I smiled. Rajat looked so relieved.
“Of course, I understand.” I said this only. He nodded, beaming, and gave me a warm, tight hug. My soaked body was dirtying his crisp shirt, but he didn’t let go. We were making unspoken promises to one another; I was thinking about the ethereal moment when I would see him again. At long last, we broke apart and kissed. I wanted to preserve his breath in mine.
A couple of hours later, we were in separate flights…
Little did I anticipate that when a body seeks its own demands, it doesn’t wait for anybody or for the right moment. Sometimes, self-control becomes the most painful thing. Sometimes, something is destined to happen…
******
I was back in my own space.
It was a Sunday. My school was closed that day, but I had classes at my home. Sunday meant college-goers, studying their last year in college. Guys and girls in their early twenties. And since I was not a grumpy and unfriendly old teacher, we used to share a lot of extra-curricular ideas and thoughts. They were very comfortable and open with me. Sometimes, I gave them relationship tips too.
Puja called in the morning to say that she had fever.
Akash was touring Mauritius with his parents, I knew that. He had departed last week.
Rajiv had a test in a different subject the next day, so he messaged me that he would be absent.
That meant only Gautam and Archana for today. Ah! The lovebirds!
Actually, they were seeing each other for a while now. The whole college knew about them. I heard a lot of stories.
I thought about cancelling, with half the class missing. Then I decided against it. Archana had missed a few classes previously, Gautam had too, probably… so if they asked for a revision topic today, I could do that. Then the others wouldn’t miss out on anything new.
I started going through my old notes of past classes.
******
It was around afternoon and the class was in full swing. I was covering the lectures which Archana had missed. It was convenient for her boyfriend too.
They were such a good looking couple. I suppressed my feelings of childish envy. What was I at 21? A very boring nerd, most probably…
The girl really took care of her figure, which was an alluring one. And today she has chosen a body-hugging top and jeans which exemplified her ample curves to absolute perfection. Not to forget that angelic face and full puffy lips. It was no wonder why boys her age were crazy about her. And so was Gautam, completely besotted with her features.
Gautam was no loser himself. He seemed to me as a younger version of my husband. Archana’s guy hit the gym every day, the toned body and muscular arms bore testimony to the fact that he didn’t just go there to pass time or ogle at girls. And he had a certain boyish charm, which sometimes proved dangerous to members of the opposite sex, even ladies almost twice his age.
“Ma’am?” my chain of thoughts broke. Archana was saying something.
“Yes?”
“The answer to this question here is not there in this book…”
“Oh yes… I remember. Akash had raised that point too. It was in a different reference material. Wait, I will get it at once.” I got up to go to my study room where I kept all my books and notes, answer sheets of my students, evaluation sheets and everything.