It took 18 years for Mahesh to figure out that his body was as equally important as his academics. He was always fantastic in studies. He was totally worthless in sports and was physically no good. The second Pre-university college exam scores were very important in Karnataka to secure a good college. Securing a good college meant securing a good campus placement for a software job and that was his only career path. He knew he was not cut out for business. A 9 to 5 coding job was the life for him. And, he had indeed done a spectacular job when it came to his pre-uni course. The expression of happiness on his mother's face was enough for him. His dad had passed away around six years ago and his mom had done everything she could to give him a good education. His scores were in the top 5th percentile in the pre-uni scores which made him further eligible for a 90% scholarship in the college tuition fees which was yet another gift for his mother. His mom was not in great health and he felt like he was giving her back the only way he could. After the pre-uni results, you generally had four months before you started UG college. Mahesh decided to do something about his body in this time.
His mother had no money to join him to a Gym. Mahesh would have settled for some swimming classes. But, as he perused the brochures, he realised even these were not affordable for them. It was mainly due to his mother's medical bills. She had TB at very young age. While she was cured, she was nevertheless left with a lumpy throat which always troubled her. The daily tablets and the monthly checkups for these collectively amounted to nearly a third of what she earned. Mom cried and apologised to him that she could not even do something as small as this for him and he hated himself for making her sad like this. He reassured her that he did not care. He looked at a few youtube videos and downloaded some basic regimen instructions. Running, stretching, simple jumping jack exercises and he decided to try them out in the nearby ground.
The ground was massive and Mahesh planned to jog around it followed by the exercises mentioned in the regimen. He managed half the ground before being totally unable to catch his breath. He was in a vest and a decent sports shorts and they were both drenched in sweat. It was then that he noticed it. The ground had some seating area and it was sitting in one of them. The Mourning Dove. The same structure and physical appearance of a Pigeon but with a coloured Light Grey and Brown, it was a stunning creature. He admired it as it walked around and then flew away. He always loved birds. And this was a specially beautiful creature. He never knew that watching it like this would land him in trouble later on. Why would it? The answer was the woman clad in gym shorts directly behind the bird.
He had noticed the woman previously. He did not think she was gorgeous or even pretty. She was, in a word, plain. But, with decent sized breasts. He was sure she was at least 4 years older than him. But, what drew his attention to her was the way she carried herself. She had on a camisole that showed powerful shoulders and arms. And a pair of shorts that showed reasonably tantalising legs. Not a hair on her arms and legs. She had already run around the ground thrice and was now doing all the exercises mentioned in his regimen. He hoped to be at least a third as strong as that someday. Unfortunately, since she was standing directly behind the Dove, she took his adoring gaze on the bird to mean that he was staring at her. She suddenly turned to look at him and he turned away. He knew she thought he was watching her and that he had turned away when she saw him. He now turned towards her. There was such a dark expression on her face that he literally took a few steps back and quietly walked away from the ground.
The next few days, however, he was careful. He came to the ground and waited for her to come in. He would start running only after she did. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to clear things up with her.What was the harm in talking, right? As it turned out, a lot. On the fourth day, he worked up the courage to go talk to her. She saw him approaching and shook her head in contempt. He did not care. He would just introduce himself and tell her what he was doing. Nothing wrong with that, right? Wrong. As he went near her, her right arm came out. It was so fast that he barely even saw it. The arm connected with his cheek and the slap caused him to physically jump and fall into the ground. She walked off, unconcerned. It took him nearly 15 minutes to stop feeling dizzy. He hated her! If she did not like him, fine. What gave her the right to slap him like that? Fine. She thought he stared at her earlier. He chalked it up as karma and vowed never to have anything to do with her again.
He still saw her every day. He came very early and so did she. They were the only ones on the ground at that time. He came early because he could buy milk on the way back. His mom needed the milk with her morning tablets. She would get severe giddiness otherwise. He did not know and did not care why she came early. Likewise, she did not care about him anyway. On the third day, however, things changed. As he walked in, he heard cursing. She was rubbing her shoes on the ground. She had stepped in some poop, apparently. He laughed to himself! Or so, he thought. Apparently, she had heard it. She beckoned to him imperiously. Sod off! He turned around. He felt a rustle as she jumped him down. She then stood up and raised her leg. He realised that she was going to smear him all over.
"No, please. Stop."
She put her legs down.
"Clean my shoes, asshole."
He looked around, there were no rags or anything. He could not even find a paper. She smiled at him and sat down on one of the benches. He had seen her run. He could not run away from her even if he wanted to.
"What are you waiting for, dumbass?"
"I am looking for a rag or paper to clean."
"What about the rags you are wearing?"
"You cannot be serious."
"I can, and I am. Remove your shirt and use it clean the poop from my shoes."
"Please. I can get a rag."
"You can lose your shirt or lose all your clothes. Up to you."
She looked vicious enough to carry out the threat. Mahesh knelt in front of her and took his shirt off. The woman, Aishwarya expected him to roughly scrub the poop and leave. He surprised her. He scrubbed it gently first. Then, he took her water bottle and gently poured a decent amount on the shoes. After rubbing it a little, he waited for the water to settle in and then went to work again. Aishwarya had no clue what he was doing. However, when he was done, no one could believe she had stepped in poop. Mahesh stood up to leave. Aishwarya put a hand on his shoulder and brought him down. He tried to get up again and she pinned him.
"You are doing this everyday."
"No way. Get lost."
"Well, I could beat you up."
"I could go to the police."
"I could tell them you tried to molest me."
"Come on. Why are you doing this?"
"Don't blame me. You brought it on yourself. If you had not been a perv, this would not have happened. First, you stare at my legs the other day. Do you have any idea how disgusting it is? Then, you come this early just to watch me run."
"What? I never did that. I come early to get milk for mom."
"Yeah, right! Because sons love their mothers."
"That is correct."
"Silence. Now, listen to me. I have a photo of you wiping slime of my shoes. You want me to come with you and show this to your mother?"
"Please."
"You will come here everyday. You will remove your shirt and clean my shoes. Do a satisfactory job and I will allow you to go back wearing a shirt. I don't want to hear another word."
Her tone silenced him. He figured it was not really that bad. They were alone anyway and no one else could know. But, then again, he would know. And, so would she. He hated her really bad but he knew he did not have a choice. She could always go to the police and tell them he tried to molest her. He knew how lopsided the justice system was in India. He never knew it would happen to him.
The next four days went without incident. Aishwarya kept hoping for a mistake but he was flawless. Her shoes were always sparkling by the time he was done with them. Mahesh was no stranger to such labour. His mom's weak health meant that he was doing all the household work apart from cooking. It was a testament to his talent that despite this, he was in the top 5th percentile in his pre-uni exams. The fourth day, however, things started to change. He saw her outside the park itself. She was about to go in.
"You are coming with me to my home after jogging. It is the one right opposite to this ground. There are a few more shoes I need cleaned."
"No way. I have to go home. Mom-"
"Will you stop your fake mother story. You can go home with or without your clothes."
Mahesh wanted to rage and storm at her. But, he was powerless. He knew how strong she was. He begged her if they could go take care of her shoes now. He did not want to waste any more time than necessary and would cancel his jogging. She asked him who would clean her jogging shoes. He told her she could come home in them and he would clean them there.
"Ok, go ahead. But, wait."
She grabbed hold of his shirt. He assumed she would give it to him and let her remove it without protesting. She, however, draped it around herself and moved inside the ground.
"What are you doing?"
"You were supposed to do what I say. You have disobeyed me. You can use your shorts to clean."
"Come on! That is not fair."
The words were hardly out of his mouth when she grabbed him and pinned him against the wall. With one hand holding both his hands, the other hand pulled his shorts down. She then literally lifted him with one hand and kicked his shorts away. Mahesh wanted to shout but realised that he had just talked himself into his worst coffin. He had no shirt and shorts. That meant- on no! Aishwarya read his mind and smiled.
"Ah! The nicker drops."
Mahesh could not help himself. He knew begging her would only make things worse. But, he could not stop.
"Please. I am sorry." What was he apologising for? He had no idea. "Please don't make me-"
"There are twelve pairs. My parents don't live with me. There is no one in the house. The shoes are in the rack outside." They had moved in front of the house and she was pointing to the shoes. You are going to remove your underwear, and clean the shoes with it." Mahesh groaned but Aishwarya did not take any notice. "Make it fast and maybe, just maybe, you can have your underwear back on before my colleagues come to pick me up. Now kiss my feet first."