Priya, 40, had called Auckland, New Zealand home for almost 8 years when she moved there with her now ex-boyfriend from the UK. Although of Indian heritage with roots in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Priya had never spent much time in her family's native place except for annual holidays when they visited her grandparents or attended family weddings.
Home was always London and now in Auckland, Mumbai was as far from her mind as it could be. That was until she met Hrishikesh, a cute, young and upcoming chef from Mumbai in Auckland. A born and raised Mumbaikar, Hrishikesh was passionate about all things food, cooking and was a walking encyclopedia on Mumbai's street food scene.
Their paths were never meant to cross. But dating app algorithms have a weird, cheeky way of mixing up your preferences to occasionally throw someone from a completely different world into your orbit. And chemistry takes over.
It was a bit like that for Priya and Hrishikesh. They were quick to swipe right on each other, got chatting, were both looking for casual fun, and discovered they had crackling chemistry. Priya hadn't enjoyed this kind of tingly, flirty banter with anyone since her ex. Their conversations flowed easily around food, fun and nightlife in London and Mumbai and before long, they were making plans to catch up over a dinner date before turning the heat up a notch.
It was that point that Hrishikesh piped up.
"So looking forward to meeting you. Let's face the obvious elephant in the room. I take it that you are okay with our age gap, then?!"
"What age gap?" Priya typed back, and immediately clicked back to view Hrishikesh's profile properly.
Age 25, it read. "25? 25!! He is 25! Fuck," she thought to herself.
She went back to the chat.
"Sorry, I hadn't noticed that earlier, 15 years is huge. I am not comfortable with this tbh," she quietly said. Disappointment crawled up inside her as she realised this bubbling chemistry had nowhere to go.
"Okay, just so you know, I am not bothered by the age gap. We are both after something casual, we obviously seem to be each other's type given how quickly this chat has heated up. I understand if you don't want to take this ahead but I think there's no harm in meeting over a dinner."
Priya felt torn between wanting to turn him down because of the gaping age gap but unable to ignore how attracted she was to this young chef. Geeky cute. Passionate about what he did, with a strong sense of purpose. Just her type.
"Sure, let's do dinner and see how we feel," she heard herself say before she could think.
They met on a Sunday night at a fine-dining Middle Eastern place that had newly opened in downtown Auckland. Hrishikesh was cuter in person. Priya loved his freshly showered scent with musky aftershave and how his still wet hair fell over his forehead. He had a nice, full beard with a moustache that had been gently curved and twirled up on both ends.
"Very Indian, very hot," Priya thought.
For once, Priya was happy to have Hrishikesh take charge of their order. They had an amuse-bouche of creamy chicken liver pate piped in little crisp baskets of potato straws, lamb chops grilled to perfection in warm spices and coated in dried rose petals, charred cabbage drizzled with an intense garlic and tahini yoghurt, and the best housemade baklava served with a pistachio icecream. Their conversation flowed as smoothly and freely as the crisp sauvignon blanc they were drinking.
The date left them both with a hungry anticipation for what else could happen after. They walked out of the restaurant relaxed and happy with a slight buzz from the wine.
Hrishi didn't seem anything like what she thought 25-year-olds these days must be like. He was far more mature, sure of himself and treated her with genuine attention and respect.
Priya knew what she wanted and wasted no time getting to the point.
"Would you like to come over so we could continue the wine and conversation?" she asked.
"I would love that," Hrishi said.
Priya opened another bottle of sav after they got home, and they settled into the couch. A couple more glasses took any remaining edge and inhibitions off.
Hrishi came straight to the point. "I have really enjoyed our time tonight, and I think I am really attracted to you. I would love for us to have a casual, fun relationship if you are open to it."
"I was a little unsure until midway through dinner but I think I am open to this casual connection too," Priya quietly said in between sips of wine.
"Can I kiss you?" he asked as he looked straight into her eyes.
Priya was not sure what turned her on more, him respecting her and asking her permission to kiss or the way he locked gaze with her as he asked.
"Yes, you may," she smiled back.
Hrishi leaned in close and in one smooth motion kissed her long and deep as his hands came up behind her waist.
The kiss was lovely, wet and deep right from the get go, Priya was right about the sexual chemistry she felt with this guy. Their tongues played and teased endlessly, sucked hungrily on each other lips. It was a feast alright.
She loved how Hrishi surprised her by gently nibbling her lower lip that made her hungrier for him. He was leaning on top of her on the couch as he started to lavish his tongue's attention on her neck. As he sucked little kisses on her neck, Priya could feel his hard cock straining against his zipper. She loved the feel of that hardness as it gently grazed her thigh and couldn't help but start stroking it from the outside with her right hand as her left hand caressed his hair.
"Mmmmm," an involuntarily moan just escaped her lips. Priya rose up for a second and stretched her arm behind her back to unhook her bra to allow Hrishi a free reign of her breasts. In one sweeping motion, she took the bra off through her blouse sleeve in a move that still surprises many men.
She unbuttoned her front-buttoned blouse next without exposing her breasts. Instead, she just took Hrishi's hand and guided it inside her blouse onto her left breast.
"Jezus, that's big and so soft, it's driving me mad," Hrishi croaked hoarsely as his hand caressed her blouse-covered breast, gently at first, before he began squeezing it with more pressure.
