Love Stories by Meghna Mainy (read the beginning after the end novel .txt) 📖

Under the Stars…

By Megna Mainy

 
  Chapter 1

Anita’s Wedding

Gillian couldn’t believe it. 33 years of her life had passed. She was bridesmaid in her friend Anita’s wedding. She felt like crying and smiling at the same time. She had no regrets, except for the fact that she’d been so busy building a career in marketing, that she’d hardly found any time for herself. And now, suddenly, she was 33 and not married, and everybody else in the world seemed to have a partner. She felt lonely and whenever the topic of love and marriage was discussed she felt out of place, panicky and tearful.

There were times when she’d fallen in love. She’d shared coke with her boyfriend, Bryan in a crazy park in the outskirts of the city and laid her head on his shoulders and woken up into sunrise.She’d dated a handsome professor from Wilburgh university and spent an entire summer falling in and out of love with him, for he was too busy working on a college project on the expansion of the universe to fulfill his ambition of winning the Nobel Prize. He probably loved her, but his love for the universe somehow exceeded his love for Gillian, and on being constantly neglected, Gillian went back into her shell. And a hard, hard shell it was.

As Gillian switched her cell phone on and off the night before Anita’s wedding, she felt restless. In a minute she had packed her bag with her drapy grey chiffon dress and other little things and drove to Anita’s place. On entering her house, Gillian found Anita and her parents discussing the wedding . Anita got up from the sofa and said “Wow! You’re already here”

“Yeah I’ll sleep here and in the morning I’m going to help you all out. I’m going to miss you, Ani, when you’re gone. Uh…and give me the honor of doing your hair and makeup tomorrow , will you?”

“Oh yeah, you can always help out. Oh! And that is my cousin Tom.”

Gillian noticed a man, probably in his forties, quietly working in the balcony with a string of little sparkly lights. He was hanging them around the roof.

“Yeah, he’s working on the décor for the Sunday night Party after my wedding.”

“I know”said Gillian.

Just then, Tom’s and Gillian’s eyes met. It was surreal. He waved at the family from far away as the balcony was way down outside the room across the corridor. He looked at Gillian again with a fixed stare. Gillian wanted to smile and act so he knew she was saying “Hello”, something in her made her feel awkward and shy and she shifted her glance back to her friend.

“Uh huh…I think I should introduce you to him and then maybe you can help him do the lights and let’s carry your stuff to the guest room on the left of the house…you know, the one with yellow curtains?”
“Hmm” Gillian nodded.
So, soon enough, the two friends walked up to the guest room, got Gillian’s stuff in place and then went up to the balcony where Tom was standing working on the lights and the music system.
“Hey!” Anita gave her cousin a friendly box on his shoulder.
“Ouch! You get a husband, that doesn’t mean you slight your extremely hardworking cousin, does it?”joked he”And this must be Gillian”
“Oh! Hi…You know a little about me?” joined in Gillian
“A little? An amazing lot, I’d say. Your friend here’s always talking about you-how you helped her select her wedding dress and how you two became friends while working together in the same company. Of course, Anita’s going to stop working after getting married. What about you? Are you going to do the same” his eyes sparkled in the light from the night lights and Anita came to the rescue…
“Alright, Tom, would you like some help in your party décor…”
“Yeah, I could use some help. “
“Alright, so just keep going , and, Gillian, please tell me if you need anything”
Anita was gone pretty soon, and Gillian started helping the jovial, slightly mysterious cousin to test and attach the lights to the edge of the roof.


Chapter 2


Lion’s heart


It was already late in the night. Most of the work was done quietly as Gillian felt really nervous in the presenc e of the bright, sophisticated and smart Tom. She did not like the way he joked at times. It was rather curt, she thought. Nonetheless, she liked him enough to be able to work with him. At least he wasn’t boring.
“Would you like me to drive you back home?”asked Tom when the decoration work was almost over.
“Um…I forgot to tell you…I’m sleeping here. I want to be with Anita and her mom and help them the whole day tomorrow. I think you don’t need my help anymore. I’d better go to sleep.”
She walked out into the corridor.
“Hey!”came his voice ”Hold on, just a sec”
“Well?”She swirled back on her heels ”Did I ruin the lights?I hope not”
Tom shook his head to say she hadn’t. Then he walked up to her slowly. “Oh my God…what…is he going to attack me” thought she.
He came forward and spoke to her in a low voice.
“Gillian,did anyone ever tell you that the best thing about you is that you smile with your eyes?It’s really pretty”
“I-I dunno. Uh..I have to smile again in front of the mirror to find out. Um…”she laughed. It was a shy laugh she was using to hide her nervousness.
She turned towards the window. He followed her and they stood looking at the midnight sky. Someone, probably God, had painted it dark blue and purple. Little stars sputtered their fire. Everyone was fast asleep. Yes. Everyone else; and here stood Gillian with a man she had just met, a very intriguing man indeed. Someone who understood the universe in a more emotional way than Gillian had imagined when she first saw him.
“Back in the small town in Italy where I live…the stars are brighter…the sky is sometimes crimson at night, and I sometimes just go out driving all the way till 4 am. You think we could do that sometime?”
“You-you mean you and me?”
“Yeah. Obviously.”he smiled
Gillian didn’t like him for his blunt behavior. But she liked the way he looked at her. It was innocent, but it looked as if he was searching for an answer in her eyes. He had sparkling eyes. It reminded her of a sea that had blue pearls in it. It was always watery, always dreamy. Mystery was probably a part of him.
They both sood there spreading their silence across many long moments. The evening was so still Gillian could almost hear the ocean that roared some miles away. The corridor was partially dark and looking out into the sky and the fields in front of Anita’s House was a beautiful experience. Gillian was sure there were stars they couldn’t see behind the stars that could be seen, just as the feelings of nervousness that she had were camouflaged by her apparently brave exterior.
She did not have a lion’s brave heart. She hesitated.
“You want to go for a drive now?”she murmured
“You bet!”
Soon the two were climbing down the stairs quietly and hastily. Tom took out his blue car and Gillian climbed in, feeling lost and looking back as the house disappeared behind them.
For the first time in life, Gillian felt like she had the heart of a lioness. Someone had made it that way. She wanted to find out how.

Chapter 3
Pearls and Pebbles
Little pebbles crinkled underneath as the car sped up the driveway. All around the few houses in the residential area of Bloomshire were beaches and the sea. Tiny hills rose in an ascending manner a little way up the road and the path snaked slyly up the border of the beaches and the sleeping highlands. As Gillian flew past these lovely nature’s hangouts she felt a surge of emotion welling up her heart.
“You want the radio?” asked Tom.
“Yeah , why not?” she answered.
The music was alternate. One fast peppy club hit coupled with a slow but cute country number. And then there was this fascinating sound of a flute. The car advanced and gathered speed and Gillian heard the wind whistle and bite her ears.
“Would you like to hit the beach? Maybe we can sit in the starlight and eat pizza…there’s a cool little takeout place I know”
“I dunno”
“Oh C’mon…I love sitting in the sand”
“You’re not very particular about your car’s seats getting soiled , are you?”
“Am I not?”He laughed and closed the door behind Gillian as she stepped out of the car.
They took two pizzas from a rustic looking takeout corner near the beach. It had grey stony walls and a red roof. This reminded Gillian of school, and she smiled thinking of all the water fights she used to have with her friends.
The silvery ocean waves were gushing into the sandy beach. There was broken foam all over the place. They sat on the sands and pulled out their pizzas from the packet. They talked for hours on end. Then, morning came. It was fun to look at the glowing sunrise. Then, they huddled together leaning on a wall close to the sea. To someone who didn’t know them, they’d look like bosom friends.
Gillian talked about her past relationships and cried. Tom wiped her tears and told her he was no good at relationships either, as it always ended poorly for him.
Then, as the sun rose higher and people started walking into the beach, Gillian and Tom went back to the car…took the front seats and slept in a seated position. They didn’t want to go back.
Back at Anita’s house, the whole family was worried…The two were not reachable. They had fled somewhere no one knew about. Worse. Their cellphones were switched off.

Chapter 4
The Wedding Bells
Anita had to get married without her friend or her cousin attending her wedding. She was very upset, but, she had no clue what could possibly have gone wrong.
So, the two runaways never heard Anita’s wedding bells. They went back to Gillian’s house as they were already looking awful from staying out in the sun and sand for too long. No, they didn’t get too close. They were still just friends.
But, they liked each other’s company so much they couldn’t stay apart.
“Will you come with me to my town? Just for a few days. Maybe you’ll like the place”
“uh…I’m already answerable to a lot of people for having eloped with a certain friend called Tom” she smiled as she waved goodbye to Tom.
Tom got into his car and went back to Anita’s Sunday Party. Gillian had called Anita back to tell her how sick she was that night and how Tom had taken her to a doctor. It wasn’t true. But she’d have to make do.

Chapter 5
Separation
There was so much toil involved in the marketing business. Gillian walked up and down her office, preparing presentations and making plans. She was hardly able to concentrate on her work. But, she was a serious person. She overcame the attraction she had for Tom. Or at least she thought she had.
It was all a matter of practicality and reality. Gillian turned this thought over and over