Song: Darkhaast

Nothing is a better serenader to me than music. One of my favorite memories as a teenager when school wasn't choking the life out of me was Manish and I sitting in his bedroom and me listening in as he effortlessly strummed the song, "Yun hi Chala Chal Raahi," on his guitar. Hearing his voice and the gentleness of the guitar and the song melting together dissolved a lot of the stress crushing me at that time.

    Those exact memories are what's inflating my mind as I inch towards his house for another randomly exciting visit. Literally in the morning, I was enjoying some leftover sambar with my sad, oval shaped dosas when Manish texted me, "Hey, wanna come and have chaat at my place at 8?"

I of course couldn't say no, and the idea of chaat was more than enough to propel my legs towards his apartment at 7:55. As I inch towards his apartment, the sounds of music from the radio float throughout the air, with lyrics of Pritam and K.K.'s "Dil Ibadat" accompanying it. "Dil ibadat kar raha hai dhadkane meri sun." (My heart is praying that you'll listen to its beats)

The words gently brush against my ears, and immediately, I finish the lyrics in my mind. "Tujhko main kar loon haasil, lagi hai yahi dhun," (I want to achieve you, that's my desire) I hum, as I finally reach Manish's ajar front door. I gently rap on that door with my knuckles, as I hear Manish yell, "You can come in, Jaya!"

I step inside to find Manish standing in the corner, frantically cleaning up his kitchen like the President is coming and he'll revoke his US citizenship if there's any spot of dirt. His eyes dart towards me examining why he's cleaning his kitchen in such a rush, and he starts to explain. "I made some food and didn't have a lot of time to clean up. Sorry about that."

I shrug, as I go to flop back on his couch and relax. "Your apartment is almost always spotless. Mine looks like Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger had a food fight. You're fine, don't worry." Manish snickers, as I see him dust off a little bit of the atta that was sprinkled on his fingers.

As he's cleaning off the counter, he turns back towards me. "By the way, I ordered some chaat. I've been craving it so much lately, so I decided to order some pani puri for me and dahi paapdi chaat - extra spicy-  for you. Is that good?"

Saliva starts to pool in my mouth at the thought of some really spicy chaat. The spice of the chutneys, the crunch of the papdi, and the creaminess of the yogurt are all causing hunger to rumble in the pits of my stomach. "That sounds amazing," I admire, as I also secretly celebrate the fact that Manish remembered that I like it extra spicy.

Manish chuckles a little bit, as he hangs the dish towel slung over his shoulder on the oven door handle.  "Hey, thanks for being so great with my parents, by the way. They were so happy to see you. I'm so grateful that you didn't pull a 'Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon' on them."

I burst out in a fit of laughter after remembering that god-awful movie. It's easily up there as one of the worst movies I've ever watched in my life. At that moment, a little idea pops in my mind, and a devilish smirk spreads on my face. I clear my throat, and in the most screechy, annoying voice I can muster, I yell, "AUNTY!!!"

Manish immediately catches on with what I'm trying to do, and follows up. "How are you aunty?!?!?! Oooh, pranaam, aunty!"

I feign a shocked expression, as I somehow try to muster up even more dramatics for this. I put my hands on my face to appear overly shocked, as I squeal, "Oh, you're so beautiful aunty!"

Manish himself is snickering, before he realizes a little bit of atta still on the counter. He organizes it in a straight line to mimic cocaine, before bending down and pretending to snort it. He then turns around, with his arms spread open, and yells, "Wow, what a beautiful garden, aunty!"

Both of us then erupt into a fit of laughter, as the memories of me cursing the hell out of the characters just flash through my mind. Manish sweeps off the line of atta, and he throws the dish towel on the oven door handle.

As I hear the faucet running and him washing his hands, he goes, "Remember how mad you were at the movie? God, you were cursing so much at Kareena and Hrithik."

I nod, as I wipe out a little tear that was forming in the corner of my eye. "Yep. I wouldn't wish that movie on my worst enemy."

I hear him filling up a glass with water, and he struts over to hand it to me so that we can continue our conversation in the living room. "That, or Race 3. Both can go crawl in a hole and die."

I nearly choke on the water that I'm sipping, as I just can't help but nod. "That's an understatement." Manish nods, while chuckling, as we concentrate on the radio station playing in the background. "They've got good songs. Are you playing from your phone?"

Manish nods, as he finishes off the water that's left over in his glass. "My mom recommended that station. Never looked back!" Then, dead silence falls upon us, with only the commentary from the radio station giving us some background sounds. We're both at a loss of words for a few seconds, but the radio's next song ensures that it doesn't last forever.

    "Up next is Darkhaast by Arijit Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan! Right after this ad," the RJ announces, as my eyebrow raises. Darkhaast is one of my favorite songs of Manish and I and one that we forced our radio to play countless times when we were still together.

"Man, the memories," I remark, as Manish's face illuminates with nostalgia. I set my cup off to the side, as I can see that a new question has popped up in Manish's mind that he's begging to fire at me.

Without much restraint, Manish stands right up. "Miss Ashwini Jayanthika Balakrishnan, allow me to be extra cringey with you today and ask for your hand in this dance," he belts out, with a little bow to add some oomph to this performance. He holds out his hand, to which I snicker a little bit, and get up.

With my fingers, I lift up my imaginary skirt with one hand and rest my hand in his. "Mister Manish Satya Chauhan, I will gladly take this dance with you. Please, lead the way will you?" He snickers, and gently grasps my hand as we lead our way into the middle of the living room. As soon as we're dead center in the room, the starting notes of the piano flutter their way into the room.

My hand flies to Manish's shoulder, as his hand raises mine while keeping it interlocked so that he can guide me. As Sunidhi's distinct voice starts the song, I feel Manish's free hand move its way to my hips. He gently grabs my waist, but still with enough pressure to make my legs loosen and feel like I'm melting.

His hand starts to lead me and we start our dancing, and immediately, I move with him like a wave in the ocean. We gently dance our way around the living room for a little bit, as I feel my body becoming more liquidized, like Manish's warm touch is slowly melting me from the inside out. Eventually, Arijit's soulful voice slides right in and elevates the song. When he sings the line, "Tu meri baahon mein duniya bhula de," (just come into my arms and forget the world) for the first time, my head goes to rest itself in Manish's chest.

I can hear Manish's breath hitch a little bit in both surprise and joy, as a little smile curls at my lips. But when Arijit sings the line the second time in the higher pitch, I feel Manish tuck my head beneath his chin. The movement is so gentle, but it so powerfully sends chills of pleasure zapping down my spine.

As we continue to move along with the song like we're bodies of water moving simultaneously, I find myself slowly melting into Manish. I feel like his arms are a warm shelter where I will never feel unsafe and I'll always be treated to pure comfort and royalty.

With his warm arms gently holding me, his simple and perfect dance steps, and the song, I don't want to ever leave. I want to stay in this position of dancing and joy for as long as I can. I feel my heart galloping inside my chest, as my breathing is jagged and uneven. I feel like we're melting together and our souls are fusing together through this dance.

Everything else at that moment has gone to hell and although the feelings of security and joy are warm and gentle, this desire and passion is blazing and wild. Eventually, I hear Sunidhi's voice close out the song, and I feel Manish loosen his grip on me. I bring my head out of his chest, and stare at him for a few seconds. His warm eyes are now on fire with passion and desire. I notice his slightly parted lips, and hear his heavy breathing slowly go in and out.

My heart feels like it's about to burst open, as my mind is just a jumble of a million thoughts entangled together. I step aside and stomp across the living room to collect my thoughts into one cohesive pile. But it's hard to do so when there's a million different things racing through your body.

"Jaya, what's wrong?" he asks, and I don't even need to turn around to see the confusion shining on his face.

Amongst the millions of thoughts jumbled in my mind, several of them ring loud and clear. What's going on? Why are you like this, Jaya? What's wrong with you?

"Jaya..." I hear Manish half moan, half call out.

This time, I feel like my breathing has completely stopped, as I turn back to face Manish. I can hear the desire bleeding from his voice, can see his parted lips, and feel the pull of us wanting to be closer together.

This time, all the self control that I have mustered these past few months goes out the window. My strut morphs into a jog, and I throw myself into Manish's arms while smashing my lips onto his.

A surprised, yet satisfied moan grumbles at the back of his throat, as my hands move up and my fingers nestle themselves in his soft, silky hair. And as his light stubble pricks my chin and I taste his cherry flavored chapstick, my mind just shuts the hell up.

His hands go to grab my waist and pull me closer to him. This time, my heart has completely exploded and the fire has spread to engulf my entire body, with adrenaline electrocuting my veins and sending sparks traveling down my spine.

I feel Manish turn my body back and push me up against the wall, and our chests meld together. In an almost natural reaction, my legs lift up and wrap around his waist. Our lips temporarily disconnect, and his lips move down to plant a trail of kisses down on my neck. I'm allowed to take a few deep breaths and let out a few moans of pleasure before his lips move back onto mine, like we can't get enough of each other.

We're devouring each other like it's our last meal. It's so easy to get lost in his ginger touch, to melt under his fingertips brushing my hips, to become intoxicated by the gentle smell of his cologne, and to be devoured by his lips ravishing mine.

At that moment, the sounds of the radio playing 'Ishq Shava' in the background have been drowned out, and the drinks on the coffee table aren't given any more thought. It's just us embroiled within each other, and everything else has gone to hell.

In the midst of us indulging in each other, we hear the sound of the doorbell ring through the air. Our lips immediately disconnect, and my legs move down to hold me steady on the ground, because the upper half of my body feels like it's dissolved into Manish's.

I hear him grumble a few curse words under his breath, as his hands awkwardly dive into his pockets. "That must be the chaat," he announces, as he races towards the door to answer it.

I take a few breaths to make sure my lungs are still there, as Manish swings the door open. After hastily muttering a 'Thank you,' to the delivery person,  he turns around paces back to the coffee table to set down the plastic bag of heaven.

Manish turns back to me, and he beckons at me to come over. "How about some chaat?" he asks awkwardly.

I can feel the layered tension in the room start to fill my lungs and choke me. I feel like I can't do anything more but to clear my throat and nod.

After all that has happened today, the last thing that I'm going to be able to focus on is the chaat.

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I promised that this chapter would be a treat, and I sure hope it was! Do you think there's something deeper behind Jaya kissing Manish? Let me know.

For one, I hope you guys liked the song they danced to! (It's up in the top). It's one of my favorite songs by Arijit Singh, and in my opinion, one of his best works!

I hope you guys liked this chapter! As always, please vote/comment/follow/share/message (both on here and my Instagram [svts.writes]) for more updates regarding my works! See you in the next chapter!

Love you guys,

Shree