Author's Notes:
*"Chakkar" is a multipurpose colloquial Hindi word, in the present context meaning "affair".
To get the best out of this story, I suggest that you should read Ch. 01-08 of "My Chakkar With SC" before reading on.
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Those days I was in the process of giving up smoking. I had been a smoker for more than 15 years and had acquired a persistent cough, although my annual medical examination didn't show up any serious damage. For some time, I'd known about the mounting evidence of the deleterious effects of smoking, and finally, one day I decided to give up.
Although I prided myself on my strong will and self discipline, I found the going extraordinarily tough. Lady Nicotine is a possessive mistress and was loath to let go of an old lover. I was determined not to fall into the trap of taking up snuff or chewing tobacco as an alternative as some of my other smoker friends had done (only to resume smoking and continue with chewing tobacco as well). I tried to chew gum to keep my mind off cigarettes, but soon got a jaw ache.
Finally I hit upon a solution. I took to keeping a clove in my cheek or under my tongue and sucking on it once in a while, when I felt the urge to smoke. I rather liked the pungent taste and there was an added advantage that it kept my breath sweet smelling and also (supposedly) fought off tooth decay. There were other unexpected spin-off benefits that I will describe shortly. Soon, I became habituated to having a clove in my mouth except when I was eating or sleeping, and this habit persisted long after I had shaken off my addiction to tobacco.
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"Have you been chewing cloves?" SC asked me. It was perhaps a couple of weeks after I had smoked my last cigarette. She had just entered my hotel room, dropped her purse and shabnam bag on the floor and walked up to me.
"Yes. Do you like the smell?" I responded.
"Mmmm... nice!" She replied, sniffing my mouth. Then she held my head in both her hands, stood on tiptoe and kissed my lips. I put an arm around her waist and the other around her shoulders and pulled her close. I opened my lips and my tongue started playing with her lips and tongue. We broke off our kiss after a while. She pulled her head back a bit and peered into my eyes.
"You still have it in your mouth, don't you? I can taste it!" She exclaimed.
"Well, why don't you find out?" I challenged her. She immediately started to put her finger in my mouth, but I stopped her.
"No, no SC! That's not allowed. You cannot use your fingers." I said.
"Why not?" SC asked.
"Those are the rules of the game. You can only use your lips and tongue. And you are only allowed two minutes." I replied firmly.
She rose to the challenge and tried her best, exploring my mouth with her tongue for the elusive clove. I chivalrously allowed her a few extra minutes, but with great reluctance I eventually had to declare that the time was up.