After having dinner Jinita called up Neil.
“Did you give it a thought??” Neil barked.
“Neil! What happened to hi, hello??” Jinita asked pointedly.
“Hmm… Sorry sweetie. I have been feeling very edgy.” Neil sounded pretty hassled.
“Neil, I still think the same as last night. I prefer to wait till marriage.” Jinita maintained her stand.
“Jini, please think again. You know what? I have even bought few books and CDs!”
“What? Books and CDs?? Have you gone mad???” Jinita screamed.
“Relax baby. Initially we will need books and CD s to guide us. It’s going to be our first time sweetie. Once we know rules of the game we can play it with ease. But till then we will have to rely on these books and CDs. I have already started reading the book and I can happily announce that now I know basic moves. Of course still there is a lot to learn baby. I am sure with a partner like you it will be a pretty quick learning.” Neil was breathing heavily with excitement.
“You have gone mad!” Jinita was now fuming. “Till now I was taking this lightly but you sound pretty serious about it. Neil I am making this clear. I am not going to do it!!”
There was silence on the other end.
Then Neil spoke “As you wish dear.. But Jini can you do me at least one favor?”
Jinita was in no mood to talk. She kept quiet. Neil took her silence as Yes and continued “Sweetie tomorrow is Saturday. I shall come to your place and show you the book I have bought. Just have a look once and then it’s your call entirely. I shall never ever ask you about this. Is that fine?”
Jinita was quick to reply “Neil, I will never change my mind and then mom & dad would be there. They will probably kill you if they see the book.”
“Stupid girl! I shall wrap the book in a gift paper and give it to you. You can read it later on. Ok?” Neil waited for Jinita to answer.
“Uh.. oh.. Ok..” Jinita stammered.
“Bye. See you tomorrow!” Neil hung up before she could change her mind.
After the call Jinita tried sleeping but ended up tossing and turning the whole night. She loved Neil and was eager to get married to him. He was such a nice guy. But last night he seemed so different. She always wanted to get married to a man with same values as hers.
‘Is Neil Mr. Right?’ She wondered.
Next day she told her parents about Neil’s visit.
“Oh… What time he will be coming. The Ravs have invited us over evening tea. We thought, like all Saturdays you will be going out with Neil. But don’t worry we shall be back before he leaves!” Mom assured her.
“No! You two have to be home when Neil comes!” Jinita shouted at once. She didn’t want to be alone when Neil came.
Both Mom and Dad looked puzzled by the way she reacted.
“Is everything all right beta??” her father asked worriedly.
Jinita understood her mistake. There is no point in freaking out now. I shall handle this alone. she thought confidently. She quickly assured her parents, “Yes! Everything is all right. No problem. You two proceed with your plan. I shall ask Neil to wait till you return.”
So when Neil arrived in the evening, Jinita was all alone. As she opened the door Neil stood in the door watching her. She was wearing a bottle green salwar kameej and matching earrings. She had tied her hair in a careless bun. Neil just couldn?t take his eyes off her. ?You look gorgeous!? he whispered. She ignored his compliment and marched him to the living room. She didn?t smile at him and maintained a serious look on her face
He sat on the sitting and looked around. “Where are my Saasuma & Sasurji”
“They have gone out.” Jinita answered without looking at him.
“Ohhhh….” he was grinning form ear to ear.
“What Oh?? And stop grinning! Mrs. Mehra knows about your visit.” Jinita shot back.
“Oh No!!” Neil moved in his seat uncomfortably. ”So that Sumo wrestler is expected any moment. I better be prepared!”
Jinita suppressed her giggles.
Neil placed a small bag on the center table. He looked at Jinita and pushed it towards her. “This is for you sweetie.”
Jinita didn’t move from her seat.
“Since mom and dad are not there you can have a look at the book right away!!” Neil coaxed her. “And please be quick. If Sumo comes, we will have to hide this. Otherwise she will crush me mercilessly.”
Feeling nervous reluctantly Jinita took the bag. Slowly she put her hand inside. She could feel Neil staring at her. Her heart was beating very fast and hands were shaking a bit. She gathered all her courage and started taking off the wrapping paper.
Just then they heard a familiar shout. “Jamaibabu….”
“Oh shit!! Mrs. Mehra!!” Neil jumped from his seat as if his backside was burning.
“Jackass! You didn’t shut the main door??” Jinita cried.
“Nooo!. Now be quick. Hide that book!” Neil panicked.
But Jinita was flabbergasted. She just sat there holding the book. Thankfully she was holding it upside down. So the cover was not visible.
Even Neil couldn’t move too quickly. Before he could snatch the book from Jinita, Mrs. Mehra arrived. And she was not alone! Jinita’s father and mother were also there.
Mrs. Mehra looked at the partially unwrapped book and said “Oh. Look Jamaibabu has got a gift for Jini. What is it? Is it a book on recipes??” She went to Jinita and took the book from her hand.
Jinita panicked and looked at Neil for help. But he just stood there as if he was struck by a lightning.
Finally Neil managed to answer “No aunty it’s not a recipe book. It’s a book about a popular game. One of those ‘How-to-books’.”
Jinita was going week in her knees. She tried speaking but words failed to come out of her mouth.
Mrs. Mehra turned the book and looked at the cover and read it aloud
“How to play Chess! Oh it’s about Chess!!”
It took a while for Jinita to fathom what Mrs. Mehra was saying. And then she screamed “What ??? “
She snatched the book from Mrs. Mehra’s hands and read it herself.
She looked at Neil.
With a straight face he told everybody present there,
“I love chess and I have been persuading Jinita to learn chess so that we two can play. But she hates it and keeps postponing it. So I finally got this book. I thought may be after reading this she will change her mind.”
Nobody understood why Jinita suddenly giggled and hit Neil with the book on his back.
“Ouchhh!! that hurts…” Neil rubbed his back and looked at the elders for some support.
The elders oblivious to Neil’s prank agreed with Neil and told Jinita that at least once she should try playing chess.
After some time when the elders were not looking, Neil took Jinita aside and said, “Sorry sweetie if I troubled you for the past 2 days. I was just playing a prank.”
“That is fine dear!” Jinita smiled.
“So will you learn chess with me?” Neil asked.
Jinita giggled “Yes dear I will!”
“And what about the other thing? Are you game for that also?” Neil smiled naughtily & winked at her.
It made her blush so much that Neil was left speechless watching her beauty….
The End.
