A Resort Trip - Part 2
The driver shouted something from inside the jeep, and it began moving towards them. They released each other with an audible sigh. Kavya grabbed the towel from the resort worker and wrapped it around her body. She took another one and wrapped it around her head, covering her face. Mani also covered himself with a towel. They both put on their shoes and climbed in the jeep, with the 2 resort staff following closely behind. The journey back to the hotel was awkward. Kavya sat next to Mani in the back seat, and there was no window there. He placed his leg on the middle seat, making sure it did not touch Kavya. They were quiet for some time. The jeep stopped near the reception. The two resort workers got down and signalled to get out of the jeep. Mani got down first and collected the key cards. He gave hers, and they wordlessly went to their rooms, which were adjacent to each other. As she entered her room, she locked the door, immediately removed her T-shirt and looked at herself in the mirror. There was still dirt and sweat all over her body. But she noticed that her midriff was flat, as she was told. There were stretch marks from pregnancy visible on her hips and tummy. But they were really difficult to notice because the fair skin tone was concealing them. She was proud of her reflection. She touched 72 kgs in the last months of pregnancy because of the Indian superstition of eating for two. She had worked herself to a respectable 58 kgs after the birth of Nirav. She turned around again, looking at her slim figure. She removed all her clothes and stepped into a warm shower. Her thoughts drifted back to Mani’s words, “Your body is really amazing, especially your belly.” She remembered what happened at the vantage point. Was Mani’s actions right or wrong? Yes, he did save her and was with her instead of relying on strangers from the resort in a dark forest like this. But at the same time, he kept staring at her breasts. But then she looked down at her boobs and thought, why wouldn’t he? After all, they had grown from 32B to 34 post-pregnancy and lactation. He was human, too. Seeing her completely drenched and clingy must have made him horny. He wasn’t being indecent by looking. He was just being honest, and his statement wasn’t any less than flattering. Also, Mani had a reputation for flirting with almost every woman in her company. They all found it amusing rather than offensive because of his ability to make people laugh. He also used to change girlfriends now and then. In fact, he would flirt with Priya in front of Matthew. They would laugh with him. It had become a habit of his that he couldn’t stop flirting with every woman he met. Kavya never really took offence. Finally, she emerged from the bathroom. Wearing only her white panties and bra, she ran her fingers through her wet hair. She looked out of the window. It was evening, the sky was already turning pinkish red with darkness setting in quickly. The water from the pool trickled down her body. It made her shiver, and goosebumps appeared on her skin. She got dressed. It wasn’t long before Priya and the others arrived. They were very tired as the entire trip was three hours long with no break in paddling. After the first two rapid descents, it just felt like moving on a slow roller coaster for hours. Priya said she was just lucky and went to freshen up. Kavya wanted to talk about what happened with Mani but decided against it. They went to the resort dining room for high tea. She found the boys already having samosas and playing foosball. Mani was back to his cheerful self as if nothing happened. So, Kavya decided to drop it altogether. After the high tea, they were playing different games. Then, at around 6:30 pm, Priya requested the resort organisers to start the rain dance, which was part of their package. They had started the rain dance. The speakers were blaring some of the Bollywood dance numbers. Priya, Suhail and Mani went and started dancing. But Kavya and Ravish remained in their seats. Priya looked at them, smiling while the boys were obviously teasing them. Priya called Ravish to take part in the dance, and soon, the whole group got involved. Priya grabbed Ravish’s hand and pulled him away from Kavya onto the dance floor. Suhail also grabbed Kavya and held her by the waist tightly while trying to pull her towards them. Kavya tried to move away. But her hands were pulled down by Suhail and Priya, who were holding her. They began dancing. She tried to resist, but they were pulling her strongly. Kavya, too, realised that she should let go of herself. She didn’t enjoy the rafting, but at least she knows how to dance. She reluctantly joined the boys and began dancing. She couldn’t really get her rhythm and felt out of place and nervous. She hadn’t done much dancing since she gave birth to Nirav. Before marriage, she used to dance at weddings and parties with her friends. She loved to dance, but after Nirav was born, her social life completely died. There was nothing that could interest her other than motherhood and doing things with him. She always considered it a blessing. But today, when all her friends were dancing, she suddenly felt so out of place. Kavya had never felt this way before, and today, it just hit her hard. She wanted to go back to being that carefree person again and dance until her legs gave up from exhaustion. She started to focus on the music and didn’t care that the men were staring at her soaked t-shirt and bra. She didn’t care that there was some level of touching involved when they were doing a few steps. All she cared about was not leaving the dance floor. She wanted to keep on dancing forever. But then she slipped and fell on the floor. Everyone stopped and helped her. Luckily, there was no fracture or twist in her ankle. Kavya told them to continue their dancing while she watched them. Ravish, too, stopped dancing as being out of shape.