Chapter 14

Maya wore a Black cropped cotton pant and a Blue formal shirt for the First meeting. She and Shubhro entered the conference room and found pretty much a bunch of writers and aspiring writers in the room. They managed to get seats in the fourth row from the front. Maya was looking forward to this seminar. A lady spoke on the mike and sounded quite confident. She must be in her forties thought Maya. Then they were introduced to Ms. Akanksha Bhansali who was the same lady whom Maya saw in the lift the day before the seminar. Shubhro and Maya learnt a lot from the Day 1 of the seminar. There were a total of 15 people who were attending the seminar. There was just another guy except for Shubhro, who Maya thought was too cute. He wasn’t Indian, for sure, or maybe he was.

At lunch, Shubhro and Maya were seated at a table with two females. Most of the people in the seminar were aspiring writers. Maya was however; interested to know about the other man in the room. She excused herself from the table and had gone to fetch herself a glass of wine. A heavenly strong voice followed her and said to the bar tender, “Make that two.” Maya turned around; she knew it very well that it was the other man. He smiled at her and she returned the smile with a, “Hi” as a bonus to this other man. She looked at him carefully and noticed he was fair skinned guy with luscious black hair and insanely amazing brown eyes. Maya wondered, “What the hell is this guy?!?” He is taller than Shiv and had a lean body. He looked like some model who is attending the seminar right after the runway.

“Blake Patel… and you are…?” Maya was a bit shocked by the name. And then she said, “Maya Ghoshal… Your name is quite intriguing…!” then there was an amazing moment where Blake laughed. He had one of those laughs that could give a girl an orgasm. He had a Brit Accent, Maya could say. He took both the wine glasses in his hands and asked Maya, “If you are done eating, do you want to go by the poolside?” Maya said yes and waived back to Shubhro who was drooling over the guy. They sat by the table near the pool and a conversation started. Maya told him that she is from Pune and originally from Kolkata. She also told him how close Mumbai has been to her. Blake seemed to be interested in Maya and her blabbering and laughed when she cracked a joke. She then asked Blake about himself. He said, “I am from London. My mother is English and she married my dad who is from India. I work in Barclays Bank back at home. I have younger sister who is studying Violin in London. Her name is Jacqueline.” Maya seemed to be noticing his lips and wondering how good of a kisser would he be? She asked, “So what brings you to Mumbai, This seminar?” He said, “I am in India for a vacation. This seminar was suggested to me by Akanksha, whom I met in the bar the other night. I love literature and I am in India to blog about it. I happen to be a blogger in my spare time.” Maya was impressed; a man who is so good looking and a banker by profession and writing is his passion! He is just the complete package a girl would want.

The day passed by in the seminar and at around 6 in the evening, the first day of the seminar came to an end.

Shubhro called Maya and asked her if she is going shopping with him, unfortunately Blake had already asked Maya out for a date and Maya told Shubhro and skipped the shopping part. At eight in the evening the bell of Maya’s room rang, Maya looked at herself in the mirror one final time; she was wearing a cream colored dress just above her knees, a brown belt across her waist to show the perfect curves and a pair of nude high heels to lift her height a little. She opened the door and found Shiv, instead of Blake. She was shocked to see him. She wasn’t expecting him. She smiled at him and hugged him and told him that she will be out on a dinner date with a co-writer. He smiled and said, “Sure baby… Go ahead; you will be coming back in the night right? I will be waiting for you.” He kissed her on her cheeks and rested on the bed. Blake called her and told her that he was waiting for her at the lobby. Maya told him, “I am sorry to keep you waiting, but I won’t be able to go on a date with you. I have my boyfriend here, who has just given me a surprise visit. I will be spending time with him. I am really sorry. See you in the morning tomorrow.” He laughed and said, “Ahh! Lucky he! You have a great time; I will have dinner by myself.”

Maya went back to Shiv and told him that she has cancelled the dinner date. Shiv smiled and said, “Maya you are too loud over the phone. I could hear each and everything you said.” Maya laughed. Shiv continued, “So, Boyfriend, huh?” Maya had to say something, so she said, “I had no other way to avoid a date.” Shiv smiled and pulled her by his side and kissed her neck. Maya couldn’t believe how this man made her so crazy. Shiv moved his hand slowly to her back and touched the sensitive part of Maya’s. Maya gave a jerk and could feel that she is going to have a great night today. Shiv was dressed very professionally in a crisp white shirt and black trousers. Maya asked him, “Why are you in Mumbai?” he replied, “I am here to meet you and finish some unfinished business.” Maya got up and went to the bar and fetched two bottles of beers and handed one to Shiv. Shiv took both the bottles and kept it back in the bar and straightened his shirt and told Maya, “Will you come on a date with me?” Maya looked at him and asked; “Now?” he replied, “Yes. Now” Maya smiled and said, “Give me two minutes. Let me redo my hair and apply the lipstick again.” Shiv smiled and said, “Before that…” He went to Maya and kissed her on her lips, slowly. Licking her lips all the way through and then slowly feeling her tongue. Maya couldn’t control herself and hugged him. They broke the kiss and hugged each other for a while. Then Maya said, “Let me get ready quickly now.” She ran the brush through her hair once again and then took the lipstick out of the clutch and applied it. She looked at herself again and went back to Shiv. He was standing there stunningly and asked her, “Shall we?” Shiv opened the door for her. Maya stepped out of the room, while Shiv locked it and gave the keys to Maya. He held her hands and they waited for the lift.

They were outside, waiting for Shiv’s car to drive by. They stepped in and the driver started driving Maya was living a dream. She had this perfect guy by her side, taking her on a dinner date, but she knew there couldn’t be anything more than this. All she was for Shiv is a pretty girl by her side whom he could date and his best friend. Maya didn’t want to marry at the moment. She decided to push all the thoughts aside and enjoy the moment. The car halted by a posh restaurant. Shiv opened the door for Maya and guided her through the entrance of the restaurant. It was a pretty looking place, very posh. She saw a few faces which she recognized from TV and Movies.

Shiv and Maya were seated at a table that had the beach view. Shiv asked Maya to order food and she ordered Sea Food. They both enjoyed Fish and Prawns and Crabs. Dates were the worse time to have crabs, but Maya didn’t think of anything while she ordered crabs and then she thought, ‘it’s Shiv in front of her not a stranger.’ They relished the food. After paying the bill, Shiv asked her, “Do you want to go to the Beach?” Shiv knew it very well that Maya loved Mumbai Beaches. She nodded and they went to the beach. Maya took off her heels at the shore and ran for the beach. It was dark and lonely. She looked behind and saw Shiv looking at her from a distance. She went to him and said, “Come…” he pulled her by her waist and kissed her and said, “Maya Ghoshal, Will you marry me?” She was stunned when he said that and took out a ring from his pocket.

She was speechless and didn’t know what to say.