house told Anay. She had a couple of letters in her hand. Eying the girl behind him, she said, "Here they are."
"Oh yes... okay, thanks," said Anay as he grabbed them.
"Welcome. It is too much night. Have nice sleep," the woman said and popped inside her house.
Anay pushed the door of his house open and entered. Closing it behind Renee, he said, "Well, we are here."
"You certainly have creepy neighbors!" she said.
"Forget her," said Anay. "She is Mrs Shetty. Lonely elderly woman has little to look forward to in life. Holding on to the neighbor's mail and giving it to him is an adventure for her at this age."
She smiled and pulled him on the couch.
Anay let himself be led. "Let me at least turn on the lights..."
"Why? I am so turned on. Isn't that enough?"
He chuckled as her fingers worked their way on him.
***
Lost in the perfume of her hair, he let himself go with the moment. He kept his arms on the back of the couch and relaxed. Now and then, he felt like touching her, but somehow he could not will his hands to move to touch her. He looked at her head going down on him. In the darkness, all he could see of her was her straight silky blonde hair, dearly cared for at expensive salons. Then he felt her on him, and he almost lost consciousness.
But unknown to him, just a few feet away in the corner of the room at the far end, the one that was hidden away from the ambient streetlight that wafted into the room, something was happening. If he had stepped into that spot at that moment, he would have felt the shivering cold localized at that spot. Then, slowly, as if due to some invisible force, the air in that corner began to whirl, taking some of the dust particles with it. Noiselessly and invisibly, they swirled around, causing a sort of mini typhoon.
And from within that twister, something could see the two young people having the time of their lives. As they moaned and sighed, the wind began to spin faster, as if beset with some kind of fury. It then glided ahead, the bodiless entity shrouded within. It came out of the shadow of that corner and floated toward the partly bare bodies of the two people. It came behind the couch and stayed just behind Anay, barely grazing the nape of his neck and his shoulders.
Anay quickly turned to look. There was that feeling again. The cold, the darkness within the darkness. He could see nothing with his eyes, but his brain—oh, his brain! It conjured a million images, none of which he wanted to be true.
"Did you sense something?" he asked Renee.
She only grunted.
Just then, his phone rang and he jumped off the couch with a shriek.
"What the fuck, Anay? What's wrong with you?" Renee asked, almost falling off from her precarious position on her knees.
Anay gestured her to keep quiet. The call was from Shanaya. Turning his frown into a smile as if she could see him on the call, he cleared his throat and said, "Hi, Shan."
"Anay, I am feeling so bad about today, ya!" Shanaya said. "Look, I'm not a prude, but you know... we have just met. I like you. I like you very much, but let's just give it time, okay?"
Anay's attention was focused only on her voice; he paid scant attention to the words. His smile grew broader and he disconnected with "Sure! Let's talk tomorrow. Good night."
"What was that about?" Renee asked.
Anay now looked at the woman beside him. She was half-naked, in the middle of an act that he had been enjoying till just a moment ago but now found utterly despicable.
"It was Shanaya," he said truthfully.
"And she put a smile on your face, I see."
"It's okay, Renee. It's cool."
"No, it's not. How dare you take her call when I am here sucking your dick? What do you think I am?"
"Renee... it's not like that."
"Fuck you, Anay!" Renee fumed. "Seriously, fuck you! You are the biggest bastard I have ever met. I hope you go to hell."
"I'm sorry, Renee," Anay said, covering himself up. "I should have told you in the cab. Maybe you are right. I have feelings for her. And I am sorry I brought you home. I think this is not right. I cannot do this with Shanaya."
"The fuck do you mean? Am I a disposable condom to you?"
"I'm sorry. What can I do to make this right?"
Behind them, the swirling of the wind had stopped. The thing that was entrapped in it was now silent.
Renee rose and grabbed her clothes. She took her purse and furiously stormed to the door. "Never again cross paths with me, Anay Ghosh!" she screamed. "It won't be good."
Anay heard the door close with a bang. He then settled into the couch, a wry smile coming over his lips, thinking over what the woman of his fantasies had just told him on the phone.
Right behind him though, the blue eyes in that cloudy darkness blazed with a newfound rage.
***
Oh, damn! Do you think Anay should have brought Renee home? Really? What about Shanaya? Let me know, let me know!
Well, I hope the excitement is building. Let's proceed to the next chapter...