The Princess Charming

'Certain people are afraid of freedom because freedom means responsibility,' so say the wise. Lily had always been putty in the hands of her rich parents who did everything possible to cushion her life. They took all the critical decisions for her. Thus at twenty three she emerged from the college with a master's degree in economics. Then the next inevitable stage in the bio-sociological sequence was to find a good husband for her, from a respectable and ancient Syrian Christian family of central Kerala. They searched far and wide and placed an ad in the matrimonial columns. After a great deal of discussions and negotiations they settled on a computer engineer employed in Dubai, Tom Joseph. His family was not that rich, but they were making it, the boy appeared polished and industrious.

After the marriage and the fabulous feast in which even the local MLA participated, the couple had their first night in the bride's house. Her parents were pleased that their dear daughter had been placed into a pair of safe manly hands. Her friends had teased her that it was a prize catch, but she had no idea what a prize catch was. She herself was a sensation in the society with her demure nature and idyllic anatomy. Her 5'7'' figure had the prefect curves that our society would die for. Tom was told by his buddies that he was the luckiest man in the world. He was a bit disconcerted that he had to protect such a delicious beauty from the amorous advances of the sex starved expatriate community of Dubai.

Once they were alone in the bed room luxuriously decorated, they both shared a cup of sweet and warm milk together implying that they were to share the sweetness of life together. Then, as he had been tutored by his friends, he placed her on the bed, rolled up her costly saree and underskirt and inserted her penis, causing pain to himself and to her. With some difficulty he managed to penetrate and she squirmed with pain. She realized that married life means pain, tearing pain. After a few wincing painful streaks of stroking pain, he collapsed on her and shortly he was asleep. She remained awake for long hours piecing together all the fragmented possibilities and vague hopes. The imperious future threatened her.

On the third day they moved abroad, it was a nightmare to Lily. For the first time she was at the Cochin International Airport. The procedure for boarding the plane unnerved her. The security check, the grumpy robot like figures at the emigration counter, the megalomaniacal ground staff, everything confused her.

They had a small apartment at Karama, it was claustrophobic to the girl who had lived in a huge house. In spite of all the confusion and madness all around, she tried her best to build a home for herself.

On the following Friday a reception was arranged for the couple by Tom's company at Grand Hyatt. Lily put on her fresh ivory colored churidar and her jewelry to show off. She was doing it all to please her husband. She was least inclined to meet strangers. The climax of the party was a belly dance performed by a world famous artist from Lebanon, Regina. Lily had never heard of belly dances.

When the dancer appeared onstage, Lily was embarrassed given her scanty costume. The dancer had a glittering bra hardly covering her impressively large but perfectly shaped breasts. A silken loin cloth covered her private parts. The woman aged around thirty, had a beautiful mane of pure silky hair cropped to a fascinating shape. A golden coloured silken shawl she was draped with. Lily was embarrassed to look at her. The dancer pulled out her shawl and flashed it like wings of an butterfly and danced like an angel. Then she dropped the shawl and was by far naked, pretty little was left for imagination. She violently wobbled and jerked her masterpiece breasts to entertain the audience. Lily furtively looked at the breasts and then at the dancer herself. She felt something fluttering in her soul. The dancer was in fact, dancing to the bride now. Lily blushed profusely. She wanted to feast on that nubile shape but was ashamed. In the next stage, she came to the bride and invited her to dance together. Despite herself, lily got up and followed the dancer to the platform.

Lily herself was a good dancer, she had been trained at college. Rescinding her embarrassment, Lily danced like a fairy, light headed and nimble. Together they became a tune, together they became a visual feast, it was a happy union of exoticism. It was solid music. Lily tingled all over under the touch of the lovely dancing beauty. She was in a dream and the enthralled audience had faded into insignificance in her world. Regina was looking deep into her eyes, deep into her soul. She had to avert her eyes from the laser beams that searched her soul and exposed her. While parting amid a thunderous applause, Regina whispered something in her ear which she did not understand.

During the days that followed, Lily had been fixated by the charm and luscious beauty of the dancer. She was afraid of herself for the wild thoughts. The more she tried to forget the dancer the more she barged in gatecrashing into her soul and solitude. She asked many of her acquaintances at St. Mary's church where she could dance once again with that woman. Her husband was noncommittal. She continued to search for those hooking eyes and invincible bust in the multitudes. She prayed to Saint Antony to bring her lost dream back to her. After a few weeks there was yet another reception at Grand Hyatt. She hinted to many that Regina's dance would be perfect for the function. The organizers tried her date and surprisingly she agreed to come.

During the erotic dance once again the two pairs of eyes clashed and there was a flash of seminal recognition. At the last part she invited Lily to dance together. They danced like a single soul, like two airy spirits on a divine mission. They parted stoically after the dance and Lily retired to her seat. She was sorry that the spell was over.

The luscious lady came down in a green gown to the people huddled up in groups chatting and eating food. She also took a plate and collected few choicest eatables from the buffet table and stood there gently nibbling. Her white silky fingers and cute enticing lips really fascinated Lily who was furtively feasting on her from a distance. Suddenly she left the plate in the bin and walked fast with her nimble dancer's feet and pretended to walk past Lily. Lily was stunned by her electrifying presence. Then as if by a second thought, Regina came back to Lily and shook hands with her. Those silken hands of a real artist. The hands that had touched the contours of poesy. High voltage electric short circuit was the result, sparks flashed from four eloquent eyes, volumes of silent information passed hands. They stood there in the halo of the sound of silence. Lily was afraid to look at those enthralling pair of breasts. She wondered what would happen to her if she had the audacity to take a look on those heavenly orbs. Then she experienced something else, a piece of paper was passed into her hand quite diligently even when their hands were locked in a handshake. Then she was gone in a flash, by the time Lily realized what had come to pass she was gone. Then the girl felt that the sun was suddenly dead that the power supply was gone. Lily was rocked in a devastating storm. She went to the private room to freshen up and with trembling hands she read the furtive missive,

'Where hast thou been all the while? I have been looking for thee here there and everywhere. Hast thou been hiding in a dainty fairies' winsome nook? Or celebrating they reflection on a distant Ionian merry brook? Do kindly deign to call me if thou woudst, my number is ...'

Her heart was palpitating and adrenaline rushed to her blood, her body was pitted against the whole world. She kissed the palm which had had the good fortune to touch that celestial hand. Indeed, she did look for her in the multitudes, in the rapt audiences, she, the pusillanimous and insignificant lass. It was the defining moment in her life. The stone that the builders left had become the head of the corner.

When she returned to the hall, Dana Winner was on the music system with 'one moment in time' she thought that it was the most opportune moment to listen to that.

Next day when Tom was gone for work, Lily took the piece of paper on which her whole life depended. She just wanted to sit in the penumbra of that divine presence and she would be fulfilled, she would be reconnected to the absolute. She kissed the paper time and again and marveled the hand that had scribbled the dear words in a hurry. After many tumultuous moments of hesitation she dialed the number knowing pretty well that she was entering into an alien territory. The call was through, it was ringing on the other end. She was trembling like a blade of grass in the gale. But there was no answer. After half an hour she tried again but to no avail. Exasperated and curiously relieved, she retired to her wonted domestic chores of cleaning and washing. Conjugal life was just that, endless wait, dirty chores and tearing pain in the loins at night. Probably that was the inevitable imperative of life.

As there was nothing more to do she switched on the TV and watched the drab programmes telecast from Kerala. Then the phone rang suddenly from the blue.

'Hallo Lily, here I am Regina.'

'But how, how did you know my name?

'We know what we know, your name is dear to me as the owner of the name is dear to me. I have been looking for you for long, I even diluted my standards and performed to audiences a notch below my level in the hope of stumbling on you there.'

'I also wanted to meet with you again, at least from a distance.'

'Blood recognizes blood you know. I feel that we know each other from existences far and remote. There are things heaven and earth Horatio than are dreamed of in your philosophy.'

'You looked like somebody dear to me I lost and found, something clicked, an unseen door was suddenly opened.'

'I know. I understand. Can you come to me, I will send my car to you.'

'Well yes, yes of course.'

How could she have denied and defied a goddess, she was under a strong spell. But she needed permission from Tom. He had forbidden her from mingling with Keralites, he was afraid that the sex starved expatriate youngsters might flirt with her. She could go to Regina secretly, cheating on him. But she was too much of a simpleton to do that. If he stops her, that will be a great tragedy, still, she called him.

'Tom, would it be permissible to spend some time with a female friend of mine? She is an Arab.'

'You mean that dancer?'

'Yes.'

'That sounds good, learn a lesson or two from her to become smart.'

The poor fellow was incapable of thinking anything fishy possible between two women.

After half an hour a tall gaunt Arab chauffer appeared at her door. He was very chivalrous and careful not to offend her in his words and deeds, really obsequious. It surprised her that women are treated with such reverence, something unusual in her cultural capsule. The car floated past a wilderness of high rise buildings in the shadow of the Burge Khaleefa, the tallest building in the world. She was confused and enthralled by the technical processes of going past the security checks to the 42nd floor on the northern side of the burge. Indeed, the lady had class and style.

Lily knocked with some degree of trepidation, her face pale and her hands and sole sweating. Then she heard vague footsteps, soft steps. It had to be her, her fingerprint footsteps. Regina opened the door and stood there behind a snow white silken tapestry. She had put on a coffee black gown with a white sash around her thin waist. She was fresh after a bath, with her rich blue black hair wet and hanging down with a U shaped bottom line. Her pale rose complexion contrasted with the colour of her gown. The long V of her gown exposed a long valley of her marvelous cleavage, the borderline of her bra cups almost showing out behind the velvet curtain. The valley was so thin and converged into a V between the delicious swell of the mouthwatering twin sisters. A faint fragrance of the perfume she was apparently bearing gently caressed the visitor. The face of the host looked so fresh that it looked like a nascent lotus on a nice sunny morning in the spring. And those eyes, they were deep blue oceans still and sparkling in a warm dawn, reflecting the whole universe, the stars, suns and constellations included; heavens and abodes of gods included. They were full of life, energy and vivacity.

Lily stood there like the wife of Loth, petrified and lost. She was awestricken as if in a holy divine presence. She wanted to prostrate, she wanted to worship, she wanted to wash out all her petty little sins, she wanted to begin life afresh in that redeeming aura of radiant feminine grace.

'Hallo there,' Regina offered her hand breaking the spell.

Lily struggled to regain her composure, she was almost swooning in a strange ecstasy. Her hand offered itself to the delicate manicured hand. The hand was warm and soft, like a slice of an enchanting dream. Regina guided the happy somnambulist to a sofa in that dainty luxurious room well furnished with exotic furniture and upholstery.

'Are you alright, shall we have some drink?'

'Oh yes, I am alright, but I ...I was carried away by your invincible charm and beauty.'

'Such a flatterer, you are good at it,' Regina sat across her and relaxed.

'Who did the interior design for you?'

'Diversion tactic dear minstrel? Your sound is music to me, but I do the interior design myself. There are certain ideas words do not convey dear.'

Regina put her feet on the stool in between them and collected her hair to make it flow down her bosom. Lily's eyes inexorably moved to those toes, they were not toes in appearance. They were rose buds straining in trembling hope to blossom, red and lovely. Lily wished she could kiss them and compose poems on them. Regina watched her with a mischievous laughter in her poetic eyes. Lily's eyes wandered uphill, to that bosom that held rapt mesmerized audiences in a magic spell for hours. She watched the nipples hardening and rising against the fabric under her pious watch. The fresh cool swell of pure butter looked like twin mounds in the valley of a long lost paradise. The velvet gown and the bra cups were in an ecstatic trance hugging the breasts. The swell of the breasts spread to the arm pits and the sight made her disoriented.

'Hope you love what you see,' Regina said softly not to offend the girl.

'Oh sorry, I was just distracted,' Lily stammered.

'It is alright Lily girl, you should not be ashamed of yourself. It is natural, just give a chance to your dormant dreams.'

Lily was lost in thought, she did not say anything. She was frightened by the passions ravaging her, she was afraid of herself, her reckless mind, the devils lurking behind her vulnerable veneer.

'Now tell me about yourself, let us know each other. On the first encounter itself I knew that you are innocent, naïve, non-threatening and above all you are incapable of deceiving anybody. I trust you, otherwise I would never have invited you here. In fact, half of Dubai would lay down their lives to sit here, where you sit now. But I want to hear more about you.'

'i... well, I have nothing much to divulge. I am a village girl, I lived like a pea in the pod, safe and sequestered, happy with my parents and my little brother. I post graduated in economics and never went for a job. My husband was carefully chosen by my parents for me and a hefty amount was given as dowry. I had no say in all that. He took me to this enchanting world after the marriage. I am struggling to get acclimatized to this strange world. Then I stumbled on you and now you stand on the one side and on the other my saints, value systems and the Christ stand.'

'So your husband took the protection money to maintain you. Marriage is indeed a deal where money and beauty are bartered. As for your god and value systems, god did not command you to hate me, he commanded to love, to love only.'

'I dread sin.'

'Nobody is a sinner, there is only ignorance. As Dostoevsky put it nobody is a sinner only some are unfortunate. By the time we realize what is what it will be too late, life offers no re-run it is a one way ticket. Salvation is not the end product of life, it is only the byproduct. The beauty of life lies in being true to oneself. If you are otherwise you are violent to yourself and thus you will be violent to the world at large. When we are at home with ourselves, we are at home with the rest of the world.'

'You seem to know about it all better than I do, you have seen the world, you are case hardened and self-confident. I have long miles to go before I reach your level.'

Suddenly Regina realized that the girl was very delicate and vulnerable, she wanted to protect her, to hold her, to absorb her into her feminine core and to hold her there safe. The game of taunting and invisible fencing was over. Regina moved over and sat by the girl. She took Lily's face in her hands and looked deep into those jet black pleading eyes. Then she planted a chaste kiss on the forehead. Lily shuddered in a feverish helplessness. Regina hugged the girl and her face was on the collar bone of Regina. A soft aroma of camel milk wafted from the impressive beauty's body. Somehow the face moved to the cleavage and she breathed in the fragrance of feminine charm while sobbing uncontrollably. The breasts appeared soft yet capable of retaining its shape. The paradise of her childhood prayers seemed to dwell there. Regina patted her and fondled her flowing hair.

'Here baby,' Regina opened her bra and offered a nipple. Lily was too dazed to reason and was latched to the nipple in a maddening passion. Her right hand without her permission or volition, moved to the other breast. Regina sighed a sigh of deep contentment and Lily was lost in a living dream. Hours passed, so did impassioned sighs.

Much later Regina pulled out the lips from her truculent and protesting nipple and whispered looking deep into those eyes, 'now I am going to show you how one makes love to a real beauty.'

She kissed the crown of the girl and then planted soft soothing kisses on the forehead, fluttering eyes and red swollen lips, which were originally thin and soft. The girl was surprised when Regina's tongue probed into her mouth. It was embarrassing and unheard of. But the kinky strange move had a heady shattering impact. Streaks shot past her loins and nipples. She opened up to accommodate the passionate and resolute explorer. It was a deliciously alien territory, Regina was agog with passion as the inside of the girl's mouth yielded to her. She tasted excellent, like an exotic drink of the orient. The tongue made love to each pearly tooth and reveled on the feel thereof, it swirled and massaged the tongue of the host mouth, it made love to the roof of Lily's mouth. Lily squirmed and hugged the beautiful lady hard. Their breasts were in deep conversation, understanding each other, whispering sweet nothings nipple to nipple. The breasts luxuriously kissed and hugged each other and wept in a divine rapture.

'Let us go to the bedroom,' Regina guided the tipsy languid girl to the bedroom which was ready for the show.

'Let me see the package Mother Nature sculptured out for me, taking her time across eons,' Regina opened the girl's hair and removed the top. Her ripe luscious breasts were encased in red bra, marching her pink churidar.

'Oh my, so perfect, so enticing,' Regina passed her feathery hands on the swell. The nipples were straining to burst out of the cups. Again kissing the girl on the lips she hugged her and opened the hook of the bra from behind. The breasts splurged out and refused to sag even a wee bit.