Disclaimer: Below is purely fictional
The first kiss… I thought to myself…
…It was perhaps the whiteness of her dress or maybe the jet black hair let loose that caught my attention that day. Since we had games hour, we were dressed in white and white. On that day her white made her look pristine. Her figure suddenly caught my imagination and her face stirred different emotions in me. All this while she was sitting right beside me, in the very next row and we talked as casually as friends of same class would talk. But on that day, she seemed different to me.
The next day when I saw her, my eye transformed into a mini x-ray machine. Details of her which seemed inane and plain began to strike me. Her tightly pleated skirt, short socks, the red hair band across her wavy hair and most of all the red neck wear which she claimed brought her magical charms;
Then came that fateful last day of school. People were exchanging slam books and autograph books with promises to keep in touch. Hell, like I cared. But care I did of one person. She was going to Chennai in all likelihood. She wanted to pursue medicine. She wanted to help alleviate people’s sufferings. I always thought she had a big heart, big enough for me; but big enough for so many people – I didn’t think. I asked her if we could go for a movie that night. She was hesitant. I said all of our friends were going. She was thinking. I said her best friend is also coming. She smiled. I tasted my first victory.
“You remember the movie we went to?” I asked her
“You mean the one where you tricked me into coming saying the whole class is coming?”
“Well… depends on how you want to look at it. To be honest, that was my last shot at getting you. If I lost you then, I thought that was it”
“Like the world would come to an end”
“Not the world, but maybe I” my teeth shone with a mischievous smile
“Funny guy!! And I must tell you, your first kiss tasted like crap”
“What?? Really?? I thought you enjoyed it? You said that was the sweetest thing you ever tasted!”
“That was coz I hadn’t kissed before”
“And how is it now? Has the years done any good to the taste?”
“Yeah. I guess you are improving”
“What about the College one?”
“Which college one? The one in the train?”
“yeah. That only” I said.
She smiled in response. That was truly a life changer for both of us.
… it was a beautiful evening. I still remember every detail of that day. I was waiting for her in the suburban train station. She was having some sort of an assignment at the medical college which she swapped place with her class mate. I was in Chennai as part of a college tour which I organized for the sole purpose of meeting her. After school, we were in touch but we never thought we would meet again. When I finally told her I was coming to her place, she replied with an eerie silence on phone. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. In any case, I was there sitting idle, chewing gum in the station.
The station looked a little deserted. I wondered why she insisted on meeting up there. After what seemed like eternity, I saw her come. The same figure; the years did nothing to change that. Wearing a white salwar kameez with an orange border, hair swaying as she tried to adjust her shawl which was a fusion of orange and red; her loose bag hanging on her shoulders; she was walking at a brisk pace and I was feeling guilty that even after three full years, the only thing I was noticing about her was her sexuality. Her dress was not revealing but I could follow her figure with surgical precision. As she came close and gave me that melting smile, I couldn’t help but adore in amazement.
We spoke for some time. She said she had to get back quick. She had chosen that station coz it was mostly deserted with no chance of any prying eyes. We spoke and like they say time simply flew. As she was about to leave, I suggested we use the lift right opposite rather than use the stairs. She agreed. To this day, I think it was a brilliant move, a decision I will pride myself for life.
I owe my heartfelt gratitude to the Chennai Corporation for their lift was absolutely fantastic. It was slow, got stuck, was dim, and had only space for two. I couldn’t have asked for more. Though we only had to go two floors down, it took us forever to reach there. Partly because I first told her we had to go to first floor. It was pitch dark in there. Then we went back to second and back and forth. In the process, we had our second kiss. Don’t ask me how it happened. But it did and it was magical.
We met at the same place the next day as I was there for one more day. This time it was heavenly.
“That I really liked. I don’t even know how I agreed to the kiss. I liked you all right. But meeting after so long and all; Well.. whatever.. I liked that one”
“Ha ha… So I was good. I thought I was bad with girls. “
“That you were. Whey else did you never approach me during school? And in college you had to wait for three whole years? “
“Ahh.. what do I say.. I cannot really answer that… But thank God I got posted in Chennai”
“oh yeah thank God for that. And then your kiss also improved”
“Haha.. of course… it had to.. with such regular practice… “
“yeah.. And it was during the ones in the restaurant that I really fell for you”
“Oh yes.. the restaurant. That’s when I liked Italians.”
Those were the days when I worked with an MNC in chennai. When I got to choose my posting, there was little doubt in my mind about the location. It helped that very few of my colleagues wanted Chennai. Most thought of Chennai as some primitive land where sun shone all the time and people were dark and ate only idlis and Dosas.
God bless their thinking coz I got to be with my girl who was still romancing with her medicine. Here our love blossomed. Meeting became regular and the direction of our life became clearer. The meeting place of our choice was a small roof top Italian restaurant. The lady who started it on the sea side had a lovely sense of romance. For by the side of her restaurant, she had an open terrace which was literally sealed off from the rest of the building. It was like a perfect den where you had a huge building on one side, the wall of the restaurant on the adjacent two sides and the sea on the other side.
Whenever I think of the kisses there, emotions sweep me down. For there we indulged in one of the most mesmeric lip locks of our lives. She would come up with this flavored lip balm. Strawberry, cherry and other berries – it was pure bliss. We explored every inch of our lips, and let our tongue discover the beautiful opening of our face. Entangled and intertwined, we lost ourselves in that little space.
Those were the kisses. Those were the times. Ahh..
“But you know which I liked the most” I asked her
I replied, without waiting for her reply coz I sensed even she knew what I was going to say.
“The kiss after I got your hand from your father.”
