Sunbeams

[An exercise in writing....something I havent done in a long time.]

"Are you sleepy?"
"Noooooooooooo."

That extended "No" was the kind which actually meant - "Damn, I am so sleepy, but don't u assume u know it".
Did she think Chetan won't know? She hoped at least.

"I feel like having some coffee. You?"
"Sure."

Chetan left for the kitchen, hoping she doesn't dose off in the next ten minutes. Her eyes were loaded, and yet she wouldn't go to bed. He didn't want her to either.

He set a record in instant coffee making, but by the time he got back, Priya's eyes were tight shut. [sigh]

He rested the mugs down on the table, and decided to decide what to do next. Just then he realised Priya's head was almost falling off to the left. Moving without realizing, he put his right palm to support. And then looked around for a cushion.

"Damn, it is never at hand when needed", he swore at the classy magenta cushions mocking him from across the divan.

A desire rose in his heart, which he was too afraid to acknowledge at first. Slowly, with every moment added a bit of courage , he neared the couch, all the while careful not to move his hand, very uncomfortably managed to settle himself next to her.
With a kind of fear and excitement one feels when holding a newborn for the first time - fearing it's delicacy yet excited at the thought of holding it - Chetan gently lowered her head on his shoulder and stretched his arm along the edge.

Instantaneously, her fragrance filled him. And he prayed she would stay asleep.

But when does devil leave the cupid alone?
Commercial break - and suddenly the TV blared into a loud jingle. Chetan almost suffered a heart attack.
An eternity seemed to have passed fanatically looking around, before he realized that even the remote was one of the cushion's accomplices today.

"Damn", he mumbled behind clenched teeth.

And then he waited. Counted.....ten......twenty......fifty.......eighty four, eighty five......
Only then did his breath started a descend to normalcy.
"Maybe I ll survive this night after all."

Time was moving very leisurly, and for once his restless soul was glad about it. After a while he sensed a numbness setting in over his right arm, he hadn't moved it all the while. He dared not.
The stillness of the night was broken only by the flickering images on the TV and the abstracts sounds of the moving images. But after a while they ceased to be a part of Chetan's universe. He had transcended into a different world - a world of dreams.

.
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.
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Priya almost woke up shocked with the blaring sound of TV, but Chetan sat so still that she dared not move. His face was hidden from her view, but she wouldn't turn to sneak a peep, for fear of waking him up. Was she secretly praying to stay that way all night? C'mon, who has ever known a woman's heart.
.
.
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The dawn came slowly crawling through the folds of the curtains, and birds chirpily nudged each other trying to catch a glimpse through the window. I wanted to ask them why all this hyper activity - but then they had had a good night's sleep.