It had been a year since I visited the home last time. I was almost starting to miss it. I love my family, and I love my parents most, but I have never been very fond of staying at home, ever since I left for college, after high school. After that, I never stayed there for more than two weeks.
I guess one reason for that is - when you get home after a long time, for the first few days everyone treats you as a guest, which is nice, and overwhelming, but after that reality kicks in, they start treating you like a family member. They complain about your every habit; why do you sleep till eight, why do you watch TV so much, and most annoying of them all, why don't you sit with us and talk.
But there is another reason, why I hate staying there, and that would be, the people in town. It's a small town, almost close to a village. Like every other small town, people there are very conservative, and small minded. Most of my schoolmates are married with children. Most of the girls were married when they were underage, and now they look ten years older than they should, due to working household chores, and taking care of their children and family.
People hardly have any idea of the world outside this town. Global warming is not an issue for these people. They believe whatever adulterated stories they come across about the country and the world, mostly on the news, or from someone like me (who lives outside), and plagiarize it, to sound cool among their peers.
The town is not totally hopeless though. Things are getting better at its own pace. People are getting educated and are sending their children to good universities. But like all good things, it is going to take time.
All in all, it was nice to come home, meet friends and elders, ask about their life, tell them about mine, and be on your way. But this time, I was here for good unless I get a job soon.
I had completed my bachelor in engineering. I have applied for some jobs in cities like Delhi, Pune, and Bangalore. Hopefully, I will get calls for interviews soon. I was more bored than worried during this respite time.
I was sitting in my room watching some video on YouTube, as always. The afternoon time, at home, was the hardest. Everyone went out to their work, and I was all alone in the house. The only thing that helped is the Internet.
Normally, I would watch something or other on my laptop. From time to time, I'd look at the email to check if I received an interview offer just to get disappointed. Then I would listen to some songs of Pink Floyd, and the noon would pass normally. My parents would be back in the evening, at around 5, to complain about the tea I would make for them. I didn't mind it, it was their way of showing that they care.
But this afternoon was not meant to go normally. All of a sudden, the Internet was gone. I realized my net-pack had expired, and I would have to go all the way to market to recharge it. I cursed my gods and went onto the balcony of my room in frustration. As I was stretching my arms, I saw someone in my neighbour's garden.
At first, I almost didn't recognize her. It was Neha, my neighbour girl. She used to live here before she got married a few years back. She must have come to visit her parents. It's been three years since I had seen her last (at her wedding). She was my sister's friend, and we didn't talk much back then. She used to be a little fat, and big. She was twenty when she got married. I am a year younger than her.
I always believed it was downhill for a women's body after marriage, at least in this town, but I have never been so amazed to be wrong.
I could see her curves from the distance - she was lean and fit, like an athlete. I wondered if she has been going to the gym or something. She was hanging washed clothes from the rope. Her hair was tied in a thick knot above her head. I could say from the look, she just had taken a bath.
She was repeatedly bending to pick the clothes from the bucket, to hang them, which gave me a pleasant view of her perfect ass every time, even over her kurti ( shirt ), which was down to her knees. She was wearing a sleeveless, yellow suit top, with green leaves printed on it, a green churidar salwar ( tight-fitting pants ), and a light yellow and green dupatta ( shawl type scarf that is used to cover the head or as a veil ), which was mostly transparent.
When she stood still, I could see the curves around her thin waist, getting wider as moving up towards her shoulders. Her suit had a wide opening on the back, which exposed her pale skin of almost all of her shoulders, and most of her back.
I was spellbound by the sheer beauty of her figure. I could not take my eyes off her. Part of me did want to look away because it was a married girl I was staring at. After some minutes of failing, finally I was ready to take my eyes off her, but then she turned around, and I saw her face. Her face was glowing in the sun with the hint of a pink blush on her cheeks. Her breast area was covered under her yellow dupatta, but I could clearly imagine the shape of her boobs under it. Then I thought, 'Maybe gods are not all cruel on me, today.'
My eyes were so fixed on the soothing view of her beauty that it took me a while to notice that she was looking straight at me. I tried to be genuine, and said, "Hi." I could hear my heart pumping faster than it should, as I waved my hands.
"Hi," she said, with a smile, and waved her right hand. I didn't know what to do next. I saw her walking toward me. I could see her face more clearly, her big dark brown eyes, augmenting its beauty. My eyes shifted to her pinkish lips, stretched with a smile. I noticed the small vibration of her boobs, over her dupatta, as she walked, of course, she was not wearing a bra. Then my eyes met hers, and I made a hand gesture, saying, maybe I should come down. She nodded. I climbed down the stairs and walked toward her.
As we reached close to the boundary between our houses which was a four-foot high wall of bricks and concrete, she asked, "When did you come home?"
"It's been two weeks," I replied and added, "When did you come here?"
"Last night," she said.
"How is your ... new home?" I didn't know what I should call it, 'Her husband's home.'
"It's fine. What you've been up to?"
"I completed my degree, now I am looking for jobs."
"Big dreams, huh?" she flexed her shoulders and tilted her face slightly.
"Not as big as I thought," I looked away.
"What?" She lifted her eyebrows in confusion. She moved closer to the wall between us, a little too fast that her boobs bounced slightly. My eyes fell on her cleavage, slightly visible through her dupatta.
My eyes had no intention of shifting from what they were at, but then I heard a voice, which seemed to be coming from far away, "What do u mean?"
As I came back into my senses, I smoothly closed my eyes and rolled them back to look at her face, the picture of her cleavage was still clear in my head. Her lips were stretched in a big smile, with her little, white teeth peeking. It was clear that she knew. I was relieved that she was not offended. I guess she knew it was not totally my fault. She repeated a little seriously, "What did you mean by that?"
"I mean, I was expecting a little better from myself than what I am doing right now."
"It's alright, we don't always get what we dream of. At least, you get to live some of your dreams."
There was a truth in that, but her tone sounded like it was more about her than me.
'Why at least?' the words raised many questions in my head. I asked, "Now, what did you mean by that?"
