First Time Ever

First Proposal

Chapter-17

First Proposal

I should’ve kept my mouth shut! Should’ve kept quiet and let Keith handle things but no, I had to go and spill the beans, spoil everything.

And now I was sitting outside Mrs. Night’s bedroom while the mother and son ‘solved’ the problem on their own, which included shouting at each other, throwing things, banging on the walls and calling me names, most of which were the courtesy of the woman in charge.

Gosh, for a graceful woman, she did fight dirty. If someone would have asked me how do I think she would handle this matter, I would’ve told them that she would have wanted to have a few words with me and her son, while she talked some sense into him and threw me death glares but not like this, throwing things! That would never have crossed my mind.

“Have you lost your mind Keith?” even though the door was closed, her voice made me cringe, “She’s one of them for Christ’s sake! Have you forgotten?” her voice broke and I knew she was holding back tears, I should’ve never come here, it was all a mistake.

“I have not forgotten anything mom, anything. I still remember the look in his eyes when they brought him home, I remember how he would cringe away every time I tried to touch him, I remember his screams echoing through the house mom, I remember him lying on the floor, lifeless, his blood splattered across the walls.”

I knew he has lost his father, I thought I knew how much it hurt him but never in a thousand years would I have thought how completely broken he was. It was as if I could feel his pain in my heart and it was suffocating me, slowly, mercilessly clenching my heart. And it occurred to me that I’ll never know the extent of his pain, what he has gone through, his suffering.

To carry all that in his heart and still being able to smile, to befriend, to make others happy, to love, it was amazing. He was amazing. Till now I’ve only loved him, now I found in my heart a respect for him, now I respected him.

“Then why Keith, why?” there was desperation in her words, I realized I couldn’t blame her anymore, I couldn’t blame any one of them anymore. While it might not have been my fault, it was certainly linked to me, through millions of webs, twisted, distant, foreign. I might not have been guilty of anything but being born into a certain religion, but that religion was taboo here and while it pained me there was nothing I could do about it, people have suffered and they wanted someone to blame, something to blame. I just couldn’t blame them anymore.

“Because I love her mom!”

My heart swelled on hearing that, he loved me, I can’t believe he said it, he loved me. And in that moment I decided that just like he stood up to his mother for me, I would stand against the world for him, if it ever came to that.

“Kei….”

“I can’t help it Mom, she’s all I could think of, all I want to see, all I want to hear, all I want to touch. She’s mine mom, she’s meant to be. We’re meant to be.”

“That witch! She’s manipulating you son, she’s using her womanly charms on you.”

I wanted to tell her that I had no charms, womanly or otherwise but I understood her anger, her frustration.

“Actually,” there was a smile in his voice and then the door opened and I was pulled into his chest, it’s the opposite.” Which was quite true.

Firmly locking me in place he kissed me then and there, ignoring that we were in the middle of a mess and his mother was throwing me murderous looks, ignoring that I was trying to push him away, trying to tell him that it wasn’t the greatest time. He simply didn’t care.

“Don’t turn me on India or I’ll take you right here on the floor.”

I gasped at his warning and kissed him back, not wanting his mother to witness an adult movie live in her house.

“Keith,” she warned, still at the door, “she’ll burn you son, destroy you.”

Stepping away and shuffling through his pockets, he took out something. Kneeling on the floor before me, he said the words that made the ground beneath my feet disappear, “Will you marry me?” holding out a ring he asked.

The second those words registered in my mind I was on the floor, in front of him. The shock of it all making my heart pound and my head spin. I cannot believe my eyes, was it a dream? I just can’t believe it was all real.

Hell it was too good to be real.

“Well?” he was still waiting for me to say something, I wanted to say something but didn’t know how. Not trusting my tongue with this, I threw my arms around him and kissed him instead.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he was grinning from ear to ear, something I’ve never seen him do before.

I wanted to kiss him again, kiss him so hard that he’d forget to kiss, “No, that’s a no,” I teased. Never in a million years could I imagine that a guy like him would want to date someone like me, let alone marry me. Was this a dream, was this even reality, is any of this really happening? Or was my mind making him up for me?

He threw me a suggestive smirk, “I could think of a few ways to change your mind.”

Oh and I knew what was at the very top of his list. And I couldn’t agree more, “Can we go home?” God I wanted to play this game, I have started enjoying it, really, really enjoying it.

“Someone’s getting excited,” he was perfection incarnated, right there in front of me, in flesh and blood. For those moments I forgot that his mother was standing there, scowling at me, wishing that I never existed, never met her son, maybe wishing that I was dead.

But all of it had happened now and it can’t be undone now. I was madly, insanely, fortuitously in love with him and he loved me back.

“Is this what you really want son?’ she asked, the frown replaced by something I couldn’t point, all the anger evaporated and something nameless, something obscure took its place.

“Yes mom, she is all I’ll ever want,” he breathed.

In that moment I didn’t know whether I was to feel at the top of the world because I was getting married to the guy I loved or like dying in a pit because of what I saw on his mother’s face.

Was I a bad person? Did just come between a mother and son? Was I a horrible person because of it? Did it make me a witch, as she called me? Or a b***h?

“Fine,” it was barely audible, barely above a whisper, barely reached my ears but when it did, I was nearly knocked off my knees, “if that’s what you really want, then I have nothing to say anymore.” With that she turned around and went back to her room.

I didn’t feel like celebrating anymore, it was a desperate decision, I might not have killed him but I was taking him away from her, she feared it and wanted to prevent it, she hasn’t accepted me, just her fate.

Keith looked at me and I didn’t have to look at him twice to know what we had to do, “Go,” gently pushing him away, I prompted, “talk to her. She needs you right now.”

Pecking my forehead quickly, he went in after his mother. Not wanting to be the unrequited guest in their discussion, I made my way out of the house and sat in the car, waiting for him.

My hand itched to call my mother and tell her about this wonderful boy in my life, about how he made my life beautiful, about how he wanted to get married but I decided to wait until Keith could settle things down with his mother, after all we need to take care of one volcano before making another one to erupt.

Turning on the music and bringing the volume to minimum, I relaxed in my seat listening to Aerosmith’s Don’t want to miss a thing and fell asleep.

He looked regal in that tux, as if a prince has come down from a fairy tale and I was once again reminded of my average looks. But today nothing mattered but him and me and us, our marriage. It was happening, finally happening.

There were so many people, all dressed up in pretty clothes, looking beautiful and handsome. I spotted his mother, she reciprocated the monarchial beauty her son was displaying, there was no smile on her face but at least she was there.

My father sat with my mother at one of the tables, they were dressed in Indian clothes but looked good nonetheless. My brother was at the back shouting something to one of the waiters.

Lita, Bran, Rose everyone was there but I couldn’t see Pete anywhere. Maybe he was getting something done, it was his best friend’s wedding after all.

The church was decorated with flowers, roses, lilies, daffodils, all different, exotic flowers. The music was soft, sensual even and it reminded me of him. I was walking towards the altar when Adam Levine’s voice boomed in my head, “Animals…..like animals yeah…”

And I was brought back to reality.

“Why were you smiling in your sleep?” he was in driver’s seat, chin popped over his knuckle and looking at me like I was the only thing in the world.

“No reason,” sitting up, I stretched my legs, they were stiff from sitting from too long, but the action caused my already short dress to ride up. His eyes instantly fixed on the more exposed flesh.

“Really?” he wasn’t buying my lie, “not only were you smiling but you were blushing as well,” his hand came to rest on my thigh and started moving up, taking the hem of the dress with it. It started to get unbearably hot.

“How long was I asleep?” I caught his hand before it can ascend any further. If you can’t lie then dodge the question.

His hand stayed at the spot, “Half an hour, approx.” yeah it worked! “But don’t try to ignore the question.”

Well never mind.

“I was dreaming,” if you can’t dodge then tell half lies.

“Of?” with his other hand, he started the ignition and took the steering.

“You,” and then I turned away from him.

“Of course India, who else can make you blush, even n a dream?” he sounded cocky.

“Lot of people.”

“Oh yeah?” his eyes turned to me, the car coming to a stop, his face was set in a hard contour.

I gulped and his eyes followed the air bolus down my throat, “Nobody can make you blush but me India,” with that he pulled up my leg by the thigh, I hadn’t fastened the seatbelt so I slid as he pulled and brought my thigh to his face.

“Keith!” I was mortified as the dress slid further up because of my positioning and he bit down on my thigh, sinking his teeth in, and then licking the pain away with his tongue. Oh God! Oh my freaking God! The feelings that I was slowly getting familiar with, started pooling in the pit of my stomach and I moaned as he sucked on it.

“Got it?” looking at me from over my leg, he asked. His eyes were hooded and the intensity in them were unmistakable. What did it feel like to have s*x in a car?

I was very close to finding out when a horn blared from behind our car and someone screamed, “Move on!” quickly freeing my leg from his grasp I fastened the seatbelt, at the same time pulling the wretched dress down.

He was right, he can make me feel things nobody ever did, nobody ever could, “I was kidding.”

“I know,” his eyes went back to the road as he started driving once again.

And I sighed in relief, “but that doesn’t mean I like it.”

Possessive bastard!

“Sorry,” okay I was merely teasing him and that never required me to be sorry before but then again had it been him telling me that other girls made him blush, I would’ve been pissed too.

Being with somebody does change a lot of things.

“It’s alright sweetheart,” it was when he smiled that I finally relaxed in my seat.

“You really want to marry me?” my heartbeat has returned to normal, my insides weren’t jumping around anymore, so I wanted to know the answer to the real question, I knew he proposed me but I still couldn’t believe it was all real.

“No, it was a stunt I pulled to pursue my mom,” my head turned sharply to look at him, to see whether he was lying but he was looking directly ahead, his eyes on the road. Now I felt like puking, my stomach churned, I felt myself nauseate.

None of it was true? He was acting, just so his mother could approve of me, and I was such an i***t to have believe it. Rolling down the window, I tried to push back the contents of my stomach that were now in my esophagus, “Oh!”

They stayed at bay, refusing to go down, I was about to tell him to stop when he hit the brakes and we were home. Throwing open the door, I jumped out and ran off to find the nearest washroom.

Peter’s door was wide open so I raced in without knocking, he was putting on a blazer when I got in and threw up in his bathroom.

“India?” he came in after me to find me bend over the toilet seat, puking my guts out. Thank God I didn’t eat much at dinner.

“s**t,” rushing over, he pulled the hair from my face and rubbed my back gently. I felt pathetic.

“You okay?”he was genuinely worried and looked so out of place on his bathroom floor, holding back my hair in his business suit. I would have laughed had I been any better.

“No,” trying to swat him away, I replied. He refused to even bulge, “go away Pete, I’ll ruin your clothes.”

His hand stopped abruptly on my back, “Really India?” he sounded hurt, “they are not as important as you.”

For a second I stopped breathing.

And then Keith showed up, “What the…..,” he was clearly irritated and about to throw some smart ass comment when he stopped, seeing me in that horrible, horrible position.

“Jesus India, are you okay,” he knelt down in front of me. Peter looked at me and then him, debating what to do next. Then he stood up and moved back to give Keith more space on the floor.

“No, am not,” I didn’t want to talk to him. He was such a bad person, playing with my emotions like that. I wanted Pete back, rubbing my back, holding my hair.

“Let’s call the doctor,” taking my hand in his, he tried to pull me up, I stayed on the floor, refusing to move.

“Am not going anywhere with you Night.”

“What?” he was obviously surprised at my hostile behavior all of a sudden, well he deserved it. I jerked my hand back from his.

“God, Really?” running a hand through his hair, he huffed, “I was joking India.”

“About the doctor?”

“No i***t, about my marriage proposal being a fluke. I want to marry you India, I really do.”

“You do?” that felt so much better.

“Yes,” he breathed, “now can we please go see a doctor?”

“I am fine.”

“I think you should listen to him,” Peter advised, clearly not wanting to be there. The worry was still there in his voice but this time I sensed a certain detachment I’ve never felt before from him. Why hadn’t he left yet if we made him uncomfortable?

“Okay,” standing up and splashing some water over my face, I followed them out of the bathroom.

“Sorry about this Pete,” I really felt bad about barging into his room like that and then making a mess out of his spotless bathroom.

He smiled but it felt incomplete somehow, it wasn’t like the smiles he usually gave me, “Don’t be. Go see a doctor and let me know okay?”

“I will,” Keith supplied for me.

Peter nodded in return but his eyes were fixed on me, it felt like he was trying to say something, to ask something, his eyes pleading me to understand but I couldn’t exactly figure out what.

Taking a few steps towards him, I asked, “Pete?”

He turned away from me,” I better go.” He never did that, never turned his back to me, that hurt. And then he was gone without even throwing me another look.

Have I done something?

Looking back at Keith, I asked for help, “He’s weird at times India,” shrugging he once again took my hand in his, “Let’s go.”

Nodding I felt him guide me out of his room and the house. I couldn’t help but feel a stab in my heart as I’ve watched Pete’s retreating back.

It felt wrong, like I should stop him, shouldn’t let him go. It just felt like I was losing something very dear to me. For the first time I felt like I just destroyed something really beautiful.