Page 44 of Driven By Desire
“In a few hours.” She watched as he dressed and made his way to the door. Yanking it open, he reached for a goodbye kiss. Hands tunneling through her hair, he plundered her mouth with a passion that left her in no doubt of how much she was wanted.
“Miss me?” The soft whisper had him nuzzling his cheek against hers.
“Every second that I don’t have you in my arms.” Stepping away, he stayed true to form by ending the evening with, “Go in and lock up carefully. I’ll wait till I see the light in your bedroom go on before leaving.”
Grinning at the practical and very-Krish order, she blew him a kiss and shut the door. She couldn’t wait to see what the coming days had in store for them.
---***---
Whistling, Max shouldered her tool bag and walked up the drive. She felt loose, limber and positively jazzed. Mentally running through her list of things to be done that day, she pressed the door bell and waited. It didn’t take long for Adi to pull the door open. Except instead of letting her in, he stepped out and shut the door behind him.
Casting furtive glances around, he leaned in to whisper, “You have to help me.”
Bemused, she took in the faded, ripped jeans and black hooded sweatshirt. Hood up and eyes covered by wraparound sunglasses, the boy band wannabe seemed to be changing allegiance to the rap camp.
“Well, I’m not going to help you bury a body but otherwise-“
“If you don’t help me, my body is the one you’ll have to bury.” He hissed in response.
“You’re wasting your time doing an MBA. You should be in theatre.” Taking pity on the increasingly frantic would-be hoodlum in front of her, she asked, “What exactly do you need help with?”
“Making my hair black again. Get the colour out!”
Max winced. “You got the permanent kind. The best thing to do would be to wait for it to grow out.”
“I can’t wait for it to grow out!” He moaned desperately. “I need it gone right now.”
“Okay. Then you have two options.”
Hope brightened those gorgeous eyes that all three brothers shared. “I do?”
“You can either colour it black again. Although I wouldn’t advise that. Colouring your hair twice so close to each session might end up doing so much damage your hair might fall out.”
“The other option?”
Feeling like the wicked witch of the west, Max said, “You only got the tips colored blonde. You can get them to cut it off.”
Adi gave her a horrified stare. “I have really short hair.”
“I realize that.”
“I’ll practically have to shave my head!” The anguished moan had her patting his shoulder sympathetically.
“Let me talk to your brother. Maybe I can convince him to-”
“It’s not Bhai,” he cut in morosely. “He hasn’t said a word since yesterday. There’s this girl-“
The door behind him opened on that note and Krish stepped out followed closely by Chirag and Pooja in her school uniform. Relieved to note that Pooja’s hair looked more or less normal except for the fact that it hung in damp rat’s tails around her face, Max watched as Chirag in track pants and a ratty t-shirt shouldered Pooja’s school bag and herded her across the threshold. Which left Krish in his perfectly tailored navy blue suit, pristine cream shirt and a deep purple tie flawlessly knotted. Hair combed back from his face, dark glasses in place and laptop bag in hand, he looked nothing like the man who’d made her moan the previous night. He gave new meaning to the phrase ‘not a hair out of place.’ She had a sudden urge to shift closer to Chirag so her overalls and sneakers didn’t look quite that out of place.
Smiling absently, she accepted Chirag’s one-armed embrace and crouched down to hug Pooja more closely. Acutely conscious of the silent suited figure standing by the door, she listened to Pooja chatter about her upcoming annual day rehearsal.
Finally, Chirag broke in, “Let’s go brat or we’ll be late for school.” With one last whispered confidence, Pooja walked down the drive with Chirag who waved goodbye. Shuffling his feet, Adi sneaked a couple of looks at his oldest brother who was still standing like an immovable block of granite on the first step.
“I should go,” he muttered finally.
“Where?” The word whipped out and had both Adi and Max jumping.
“To shave my head.” With that mournful answer, Adi disappeared down the drive leaving Krish and Max standing in uncomfortable silence. Not knowing what to make of the stranger she was left with, Max made to walk past him and into the shadowed hallway he was blocking.
