Neysa wasn't just my friend, she was like family. I had never known another woman quite like her and she was the one that I spent most of my time with. It had been years since we had first met by chance at a farmer's market near the college we both attended. She had been gripping two ripe melons when I made a joke about the way she was gripping them.
"I like you," she told me, her eyes looking down slightly before they turned up to meet mine. "You remind me of the brother I never had."
"Funny," I laughed. "So you never had a brother but you think I would make a good one?"
"An excellent one. Here, hold these," she pushed the ripe melons toward me and I gripped them as if they were two, glorious breasts. She giggled. "I'm Neysa," she added. "I'd shake your hand but I see you've got them full of melons."
"Understandable..." I said as she took off for the next row of fruit. "I'm Anand," I called after her and I wasn't sure that she had heard me until she turned her head back over her shoulder and gave me a sly, little smile, one that would haunt me for years to come. How I wanted her, even then, but she was content to be just friends.
We did everything together from that day on, me mostly following her around the large city we both lived in and helping her with her errands. I was just happy to be around her so I could watch the way that her body moved slowly and deliberately through the sea of city people. Her long, dark hair was often pulled up and away from her face and I couldn't help but love the way her high cheekbones made her look so utterly beautiful.
Neysa could have been a model. Her Indian skin was the perfect shade of bronze and her eyes a wide, questioning brown. Her smile was wide and her intelligence was evident in the way she carried herself. I had to be at my best to keep up with her and it made me a better man. I stood by and watched as many other male suitors tried to make her happy, and failed.
"You're the only guy that truly gets me, Anand," she told me one day as we sat on her couch together. We were supposed to be getting ready for the party she had planned with all of her friends, neighbors, and relatives. We would be celebrating her graduation from university.
"A lot of good that does me, sis," I answered, having accepted that I was like a brother to her and that she was never going to consider me as anything more. She looked so scrumptious, dressed in a modest dark blue dress that covered most everything. I knew what was underneath. I had stolen glances of Neysa's body over the years, even though she was mostly a good girl and kept it covered. I had filled in the missing pieces of her curvature for all the pieces I wasn't allowed to see and I knew that she was the girl that I would have done anything for.
"You're actually a lot better off than most guys," Neysa reminded him.
"Neysa, do you really think of me as just a brother? Have you ever thought of me as something more?" I asked, begging for her to tell me that I had a chance, even if it wasn't a big one. There was a part of me that had been holding on this whole time, hoping that somehow she would give me a chance to show her that I was more than just a friend or pretend brother. I loved her deeply and yet I couldn't show her that love because she wouldn't allow me to. She had kept me carefully as a friend and she didn't show any signs of that changing anytime soon.
"Why do you always ask this when you know the answer? You are my brother and I love you in that way, nothing more," she made sure I understood by staring me down until I had no choice but accept her wishes once again. I had done everything I could to help her, not just with her party but with anything and everything that Neysa had wanted help with. She took me for granted and I knew it. Many of my other friends believed that I should let her go and set myself free and I was starting to wonder if they were actually right. Maybe it was time to stop following Neysa around like a lost puppy. Tonight I was going to open myself up to other women besides her. If she thought of me as a friend then maybe another woman would think about me as something more.
By the time everything was ready for the party and I was barbequing lamb shanks to replenish what had already been eaten, I had forgotten all about opening myself up to other women. My eyes followed Neysa as she fluttered around the party speaking to all of her guests intimately. She was a good hostess and I couldn't help but think that she would make an excellent girlfriend and wife. Then it hit me. She was never going to be either of those things to me. She was just my friend, my sister.
"Hey, those look done," one of Neysa's cousins tapped me on the shoulder.
"Oh, thanks!" I pulled the lamb from the grill and placed it on a platter to be taken inside and cut. I was finally done with the grilling and I could make my way around the party. I saw a girl with dark, curly hair sitting by herself and recognized her from another party a few months back. Her name was Niary and though she wasn't as beautiful as Neysa, she was still pretty enough to make me walk across the room and say hello to her.
Niary was quiet and reserved, which was quite different than what I was used to with Neysa. We talked in hushed tones, enveloped fully in the conversation. Niary was intelligent and determined to be an theoretical physicist, whatever that was. She was working on her sophomore year at university, while I was in my junior year.
"I'm glad you came over and talked to me," Niary batted her eyelashes at me and I liked the way she was openly flirting with me. It was such a nice change from the way that Neysa had treated me like I was nothing more than a stinky, younger brother. It was nice to be regarded as a potential love interest for once and I allowed myself to be swept away.
I didn't notice the hours passing by and I certainly didn't notice the way Neysa was looking at Niary and me as we aimlessly talked about topic after topic. I had never been so interested in a conversation and somehow, I had forgotten all about Neysa.
"Hey, brother!" Neysa called, tapping me on the shoulder. I turned reluctantly away from Niary and saw that Neysa didn't look quite right. There was a tightness in her smile that wasn't normally there and she had her shoulders pulled together so tightly it made me want to give her a shoulder massage to calm her down.
"Hey, sis! How's it going? Did you enjoy your party?"
"Niary, I'm sorry, but everyone but family has to leave now. We are doing a family thing next."
"Oh, really? That's too bad. Anand, do you think that I can give you my number so we can keep in touch?"
"I'd like that," I said honestly and I couldn't help but notice the impatient sigh that sprang from Neysa as Niary typed her number into my phone.
"Call me," Niary said in a sultry voice that I had never heard from an Indian woman. I knew what she wanted and it was definitely me. I couldn't believe that I had finally met someone that wanted me as more than just a friend. I was so used to being shoved into the friend zone and held there against my will that I didn't quite know what to do with someone who directly wanted me.
"I will," I assured her as Neysa pushed Niary to the door and gave her a firm good-bye.
"So what is this thing that involves only family?" I asked Neysa when she had closed the door.
"It actually only involves two members of my family. You and me," she pointed to me and then to herself.
"Us?" I asked, confused.
"Follow me!" Neysa quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me out the back door and then out the back gate.
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere where we can be alone," she explained but she still didn't tell me where we were going. We walked half a block before I realized that we were going to her cousin's house. All of her family was back at her parent's home, which meant that if we got into the house we would be completely alone. I watched as Neysa fished out a spare key from behind a large rock. She gave me a very interesting look, one that I had never seen from her before as she opened the door and invited me to go inside.
"After you," I waved her forward politely.
"Thank you," she answered as she walked through the front door. The smell of her aunt's cooking still lingered in the kitchen. "Mmm, it smells good in here."
"Yeah, your aunt is an amazing cook."
"I do have a pretty amazing family," she said, although the tone in her voice had changed. She led me to the couch where she sat down, nervously twiddling her thumbs. She looked down at her feet and I was a bit uncomfortable in the silence as I waited for her to say something, to explain what we were doing there. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't seem to get the words out.
"Neysa, what are we doing here? You said we had a thing that was only family and made Niary leave. Why did you do that?" As I said the words I started to put everything together. Neysa had been jealous of the way Niary and I were getting along. She had seen me flirt with another woman and it had made her jealous! I was overjoyed at the thought of this, realizing that maybe I did have a chance with Neysa after all. After all this time I was finally going to get my chance.
"I don't know. I just felt like I needed to be alone with you."
"And now that you are what do you want to do?" I prompted her.
"I want to kiss you," she said.
"Wait! I thought we were just friends, or brother and sister."
"Shhh. Don't talk about it," she leaned in and I felt the pull toward her mouth. There was no way I could resist that perfect mouth of hers no matter what I tried to do. Thoughts of Niary were instantly banished from my head and in their place was complete and utter devotion to Neysa. I leaned in to meet her lips with mine and I allowed myself to fully feel the weight of her kiss.
It seemed like time stopped. The world was spinning as my arms settled around Neysa's waist and her arms reached up around my neck. I was lost in her kiss, no longer able to resist my urge to take her. Her mouth tasted like sweet release and her body against mine was all I had ever wanted. I had never felt so opened up by a woman before, so at her mercy. With Neysa, I felt like I was perfect like I was supposed to be here with her and this was our destiny.
"Wow," she said as she pulled away. "If I knew that kissing you would be this incredible I would have done it a long time ago."
