So, on to the penultimate part of this story:

********************

AN ALPINE AFFAIR

********************

Part: seiben

The next morning Avni and Neil woke up to find that the blizzard last night was not as heavy, and the cogwheel operations had started again. So, they decided to leave for engelberg as their initial itinerary and at least see the glaciers atop Mt.Titlis.

They profusely thanked Martha and jon, took their blessing and left via the earliest train. After reaching Interlaken, they collected their luggage from the unused hotel, and took the train to engelberg.

Shweta had left no stone unturned in choosing fancy hotels for the couple. Their room at engelberg hotel was done in Moroccan style with rounded ceilings, a low lying round bed and old rustic finish furniture around the room. a coloured glass door opening onto a patio, the patio had a small garden and wooden flooring. A little fountain was at one corner and a rustic sitting at the centre. the bathroom was done in shades of white and blue with scalloped edge tiles and a shower curtain separated the wet and the dry area.

Avni had started a warm shower and had started washing her hair, while neil was busy trimming his beard. With last touches done he looked closely at his face and said to avni, " avni,"

"hmm" came a muffled response over the sound of shower

"aaj tum saree pehen na" he completed, now zipping his shaving pouch.

Flabbergasted. She stopped the shower and peeked out of the curtain and asked, "kya kaha tumne??"

Neil went inside the shower, started it again and sighed as warm water fell on his back and said again, " aaj hum engelberg me hai avni, yaha DDLJ shoot hui thi. Isn't it rather appropriate ke tum in haseen vadiyon me saree pehno aur me Shahrukh ki tarah haath failau" he said imitating the srk pose.

She turned him away from the shower, and herself went under the hot stream, and said " neil, tum satak gaye ho! Chahte kya ho tum, ke me hypothermia se mar jau?? And too bad Mr. Khanna, me sari layi hi nai hu".

This, time he turned her away from the shower and said, "par avni yaar..."

She decided that she had had enough of the stupid struggle for shower and the stupid conversation. So, she took a towel, wrapped it around her and left the bathroom.

Neil followed her out almost immediately.

while she was getting ready, he kept on teasing her with filmy dialogues like "palat palat palat" and "ja simran jaa jeele apni zindagi". Still debating on what to wear, he kept two jackets on the bed when he was suddenly pushed and he fell on the bed.

Avni hovered over him ,narrowed her eyes, pointed her finger at his face and said, " jyada filmy hone ki jaroorat nahi hai Mr .Khanna "

Neil almost immediately ,flipped their positions ,so that he was lying over her and she yelled, "neil, kya kar rahe ho dekho me puri gili ho rahi hu"

he started kissing her neck, and murmured "toh"

"Neil ,hum late ho jayenge" she said. Her hands roaming down the muscles of his still wet back.

He started undoing, the upper buttons of her dress shirt and she gave a cry of false protest ,"neil!!" but later pulled him to kiss her passionately . Her words saying something else and her actions totally contradictory .

***********

later, they donned all their woolens and went to the titlis foothill. There they ate their lunch , along side a flowing stream of water with majestic snow capped mountains in front of them, and little fenced golden grass farms all around

they took the ice flyer to reach the mountain top . Titlis was prestine. White scintillating snow covered the entire area like a huge sheet. They crossed the titlis bridge and sat in the snow.

this place was filled with indians. And they could see so many people posing with Shahrukh and kajol ddlj cutouts. They made small talks with few other Indians and started helping a few kids making snowmans. Avni had to sacrifice her scarf while neil gave his goggles to the snow man. Then they clicked pictures with the snowman. And took a few selfies.

Neil quickly sent two selfies to their family group. In one, he was behind avni, his face on her shoulder, she was smiling widely while he was pouting. And the other, where she was now pouting while he had pressed his lips to her cheek.

while avni was busy watching children make snow angels, neil took a snow ball and threw it at her back. She reciprocated,but neil ducked and it somehow hit someone else. In a matter of minutes the entire area broke down into a snow fight.

They almost spent the entire day atop titlis. Had tea and samosa at the titlis bollywood cafe, and then took the cabel car back to engelberg .

*******

after returning to their hotel, avni and neil were sitting inside the warm comforter, his back resting on the bed back, while her on him.Some random movie playing in the background on mute.

Avni realized that their trip was coming to an end and they just had one more day of this carefree bliss. She snuggled closer to neil and gave a long sigh.

he looked at her questioningly and she told him what she felt.

He looked at her lovingly and wordlessly decided, that he would do something the next day for her and surprise her. Something that she would never forget.

***************

Done. Done done. How did you find this part?? Did you like it? let me know by commenting below.

P.S.

though the entire country is absolutely breathtaking, Engelberg and titlis were my favourite spots. do let me know few of your favourite travel destinations. and I'll let you know mine