Page 34 of Made in Mumbai

“Don’t go alone.”

“I’m taking you in my heart,” she sighed, “where am I alone?” She walked backwards, then turned and ran around the restaurant building. She had surveyed the place and figured the route earlier, so she knew where she was going. Mostly.

“Excuse me?” She called a staff member walking back from one of the treehouses.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Is that waterfall-in-a-cave-thing this way?”

“Right this way. Today is full moon so it’ll be extra beautiful. Just be careful of where you step, it can be slippery in this season.”

Maya grinned at him and ran, her denim shorts leaving her legs bare to the wind and the drizzle, the cotton of her T-shirt sticking to her skin. The property fencing was broken with a small gate, and she breached it, slowing her steps as paved, even ground gave way to shrubbery and thick foliage. The path was lit with tiny lamps, courtesy the hotel, and she didn’t have any problems finding her way. In fact, there were signs erected at intervals to point her in the right direction until she stood in front of a massive cave-like opening. The inside looked dark. No lights.

She hesitated.

“3, 2, 1…” she finished counting, and still wanted to go. So she went, marching slowly into the rocky cave. The sounds of wind and rain receded as she ventured deeper, the silence suddenly feeling a little eery.

“I hope that staff member was a real staff member and not a ghost who lures beautiful women into this cave and kills them…” she muttered out loud, trying to adjust her eyes to the dimming light. No sound of any waterfall, no glow of fireflies…Shit, god, should I go back?

“Aaaahhh!” Her foot slipped, her lower muscles straining hard to hold steady but knowing that the ground was coming up fast to kiss her backside. Only, a hard arm kissed it first. Maya stabilised, holding onto the massive set of shoulders that had circled her.

“G!” She blinked. “You are not the ghost who has come in G’s form, right?”

“Only a fool would want to haunt you,” he taunted. And she relaxed. Ghosts didn’t burn like Gautam. She straightened, wincing at the sudden untwisting of her tight muscles. Seriously, 30s was not the time to do all this. And yet, when had age ever stopped her?

“You couldn’t miss the fun, could you?” She grinned.

“There is nothing in here. Let’s go.”

“Just a little more. If we can’t find it then we’ll go.”

“Maya…”

She turned and scampered ahead.

“Maya, I am returning.”

“Bye,” she waved, knowing him and his chivalry. He had been a naive boy but chivalrous even then. And that chivalry had lived on, she discovered as she heard his footsteps behind her.

“See? There’s nothing. Come on,” his drone sounded again.

“Just 50 more steps. 50… 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43… Oh, oh, I think I can hear water. Can you…?” Maya broke into a sprint, her whole body ready to lurch up and into the waterfall if she found it. She turned the corner, and there it was. A waterfall, an enchanted pool, and fireflies that lit up the whole space. She stopped short.

“Wow…”

She felt him come up behind her, his body so close to her back, his breath warm against her shoulder. None of them said anything. None of them could. It was that beautiful. So beautiful that she didn’t even have the heart to pull up her phone and take a picture. It would break the sanctity of this place.

Hundreds of tiny fireflies were resting on the ceiling of the cave, one large hole there letting in the moon beams. The waterfall fell in a gush from the wall, while mild rain drizzled from the hole, everything collecting in the pool below.

“Isn’t it pretty?” She whispered, scared that anything louder would make this whole magic vanish.

“It is,” he said, just as soft.

Maya walked slowly to the edge of the pool, then lowered herself until she could slip inside.

“What are you doing…?”

“This is the kind of place you should become a part of. Come,” she held her hand out. He shook his head, his eyes rolling back in annoyance. “Come on, G. When again will you come to Coorg in monsoon, on a full moon night, when fireflies are hiding up here? Come on.”

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