Page 280 - Half Girlfriend

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'Upper West, 70th and 6th,’ she said.
We were in a black Lincoln car, which the organizers had arranged

for the singers. The car took us to her apartment on the Upper West
Side near the western side of Central Park. I can’t remember much of

the journey except her face and the way it looked in the changing
lights. And that the city seemed more beautiful than any other night in

the past three months. I clasped her hand tightly and leaned back on

the seat, just looking at her face.
*

She turned the key and we were in her apartment. There were
music posters all over the walls.The window faced the park, now dark,

apart from the streetlights. She went to the bedroom to remove her
makeup.

In the bathroom I undressed and noticed the bruises and blisters on
my feet. My nose and ears looked raw and red. I took a hot shower. I

felt like a pack of frozen peas being thawed.
I finished my shower and realized I did not have fresh clothes. A

pink oversized T-shirt with a Dora cartoon hung in the bathroom.
Perhaps Riya used it as nightwear. I put on the T-shirt, wrapped a

towel around my waist and stepped out.
Riya laughed as she saw me in the girlie T-shirt.

‘Sorry, I didn’t...' I said.

She silenced me with a kiss. Her lips felt like warm honey. She
kissed me for a long time, holding my face in her hands. Our tongues

gently touched. I placed my left hand on her cheek. My right hand kept
my towel in place.

She guided my right hand to her back. Her gown was backless, and
I felt smooth skin.

She removed my pink T-shirt. I tried to remove her gown but it
was too complex a garment for me to understand. I tugged at it, and

then gave up.