All Aboard!, page 17
‘Air-lifting not required at all,’ he said, responding to Kamal’s query. ‘All her vitals are now stable. I’m just keeping her in as a precautionary measure, given her medical history. Hopefully, she should be back to normal with a little rest. But I’m not taking the risk of sending her back to her cabin without running some more tests. She should be fine enough to disembark and travel.’
Given that they were to disembark the very next day, it seemed like a scary proposition to Rhea. Once they were off the ship and headed their separate ways, how would she manage if anything like this were to recur on their long journey back home? But then, there was the Colonel who was now morally duty bound to pitch in and take responsibility for Maasi, she thought. Perhaps they could change flights to travel together. Sitting next to Rina Maasi who was hooked up on various machines that kept beeping incessantly, the Colonel looked at her with tender concern. His devotion to his new fiancé was palpable and Rhea’s face softened as she watched him. She, however, avoided looking at Kamal. Everytime she did, Sonia’s words kept replaying in her head, making her blood boil.
Rina Maasi stirred and promptly started grumbling about how cold it was, and why was she lying down in her saree, and God, wasn’t there anyone who could have taken out the pins in her hair before putting her head on the pillow?
‘I’m sure one of those damn hair pins has punctured my cranium.’
‘Language, Maasi, language,’ Rhea laughed, knowing that her aunt was now surely on the Bend.
She went up to her to remove the offending hair pin, and also any other pins with potential to hurt. Rina Maasi was changed into a medical gown and her clothes and jewellery were handed across to Rhea to deposit back into the room. It was the early hours of the morning and Rhea swayed on her feet from hunger and tiredness. The Colonel had retired to his room. Taking a seat next to Rina Maasi, Rhea held her hand, feeling the reassuring warmth of her fingers clenching hers. She realized that her aunt may behave like a battle axe but she was the only kindred soul Rhea had in the family. The only one who had always indulged her, stood up for her, especially when everyone insisted that it must have been something she had done to turn a worthy man away.
‘Go sleep, you look terrible,’ Rina Maasi told her, completely unaware that had she seen a mirror, her own reflection would terrify her.
‘All I need is some rest. I am exhausted by the travel, that’s all. Go eat first and then sleep. You’ve had a long night,’ she instructed Rhea in the tone of one who isn’t used to her diktat being defied. ‘The poor thing must be starving,’ she mumbled aside to Kamal, who was standing close by, trying hard to be unobtrusive. ‘Go feed her something. I can’t have her fainting too. As it is, she’s underweight.’
‘I’m not underweight, I’m fine. I just have a high metabolism and a lean structure,’ Rhea said, a little angry for having to defend her metabolic rate in front of a man who now probably thought she stuck fingers down her throat after every meal. But she had to concede that her stomach was empty and growling. It had been a while since her last meal.
‘Nonsense!’ said Rina Maasi. ‘You don’t eat at all. Maggi, biscuits, sandwiches, bah, that’s not food. I can’t remember the last time I saw you eating healthy. When you get to my age, you’ll have your bones turn to chalk and snapping into two at every movement.’
‘I’m not going anywhere and I’m not hungry,’ Rhea repeated, ignoring Rina Maasi’s little lecture on her appalling eating habits and putting on a determined expression that usually scared off most men who found her attractive. ‘I’m waiting right here till you’re okay.’ And she had every intention of doing so despite the fact that there seemed to be no footstool to rest her aching feet that her stilettos from the previous night’s party were killing slowly. ‘Don’t worry,’ said the medical assistant who was now checking the drip Rina Maasi was hooked up to, ‘We’ll be here to keep a watch on her. Anyway, she’s falling asleep now and will not wake up until after a few hours. The doctor’s orders are that she will be kept under observation till morning, so you might as well go grab something to eat and get some sleep. You can come back later.’
Sure enough, Rina Maasi started snoring gently, her flame red hair standing out brightly against the white pillow case, contrasting even more with the pallor of her skin, and her nostrils flaring out slightly with each breath. Rhea realized how frail and vulnerable she looked, far from the dragon she pretended to be when she was awake.
She stood up uncertainly. Kamal moved quietly to accompany her out into the passageway towards the elevator bank. ‘I could do with a bite myself. We could grab something to eat at one of the 24-hour cafés. I suspect the restaurants would be shut,’ he suggested. A capsule elevator arrived and they stepped in. Kamal reached across her to press the button and Rhea could have sworn she felt a crackle of static electricity leap between them. It startled her, her body’s immediate, even primeval response to his closeness, the scent of him flooding her brain and turning off all circuitry that controlled rational behaviour.
She closed her eyes. Perhaps it was just the exhaustion of a very long day that made her feel like she couldn’t stand on her feet any more. Or maybe, it was the shoes. She was not really accustomed to wearing very high heels for long periods at a stretch. Unthinkingly, she stepped out of her shoes and held them in her hand, transferring her tiny knot clutch rip-off to the other.
He looked bemused. ‘Ah, now that feels better, doesn’t it?’
She nodded and bent down to rub her feet where they were aching. He knelt down and took her foot in his hands, and gently kneaded the aching spot. She sucked a breath in and froze, unable to react at the oddly intimate gesture, and then felt her body turn to complete mush as his hands worked gently, surely, compelling her to put a hand on his shoulder to balance herself. He looked up at her and for a long moment they stared at each other. She almost reached out to draw him up and twine herself around him when the elevator pinged to a halt. The moment dissipated. He stood up and smiled at her. ‘Feeling better?’ She nodded mutely, her heart racing and she trying to steady her breath, uncertain of how to respond.
‘You have a skill for this, did you train as a masseur?’ she asked tritely, suddenly guilty about the fact that she wasn’t able to resist him.
He laughed. ‘Let’s just say I trained long and hard.’
His eyes held hers and she had no doubt what he meant. She could feel her heart thud insanely against her ribs.
Damn this man and damn the effect his touch had on her. She had never felt this way before, not with any man, not with Samir. Now she couldn’t imagine going back to Samir and returning to the half-baked lovemaking she had with him when she knew how a mere touch from Kamal could set off minor explosions in the deepest, hidden parts of her body.
He led her out of the elevator and towards the deck with the only 24-hour pizzeria and Indian restaurant on board. They walked with an uneasy silence between them, a silence that was a swirling of awareness of each other’s physical proximity.
It was only after she settled into a chair on the deck, her plate piled with pizza that Rhea realized she had forgotten her manners. After all, he had waited patiently during the entire process of getting Rina Maasi to the medical room and further until she regained consciousness and was declared out of danger.
‘Thank you,’ she began. ‘It was a great help, you being there. I am not the most organized person in crisis situations. I panic easily and can’t take decisions.’ He paused briefly from shepherding the fork plied with food to his mouth.
‘There’s nothing to thank me for,’ he replied and turned his attention back to the food. It was disconcerting, she realized, to be seated across a handsome man and know that he found the food more attractive than her. Wasn’t it barely minutes ago that his hands were doing such wanton things to her feet that almost had her have a screaming orgasm in public?
‘We took you away from dinner with your sister and your . . . friend,’ Rhea continued nonetheless. She realized that this was perhaps the last time she would be alone with him and felt her heart sink. Just a day more and they would go their separate ways. She would head back to Delhi, to her little room and the looming question of Samir. Kamal would be off to Mumbai, with Sonia dangling from his arm like an exotic jewel.
‘Oh, they’ll survive without me,’ Kamal responded, breaking her train of thoughts. ‘I only hope Naina finished her meal quickly and went back to relieve the babysitter early. The kids can be quite a handful, especially if they are sleepy,’ he raised both eyebrows in mock exasperation. Rhea had seen evidence first-hand. A little shudder escaped her. He noted it, quick on the uptake.
‘Not very fond of kids, are you?’
‘It isn’t politically correct to say so in these times,’ she replied, feeling emboldened by the stars twinkling in the black velvet sky above, the crisp, soothing ocean breeze, and the softness in his eyes. ‘I still have nightmares from the time I was made to babysit a bunch of under-ten cousins and sobbing from the horror,’ she laughed. He looked at her quizzically. ‘You never know how things change once you have your own children. For instance, Naina. She was a total party girl, ran a mile from anything in diapers, could drink anyone under the table. But once she had kids, she changed completely and became a total hands-on mom. Even for this trip, she could have brought the nanny along, in fact I had insisted on it, but she didn’t. She prefers to do everything for them herself—from bathing to feeding. Which is great actually, given we have a lot of help at home. So I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful mother too.’
He gave her a long, searching look. Why had Samir never given her these looks? Oh yes, those were reserved for his gadgets, the phone and the laptop.
‘You seem tired. Or sad. Or perhaps both,’ he said in a gentle voice and reached across the table to take her hand. His fingers toyed with the cameo ring on her finger. She had forgotten to ask the room steward where it had come from, she realized. It was probably Rina Maasi pulling a fast one on her, she wouldn’t put it past her. His hand was firm, warm, she was tempted to lift it to her face, to have it stroke her cheek.
She looked down at her plate, noticing that she did not have any more appetite. It was so easy to let his hand hold hers, to let his lips seek hers, to let him mould her against his body . . . then she pulled her hand back.
‘I wanted to talk to you about what Sonia said,’ he said. ‘I . . .’
But Rhea stopped him, despite wanting to hear what he had to say. She had to say what was on her mind first, say it before she was tempted to decide against it.
‘Samir called. He messaged. He wants me back. Rina Maasi thinks it would be a good idea for me to go back to him too. My family would want me to get back with him and marry him.’
His eyes shuttered down. When he looked up at her again, his expression was haunted.
‘And you,’ he asked. ‘What do you want?’
‘I’m going to go back home and marry him. This . . .’ she gestured vaguely at the two of them, ‘. . . should never have happened. It was a mistake, a terrible mistake.’
He placed both his hands on the table in an oddly supplicating gesture. ‘Is that what you think about us, a terrible mistake?’
‘Yes. It was a mistake. I will go back and marry Samir. It is what I should do. It is the most sensible thing to do,’ she replied looking into her plate, not daring to look up and into his eyes, knowing that if she did, she might just melt and pull him to her. Then it would all be over—her self-respect, her bravado, and she would end up, as she feared, just another notch on his belt of sexual conquests.
The memories of his hands on her back, rubbing in the sun block with slow sensual strokes, the kisses they had exchanged, frantic, desperate, hovering delicately on the edge of complete surrender, the gentle kiss he placed on her forehead when he thought she was asleep, him taking her to a place she wanted to visit, watching out for her when she was drunk and dancing with John. Everything flashed before Rhea’s eyes in glorious technicolour.
They sat there silently. Eventually Rhea decided to break it.
‘It has been a long day. I think I should turn in now,’ she said.
‘You should,’ he replied with a tired sigh.
They rose from their chairs and began walking towards the elevators. The decks were fairly deserted at this hour and there was no sound except the ship’s as it cut through the ocean at a gentle pace, ensuring that even the queasiest of stomachs resisted sea sickness. The faint glow of a distant dawn gleamed over the horizon as they surged ahead on the black carpet of water below, dappled with the reflections of the stars and the lights from the ship.
‘Goodbye Kamal,’ she said, feeling a lump in her throat. ‘I don’t think we will be seeing each other again.’
He looked at her for a never ending moment. Her knees quavered unseemingly. She gulped, wondering what was coming next.
‘Goodbye, Rhea,’ he said, his tone painstakingly formal, ‘It was nice meeting you on this cruise.’
‘And thank you once again for helping with Rina Maasi last night,’ she said, reluctant to see him go.
‘It was my guru dakshina. I owed it to my teacher and the least I could do. If you need any help, you know my cabin number.’
And with that, he escorted her to the elevator bank, pressed her deck button and stood back, watching her enter and the glass doors close between them. At that moment Rhea realized that perhaps he wasn’t the playboy Sonia portrayed him as. He was a gentle, caring soul who put family and the people he loved first. She had seen enough evidence to prove that—the fact that he had brought his sister and her children on the cruise, the unending patience with which he handled the kids, the way he watched out for his sister and for her when they had had a drink too many. And then last night when her aunt had an emergency, the way he rushed to help and not moved until the doctor sounded the all-clear bell. It struck her like a bolt. That look in his eyes as he let her go—she had misjudged him! In fact she had been misjudging him all through the trip! And now, she realized with a sinking heart, she would never see him again, would never be able to let him know how sorry she was for thinking wrongly of him.
FIFTEEN
Rhea woke up disoriented. Then she realized. The ship had docked when she was still asleep, and so when she woke up she was enveloped in a cacophony of different sounds—hooters blowing, voices calling, cars honking, basically everything that reminded her of being back on land and far away from the hushed serenity of the ocean.
She showered and changed into a pair of shorts, T-shirt, and a pair of sturdy sneakers and went to the infirmary. She had completed their packing in the early hours of the morning and except their hand baggage, all their luggage had been placed outside the cabin for clearing.
Rina Maasi, her face cleansed of all the make-up suddenly looked much older than she had seemed the previous evening. She was wide awake and flirting heartily with the male nurse who was administering her morning dose of medicine. She was definitely on the path to recovery! ‘Have you brought my lipstick and a change of clothes?’ she asked Rhea with the definite panic of one who feels naked without her lipstick. Rhea laughed and shook her head to indicate a no. ‘Really Rina Maasi, the last thing you need to be bothered about right now is your lipstick. Let’s get you back to the cabin and dressed to disembark.’
Maasi harrumphed. ‘I’m scaring these poor innocent young lads here with this zombie face.’
‘Don’t you worry, Maasi, I’m sure they’ve seen much worse,’ Rhea turned to ask the medical assistant, whose little badge announced him as a Steve. ‘Haven’t you, Steve?’
‘Ma’am, you look gorgeous,’ he said gallantly. ‘Good looks run in the family it would seem.’ He turned to Rhea and winked mischievously. She in turn couldn’t help but smile back. It was endearing—the good humour with which men flirted outrageously on the ship, be it the crew or the passengers.
‘How long are they planning to keep me locked up in this cave, Rhea? Don’t we have to get off the ship in a couple of hours?’
‘I need to check with the doctor, Maasi. Haven’t met him yet,’ she replied. ‘But be glad that it wasn’t anything worse. We could have been in serious trouble if this had happened in the middle of nowhere.’
‘Actually, I couldn’t think of a better way to go—in the middle of the ocean, with the sea below and the sky above. And none of the family around to make a song and dance about it. When I die, I want a burial at sea. Just tip the plank and have the fish eat me.’ This was a change from her last request which had her declare she wanted her ashes scattered over the sand dunes in Rajasthan after a trip to the desert where she had fallen in love with the grandeur of the desolation. But then, that was Rina Maasi, always one for the dramatic gesture.
‘Stop all this talk of burials and dying, Maasi, you’re going to be fine and we’re going ballroom dancing once you’re out of here.’
Having got the all-clear from the good doctor a little later, Rina Maasi was taken to the cabin by a wheelchair despite her vociferous protests that she was not an invalid. They had a long day ahead and Rhea was already tired and groggy from the lack of adequate sleep. The final bill had to be settled, the luggage had probably been sent out already and was waiting for them to claim it on the pier, customs and immigration would need to be cleared again because they were re-entering Italy, and disembarking began at around 8.30 a.m. still a good one hour away. The arrangements had been told to them in advance. Their deck would be called and for those who were booked in the hotel for the day, there would be the hotel’s bus awaiting. Others who had a connecting flight and had to go directly to the airport were to get into a different bus. There were of course some cruisers who would have private taxis awaiting them in order to take them to the airport or the hotel as their itinerary may be. For a brief second she wondered whether Kamal and Naina would be staying back in Rome for the day or would fly out to Mumbai the same day. If he wanted to track her down, he could always find Rina Maasi, and from there, she was but a phone call away. If he wanted to, that is.
