Sachin spotted the familiar Timber Trail Resort sitting atop the hill and pulled up at its entrance.
“Would you like to take a ride in the cable car, Shikha?” He asked.
“No, that will take too long. But I am tired and I need to take a loo-break.”
Sachin realised that they had been driving almost nonstop for last six hours. “Okay. Let's stop for lunch.”
They decided to have lunch at the restaurant at the entrance. Shikha went to the ladies washroom and returned fifteen minutes later looking remarkably fresh. Sachin looked at her and felt a raw twinge of desire course through his veins. She looked so appealing in the red skin-tight shirt, black skirt and calf length boots. Everything she wore, simply accentuated her curves.
“She certainly has a figure worth dying for,” thought he.
She saw him staring and arched her eyes at him. “Hey mister, what are you staring at?”
“You! You look good enough to eat.”
“Help,” she cried in mock horror. “I have married a cannibal.”
Her eyes flickered over Sachin. He still looked as handsome and dashing as he had three years back. The only difference was there were fine wrinkles at the edges of his eyes. He had not put on an ounce of weight and his muscles rippled under the red Guccishirt.
“Oh, I love him so much,” she thought. Then she noticed the open bottle of beer on the table and a half filled glass beside it.
“That is very irresponsible of you, Mr. Sachin Vaswani. You are sipping beer before taking on the steep climb to Kasauli. I am of the firm opinion that you should have waited till at least Kasauli to slake your thirst.”She admonished him in mock anger.
“Come on Shikha. It's just one measly bottle of beer. Anyway, I have ordered lunch for us.You want a beer as well?”
She thought for a moment and nodded her head. “Hell! It's been a long journey and I am sure I'll not fall off the pillion.”
They giggled and joked like teenage lovers as they made their way through lunch. Sachin pulled his feet out of his shoes and ran his right foot up Shikha's legs and caressed her thighs with his toes below the table, their act covered by the tablecloth. She let him do that for a while until his toe clambered upwards nearing the dangerous territory between her legs. She sighed. And immediately straightened hoping no one had noticed.
“Stop it, Sachin. You are too old to be playing footsie,” she admonished.
“Shikha, I am feeling so happy. I really needed this break.”
“Yes darling, we should do this more often. But wait till we find a room in Kasauli.”
“Is that a promise?”
“No, it's an invitation,” she smiled.
He extended his hand over the table and she shyly took it, interlocking her fingers with his. He bent down and kissed her knuckles. She blushed away, hoping that no one had seen him do that. It reminded her of the first time they had met. Ah, it was such a long time back and Sachin's proximity made it felt as if it was yesterday.
They were soon back on the road and Shikha hugged Sachin's back as the bike roared up the serpentine roads. He again relished the warmth of her body through the thin fabric of their clothes.
'I can hardly wait till we reach Kasauli. I need this woman now!'Sachin thought, noticing the rising bulge in his pants and increasing the pressure on the throttle of his bike. The powerful engine responded with a raw surge of power and the bike zoomed uphill.
He turned his head slightly to look at her resting her head on his shoulder just before negotiating a particularly sharp hairpin bend. Before the bike could stabilize, he saw a truck heading straight at them. Pure reflex took over as he slammed both the breaks and turned the bike towards the side on the road. The driver of the truck saw them at the last moment and mouthed an expletive. He slammed the brakes hard while simultaneously turning the steering wheel in the other direction. The resultant squealing of the tires echoed all over the valley.
They looked at the towering mountains and the majestic pine trees with delight. The hillside was full of colorful dahlias that had escaped from the gardens and were growing wild covering entire swathes of the hill. Kasauli cast its spell on them as usual.
“It is still divine!” exclaimed Shikha as she took in the sight. “I could stay here for the rest of my life.”
They had no bookings and the need to find an accommodation reared its head.
“Now my Knight in shining armor, how do you propose to accomplish the task of finding us a room to stay?” Shikha arched her eyebrows at her husband.
“Don't worry, sweetheart, I will find something!” said Sachin as they drove off towards the TV transmission tower, some half remembered story of guest houses for rent in that area in his mind.