Story - Nothing to Lose

Nothing to Lose

She’s alone at the last banquette, diagonally opposite to the bar and facing the dance floor.  My eyes have settled upon her since the past hour. She knows it. I guess she’s somewhere between thirty, thirty-five. That’s fine with me. She has had a bottle of red wine and I think she’s bit tipsy. She gets up and looks at me. My eyes follow her through the dancing crowd towards the smoke room. There’s a lovely butterfly engraved on the back side of her right shoulder.  I pull the last drag form the beer bottle and get up from the high leather stool at the bar. The pub is dimly lit.  The door to the smoke room is just little shy of being closed. I push it and thick tobacco smell hits my nostrils. Green neon lights dominate the interiors. The room is clouded with cigarette smoke. My eyes burn at first but soon I get adjusted to the atmosphere. My blurred eyes scan the room. She’s in the right corner, leaning on the wall with a smoke. There’s a couple on the couch. I sit on a leather stool opposite her and stick a cigarette between my lips.   

‘Light please?’ I ask her. She stares at me for a moment. The blank look on her beautiful face makes me weak in the knees. She puts her hand in her tiny purse and brings out her lighter. It’s a small square thing inscribed with some strange intricate design that my eyes can’t make out. Then she stoops ahead, her face at level to mine and just an inch away.  She lights my cigarette. The momentary bright glow on her face is unmistakable. She’s damn beautiful.  Her big raven black eyes are slightly lined with kajal. Partially hidden behind the flicks of her hair, they cast an enigmatic spell upon me.

‘Thanks.’

‘Don’t mind.’ She flicks the ash from her cigarette and smiles. She has an hourglass figure. Her black spaghetti skirt flaunts it perfectly. I take a deep puff and fix my eyes into hers. Neither she nor I budge for a minute or two. The music goes on and the cigarettes burn. Then a wicked grin lights up her face. She stoops ahead, much closer this time. I inhale the perfume on her neckline. ‘Join me for a drink,’ she whispers in my ears and walks out of the room. I crush the cigarette in the ashtray and follow her lead.

‘What would you like?’ she asks.

‘You.’

She giggles lightly with dimples in her cheeks. ‘I meant drinks.’

‘Really? In that case I’ll take Whiskey. JD neat.’

She nods her head and leans ahead with her hands folded on the bar floor at her breast level.

‘Yes ma’am?’ the bartender asks.

‘Vodka martini. Straight up. And one peg Jack Daniels for the gentleman. Serve it neat. Put the tab on me.’

We take a seat at her table. The waiter serves our drinks and leaves. She’s too seductive up so close. The music is loud. We both lean ahead, elbows on the table and our heads just couple of inches apart. There’s a ring in her left third finger.

‘You are married?’ I ask

‘Don’t you like married women?’  

‘I love them. I love adventures.’ Her smile broadens.

She raises her cocktail glass, ‘Cheers.’

‘Cheers.’ We both pull our first sips. I feel the familiar warmth in my throat.

‘How do you play it then? What are rules?’ she asks. Her big eyes never leave mine.

‘There are only two. Morals are for morons, wise men have affairs.’ I keep my glass down to make it bit dramatic, ‘The last and most important, always use protection.’ At this we both burst out laughing.

‘You are quite funny.’

 ‘What’s your name?’ I ask

‘Can be anything. Choose your pick.’

Smart girl. ‘Disha. You like it?’

‘Is that the last woman you slept with?’ She grins.

‘Nah. It’s just a name hidden somewhere in the back of my mind.’ I take another sip and look away.

‘Oh! We got a love story here huh.’

‘There’s always a love story, isn’t it?’   

‘No. Love stories are for morons. Wise women have rich men.’ She blinks an eye with a wicked half smile. We both can’t hold back laughing aloud.

‘You are quite clever.’ I look into her eyes with my perfect poker face, pick up my rock glass and give a slight jerk to my drink, ‘Bottoms up.’ She raises her cocktail glass and nods slightly. We both drain our glasses down our throats.

‘And the stakes of the game?’ she asks

‘You and I, we both know people like us have nothing to lose.’

She doesn’t say a word, just smiles. We both stare at each other for a moment.

‘Two zero three.’ She gets up; her big eyes still bore into mine. ‘Make it fast.’ She turns on her heels and vanishes in the crowd.

 

I knock on the door. A moment later she opens it with a twinkle of joy on her face. I enter the luxury suit, hold her by the waist and pull her close. Her hair is wet and fragrant. I put my hand behind her neck into her wet hair. She bit my lower lip and her hands rub my chest in my shirt. She takes my hand and leads me to the bedroom. She pushes me down on the bed and gets upon me. Her deep black eyes have raw passion. We both fight for dominance, kissing, biting and discovering each other…

I wake up with a slight headache. She’s not beside me. I didn’t expect her to be. I take a shower and dress up. I find a folded piece of paper on the table beside my watch. I open it. It reads- ‘Thanks for the great time.’  I put it on the table, pick up my watch and leave the suit.

 Mulund, Mumbai                                                                                                      - Onkar Surve

24/08/2013                                                                                               College Name :- --- N.A.-----