Undefiled Queen

He shifted gears and pulled out onto the road, and soon, the tension filled the car again. Merlyn looked over at him, studying the way he drove. He drove as rigidly as he looked. His hands were at ten and two on the steering wheel and he was trying hard not to cross the speed limit.

His black hair was parted perfectly to the side and scooped away from his forehead, enhancing the sternness of his gaze, despite the boyish charm of his bright, brown eyes. Merlyn could bet with anyone in the world that he hardly smiled in just the few minutes that they met. But if anyone could succeed in making him laugh his eyes would sparkle with joy like the crackers during new year.

The more silent he was, the more curious she became to know about him. ‘So, who’s waiting for you on the other end of this trip?” She asked but it was as good as talking to a wall. He flickered his gaze over towards her but didn’t say a word.

‘My aunt and uncle are waiting for me. They’re excited. I always come home to them during the vacation.” She said in enthusiasm.

Unlike what she expected, there was no response. ‘With whom do you spend your weekends or vacation?” She asked.

‘I work even during weekends and do not go for a vacation.” he said blandly.

The information startled her. “You… you don’t take leave even on weekends?” She asked, puzzled. ‘Are you serious?”

His face remained stoic, and his lips didn’t budge. “There are more than half the people in the world who do not have money to spend for holidays and weekends and they do not celebrate festivals.” He grunted in his breath.

“You do have a bit of humor in you?” She giggled and said much to his resentment.

What kind of woman is this who cannot differentiate between seriousness and a joke? “I was not joking. Why do you giggle every time? You asked me a question, and I answered it.” He said to her in irritation.

“Well, Burnsville is the place where I grew up. But after my parents died…” She sighed blinking continuously to restrain her tears. There was no way she was going to show her weakness to a stranger.

He flipped his head towards her all at once. Till then he was angry but somehow seeing the sorrow in her eyes, struck a nerve in him.

She was just a co-traveler with him. After this ten hour drive both of them are going to part ways and he was never going to see her again. Yet there was feeling in him that he hated to accept which was empathetic towards her.

“My brother and I shifted to Newyork where my aunt and uncle lived. I completed my schooling there and after I got admission in California university to do my graduation in Physiotherapy, I shifted there and now I’m coming back to my hometown after completing my education.” She smiled, twiddling with her thumbs.

Stephen could read people’s psychology like the back of his hand. Well that is how he became a businessman who could crack millions of deals in a few minutes. She was smiling but there was pain hidden deep inside her heart. The twiddling of thumbs was one such indication. Generally people do it when they are anxious.

What was the pain she was hiding from him? She reminded him of someone he can never be with, not even utter her name. She reminded him of ‘her’ in every word she spoke? She had left him when she was only nine. Though she is the queen of his dreams till date, he had refused to acknowledge her presence in this world. “You said your uncle and aunt are based in New York. Then why would you come back to Burnsville?”

She was again doing that. Twiddling thumbs. And was grinning like always hiding her tears behind. “You are so secretive. You don’t give me even an iota of information about you but you want everything from me.”

She heard him sigh, and then, he finally relented. “I do business in California.”

Hush! Finally he told her something about him. She looked over at him to give him time to offer up anything more about his life, but all he did was stare out of the windshield.

‘What kind of business are you in?” She watched his brow furrow deeply, like she had just stepped on the tail of his favorite kitty. He refused to answer the question, and she sighed, allowing her gaze to drift out the window for a bit.

‘Would you mind if I called my aunt and uncle to update them on my travel plans?” She asked.

‘Sure,” he said, shifting the gear. ‘Great. Thanks.” She held out her hand for his cellphone, and he looked at her like she had grown two heads and quickly turned his sights back onto the road.

She wiggled her fingers, if not for her cheater roommate, begging someone like this just for one phone call wasn’t her forte. She was a woman with a lot of self esteem. But when he didn’t relent, she had to start talking again. ‘Look, I know talking is not your thing and all, but if you keep making me explain everything, I’m not gonna shut up which would cause you further irritation.”

“Why are you holding your hand out?” He asked, ignoring her statement.

‘My phone died on the plane. I need to borrow yours.” He groaned before he clenched his jaw, but he finally dug his phone out and dropped it into her hand.

‘Wow, is this a fully-loaded phone, too?”

Her eyes shone like Christmas candles as she asked him.

‘Yes, because I use it for business purposes, too.” He said plainly.

‘Do you own a company or something?” She asked him bewildered.

And much to her surprise he answered affirmatively. ‘Yep.”

“Fucking lord of heavens! What does your company do?”

‘Stuff,” he said plainly, trying his best to concentrate on the road. The day seemed to be the worst part of his life. First his jet went grounded, second he gets to travel with this loud clumsy woman who couldn’t keep her mouth shut even for a minute.

‘Stuff. Sounds lucrative, but what is it to be exact?”

“We manufacture everything from electronic gadgets, cotton textiles, cosmetics…. there is nothing in this world that my company doesn’t produce.”

“That’s a lot!” She looked over at him for just a split second and she thought she could see the faintest shadow of a grin cross his cheeks. And she was right. His eyes sparkled when it happened.

‘Well, you’re doing well for being so young. Like what is your age?”

“What’s yours?”

“It is never polite to ask a woman her age. Didn’t your mother teach you manners? Anyways, I am 21.”

Instantly, she saw his facegrow cold. His knuckles tightened like he was driving for his life and his complete stance turned rigid.

Everything about her including the age screamed ‘her’. Was she….

His heart began to beat erratically as he willed himself to the most daring question but before he could do that, the car burped once again and the engine shut off.