Blacked in Goa

[Givemeextra]

The waiter brought James a beer and Mira her non-alcoholic beverage. Their glasses clinked and the first sips of the cold drinks went down their throats. Mira and James stared at the open ocean for a while. She took of her hat and kept it on the table in front of her. The sun light kissed the calm ocean. The cool breeze from the sea ran through her hair and Mira felt so relaxed that she would sleep; the comfort of the lounge chair added to the feeling of absolute relaxation.

“So where are you from James?” She asked.

He took a sip of beer and placed the bottle on the table. He looked at her, nothing lecherous, nothing vulgar but just a plain simple look one gives to another when speaking. But Mira gently shivered. This was the first time she was actually looking into his eyes, now that he was facing her and sitting just a foot away from her. His deep brown eyes were magnetic to saw the least. He had a beast of a body but those radiant eyes were so calming.

“Chicago.” He replied after what seemed to be minutes but was nothing more than a couple of seconds. She noticed the beer flow down his throat and noticed his thick neck and the broad shoulders that it led down to.

“Ohhh…” Was all she could say in return.

“You also seem to be a tourist around here.” He said as he rested his back against the chair.

“Yeah..I am from Mumbai…uhh…Bombay.” She replied.

“Aaahhh…I landed in Bombay a week ago.” James replied. Mira had been a well-read girl all her life. She knew Chicago was cold and the sunny sands and the hot sun were something these foreigners craved. The cruellest of winters in India were warm summers for America.

James went on to tell her how he was a lawyer back home. He’d work hard all year to take a two-week break. He came to India for the first time 2 years ago and simply fell in love with the place and since has returned every year.

Mira too opened up a little, telling her about herself but not too much in detail. She was still on guard even though James had been nothing but a gentleman. It had been the way she was nurtured. Men are lecherous beasts and a woman must never trust their intentions was the philosophy of over protective Indian parents. Mira wanted to say more, speak more but somehow, the docile woman inside her wouldn’t allow her.

James ordered another beer and Mira was still drinking her first drink. They spoke, laughed and things were now getting comfortable. Mira was glad to find company with a good sense of humour, no cheap jokes and pot-shots; plain, simple humour. She was liking his company.

James too was liking this woman. He did not fail to notice how she stared at him blankly when she first spoke. He could see her gaze running from his face to his neck and then to his shoulders. He smiled as they spoke but he was actually smiling at how this woman, Mira was slowly falling for the bait.

He too had stolen glances to check her out, carefully sizing her curves and contours. He suddenly had an idea and decided to act on it.

“Wanna come for a swim?” James asked he stood up suddenly. Mira was taken aback by his sudden request and took a second to recover.