I Cannot Be Your Shadow Puppet

The Gift

The 2 girls stepped out of their flat and looked immediately impressed with the swanky blue car waiting for them. Raj opened the door of the front passenger side of the 530i BMW sedan, for one of the girls to get in. Jenny quickly hopped into the back seat so Mia sat in the front. He got into the car, excited about having Mia sit next to him, and they sped off. Everyone was quiet.

***

Mia

Mia was aware of a strange pressure in her belly. Raj’s masculine odour mixed with a scent of citrus, was tormenting her, making her long for a hug.

Strange!

She hadn’t felt this yearning for a long time.

Maybe it was her fertile period and her hormones were acting up. She did not need a man to please her. She knew her body well enough to do the favour to herself.

In fact, she did not need a man for anything. They were brutes who knew how to break hearts and destroy lives.

She did not need another distraction or heartbreak, at least not right now.

Her hands were full. Between hospitals, preparing for the entrance exams for her postgraduate degrees, her family and her friends, she did not feel the need for any new person.

She was very happy and super content.

Thank you very much! I might need to release the s*xual tension when I return, so my stupid body doesn’t betray me like this!

Thinking of that made her feel better but did nothing to reduce the urge to touch Raj in intimate places, to kiss him on those sexy lips…. What would it feel like to lick that soft earlobe? What the hell! She needed to rein in her emotions!

It wasn't like she was a teenager with no control over her raging hormones. She reproached her mind and concentrated on looking out of the window. She could still feel herself peaking as a warm glow spread inside her, throbbing between her legs.

She had worn her black lace panties tonight, just to make sure there weren't any embarrassing lines showing through her body-hugging dress. There was hardly any fabric down there and the knickers were most definitely soaking wet. She did everything she could to get her mind off the Greek God- like Raj.

Although the hospital was classified as a rural hospital, Daund was more like a small town. It had been lucky to get a big railway junction where every express train from the Western & Central railways stopped. Due to the junction, there were more earning opportunities and the living conditions of the people had improved over a period of time.

Also, it's proximity to Pune city, the educational hub and IT boomtown helped in improving the quality of education there.

The government hospital was built on an empty patch of land seven to ten km away from the central village, near the village cemetery.

The area was scenic and untouched. When they came onto the narrow tar road outside the hospital, they would reach the town square. A public bus depot was located in the square. One needed to drive straight through the square to get to the village center.

She had mostly walked this way on her many visits to the market. It was a lonely stretch of road which she wouldn’t like to cross at night. During the day it was a lovely walk through the shrubs of Arabic trees that were spread on both sides of the road.

They had left the hospital and instead of heading straight from the square, towards the village center where most of the restaurants were, they took a right turn to go out onto the state highway.

Daund did not have a pub. It mostly had small, dingy bars which served alcohol. The patrons of these ' bars' were mostly local rowdy goons. Although some of the bars had 'Family Rooms', where women were expected to sit, these weren't the kind of places where Mia and Jenny would go and have a drink, not without getting m*lested.

After a drinking bout, the goons wouldn't leave any chance to harass a woman.

Mia and Jenny hadn’t had a drink since they had come down to Daund over a month back. Hell, we have been too busy to even catch a good eight- hour sleep! She sighed, lost in her thoughts.

The town was famous for its unruly citizens who weren’t great followers of the law. Let's just say that the law here was flexible and depended heavily on how much power you wielded with your goons, guns and your money.

They used to receive a lot of MLCs (Medico- Legal Cases) for examination and certification. It had given the doctors from the city enough idea of how bad things could get.

From people trying to murder each other using swords, to some punching incidences, fights were pretty common and so were r*pes and murders.

On their first day itself, the Medical Superintendent (MS) had warned them about the village and asked them to manage their safety by staying within the hospital premises. The hospital was well guarded.

It had been over a month since they were here and hadn’t ventured out at odd hours, for safety reasons. They did visit the village market sometimes, but only during the day and in traditional attire, so as to blend in and not attract undue attention.

Now, their car was moving swiftly along the winding highway. Both sides of the road were covered with forestland. The monsoon had arrived the previous month.

This being July, the rains had made the forest lush green and beautiful. It had managed to take her mind off the sexy stranger sitting next to her

The guy hummed along with the romantic Bollywood song playing in the background.

‘Coz you are the one, only you are the one, you are now my life….’ (Kyunki tum hi ho, ab tum hi ho, zindagi ab tum hi ho...)

He had a voice like honey. Sweet and rough.

***

Raj

Phew!

He had been quick at opening the door, hoping Mia would sit next to him. He thought he saw some doubt on her face, only for a few fleeting seconds, but she is good in masking her thoughts. Then Jenny sat in the back and the seating decision was made.

How he only wanted to sniff the nape hiding under the curly hair of the girl sitting next to him. The cool air around her and her red lips were stirring something in his groin.

Good, he was driving the car or it would have been difficult to hide the obvious bulge forming in his denims.

What was it about this girl that was pulling him towards her?

And she was totally aloof. Oblivious to what she was doing to him.

He wondered if he had made a mistake in agreeing to come over to Daund for the evening. God knows what place Dane had thought of. This looked like a sleepy town with no discs or pubs and, from what he had read on the news, it was notorious for all the wrong reasons.

Dane and Raj were at the same college during their undergrad days. Raj was a year his senior, but they had struck a good friendship as they shared the same interests in studies, sports and working out.

Dane was a smart and sexy man with women wanting to befriend him, but he was too caught up with his own life to bother about them. He had no idea how many hearts he had broken just by ignoring them. Unlike Raj who was a ladies' man. He enjoyed having fun and if the women consented to his rules, he didn’t mind engaging in them.

Raj had liked Dane’s commitment to everything he did and, luckily, they had ended up getting their post-grad course also in the same college. Eleven years of working and studying together had made them inseparable buddies, and they understood each other very well. So when Dane insisted on him visiting this village, he knew it had something to do with a girl. Now that girl was sitting in the back seat of the car.

Jenny was beautiful. She looked fresh, innocent and lighthearted. Unlike the distant and cool Mia sitting next to him, Jenny appeared warm. He was sure Dane would be happy with her.

But what was going on in Mia’s mind? She was continuously looking out of the window as if she wanted the freedom to run with the wolves into those dense woods.

He could picture her walking through the green landscape, carefree and alone, totally at peace with herself. He could feel his arousal again and, to distract himself, he moved his concentration to the romantic Bollywood song playing softly through the car stereo.

He loved this song and unwittingly started humming along with it…

‘Also my peace, my pain too, my love you are mine now!’ (Chain bhi, mera dard bhi, Meri aashiqui ab tum hi ho!)

***

Author

Jenny was meanwhile thinking about how to break this deadly silence. She couldn’t believe that Mia hadn’t spoken a single word to Raj yet! She had known Mia since the first year. She had also known some parts of what had happened between her and that b*stard ex and what he had done to her.

She knew Mia could stay quiet for hours and still be at peace. Sometimes she envied this quality of her friend but she wanted Mia to enjoy the evening too.

And Raj... he was all comfortable, enjoying the silence and singing…

She was going to break the reverie of her companions, her nerves were jittery and she wanted to distract herself by diving into chatting. That was her solution to most problems.

“So Raj, did you drive all the way from Pune?” she looked at him in the rear view mirror and chirped.

“Yes, just in case I needed to return to the hospital. But not in this car, in case you are wondering. This is Dane’s. He wanted to drive mine,” he shrugged.

“It's a nice car”, Mia chipped in. "I like SUVs more".

“Oh, you understand cars”, Raj raised his eyebrows in surprise. Most women he had met couldn’t tell the difference between two types of cars.

“Only a little. I am more of a bike person,” Mia replied.

Jenny added, “She rides a cruiser! I am in awe of this woman. She is a serious biker!!”

That’s interesting, Raj thought- A petite girl riding a beast!

He smirked at his not so decent thoughts about the possibilities... but kept the thoughts to himself. Instead, he asked out loud, “so which bike is it?”

“Harley 1200 Custom”, Mia said nonchalantly, but her eyes lit up, remembering her bike parked safely at her mom’s garage.

He wished he had known the model, but didn’t miss the spark in her eyes. Harley..1200..was that 1200 cc? That would be a lot of power! She misses her bike rides. No wonder she has been looking out of the window longingly!

Here we are!

They had arrived at a Dhaba- a road side food stall which looked massive. Spread out on a huge piece of land, this Dhaba had a very rural look, but looking at the cars parked outside, it appeared to be a place frequented by well-to-do people.

The valet took their car while they entered the Dhaba. It was a nice place with tiny huts spread out around the entire Dhaba.

These huts looked like hay cabanas around a garden.

Raj took them to one of the huts where tables and chairs were arranged. Some aperitifs and snacks were already served.

Dane was busy chatting with a pretty looking woman in a silk saree which she had draped sensually around her curves. The moment he saw Jenny his eyes did not leave her.

Mia and Jenny had just arrived and their eyes were still getting used to the dimly lit cabana.

Dane looked handsome in his grey formal pants and black shirt. He slowly walked towards Jenny, took her hands in his, looked into her eyes and said earnestly, “You look beautiful tonight! I mean you look beautiful every day but today is special.” Jenny blushed and mumbled her thanks.

He then introduced Jenny and Mia to his other friends…

Nita, the lady in the saree, was a gynecologist from Pune, Seema was a dentist, Vasant was a graphic designer with his studio in Pune and Raghu, general physician, Kale, dermatologist and Tarun, ENT were from the rural hospital and Mia and Jenny knew them.

He introduced Raj to everyone as his best friend and mentor, a gynecologist from Pune.

Mia noticed how Nita looked at Raj and felt a pang of jealousy. She squashed it immediately, willing her mind to think rationally. There was no need or reason for her to feel jealous!

Mia wished Dane a Happy Birthday and gifted him a pack of Lavazza coffee beans. She knew how much he loved coffee and especially the one that she used to brew. Jenny wished him too and said her gift was a, “Yes”

Mia looked at them confused and was glad to see the same confusion on Raj’s face. Then it dawned on her… Her friend had just said yes to a proposal!

But what was the proposal? She was dying to know but apparently her talkative chirpy friend had decided to go all enigmatic on her. Once they got back, Mia was going to kill her!

****