Double MENace:

“Two eyes. Two lips. Two hands. Two legs. Why not two men?” Rita screamed at Polly in exasperation.

“One nose. One tongue. One navel. One life. One love. Looking at it from the other bank of the river, you have ten fingers; can you, by your cockeyed sense of reasoning, have ten men!?
You got to choose babe, and you got to do it FAST.”

Rita crinkled her nose and smiled for no apparent reason, “I want them both and I will have them both.” Polly threw up her hands in frustration and said, ‘I only wish.’

Tony and Ashoka- Fire and ice, Ice and Fire, interchangeable as usual. The two men in her life. She couldn’t live without either of them, and she couldn’t obviously live with both of them.

She knew Tony from when she was a little baby. He’d held her right after she was born. He’d been her ‘jatti’ buddy. She respected, feared and loved him in equitable, humongous proportions. He cared for her like he cared for no-one else. He’d helped her become her, like a potter shaping his favorite clay pot. The two of them shared a mirrored passion for life, and were alike in one unique aspect- they always stood out from the crowd. Invariably, she felt ‘at home’ with Tony. One evening, while he was rolling the rosary beads during his evening walk, she called him while in the midst of some baseless depression. He said in a comforting, yet steadfast tone, “You’re my baby. I would never let harm come your way.” The intensity intimidated even her.

She knew Ashoka for over a year now. She’d met him at her first job, and the lightening had struck heavy even before the dark clouds of passion gathered. They caught on to each other like wildfire let loose in an otherwise friendly forest. No science- neither chemistry nor biology could demystify their raging animal intensity for each other. Surprisingly, the passion did not turn out to be a queer, wet blanket with time. The tardy drops of rain after all the initial thunder and lightning were unexpectedly soft and tender indeed. It trickled down their bodies, uniting love and lust in a lasting embrace. One evening, as Ashoka's magician-tongue wagged its magic wand on her more-than-yielding rabbits, he whispered “You’re my queen. Let’s go conquer the world.” The excitement was too much, even for her.

She couldn’t say they were both like an eye each, mainly because both her eyes had different eye-powers (-3 and -3.5). However, Tony and Ashoka had so much in common that even her differently-powered eyes without glasses/lens saw the same thing and felt the same darn thing when she saw them.

Tony and Ashoka were both Taurians: obstinate and opinionated, fearless and kind, ambitious and generous. The two men were as well-built and purposeful as strong bulls on the chase. Broad shoulders with muscular thighs, the two of them drove her nuts about them. Sensual and strongly attractive, they were hard-pressingly loveable. They were distinct go-getters. They made her want to piggy-back their power-luring and green-minting adventures.

They both had eyes that laughed when their lips did. Both their lips’ loved the feel of Gold Flake Kings against their pursed, cupid shaped lips. They loved to smoke, and her femininity found it so appealingly macho and masculine that at times, she’d just sit beside either of her Kings, and passive-smoke a cigarette or two- flakey, but golden. It really cleared her head, even though she had no penchant for smoking .They rarely let their faces smile, but when they did, they revealed the perfect set of ciggie-tinged teeth. To her, their faces were the most potent and the most memorized in her brain cells.

They were the only two men who could use the whip and quip to restrict and release her. She was on their leash and yet, her spirit stood unleashed.

It was impossible to decide between them, as everyone around her was prodding her to. She was caught between the devil and the dark blue sea, with religion and her acting as the prodding Moses' staff.

That is when she hatched her plan of having them both. The number TWO was ingrained in her persona- she was Gemini by birth. She needed to have them both, and love them both, to her advantage. It was a tightrope effort- she introduced them to each other over a casual lunch, as if by total chance. They took to each other in a big way. She didn’t expect that. Soon, they were laughing over a peg of Jack Daniels….

Taurians are obstinate and opinionated- lucky for her; they were both obstinate in and opinionated about one thing- her happiness. Rita, Tony and Ashoka finally made their decision.

The priest said with a pleasing finality, ‘You may now kiss the bride.’
Ashoka and Rita came together for eternity. The rain drops were falling outside the church. A colorful rainbow spread a happy smile across the sky.

Rita turned to Tony. Tears streaked his dimpled cheeks. He looked at her in stunned silence, “I’m losing my baby girl, but I’m losing her to a better man (smiles proudly).”

She kissed Tony on the cheek and said, ‘Father, Thank You’