Strange Love

“The moon is looking so beautiful tonight.” She said while pointing towards the sky with her thin fingers, as the clouds dispersed giving way for the moonlight to caress her skin.

“You know they say on these full moon nights werewolves come out of hiding.” He replied while picturing her in his eyes and kissed her pale cheeks.

“What if you’re a werewolf? Would you eat me as well?” She said in her feeble voice as her eyes twinkled with mischievousness.

Rahul smiled as he saw Pinaz curl up next to him. She closed her eyes, and dug her face into his chest. She let out a silent prayer as she thanked god for Rahul.

“You love werewolves, right? You were talking about them yesterday, about some movie, twii.. twii..”

“Twilight." She immediately spoke and giggled as he struggled with the name.

“You sound so cute when you stammer; I love you when you do it.” She said and kissed his lips.

He remembered meeting her sister 3 months ago, when she told him about Pinaz’s fondness for guys who stammer. It took him three days to practice and make his stammering look natural. He was glad that Pinaz never found out that it’s fake, as she always kissed him whenever he stammered.

He loved the taste of her lips; the way her tongue danced with his whenever they kissed was something he had never experienced with any other girl. He was afraid that he might end up missing her.

“You have never watched twilight, right?” She asked, and he blinked.

“Promise me you’ll, as soon as possible.”

He smiled and replied in affirmative.

"Rahul will you miss me when i'll leave.", Pinaz said as she wiped tears rolling down her cheek and cuddled up with Rahul. 

"Yes, I will.", he whispered into her ears, but was confused if that was a lie. 

The clock ticked 10, he had to leave in few moments. However, he decided to leave only after putting Pinaz to sleep. He looked towards the door, Rukshin, Pinaz’s sister was staring at him with tears in her eyes.

“Is she asleep?” She asked as soon as Rahul came out of the room.

“Yes.” he said while slowly closing the door behind him.

Rukshin hugged Rahul and continued sobbing; it had been a regular event, and Rahul knew all he could do was give her a shoulder to cry on. Rukshin used to tell him about their life few years ago, before Pinaz’s dad ran away with some other woman leaving them behind. Since then their mother took care of them, while working full time in a reputed bank.

As soon as Rahul reached home a weird feeling took over him, it was something unusual. He had never missed any of his previous women; therefore, he couldn’t understand why he was missing Pinaz so much. He ordered a pizza, and switched on the TV. Luckily, a football match was being telecasted that night, it was enough to divert his mind from Pinaz. He slept while watching the match.

“Rahul, Rukshin here.” He received the call and looked at his watch, it showed half past eight. He slept with his tv switched on, he got up to switch it off as the early morning sun rays lit up his bedroom.

“It’s over; I will send you the money by the evening. Mom has thanked you for what all you did for Pinaz.” Rukshin continued and cut the call without even waiting for his reply.

For the first time he wasn’t in the condition to reply, he noticed a drop of tear trickling down his left cheek. He couldn’t understand why he was upset. Suddenly, his phone rang, again.

“Hey Rahul good morning, good work there. Rukshin just called me up, she’ll transfer the money in the bank account by evening. By the way, I have something for you.” It was Ajay, Rahul’s boss, on the call as Rahul switched on his fax machine. Ajay had sent him a fax.

Rucha Kadam, age 23 yrs. Blood cancer patient, has 2-3 months to live.

Last wish: To watch her favourite movie ‘Before Sunrise’ with her boyfriend, and kiss someone she loves under the moonlight. 

Meeting place: Barista MG Road. She'll be there with her aunt.

“Her last wish…”

“Ya it’s pretty lame. All these girls get mushier when they’re dying.” Ajay said while laughing.

“It is kind of similar to Pinaz’s.” Rahul finished his sentence.

“Yup, these girls I tell you. However, it’s an advantage for us; you don’t have to put in much effort. Moreover, her dad is a big shot and we’re getting a huge amount of money this time. Our ‘Lover on Rent’ is becoming a big hit.” Ajay said with a sense of celebration in his voice.

Rahul too smiled. He knew that their hard work is finally paying off. 

“Hey Ajay, I want to ask something.” Rahul said.

“Yes brother go ahead.”

“Can I borrow your Twilight’s dvd for a day.”