Page 51 of Driven By Desire
“Are you asking or telling me?” Sipping on his whiskey, Brian kept an arm curved protectively around Pooja’s shoulders as he contemplated the young man his daughter was so fascinated with.
Flipping through his mental files, Krish scrambled for an answer. “She finished the full body mock up and it went well.”
“I’m glad. Especially since that’s practically the first step and should have been done with ages ago.”
Draining the rest of his beer, Krish accepted defeat. Mindful of sharp, young ears listening to them, he worded his question carefully, “You don’t mind?”
Gesturing over to where Max was dancing enthusiastically with Adi, he said, “Only as long as she continues to look like that.”
Acknowledging the veiled warning with a nod, Krish was about to reply when someone tapped him on his arm. Turning, he found himself facing a sprightly old lady with an alarminglyorange head of hair. Maybe this coloured hair thing was a family tradition.
“Get up.” The imperious command had him rising from his seat which she promptly occupied with a litheness that belied her age.
“Now go do something else.” Finding himself summarily dismissed, he ignored Pooja’s gleeful snickers and made his way over to the bar set up in the corner. He hadn’t been far off the first time about falling down the rabbit’s hole.
---***---
“Dance with me?”
He turned from a mind-numbingly boring conversation on medical insurance with one of Max’s uncles to find her standing behind him.
“Yes please.” Grabbing her, he excused himself with indecent haste from the monologue on insurance piranhas. Towing Max along in his wake, he dragged her into a slightly more secluded corner of the makeshift dance floor. Heaving a sigh of relief, he slid his hands around her waist and started to move to the slow, dreamy music playing. For one glorious second, he had Max back in his arms. Just one second. Before some bright spark changed the music to ‘Summer of 69.’ Biting back a muttered curse, he let his hands fall to his side and started to move to the faster beats. He quickly discovered that Max was a far more enthusiastic dancer than a skillful one. After the second time she stomped on his foot, he started focusing less on dancing and more on avoiding the weapons she called feet. When she suddenly spun like a top on steroids and narrowly missedclipping him in the jaw with the top of her head, he decided it was time to surrender. He was about to ask her if she wanted to give the dancing a rest when the music thankfully came to an end. Hooting enthusiastically with the rest of the crowd around them, she tossed her hair back and smiled up at him.
Everything stilled inside him at that smile. Suddenly it seemed like the only thing that mattered was that she never stopped smiling. The loud music, the chaotic bustle of people around them and even the hooting and cheering of the dance crowd faded into the background as she reached up and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. His sore feet forgot their misery and volunteered for another turn on the dance floor. Ignoring his feet’s masochistic tendencies, Krish tucked a damp wayward tendril of hair behind her flushed ear.
“Max, it’s time.” A young boy of about fifteen was gesturing Max forward.
“Time for what?” Krish asked cautiously.
“You’ll see.” Laughing, she left him to join the pimply faced teenager. Chirag walked over to hand him a beer and stand with him on the edge of the dance floor. Unaware of the admiring female glances they drew, the brothers contemplated the huddle around Max. Slowly the crowd broke apart to give Max and three others space. Various musical instruments were revealed to appreciative, ignorant applause from the crowd.
“That looks ominous.” Krish muttered as Max started to strum her guitar.
Grinning, Chirag sipped at his drink. “Looks like fun.”
The noise that emanated as they tuned up had Krish struggling to keep a straight face. When Max’s guitar let out a particularlyloud squeal, helpless laughter had him choking on his drink. Chirag thumped him helpfully on the back. When they saw Max beckon Adi forward though, horror drowned out the laughter. Unable to stop the musical pile-up about to begin, they tried to blend into the back but found themselves propelled forward by the crowd. Finding themselves front row and center, they took fortifying sips of their drinks.
And then the caterwauling started. Wondering if there was a sea of alcohol to drown in, Krish kept his face carefully blank. Fifteen cats slowly being strangled would have been more in tune than the five people in front of him.
“My ears.” Chirag’s low moan set him off again. Trying hard to stifle the laughter bubbling up, he looked straight ahead and into Max’s dancing eyes. The amusement in hers had his own spilling out. Throwing her head back, she laughed exuberantly even as she continued to make the most hideous noise with her poor abused guitar. Still chuckling as they, thankfully, banged out the last note, Krish felt his heart swell as Max came straight to him. The intensity of what he was feeling swarmed his eyes and had Chirag melting discreetly into the background.
“Come with me.” Twining his fingers with hers he led her out of the room. Walking out of the crowded house and into the blissfully peaceful garage area, Krish slowed their pace to a stroll as they made their way to where the cars were parked in the street.
Unlocking his car, Krish reached into the back seat and withdrew a brightly wrapped package.
“For me?”
“No. For the drunk, morose elf.” The dry answer had her grin widening but instead of opening the gift, she handed it back to him and shot off in the direction of the house with a yelled, “Give me a minute.”
Baffled by what was unpredictable behavior even by Max’s standards, he remained rooted to the spot with his gift in one hand. Shaking his head, he leaned against his car and took in a deep breath of the crisp, winter air. Angling his stance to keep the house in view, he smiled as another raucous burst of laughter floated across to him. Max charged into view a second later. Worried she’d break her neck racing around like a maniac in those heels, he straightened and caught her a second before she barreled into him.
“Here.” With a little bounce, she handed him a wrapped package and grabbed the one he still held in his hand. “Gimme mine.”
Head bent, Max ripped into her gift with a childlike enthusiasm that had his heart doing a strange flip flop inside him. Uncovering a gorgeous state of the art tool box, Max let out a delighted gasp. “I’ve been saving up for this for ages. How did you know?”
“You had printouts of reviews, specifications and links to online retailers who sell it on your nightstand. I saw it while you were taking a shower that night.”
“Thank you.” Throwing her arms around him, Max tried desperately to show him the feelings bursting inside her. Love swamped her in a tidal wave of emotion that swept logic, practicality and the last vestiges of common sense aside. Launching herself at him with a fervor that almost toppled him, she kissed him in a dizzying burst of passion.
