Pause and Resume - Part 9

A week passed by. They hadn’t called each other. They didn’t even speak to each other. She watched her phone one last time for the day. She  tossed it away in act of disappointment.  She brushed her hair  gently , thinking about him. "Did he ever loved me?", she wondered.

He replayed the sweet memories they shared with mixed emotion. He had distanced himself from friends and everyone who mattered in his life. His life now  revolved around work, home and memories. He longed for his wife to come back. But he was hesitant to convince her to come back.

She decided to spend some time on sharpening her culinary skills. She stared blankly at the jars on the shelves in the kitchen.  Her mom arrived to fetch some snacks. “Do you need something?”, her mother asked disturbing her train of thoughts. “ No , I wanted to cook something. But I m clueless about what to cook.”, she replied. Her mother said, “How about Chinese ? You love Chinese food.”
“Hmmm. I was thinking about dal fry. Amit loves dal fry I prepare.”, Dina said instantly and then later regretting about what she said.

Her mom smiled.  “You miss him. Why don’t you speak to him?”, she asked gently. Dina ignored her question and got back to cooking. Her mom didn’t press the matter and left her alone. She did miss him. But she was angry. She wanted to forgive me and let go. But the thought of ‘ what if he repeated his mistake again?’ bothered her again.

Amit wished that things were better. He had too much expectation from his job. He had thought that he could give the best life to her with the promotion. He had worked tirelessly to provide better life for her. He wished she understood him. He wished she supported his endeavour. But she left him when he needed her badly.

Another month passed. Both of them were restless. But they were reluctant to do anything. Both of them wanted apology. Both of them thought they were right. Both of them were guided by their respective egos. Both of them had expectations from each other. But none wanted to give up their stand for sake of others.

(To be continued)

Pause and Resume - Part 8

He hadn't forgotten the day's debacle. He had seen the pain and anger in her eyes. He wished he could change things. He contemplated of avoiding the event by saying something that time instead standing quietly. But past cannot be changed. He wanted to do so many things. He wanted to thrash Nitin for saying such a thing. He wanted to go back to Dina and kneel down in front of her, begging for forgiveness. But he couldn't do that. He didn't have courage. 

He sat looking at the small table clock with an urge to throw the clock from the desk. But he refrained. He had already dragged attention of people to his personal life and now he didn't want to be tagged as temperamental person. He immediately took his phone and left the office after informing his boss that he was sick. He drove aimlessly on the wide road. 

After driving for hours, he had not realized that he had reached Dina's house. He had remembered the days of their courtship when he would wait tirelessly for her in front of her house. He stared at the large gate of the house, deciding whether or not to visit her. Later he decided against visiting her and drove back home.

Dina couldn't focus at work. She thought constantly about him. She wondered what he thought about her or did anything she said mattered to him.  She felt weak instead of feeling triumphed for tarnishing his image in office. She felt she overreacted. She took break from work after not being able to concentrate. She visited the nearest flower shop and bought a bouquet with apology card.  

She then traveled home after bargaining with several autos and cabs.  When she reached, she simply stared. She sat in auto for minutes before the driver asked for the fare. She replied that she had changed her plans and  guided the auto driver to her parental house . The auto driver gleamed with happiness for the profit he made on the trip. 

Amit's car had almost passed her auto in midst of their way. Unfortunately they didn't see each other. They were deep into their thoughts. As soon as she reached her house, she silently walked towards her room. She locked her room without seeing that her mother called her for some tasks. She cried unstoppingly. Her mother understood and muttered to herself, " Youth nowadays don't understand love. I can see that she loves him madly. She doesn't understand that she is causing pain to her as well as him for small issue. I won't say anything. She will realize this one day."

(To be continued)

Pause and Resume - Part 7

Dina strolled towards the reception of her husband's office. She wore white formal suit with pearl necklace. Her white attire dissimulated with the dark emotions in her heart. She was ready to rip apart her opponent. She asked the petite receptionist for her husband. After short call, she asked her to wait.

He arrived with calm exterior covering the disturbed mind. "Why was she here? Is she going to ask for forgiveness?", he wondered. But his heart knew that it was not the case.  His heat beat loudly with every step he took.  Finally, he stood next to her. He was unaware of the level of fury she had within her. She glared at him for few minutes and then bursted out the anger.

"Am I a control freak?", she lashed out. Amit stared at her with loss of words. He sneaking watched his corners to see if people were looking at them. There were few of onlookers but others were  minding their own business. "Calm down. Why don't we discuss this later?", he said, trying hard to distract her attention. "Don't ssh me! Why should we discuss this later? You didn't care when your friend called me control freak in front of everyone.", she said ironically.

Amit watched her with confusion. He wondered what she was talking about. After minutes of recollecting where he had heard someone using the word control freak, he remembered yesterday's fateful night. He realized his blunder. He scolded himself for at least checking his phone before opening the door. "You had to receive the call yesterday. What a luck?", he thought aloud. Immediately he bit his tongue for saying those words. But it was too late.

"Wow! Look at you! You are not even sorry. You are only thinking about why I took the call. Do you even care that how much pain I am going through? What would you understand about pain? You were enjoying yesterday. Friends and party. I am not even having fun here. I am only thinking about us. Your friends call me names and you don't even take my side. You take part with them and make fun of me. You know what! I had enough. You enjoy your life. I will not be there to control you.", she said.

By now there were many onlookers watching them and enjoying the scene. She walked towards the exit, bent down like lost warrior. She had not seen the 'caution wet floor' cone on the way. She stumbled on it, spraining her feet. She yelped. He rushed towards her but she helped herself up. She turned back, growling at him, "I won't come back."  Her words stung him reminding of the past. When he first met her, she was walking cautiously on pointed heels she wore for the first time. She looked lovely in red summer dress. Before she could reach him, she had stumbled down. He had rushed to her, helping her to stand. And there, they had fallen in love.

(To be continued)

Pause and Resume - Part 6

He was absorbed in his thoughts. He missed her. He fought urges to call her and finally when he had almost dialed her number on his phone, the bell ranged. He rushed thinking it was her. He forgot to disconnect the call. Dina took call instantly. She was waiting for his call for long time. When he called, she was ecstatic. She waited for him to say something. He didn't speak. She assumed that he was recollecting what he would say.

When he opened the door, Nitin's presence reminded him that he was having company.  As Nitin entered his house, he yelled with joy, "Freedom! You are free from your control freak wife. Now no dramas! Only fun! Smile bro! You look lost." Amit didn't like Nitin calling his wife control freak. But it was true and hence he didn't say anything.

Dina had heard what Nitin had said. She was hurt as well as furious. She cut the call and threw her phone on the bed. She had decided that she would teach him a lesson next day. Amit being unaware of the consequences he would face tomorrow, was closing the door when one by one Nitin's acquaintances started pouring in.  He simply became the doorman of his house.

His once quiet house was filled with music and loud voices of drunken men. He feared that the voices would bring in wrath of building community head. The head was apparently a senior citizen who hated loud noises and parties. He had heard rumours of how the head had influenced the owners of flat on the floor below him to throw the student tenants because they were partying like normal teenagers.

He watched his friend dancing his usual Egyptian twist funnily with bulging eyes. The men surrounding him hooted for him while he laughed, momentarily forgetting pain and fear. The party happened till 3 am. Fortunately none of his neighbours barged into house with police. Some of the guests left while few of them slept where they were - either lying on sofa or sleeping on the floor. Some even captured his bed. Amit slept , sitting on the chair. His head lay on the glass table.

The next morning, Dina woke up as usual. She hadn't forgotten yesterday's mockery. While she was washing her face, she thought aloud , "I sit here thinking about him. He brings in his friends and enjoys. His friend digs on me by calling control freak. He doesn't say anything. He is happy that I am gone. He doesn't care whether I am hurt or not. I hate him. Today I will show him how it feels to be mockery in front of everyone." She watched her face in the mirror as the tears welled from her eyes and mixed with the plain water droplets on her face.

(To be continued)