MY ORPHAN BRIDE

DON'T LET GO OF ME

ALICE



‘My little wife’?

‘My Little Wife?’

Each and every time my heart is beating, it reminds me of how he referred to me as ‘Little wife’.

I know it is gross but I cannot help but smile unknowingly.

Even though he is blatantly making fun of me, I like every bit of it.

I never remember myself being this stupid and thoughtless, but when he is around I don’t know what happens to me. It seems that I get influenced by his spells.

His words are spell binding me to him. His eyes and the questioning look attached to them worked as a spell; and even his stupid and annoying smirk too.

Having an attractive face is a plus point that Mr. Fezong has. No matter how angry I am at him; I can't shout at him. His pretty face and his fathomless eyes make me forget everything.

It is weird for me to be acting this way. But he is so magnetic. I can't help myself from getting attracted to this ill-mannered, handsome Mr. Fezong, by the way.

His perfume has been invading my nose since the time I wore his jacket and somehow my inner self is getting really attracted to the way he smells.

[Oh Alice! How can you think about it that way? How can you forget that he has a girlfriend and she is an angel, directly landed on earth just for him. And most importantly, how can you forget that he loves her too?-- The voice inside my head is hyper active once again.]

I cannot deflect from what I am. I had promised Prerna Annay that there would be no ‘me’ between him and her.

I have to stick to what I have said. But how do I resist this handsome face which is perfectly sculpted by the god of beauty and the way he is killing me with his all-black avatar?

Oh boy! I have to deflect my thoughts into something else. It could be anything but it should be something else than Mr. Fezong.

I look at the leaves rustling as his bike passes across them.

The stars are twinkling and there is the moon on the other side of the sky, full bright and gleaming golden.

This is the second time that I have been out of my apartment at this time.

Whether it is coincidence or my destiny, each time I am with him.

The winding road and his speedy bike are traumatizing me to my depths. I had never in my life had the opportunity to go for a two-wheeler ride, let alone KTM.

The fear that has gripped me is only letting me tighten my hold on his side. I could sense that if I tightened my hold more then, his black woolen sweater would be loosened on one side.

My other hand is placed on his left shoulder. I bet he is aware of my fears but he is not intending to slow down the speed.

Call me childish, but I too want to see the front side view from this bike. I so want to see what he is seeing at this instant. My journey is from the start itself, attended by the houses lit on the right side of the road and the stars above while the peeking moon and a few tall trees are standing. I wonder what is on the other side too.

-...-.-.-.-.-..-.-.-.-..-...-....-

We are now entering the woody forest.

I had googled earlier regarding the birthday venue. I must say, it is not simply for nothing that this place has earned a repute for itself.

But before heading upslope adorned by tall pine trees and lush underneath on both sides of the road, he halted the engines and slightly turned my way.

“Alice! Are you ready? The way from here is dangerous. There is no street light across this entire stretch of forest and we cannot halt anywhere but on the other side of the forest. I cannot drive slowly from here. Will you be alright with that?”

He asked me and I could see how his breath was coming out from his reddened lips. Now I feel sorry, because he gave his helmet to me and he was exposed there bareheaded on such a cold night.

‘I think so’ I replied.

If that wasn’t fast enough, then I wonder what is really fast for him. But somehow I am thrilled to go fast across this dense forest while at the same time I am feeling nervous too.

I look his way and see half of his face now and his eyes are only looking at me. Maybe he is hesitating because he might be thinking that I may not endure this speedy ride with him.

“Mr. Managing Director, let’s do it!”

I patted his shoulder in an attempt to erase his hesitation regarding my fear.

He pulled my right hand across his belly, which decreased the distance further between me and him.

My lips are now only a finger’s distance away from his neck that is draped in my pashmina shawl.

‘Don’t let go of me, Alice, and don’t loosen this grip, alright? I don’t want us to encounter any accident.’

Is he adding more to my fears now? How could he do so?

But it is etching me to the very core, even though he is only cautioning me for both of our safety purposes, but whatever he is saying to me is bothering me.

How could he instruct me to not let him go? He could have said something else too. So why is he making my heart move erratically? Or is it my overthinking?

“My god! Give me patience to endure this sweet torture that this man in black is giving me. I want it to last until we reach the venue. I don’t want to faint because of my silly thinking. Help me..oh lord.”

I start chanting the prayers inwardly. More than the fear of encountering wild animals or even a road accident, I am bothered that I won’t last until I reach the hotel to where his girlfriend, i.e. Prerna Annay is waiting for us.

‘Hold on tight Alice.’

One short reminder and again he revved the engine and now I understand what he meant earlier by his way of ‘SPEED’.

We are now storming uphill with just the focus of the headlights of his bike. The rivulet is flowing dangerously, warning us about the negation of this seemingly heavenly forest around us.

.-.-.-.-.-.--.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I gasped so widely and patted his belly continuously, forcing him to stop again in the wild forest.

“What is that?” Irritation was distinct in his voice.

I am unbothered about what he may think of me or how I am going to return from the middle of the forest if he makes up his mind about leaving me behind because of what I am planning to do.

“Mr. Managing Director! Did you see that?”

I point to the side which is visible to me and show him the multi-millions of fireflies emerging out of the dark alleys underneath and brightly lighting the entire stretch of their presence.

‘Really! Alice? You made me halt because of that?’ His anger was now evident from his voice.

I don’t even know when I got off of his bike. I was excited and I could not contain myself once he stopped the engine. What would I do if I was such a busy person until today? I never had time to adore such beautiful scenes ever before.

“But…I…” I couldn’t complete my sentence.

Yes, I was warned already but I was a fool to get mesmerized by the mere light bugs.

My eyes automatically closed when I saw he was now coming off of his bike too. I just prayed that he wouldn’t slap me for my stupidity.

Fingers crossed behind my back and eyes shut tightly, I stood frozen at my spot.

He is right there ahead of me, I can feel him and I can feel his stare at me.

I was taken aback by what he did next. He took off the helmet from my head and tucked the hair behind my ears with both of his hands.

“Alice! Do you like fireflies so much?”

His warm breath is fanning my temples because he is way taller than me. [The biggest irony, however, even with 3 inch high heels on, I barely reach his height. How tall could God make me more than this?]

‘Ah that? Ermmm..’

I could not answer him. I don’t know whether I adore them that much or whether I have seen such a huge number of bugs with golden lights. I had never really seen such a sight and I could not sustain that building feeling of happiness that crossed through my heart right now.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never come across them in your life.”

He said and he caught me.

Well, life at the orphanage was strict and I don’t remember what I was like before I was taken to the orphanage. After that, I had to work my ass off to earn my living and, in the midst of working hard and earning little, I forgot to enjoy such a beautiful life that I am blessed with.

I nodded at what he asked me. It was true indeed, so I had no point lying now.

‘I am sorry Mr. Managing Director. I was taken aback right now. Let’s get going.’

I shuffled back to where his bike stood but was immediately pulled by his warm hands.

“Let’s catch you one then.” He said in a low voice and it echoed in my ears for some time.

[He says he'll catch one. Is he real? Or am I imagining things? Is it my dream? I pinch one of my hands because I cannot believe what I just heard.]

I can see why older people often say that men are babies at heart.

Well, I am 20 years old and this person who is trying so hard to catch a firefly seems older than me. Yet he is acting like a kid.

‘He is not that bad or cold.’

I may have mistaken him for a cold person on our first meeting. I thought he was really domineering and to some extent he is.

But seeing him happy and trying so hard to get hold of one little bug with so much dedication softens my earlier perspective of him.

I can see what he looked like when he used to be a baby; I mean in his childhood.

He merrily comes my way with a fisted hand and shows me what he has caught.

“Don’t you wanna see what’s inside?”

It was silly of him to ask me the obvious. I already know there is a firefly. But his excited tone makes me thrilled altogether.

I nod and with a small smile he opens his fist and a single glowing bug starts flying hurriedly;,, far away from his clutches.

‘Alice, It’s your turn.’

“Excuse me!” I replied at his sudden order.

He crossed his arms around his chest and gestured his eyes towards the swarm of the fireflies.

“Go..catch me one.”

Damn it! Why does he have to be like this again? I curse very low.

I am angry at him, but I am also afraid of him hearing whatever curses I am giving him.

I don’t know how long it took me, but I enjoyed being surrounded by those bugs. Some sat on my hands and some on my head. I could literally feel them crawling across my hair.

I spread my hands forward in a trial to catch them but thought that, unlike Priyam, I would stay still and not go chasing after them. And yeah, I was lucky because when I went back to him I had more of those insects in both of my hands.

“Mr. Managing Director looked.” I showed them what I got and we both watched the flight they took and again went back to their initial swarm.

Either by choice or by consequence, no living being can stay aloof from their families. It is only a matter of time that one has to turn back to them. Because that is what life is. This is how god created every living being; be it animals, be it human beings or be it these little light bugs.