Page 23 of That Same Old Love

Their night before had been intense, shaking Mahi up.

Just after Samrat left, she had spent the next few hours, strategizing and reasoning with why she felt like an emotional wreck.

She even browsed the internet on her cell phone for the reasons on why women felt that way even during a brief relationship with no strings attached.

Apparently, according to internet, the culprit was Oxytocin, the chemical making her feel unnecessarily attached to him.

“I’m not going to be a slave to some chemical reactions happening in my body. I’m strong, independent and extremely practical,” she muttered repeatedly.

That morning she received multiple messages from Samrat that she ignored.

She needed some time to re-build her defenses.

Soon she got ready and was hurriedly having her breakfast, when she heard a car honking insistently outside.

When she went out, she saw Samrat waiting impatiently for her, standing next to his SUV.

“Why haven’t you replied to my messages? Anyway, come on. Let’s go. I am getting late,” he shouted from the street.

Mahi saw some of the neighbors standing near their gates due to the racket happening in their usually quiet street.

Samrat greeted them loudly and started exchanging pleasantries with them, while she grumbled and went back into the house to grab her bag, before locking up her house.

“I could have called a cab; you didn’t have to wait for me. Why carpool in India all of a sudden?” she asked him grumpily.

He raised his eyebrow at her scowl. “Habit from the last three weeks, I guess. Now get in. We are getting late,” he ordered.

She was about to get into the passenger side, but he already beat her to it.

“Samrat. I can’t drive here. I-I’m not used to the traffic here,” she told him with a frown, hating to admit a weakness.

He looked at her sternly. “It’s almost the same as driving in the Bay Area and this vehicle is an automatic one too. And you drove like a maniac in the past three weeks, zipping between lanes. Traffic moves much slower here and I’m sitting right next you. So get in,” he ordered her again.

She grumbled and got in the driver’s seat. “God, I want to kill you for making me do this. Or maybe I will kill us both, and some cyclists, and a few dozen pedestrians who always seem to jump in the way—”

“Relax. Nothing will happen. Just stay focused. You’ll develop faster reflexes with practice.”

“Why can’t I drive your self-driving car?”

“Don’t whine like a baby. You’ll be fine. Practice this week and then you can drive on your own soon. I don’t go to the office often. Unlike you, I prefer working from home.”

Mahi drove a distance and when the morning rush hour traffic hit them, she became nervous.

Slowly after a few minutes, she relaxed, realizing it wasn’t too bad and no one tried to jump in front of their car.

For a change she was quiet while Samrat kept the conversation going, talking about the new products they were developing and the demos that were scheduled the entire week starting from that day.

Soon they reached the office building.

“I will see you back here at six,” he said and walked away not waiting for her reply.

Mahi stared at him and walked the opposite way to another building where her relatively new team was situated.

She was busy the entire day, not even stopping to take a break for lunch. She had something delivered to her desk for a quick bite. Then in the evening around six, she received a text from Samrat, letting her know that he was waiting in the car.

Mahi: I’m still busy. You can leave. I’ll hail a cab.

Then immediately there was a reply.

Samrat: I am giving you two minutes and then coming up to drag you out from there.

Mahi was pissed. Her work could wait and she was bluffing about being busy because she didn’t want to drive again. But he didn’t need to know that or maybe he already did, the devious ass, she thought.

Mahi: You are a devious demanding asshole who needs a swift kick in the butt.

After a couple of seconds, there was a reply from him.

Samrat: I love it when you talk dirty to me. But hold on to the foreplay until we get home first.

She rolled her eyes and smiled, feeling more like the last three weeks. Her temporary insanity must have been because she felt that their deal would change drastically now that they were back in India. Maybe it would eventually, but she had decided that she would enjoy what they currently had.

She drove back home and on the way they decided to have dinner at his house since his cook had something prepared already. Samrat had instructed him to make extra because he knew Mahi would be joining him.

“Okay, I’ll take a quick shower and see you at your place in a few minutes,” she told him, getting out of the car.

“Need help to wash your back?” he offered with a straight face.

“Oh please. Whenever we are in shower together, you get me even dirtier, and you are also a water hog. I’m hungry and need food before the jet lag hits me,” she told him with a smile.

She was about to walk away when he called her, “Mahi wait. Come with me for a minute. I need to show you something.”

“What? If it’s to show me that you are excited for tonight, I think I’d prefer to wait for a few more minutes until I can do something about it.”

He laughed. “I like how you think, but it’s not that. I want to show you how to work my lock box and give you a spare key. That way you can get into my house later even if I’m in the shower.”

Mahi hesitated. “A key to your house?”

Samrat looked at her cautious expression. “Yes. I have one to your home too, remember? And a couple of my neighbors have a spare key to my house too. It’s not a big deal to give one to you. It’s more practical for us to have each other’s house key.”

Mahi felt relieved. “Okay, show it to me quickly then. Will I need to take notes? That lock box looked like it belonged to some casino safety deposit box,” she exaggerated.

Laughing he showed her how to work it and then gave her a spare key. And then Mahi went to her house where she took a quick shower before hurrying across to his house.

Samrat was already waiting for her in the dining room. “Why are you not in your nightwear? It’s almost seven. Are you planning to go out somewhere, later on?”

“No. I’ll just change when I get back home to sleep,” she told him distractedly, her mouthwatering seeing the dinner options.

Before she could sit down completely, Samrat pulled her towards him. He grabbed her bottom to pull her up and then kissed her deeply for a very long time. When he pulled his head up and then lowered her, she was gasping and looked dazed.

“After we are done with each other, you’ll barely have any energy left to stand, let alone get back home tonight. Now, let’s fuel up,” he said and swatted her bottom before releasing her.

“Ouch!” She rubbed her stinging bottom before sitting back in the chair. “We have to keep it short and sweet tonight. I barely slept last night when you crept into my bed. I have some important presentations to give tomorrow.”

He served food in both their plates and started to eat. “I will keep it short if you allow me to. Let us see if you can keep your hands to yourself,” he remarked and then gave a wicked smile.

She grinned and then they talked about their day. As soon as they were done, they cleaned up and he dragged her hurriedly upstairs to his room.

Mahi stared at the room curiously. “Wow, this is the first time I’m seeing your room from inside. I could see it from across the street. It’s pretty cool and obviously you must have renovated it along with the house.”

She began to snoop around the room and inside the walk-in closet. Just as she suspected.

Absolute organization.

But unlike most tidy people, his clothes were sorted by the color. Even his underwear and socks were stacked neatly in the shelves she pulled out.

“Yup. Definitely borderline OCD.” She grinned.

Meantime, he had shed his clothes in a hurry. “I will give you a detailed tour later and you can comment more. Now get back here, I’m horny,” he demanded.

She raised her eyebrow at the term that she used often. He pulled away her clothes and placed them in a chair neatly next to his clothes.

“Just one of your wham bam thank you ma’am rounds and then I need my beauty sleep,” she smirked, teasing him by reminding him about some of their hurried couplings with no foreplay.

He said, “Fine,” and carried her to his bed and dropped her on it before climbing over her.

That night, he kept his promise and stuck to one round.

But it wasn’t short or quick. It lasted for a long time and he drove her crazy by teasing her slowly.

He kept her aroused to a fever pitch, but didn’t allow her to climax.

He kept teasing her, until she finally pushed him off her and climbed over him, and then drove them both into completion.

And just like he had predicted, she was too exhausted to put on her clothes to sneak back to her house.

She slept in his bed the whole night until the morning.

Luckily, she woke up early enough to leave, before anyone in the neighborhood noticed her disheveled appearance while coming out from his house.