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A story by Haritha Sivakumar
“What the hell was that?” Priya looked quizzical, “ Why did that conversation sound odd to me now? Tch! That was strange.” With a sinking feeling, Priya wandered toward the chairs in the deepest corners, away from the sharp lights. Lacing through the dim lights, hidden behind the dazzling layers of curtains, she found Siddanth sitting alone, far away from the party jitters.
“For a minute, I mistook you for a party-crasher, but it is you the star of the party! Why are you sitting here and not enjoying your party?” Priya inquired, her eyes falling on the empty beer bottles near him, and her eyebrows shot up. Trailing her eyes and guessing her mental remark Siddanth replied.
“Saving alcohol from you for the elderly and saving myself from getting locked inside a room with you again like the last time,”
“Oh! That won’t be necessary as I see you have taken care of the alcohol part yourself, and I, for today, am not in the mood to be locked inside a room, especially with one in a blue suit,” Priya replied, watching Siddanth drink the last drop of his drink.
“You look worn out. Are you okay?” Siddanth enquired.
“You don’t look good either. Are you sure this party is thrown for you by your own people? Or did you just come in un-invited and the people found the truth now, and they want you to be out of this place now,” Priya scorned, while Siddanth stared at her, chewing his inner cheeks while his inner self spoke to himself in wonderment, ‘Did I spend my last two days thinking this woman was charming? I must have been out of my mind. She is torture in the prettiest form.’
“Okay. Don’t stare as if the world will crumble under your feet in your anger, Nurugu. Because with your small-button eyes, you can’t scare people. Do you get it? You need eyes like mine, big and round, to scare people,” Priya pointed out dramatically widening her eyes to make her point more empirical.
“Are you sure you haven’t had a drink or two? Because it doesn’t seem otherwise? And, if you have run out of your engine of irritating me for the day, I will request some minutes of solitude for myself.” Siddanth expressed, sighing to himself.
“Oh!! The rich boy attitude. One quick question. Did you grow this attitude on your own or were you born with this?”
“Look who is taunting. You are in no way lesser than me, a wealthy family, savvy temper and snarky tongue. You are more of me and not in any way less.” Siddanth shot back.
“Oh!” Priya made a face before poking her tongue out, making Siddanth roll his eyes before he got a message on his phone. He opened his phone, and his headache quickened, and the situation at his office got grimmer with each passing moment. It was not something his team could handle, but seeing the situation was dampening everything. He wanted to scream out of frustration but was surprised to hear a squeal followed by a loud thud and clamouring of few decorative stone curtains falling down. He looked around, however, the party seemed unperturbed by the loud sound, so Siddanth walked over to the source of the accident. And there on the floor, twisted among layers of clothes and stone curtains was Priya.
“What are you doing down there?” Siddanth questioned.
“Ahh. Meditating rich boy. This is called lie-down Asana want to try?"
"Priya?!" Siddanth called out in confusion.
"No, then why don’t you hoist me up and help me instead of laughing over there,”
“Haha.. I can’t help it. You look like a over-ripped-overdressed seal going to MET GALA,” Siddanth laughed at his metaphor.
“Ideas and imaginations which are wayward and loose-ended like you,” Priya retorted, trying to stand up but in vain. With a smile and laughter still perched on his face Siddanth helped Priya find her footing before helping her with curtains around her.
“How did you fall?” Siddanth asked.
“Tripped on the satin cloth from the chair which was lying down,” Priya answered as she straightened her dress after removing the layers of the satin curtain. She moved a step forward but yelped in pain.
“What?” Siddanth asked in concern.
“I don’t know, something sharp is tugging on my skin when I am trying to move my head, argh!” Priya cried eyes closed in pain, and Siddanth watched her in concern.“ Siddanth, can you check what is it, on the back of my head?”
“Me? Wait, I will get Kavya.”Siddanth panicked.
“Huh? Why can’t you look at it? We are not doing anything scandalous, you are just helping me out. Or is it like you are seeing a woman’s nape for the first time? Didn’t you have a girlfriend, Nurugu?” Priya asked incredulously completely ignoring her discomfort.
“For a woman in pain, you have far more energy to look into another person’s life, Chingu. Stay still and stop talking.” Siddanth chided as he moved Priya to one side and she winced, “ Sorry” he apologized, and he found a glass décor bead strings sticking into her hair, and another line entangled in her hair. “Your hair is entangled with the glass decors. That is tugging you when you try to move,” He informed as their eyes met in the dim light suddenly, their breaths entangled, and so did a symphony of tension. They felt the way their bodies rose and fell, she lowered her eyes, and his eyes trailed over her luscious lips, forming words, which looked tempting as they formed a shape he couldn't understand for a second, until he heard them as whispers crawling into his beating heart.
“Okay, what do you want me to do?” Priya answered, staring at everything except meeting Siddanth’s eyes.
He stared at her lips, heart pounding, brain turning erratic, but his words found rationality before his actions.
“ Turn around so that I can look properly. And move this part of your hair to one side,” Siddanth instructed, and Priya followed. As he thought her hair was tangled in coils around the glass beads, and Priya tried to move her away, but it pulled her hair painfully making her squirm.
“Wait,” Siddanth said, holding her in place, and their bodies tensed. He turned her slowly to the dim light, and melody from the hall filled their silence, as they stared at eachother's reflection on the opposite glass window. She stood facing the window and gathered her hair to her left side, and Siddanth stood at her back looking down at her nape, softly untangling her hair from the glass-bead curtains while the lights from the hall bedazzled them in a luscious romantic gaze. Minutes that felt like hours passed between them as he tried consciously not to meet their skin while he felt his heart thump faster in his throat while he felt her eyes on them.
“You look very serious, entangling my hair back there, so it is true, you never had a girlfriend, and this is the first time seeing a woman’s nape. I can understand you, don’t worry I won’t judge you. As for me, roaming around human anatomy is part of the package deal. You don't have to be so tense,” Priya tried filling in their awkwardness with rubbish. She could feel the words rush in a hurry, heavy with embarrassment and guilt of regretting his offer of calling Kavya. But she swallowed her awkwardness and repeated to herself it was not a big deal while in actuality, she could not understand why her heart was racing a bit faster than usual, making her head a little dizzy, and something funny fluttered inside her stomach.
“So apart from being bossy, snarky, and cute you are a nosy-parker. And no, Chingu, you are not the first woman I am standing alone with. I have my fair share of girl-friends and don’t take yourself to very high standards. And what do you mean by looking serious? I am doing work and not goofing around. What do you mean by seriousness? Do you want me to speak to you, to keep you entertained?”
“Oh No! It’s already painful listening to you. Keep doing whatever you are doing. I will enjoy this moment of silence,” Priya replied, and Siddanth decided to ignore her reply as he worked on her hair in silence. Both kept quiet, and only their eyes met whenever his fingertip touched her skin and they felt the prick of electrifying energy passing between them for a second now and then.
Finally swallowing a lump, Siddanth removed the final hair and straightened her hair in quick reflex when they both stared at each other- eyes met again for a minute which none could break until Priya thanked and stepped away smiling and heart blushing before she slumped into a chair nearby. Siddanth took a chair two seats away from her. They smiled once again but quickly looked away into the party, falling back into their lives while they felt the lingering sensations on their bodies.
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