Prologue
"I don't want to marry him."
"But why?There is no reason.You said that you liked him."
"I am pretty sure that you have misinterpreted me."
"Like means like.I don't see any other interpretations."
She slammed the door and went away.
Aahana
She woke up to find a heavy head, an almost finished Old Monk,her office clothes in disarray all over the bed. She had no idea of when she slept .Sleep was a rarity these days. Drops of Old Monk in the night had become a mandatory thing the last few months.It was already 9 o‘ clock,post one hour of which she would be in office.The alarm clock on the side of the king sized bed kept on buzzing; Sherlock in the poster on the top of her bed wall seemed to shut his ears; there was no one else in the house to be bothered at that moment of time. Slowly coming out of the thin sheets ,she made it to the door at a hand’s distance from where the bed ended. His brother and bhabhi leave early at around 8 AM. One worked in Honda ,the other half in some IT company. She checked the phone ,every app she could - facebook ,instagram,hike , whatsapp to find messages from him. She rechecked if she had by mistake blocked him and then ,forgot to unblock .But there were no message s ,no blocks for repeatedly the fifteenth day. Things were as there as they would be in plain sight. She gave her face a wash ,rechecked the phone ,booked an OLA cab and reached at 10.30 around.She had a few tasks for today.As usual, she could not concentrate.Her eyes were always there at the passage to coffee machine on her floor.She used to meet him there every morning.But 2 months and she could not still forget.” Why did he leave me like this? What mistakes did I do? Was I not a good girlfriend? Was I too good for him to handle ?Nah ,the last one can’t happen. I am not so good. Does he think of me like I do? Why does he not call? Could he not stand firm against their parents ?I gave my every breath ,may be to him .I made him my everything .”We say - time flies. Time was indeed making giant leaps for her ,it was around 1 o ‘ clock.The progress towards work had not moved an inch further.She wondered what she typed onto the keyboard the past 3 hours.She came back home at 9 after being being done with all the work.She did not stop anywhere in between.She was mostly lonely at this instant of life,no friends,only official hi-byes.
“I love you.”Trying to sleep,she typed it numerous times on whatsapp.None of the messages delivered and drowsiness got the better of her.
"We would go Switzerland together. That would be the honeymoon destination.Then,we would go to NewZealand and do the Nevis Swing."She woke up with flocks of memories and a meeting set up notification. A new meeting was scheduled at around 1 PM.She reached office at 12 ,did her lunch, went to attend the meeting. The meeting was attended by HR as well."Why I did not see the participants list?" Lines of fear were all over her face. It proved to be true. She got fired over her non-performance over the past 3 months despite warnings. She was given a salary of next 3 months and was asked to clear the office that day itself. For a moment, she was relaxed that she need not come to the building where she used to come hand-in-hands with Manav;no need to visit the cafeteria they used to come or sit together. Manav had ruined all the things for her - even brought incompetence in the job. She began walking instead of taking a cab. She called her brother but he did not pick up. The darkness had swept in. She kept on walking under the sun , not knowing even she willed to stop somewhere. She reached the flyover and her steps continued moving forward.The flyover was around 15 kms long. The clouds surfaced ,drops of water began falling, the thunder roared. She stopped walking. She turned her head towards the flyover - cars racing with each other at more than 100 km/h speed.One or two steps to the right,there may be no stable bones left in her body post that." The whole suffering will end all at once."For the next few minutes, she paused while the rest of the world kept on moving.Images of the meeting flashed before her.She turned her body towards the road ,stood on the edge of the pavement as if wanting to cross the road. Images of Manav betraying stormed her mind.She felt a whole cyclone inside her mind. One Verna was coming towards her at 150 + may be.She turned around and put his hands on the railing,shifted her gaze towards the poster of Tinder across the flyover. She reached home after a 2-hr walk. She installed Tinder , she quickly got many matches. It was like whoever she had chosen had chosen him back .Last few months the feeling of rejection had dejected her soul. She began chatting with a few of them and they all wanted to woo her. It made her relaxed. This feeling of acceptance worked as a temporary lotion to her wounds. All the worries were kept on a standstill for now. She agreed to go on a date, she liked the boy, the boy liked back ,they made out a couple times. Within a few weeks with him ,she felt like she was in love again .She gained confidence ,started preparing for interviews .She had stopped thinking about Manav though there were sudden flashes of him. Life seemed to be coming back on the right track for her.
Wrapped in a peach-colored, white and grey printed woven shirt dress, a shirt collar, three-quarter sleeves, she graced the table in a coffee shop with her new found love.
Taking a sip of coffee .”I want to say something to you. Btw ,you are looking beautiful.”
She adjusted her hair from the side ,got a chuckle inside .Her eyes shifted their gaze on the coffee downward ,”Yes .Tell?”
“I wanted to say this since quite some time now but could not gather the courage to do so.”
“You are taking things very seriously .I wanted a casual thing. Ours has already crossed many days.”pping inside.
“You are taking things very seriously .I wanted a casual thing .Ours has already crossed many days.”
Her coffee spilled over .The flowers which looked beautiful a moment before gave away the scene of a graveyard .She wanted to run away.
Wrapped in a peach-coloured , white and grey printed woven shirt dress, a shirt collar, three-quarter sleeves, she graced the table in a coffee shop with her new found love.you wanted the same thing.”For the next few minutes, she paused while the rest of the world kept on moving. Images of the meeting flashed before her.She turned her body towards the road ,stood on the edge of the pavement as if wanting to cross the road. Images of Manav betraying stormed her mind .She felt a whole cyclone inside her mind. One Verna was coming towards her at 150 + may be .She turned around and put his hands on the railing ,shifted her gaze towards the poster of Tinder across the flyover.She reached home after a 2-hr walk. She installed Tinder , she quickly got many matches.It was like whoever she had chosen had chosen him back.Last few months the feeling of rejection had dejected her soul. She began chatting with a few of them and they all wanted to woo her. It made her relaxed.This feeling of acceptance worked as a temporary lotion to her wounds. All the worries were kept on a standstill for now.She agreed to go on a date,she liked the boy,the boy liked back,they made out a couple times.Within a few weeks with him,she felt like she was in love again.She gained confidence,started preparing for interviews .She had stopping thinking about Manav though there were sudden flashes of him. Life seemed to be coming back on the right track for her.
She did not say a thing .She realised she had expected too much may be within a short while .But she was like that only .”I thought he loved me back .The signs were there .May be I am just a failure.”
They parted their ways from the coffee shop .She did not take the cab ,instead began walking .She met the same flyover ,she reached the same point ,she stopped ,looked at the cars in full speed ,took a step towards them ,her foot was on the edge of the pavement towards the road ,a red new Verna was coming through .Drops of rain fell on her body ,she stopped ,turned around ,felt the magic of droplets on her skin - she caught the attention of a poster across the flyover - it was replaced by something else - Kerala , God's Own Country.
I have never been to Kerala - Plans were made but they never materialized .I can become a travel blogger.
Maybe this is the way of life. There would always be setbacks but there would be always new doors to open, new mysteries to unravel. Setbacks are junction points which take us to the new destination ,without us even knowing.