Under the Shade

It has been a year since Vikram finished his graduation and he is still not able to grasp a good hold of his life. He worked at a BPO for 7 months but found out it was not his calling. Whose calling is a BPO anyways! Since then he has been at home with his family and living life one day at a time. Vikram thinks it sucks to be born in a middle class family, ‘you never have enough money to do what you like nor do you have the total lack of it that makes you work hard for it’.

Life after college was so bland for Vikram. Everyone was busy either in their work or were pursuing higher education. For him, higher education was a bit too much of education and he had already tried his hand at work. So now life was waking up at 7 in the morning, jogging, eating, watching films and reading books. His social life was pretty much dead after his friends left town.

One summer morning while he was jogging, VIkram noticed that there are a lot of chameleons in the park. He started counting them and found out that there were 22 of them. All morning, he kept thinking about them. ‘Chameleons are creepy but I’ve got to admire their level of chill’, thought he. ‘On a morning as hot as today, these sons of bitches are chilling and soaking up the sun. Maybe I can learn a thing or two from chameleons. Maybe I can be like them. Try to adapt to situations like they do by camouflaging. Situations like this when I’m unemployed, lonely and horny. But how?’

This really sparked a catharsis in Vikram, he was ready to do something. Something to make his life more meaningful. ‘But how?’ he thought while aimlessly staring at the television which was showing a commercial for a dating app. ‘Maybe that. No, not maybe. This is what is missing in my life. I need some female interaction in life. How long has it been since I had an actual conversation with an actual girl? I should be getting back in the game.’ And so he installed the application on his phone.

A week later when he was having his daily jog, he looked at the chameleons as if he wanted to say ‘Fuck you, mate. Thanks for this dilemma that I am in now’. The dilemma was whether he should go on this date he has today or stood upon the girl. There wasn’t any problem with the girl. In fact he found her quite attractive and was already in bed with her in his fantasies. The problem was the situation.

Garima was 26 and had got divorced recently. Vikram had no problem with divorces nor with divorced women. ‘Hey, shit happens!’ But the fact that he was four years younger than her and she had no problem dating him was itching him. ‘Is she trying to use me?’, he thought. ‘Maybe she’s looking for a toyboy and I happened to be the one that she got in her claws. Maybe she’s a bit horny and wants to have a good time. So do I. There’s nothing wrong with it.’ With all of these flood of thoughts, he couldn’t keep a track and jogged an extra round. Sitting on a bench with some shade of a tree he thought to himself, ‘She looks hot. Doesn’t mind dating a younger boy. If she wants to go to bed with this fella, nothing wrong with it’.

“Ain’t that right, buddy?”. He said looking at the chameleon resting on a tree trying to change its colour. “I’ll take that as a yes.

So there he was waiting for Garima at this stylish Italian Resto Bar that he had always fancied but is too expensive he thought to dine alone. Observing the poshness of the place he thought,‘They shouldn’t even allow single people to eat at a place like this.Plenty of places to eat for lonely people that don’t cost a heck load of money’.

‘So here I am’, he thought. ‘After a hiatus from the game’. That’s when Garima walked in and soon enough they were sitting across each other. As she was walking towards the table, Vikram couldn’t help but notice the tight skirt she was wearing which made her hips and legs look so attractive. 

It was very awkward for both of them. But sooner or later they got over it and were chatting about all sorts of things, from cinema to literature, music, politics, friendships. It went really well for the both of them. Throughout the evening, Vikram was stealing glances of her lips which looked very juicy due to her bright red lipstick. After a couple of beers and main course, they decided to call it a night. And that’s when Garima proposed the idea of going back to her apartment. Soon enough they were both in a cab slightly drunk and on their way to her apartment.

It was a very awkward ride home as they both were very nervous. Vikram could see the cab driver glancing at them in his rearview mirror. ‘I bet he’s thinking about our relationship’, he thought. ‘Maybe he can see that I am a bit younger than her. Maybe I look younger than her’. The nervousness only intensified when they reached her apartment.

They sat on the couch in silence. Vikram had already refused the coffee and was now thinking that he should have said yes to it. 2 minutes passed and neither one made any noise. Garima had her hands crossed on her knees. They both knew what was coming and were thinking about it. Vikram was sitting faced down and taking occasional glances at her. Just as he looked up at her, he felt her cold fingers on the sides of his neck. And what followed was a steaming hot kiss that forced him on the sofa arms and her on top of him. In no time, they were in the bedroom and were in the exact same position. Garima’s passion and hunger were visible to Vikram who could feel her teeth clashing with his and her tongue measuring the size of his own. It was now his turn to show that he’s not an amatuer. So he rolled over and switched positions with her and was now on top of her. He started kissing and licking her neck. Garima’s moans and “ahhs” only intensified this situation. Their pelvises were dancing together to their own luscious tune. Vikram was now moving a bit lower. He could feel the comfort of her bosom and buried his head between her breasts.

After kissing for a few minutes more, they were both now undressed and could feel the warmth of each other’s body. Again Garima took the commanding position and got on top while Vikram was watching her breasts jiggle. His face had frozen with the pleasure he was feeling between his legs. Garima was biting her own lips and then bent down to bite his. Vikram followed the previous maneuver to switch positions with her. Now with full force, he was exhibiting the stamina that he had gained from all those morning jogs. His lips were doing back and forth from her lips to her nipples like a pollinator. They both clutched each other’s hairs and had a good look at each other. This is when Vikram decided to release his horses in the derby.

They both lay in the bed, exhausted and sweating. Vikram looked at her resting her head on the pillow, smiling with her eyes closed and it brought a smile on his face too. He realised it was after many months that a natural smile came to his face. He went closer and kissed her lips one more time as if to say ‘thank you’.

At the age of 23 when Garima was enjoying her new life and job, her boyfriend of 5 years proposed to her. With a promising life and career ahead of her, she could not think how getting married to the man she loved would be a bad decision. The bad was what happened after 5 months of marriage. Her in-laws had started pressuring them to have a child which wasn’t in her plans. She started getting in arguments with her in-laws and her husband. This dragged on for a year and after many fights with her husband some of which got violent, she called it quits.

That is when she moved to this apartment. It wasn’t easy for her to get a divorce from her husband nor was it easy to find an apartment as nice as this. But alas, here she was with a boy who was listening to her story and fell silent before they both fell asleep.

Work life had made her an early bird, so she got up before him. ‘What must be his story?’, she thought, watching him lay asleep beside her. ‘But does he need to have a story? After all he is the nicest person I had talked to in a long time. And we did more than just talk.’ She smiled but was still a bit sceptical about everything that had happened last night. ‘Maybe I told him too much about my past. I hope he doesn’t think of me as damaged goods.’

She then went about her morning routine and soon Vikram was up too. And with the morning breeze the awkwardness also came back. They ate breakfast in silence. Vikram was eating with his head down while Garima was trying hard to analyze him and his actions. She was too nervous to break the silence. There was a tsunami of thoughts in her head. ‘He’s awfully quiet.’ She thought. ‘Should I start a conversation. No. That would be a waste. It’s an unusual situation. Let him make up his mind.’

After they had had breakfast, it was time to depart. As Vikram was collecting his things and going towards the main door, more and more thoughts wore pouring on to Garima’s head. ‘Should I ask about seeing him again? That would sound too needy. I should leave that to him. What about a goodbye kiss on the cheek?’ Vikram opened the door and turned back towards her. They both exchanged awkward smiles and said their goodbyes from a distance. After Vikram’s departure, Garima collapsed on the couch with a huge sigh and remained there for the next hour thinking about the night before and what it meant. ‘Was that IT?’ Thought she. ‘Maybe it wasn’t such a nice idea to invite him back to the apartment’.

Thoughts like this continued until she heard the doorbell ring. She opened the door and stood there astonished. It was Vikram standing on her door with his mouth open as if he wanted to say something. “Uh. Listen,” he said standing awkwardly still. “Last night was great. I had a really good time. And if you are free today, we can do something. Like watch a movie or something like that.” just as he had finished saying this he added nervously, “If.. you are free.”

Garima was trying to grasp all of this and getting rid of the peculiar thoughts she was having minutes ago as she said in a hurry, “Yes. I am free.” after a pause she added nervously, “This evening.”

“Cool.” Said Vikram nodding his head.

They both smiled. All of a sudden there was relief and delight mixed in the air.

It was noon. An Unusual time for Vikram to be sitting in the park especially on such a hot summer day. But he felt like going there after returning from Garima’s house. He sat on a bench covered with a tree’s shade thinking about all that had happened since yesterday and smiling to himself occasionally. ‘Does it matter if I am a few years younger than her?’ he thought. ‘I don’t mind. And I don’t think she minds it either’.

Half an hour had passed and the shade of the tree got off of Vikram and the bench. He could now look at the sun directly. But he didn’t mind the scorching sunlight. ‘I’ll just sit here and adapt to this sunlight kicking me in the face’, he said to himself. On the foot of the bench, he saw two chameleons resting together under the shade of the bench. It brought a smile to his face. He rested his head on the bench and looked towards the sky. Clouds were approaching and within a few minutes, they were all over the sky. With his head still resting on the bench, Vikram closed his eyes and widened his smile.