I have been traveling by trains all my life, but the return journey from Kerala LAST June turned out to be the most interesting, enjoyable and memorable one for me. A cousin of my husband's was getting married and I decided to attend along with my children. My husband cried off at the last minute as he had to travel urgently on business.
I got to meet a lot of relatives after a long while, but the most interesting one was Prasad. He is one of my husband's numerous cousins and I had met him just a couple of times a few years back Prasad lost his wife in an accident a couple of years ago and has been single since, bringing up his only son alone. It was at the wedding that I got to know him well and we hit it off. I could not help notice how attractive he was keeping himself fit with a combination of yoga and swimming.
After the wedding, my in laws, who were in Kerala made me leave the kids behind as it was school holidays anyway. So I had to travel back alone to Bangalore. Prasad informed me that he too was traveling to Bangalore on business.
My sister in law dropped me off at the rail station and Prasad arrived separately just a few minutes before the departure. We were in the same first class coach, but different cabins. Luckily I happened to be the only passenger in my cabin.
As is customary, I was in a sari through the wedding and Prasad had not seen me in anything else. I was wearing an orange cotton sleeveless top and a white salwar. I noticed that Prasad was a little surprised to see me in this attire. It was confirmed when he complimented me on my looks.
As the train started to leave the station, Prasad came to my cabin and started making small talk. After a while the ticket inspector came to check our tickets. Prasad left for his cabin and did not come back for a while. So I decided to step out of the cabin. I stood near the door watching the setting sun in the backdrop of the Arabian Sea.
A little later, Prasad joined me and was standing really close to me. I was holding a handle overhead to balance myself. Prasad kept staring at my armpits and initially it made me a bit uncomfortable. So I dropped my hands and this had the effect of pushing me forward. As I tried to balance myself, I brushed against Prasad's shoulders. It was as though an electric current passed through me.
It was also getting humid and warm as it was cloudy. It soon started to rain, lightly initially, but heavily afterwards. The rains lashed against the windows and our clothes got wet I decided to go back to my cabin. Prasad followed me and sat next to me.
Our conversation turned to kids and family and then about he missed his wife. I asked him if he was looking for someone. He then said that his wife was extremely beautiful and I agreed with him. "Yeah, I know. she was very beautiful and attractive", I told him.
"You are also very beautiful and attractive", he told me touching my knees gently.
I blushed a little and said "Thank you".
I was a little embarrassed.
"You know you are an extremely attractive man" I said.
He seemed pleased.
He came a couple of inches closer to me. His knees were almost touching mine this time I wanted to see where it was taking us. I too moved an inch closer to him and our knees were now definitely locked.