Sunday, February 15, 2009

Valentines' Day!

She was waiting for him in front of the posh restaurant on the wintry evening. The love was in air, and the roads were full of couples walking hand in hand. It didn’t need an astrologer to tell that it was Valentines’ Day. The breeze flew through her hair, gently unwinding them. Mumbling, she checked her hair in the pocket mirror. She was a petite woman in her early twenties, a sure head-turner in her college. Her favorite purple one-piece dress was endowed with matching earrings and make-up. Her eyes were looking for someone. ‘These men never come on time!’ she muttered, ‘Even on the day when it matters the most!’
Suddenly her mind went back a year, she was looking for her bogie in Mumbai-Kolkata Gitanjali Express. ‘Damn, it’s at the end of the platform, and I have so much of luggage to carry’ she exasperated. She looked around for coolies but seemingly there were on strike. She was so much tired, that she was about to give up and sit on the floor, and then someone offered to help. She looked up and found a charming person. He offered to help; she was worried at first instant but his friendly voice drove away her anxiety. Incidentally he was also seated in her compartment and in a while, she found her discussing with him subjects ranging from History to Astronomy, from cooking to Philosophy. On reaching Howrah station, she found it very natural to exchange their phone numbers.

He was based out of Kolkata and she was in Mumbai yet Tata Indicom helped them to remain in touch. The number of hours that they chatted per day averaged more than 4 hours. They just forgot about the geographical distance. He liked her personality, she was pretty, mature and understanding! Both of them enjoyed good music and movies and became quite close friends over the time.
Cell phone, google talk, the more they spent time together, the more she liked him. They had spent chatting almost 6 months, and then she decided,’ enough is enough; I am going to ask him!’ For her, he was the dream man, the handsome prince. He was the man of character, of conviction, of belief! And she wanted to go ahead in the relationship.
And suddenly, he told her that he is coming to Mumbai over weekend for some work. She was so elated! She treated herself with an ice-cream. She spent hours surfing the internet, trying to search the best lines. ‘We are going to meet this weekend’, she had thought while memorizing those line.

She loved him, and she was going to see him again after almost 6 months .She had wanted to do this for a very long time now.... and tonight she was going to tell him....
And suddenly her cheeks turned red, she saw her man walking towards the restaurant. He looked so handsome in his blazer, he had changed his hairstyle: Had gone completely bald. Her heartbeats increased,’ It has to be this time!’ She was nervous but was trying her best to meet her composure. In the mean time, the best guy in the world was next to her; they shook hands, exchanged pleasantries and walked inside the restaurant.
The dinner was ordered, and they started talking. She felt the romance in the air. Looking at him, she gave a smile. Her eyes were full of dreams, she was going to propose him and they were going to get married, and live happily ever after. She would see him everyday morning at breakfast, give a goodbye kiss when they leave for office - life would be perfect. ‘Yes, I want a perfect life. Don’t fret, go on! Be positive!’ She took a deep breath, and drank a glass of water. The blood ran into her brain, after all in a short while, she was going to say those lines , he will be positive to her and the rest will be history!

But..But she just couldn’t believe her ears.’ This is just not possible’, she gasped. She felt like losing consciousness. The nervousness started gripping her. She pinched herself. Her clothes were drenched; her face was full of tears. She heard him saying: ‘I met doctors and they said that its cancer………..’, her mind went numb. She couldn’t hear anymore, her smile went awry; the glass in her hand was shattered to pieces.

Trembling with fear, she went to the ladies' toilet. She gasped a sigh once she was in and locked the door from inside. Her clothes were drenched; her face was full of tears. She was motionless for some time; she somehow regained her composure and flushed some water on her face. ‘Oh my God, what has happened, he has Cancer! Unbelievable’ thoughts ran through her minds. ‘Now what should I tell my parents? That I am marrying a cancer patient? What will they feel?’ Thousands of the thoughts started running through her mind. She closed her eyes for a moment, and tried to remember some of the meditation techniques that she had learnt. She took 2-3 deep breaths and her mind started thinking. There were many questions, many unanswered, flurry of emotions, complex situations, analysis and more analysis. And she suddenly stood up firm and determined, she had decided her verdict. She washed her face, looked into the mirror and smiled a little. Come what it may, she was not going to change her decision. She had decided to go ahead with her heart and to support him.

She opened bathroom’s door, and found him waiting nervously at the door. He asked: Are you ok? You were in for a long time! I just came down to say that no need to worry at all. Dear, I came down to the door of the bathroom to tell you that no need to worry. Even though my brother has cancer, it’s in early stage and doctors have said that it is fully under control. So just be relaxed.

As soon as he had finished his statement, before she could react, there was a surprise!! There was sudden blackout in the hotel, and she found only her table to be dimly lighted. And she saw yummie chocolate cake on her table. Before she could speak something, there was a sonorous noise and at the next moment, she was listening to “I just called to say I love you” on guitar being strummed by none other than her prince charming. Tears came down her cheek.
Thank you God, thank you Coolies for going on strike, thank you Gitanjali Express, and the next moment she found herself in her arms. She wished that the music should go on for ever!

10 comments:

Arvind Iyer said...

Nice. Gripping short fiction!

p.s - it's time to update your 'About Me' :)

shekhar said...

lovely one..with nice twists n turns! :)

Puneet said...

ye kiski story likhi hai?

Shrutz said...

Yuck.

I don't believe in perfect guys :D

Freakazoid said...

Well written. A couple of points, however, that caught my eye...

1. Spell out numbers in letters ("two to three deep breahts" may read better than "2-3 deep breaths" which sounds more like a Nomura equity research report!)

2. "she was in Mumbai yet Tata Indicom helped them to remain in touch. The number of hours that they chatted per day averaged more than 4 hours."

Again, averaged more than 4 hours per day? equity research report??? :D

Secondly, TATA INDICOM!!

aadarsh said...

i literally ran through ur short story...grippin and nice.cheers!

IIM ka Sarkari Babu said...

good...

Anonymous said...

fucking bizzare!!!

The Animagus said...

gripping and touching!

"Life"??....... thats me!!! said...

hi

just went through ur scribble..
believe me i was literally stucked into the text.

well done cheers!!!!!!

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