The old school bus trundled along happily with the eighties disco music blaring through the surprisingly clear audio system. There were lots of people that I didn't know except Ana, Jackie and our husbands. They were mouthing the words, swaying and clapping to the rhythms and even Simon, driving the bus joined in with his head nodding with the beat and glancing behind occasionally with his usual charming smile.
Then, unexpectedly the bus stopped and a bevy of girls, about nine or ten of them hopped on. They all looked pretty, young in their twenties and unknown except for one that looked familiar from my school days. Someone behind said that they were domestic workers. No one knew where they were going and why they were so skimpily dressed; in shorts and mini skirts with tube tops, halters and sleeveless shirts. As soon as they got in, they started dancing in the aisle!
They swayed their butts and shook their boobs with a comfort of mysterious familiarity. Then they shocked us, at least me, as they started taking off their clothes. Some had their tops off and some others took off their skirts and shorts and they kept dancing! Their bare breasts, buttocks and genitals were shamelessly on view, much to the delight of our hubbies! I certainly noticed, Jagath, my man sitting with a sly smile behind his large shades. One of the girls, wearing only a bra, went up to Phil, my friend Ana's husband and made a very crude male masturbation gesture. Even more shocking was that neither of them said anything.
Then there was knocking on the side of the bus. It changed to banging and then loud banging. Why or how would anyone bang on the side of a moving bus?
Now I heard Ana's voice: "Yash! Yasho! Are you there?' That jerked me out of slumber land! Ana was at my door! And I just had the weirdest of dreams.
"Coming! Coming, Ana!" I skipped out of bed and went to the door. "Sorry, I just dozed off." I yawned. "The day was so tiring," I looked at my watch. "Wow! It's 6:35. I slept for an hour and a half."
"Yes, the day was great." She observed my eyes. "You had a good nap?" I stretched in agreement. "Listen. Jackie has something special planned for our night session. Dinner is at seven."
"What's she planning now?"
"Don't know. She won't say. I just came to let you know. See you soon." She left for her room down the hallway.
Living in Livera
it was Friday evening and we were at the end of our eight-day holiday. I made my daily call to Jagath and exchanged the regular notes. Six days ago, we took a four-hour train ride to the hills and were picked up at the railway station by Simon, the elegant, smart and incredibly polite estate manager. The three of us were celebrating a girlie reunion after almost twenty years. Annapurna, whom we called Anna then, and now had become Ana was visiting from New Jersey, USA. She usually comes for flying super short visits to see her ailing father but this time she had a leisurely six weeks that presented this opportunity for us, college friends, to make this trip, albeit without our hubbies. We didn't imagine then, what an eventful trip this was going to be and for me a life changing one.
We used the picturesque train journey and the car ride through the mountainous terrain to catch up. Jackie and her man, Krish lived in the same city as me and they were a successful business couple dealing in textile dyes. My husband, Jagath was a thriving dermatologist and I was the lazy housewife. Ana and Phil were in the USA for over a decade and they too had launched and prospered in some entrepreneurship that dealt with automobile parts or some such. As we drove past the gates at the foot of a hill that announced the '
Livera'
in brass, the most interesting snippet we heard, much to my disbelief was that Ana and Phil had an open marriage. What that really meant, I was going to learn soon. Ana was also brought up in the same conservative, Hindu cultural setting as me and therefore shared a similar civic disposition. Thus, my astonishment at an unexpected transition.
The
Livera
was inherited and now owned by Jackie's uncle Olie, whose full name was Francis Gautmann Oliver De Livera and had quite unimaginatively named the property after his Goan family name. The handsome rectangular granite and wood structure that sat on the hill top, was a two storied and eleven-bedroom mansion with an indoor swimming pool, games room and home theatre that now was a swank bed and breakfast place. Jackie came here quite often and Uncle Olie was kind enough to offer this pristine residence in the hills at six-thousand feet, to us for our little reunion.
The eight efficient staff members under the immaculately organized manager, Simon Cardoza within this magnificent Victorian abode, was the ideal setting for us.
"I think Jagath would have enjoyed this place." I chipped in when we were unloading our baggage into the foyer.
"Why do you want them here?" Jackie's rejoinder was typical. Then she added softly: "Unless you want to fuck."
I inserted a smile on my face. Ana gave her take. "We don't need hubbies for that. Do we? That Simon guy looks cute." That shut me up on the topic.
Jackie, unlike Ana, was just the same from College days and I guess I was myself, save the inevitable changes of motherhood, of a teen kid and the approach of middle middle-age.
We had bedrooms with spacious
ensuite
five-piece bathrooms more than adequately furnished and finished with tasteful linen, rugs and curtains. Everyday I would go for an early morning walk in the backyard square walkway that slopes down to the edge of the property among thick vegetable shrubs and a dark green gazebo that stood right at the centre. I estimated that one square trip was about 400 meters and with the incline up which was moderately steep, four rounds would be a good workout before my shower.
The three of us would sit at the huge teak wood twelve-seater dining table for a sumptuous breakfast that had a variety of eastern and western menus each day, served by Mary the multitasked pleasant in charge of domestic help. Then we would go out on planned trips to botanical gardens, parks, flower shows, shops or simply take a stroll through the charming little town chatting laughing and munching cashew nuts.
Back for lunch and a quiet afternoon siesta or a lazy walk within the property brought on teatime and perhaps another trip to the town before we either came back for a quick swim and dinner or ate at one of the cozy little restaurants. All these delightful outings had the sprinkling of sharing and bonding that dissolved the years that had hurried by.
After dinner we often played Scrabble, Monopoly or Rummy the card game. On two nights we saw movies on the home theatre system. The library was huge and selection was difficult. Jackie suggested a girl friendly porn. The thought was abandoned as I made a face. Though I occasionally watched porn at home with hubby, I was always of the opinion that they were plotless, sensationless, raw and aggressive acts of male dominated unrealistic sex. It was at this session on that day that Jackie was hinting at 'something special'. I did not want to be late, somehow.
I quickly went into the bathroom brushed my teeth, had a quick shower and went to pick some casual lounge wear when I went past the reflection in a full-length mirror. I saw myself naked and not being used to even that self exposure, I looked away and stepped out of my own view. Then I remembered Ana and Jackie say that my butt was looking quite sexy nowadays and just to quench my curiosity, I stepped back and turned to look at my own backside; something I don't remember doing for a long time.
Just a couple evenings earlier, we had our dinner and were sitting on the rooftop terrace as it was a relatively warm night. Ana, being the swimmer and water lover wanted to jump into the hot water tub there. She switched on the underwater lights and having no swim wear available, stripped down to her bra and panties and jumped in and gestured to us. Jackie was not far behind. Our swimwear was in the washer after our afternoon swim.
