Chapter 31: A Brief History of Ankles and Boobs
It was a Sunday morning and the gang was to meet for brunch. It had been about three months since Anand and Veena had moved in. Anand was in the bathroom, washing his face, brushing his teeth, staring at his muscles in the mirror to check if any of them had gone out of shape.
“Wake up, mophead!” He shouted without looking away from the mirror. “It is Sunday and my day to watch you brush your teeth.”
Yes, Anand loved watching Veena brush her teeth, with her messed up hair and foaming mouth. It was his inexplicable kink. On flexing, he felt his thighs weren’t tight enough that morning. He did lunges in front of their giant bathroom mirror.
By the time Veena slipped out of bed and got to the bathroom, Anand had his foot at the edge of their tub and was flexing his ‘thighcep’. “Touch this!” She ran a lazy hand over his inner thigh, picked her brush up and mumbled, “Tight.”
By the time she got to brushing her teeth, he was out of the bathroom and back with two glasses of orange juice. Veena liked the feeling of the citrus tingle on her freshly scrubbed and minty teeth. He sat on the edge of the bathtub, sipping on his orange juice and licked his teeth in between sips. When she got done brushing her teeth, rinsing her mouth, washing her face and taking that first sip of orange juice, Anand kissed her. With just about enough tongue to lick her teeth.
“Time for me to get unsexy.” Veena finished the juice and handed Anand the glass. Anand grabbed the glass, left the bathroom and switched the exhaust fan on.
By the time Veena got out of the bathroom, she could hear the whirring of the treadmill in the spare bedroom. She pulled the curtains open to let the sunlight hit her eyes. “Screw me,” she said and continued to stare at the brightening-by-the-minute sky till her eyes stopped cringing.
— “Danan, I believe we have about forty-five minutes before we leave for the brunch.” She shouted at Anand as she walked towards the room with the treadmill.
— “We’re in time, babe.” Anand’s voice was loud, sweaty and out of breath.
— “Not if we have to wake up the two lovers first.” She was talking about Seher and Anuj.
— “I should text Kartik to make sure we have a table.” Anand was good at thumbpunching his phone screen while working the treadmill. It had taken him the last couple of years of practice to come to a point where he was able to finish the correspondence part of his work even before he got to office. Kartik had always been the first person to reach anywhere.
— “While you’re at it, look here.” Veena lifted her t-shirt to flash Anand for exactly a second as she stood right next to the treadmill.
— “Wha-” Clearly, he was not dextrous enough to have Veena’s boobs in his face, his fingers busy texting and his feet busy jogging at the same time. He tripped and fell backwards. “What did you do that for?” He looked up at her as he massaged his ankle.
— “Because it’s Sunday, love.”
— “So you’re allowed to break my ankle?”
— “Quick, finish texting Kartik.” Veena turned to exit the room but returned only to lean forward, hold his chin with one hand and plant a big, fat kiss on his mouth. “I’m glad I still have that effect on you after all these months of us moving in.”
— “What have boobs got to do with you?” With that, Anand invited a kick on his lower back.
That should have you filled in on why Veena was grinning despite her spiral at the party, surrounded by strangers, with her foot on Anand’s thigh and his fingers around her ankle. He hadn’t even popped the question yet.
