Arakshi SS - Between the Pages of a Book - *Complete* pg 50 - Epilogue - Page 4

Chapter 1 - Coincidences

A week later

December, London 2014

She sighed as she looked out of the window beside her desk. It was yet another cold and grey morning. The familiar dark and grey clouds hovered over the city as always, making her feel gloomier than she should be feeling. She really missed being in Mumbai. She missed the sunny winter mornings that she spent reading on her balcony. She missed the noise of the city, the sound of honking cars, the loud buses and the shouts of the people on the road. It had been a good five years in London, and yet the place didn't feel like home. There was always something lacking, something missing. Something was so incomplete.

She longed for the day when her course would be over and she would head back home. To Mumbai, to the city she loved. She sighed and glanced at her wrist watch. There was still a few minutes left for the end of her lecture. And then, she would be free. At least, for the winter break.

"So, good luck with the revision everyone. I will see you after your January exams. Have a good Christmas and a Happy New year." She heard the faint voice of her lecturer. Her mind was wandering elsewhere. She had hardly concentrated on the lecture. It was the last lecture of the week after all. Actually, it was the last lecture of the year! A smile instantly appeared on her face.

Her mind was already drifting towards her holiday plans. Except for the part which involved studying for her exams of course.

And today was a Friday.

She was the first one to get up from her desk as the lecturer started to leave. She hastily shoved her notebook and pen inside her bag, slung it over her shoulder and headed straight for the door.

"Sakshi!"

She groaned as she heard the voice behind her.

Aisha, her roommate and best friend was approaching her, a cheeky grin on her face.

Sakshi threw an annoyed look at her and said, "You had to stop me now, didn't you? It's a Friday! You know how much I look forward to this day, Aish!"

"I know. Could you get me something too? I am going out with Liza for the evening, so cannot come. Please na!" She pleaded.

"Fine. Now let me go."

Aisha beamed back at her and said, "Thanks! Now you are free to go. I will see you at night."

Sakshi bid her friend a hurried goodbye and headed towards the tube station.

***

She couldn't wait. She darted up the escalator and made her way through the tide of people to the exit out of the station. Leicester Square station was always so crowded. And yet, this was place she loved most in the city. It wasn't Mumbai, but the place always felt enchanting to her. It had a charm about itself, that couldn't be found elsewhere.

All those old second hand bookshops on Charing Cross road, the scores of people walking through the streets, the restaurants, the city lights, it all created a magical atmosphere. Her heat beat faster as she walked through the streets towards her destination. Just around the corner of the street. The bookstore.

She breathed in and opened the glass door of the old shop. The strong musty smell of old books welcomed her as she stepped inside the shop. This was what she loved. The smell of the pine bookshelves, the faint rustle of paper as other customers flicked through the pages, the colourful spines that stared back at her and all those stories that waited for her behind the covers.

Shelves and shelves of hard bound books, paperbacks, first-editions, signed editions, anything and everything. The place held so many stories, so many characters and so many fictitious and non-fictitious worlds waiting to be discovered.

The old man behind the counter smiled at her as soon as she stepped inside. He ushered her to come towards him, his blue eyes twinkling behind the spectacles that rested on his nose.

He was the owner of the bookstore, her Friday-friend and companion, Joe.

"I have something for you." He said.

She grinned and replied, "As always."

Her face gleamed with excitement as he handed her an old hardback edition of Rebecca. She gasped as she felt the thick, black cover in her hands. She had always wanted to own this book since she had read it at the library. And somehow, he had found a second hand hardback copy for her.

"I love you, Joe!" She squealed with delight and hugged him over the wooden counter.

"How much do I owe you?" She asked.

He just smiled, touched her hand over the book and said, "It is a gift. From me to you. Christmas present."

"Awww, thank you! Wait until you see your present! But not today, I need some more time." She winked at him and her eyes moved over to the books that awaited her in the shop.

"Go. They are waiting for you." He said.

She smiled and moved over to the shelves, her fingers running across the different textures of the books. She loved to touch the spine of each book, her eyes scanning the title, waiting for that moment when she would feel a sudden connection with a book and would grab it.

Sometimes she just loved to pick out a random title, something that grabbed her attention. Sometimes, she would pick a book just for the cover. And sometimes, it was the first few lines that attracted her to read the rest. She wondered what day it was today.

She smiled when her fingers rested on a certain cover. It was one of her all-time favourite classic novel and yet it was one of those books that she had never bought. Perhaps, she had been waiting for the right copy to fall into her hands. This time, she felt a connection.

There were two other copies of the same book, just beside it. One was considerably newer too.

But yet, this one felt different. It almost felt as if it were waiting for her.

Her fingers brushed repeatedly over the blue and gold lettering on the spine that read out the title of the book. Pride and Prejudice.

She gasped when she pulled out the book from its place on the shelf and ran her fingers over the blue cover again. It was frayed and worn out at places and yet, it was beautiful. She wondered who the previous owner had been. It must have been a girl, she smiled and thought to herself.

Here was another thing she always loved about second hand books. The mystery around who the previous owner of a certain book could have been. She loved the books which had personalised messages inscribed on the title page. It somehow made the book seem even more real.

She flicked open the book to the title page, anxious to see if it had a personalised message on it.

It didn't. But the book held something else. A secret. A note peeked out from between the pages as she flicked through the book. Curious, she pulled it out and read through it.

It said:

Roshni,

This is a gift of words, from me to you. But if I were to say how much I love you, words wouldn't be enough.

I do know one thing. If I were to live, I would live every moment with you.

The world isn't the same without you.

I will be waiting for you.

For my life with you.

Forever yours,

Your ACP Arjun Rawte

She slammed the book shut and closed her eyes for a minute. The message, the unruly scrawl had made her feel different. Her heart was beating fast and she didn't know why. She opened the book to the note again, and ran her fingers over the deep blue ink that was inscribed upon it. Something about the heart-felt message touched her deep, like no book ever had. She felt a sudden urge to meet the writer of the message. The message was simple and yet, it portrayed strong emotions. Love. Strong and powerful love.

There was another feeling that scared her. The feeling that told her if she were to ever meet this person, he would read right into her thoughts.

She knew, she had to get the book. It was the book.

She repeated to herself, she wasn't buying the book because of the message. But in her heart, she knew. She wanted to find that person.

She wanted to find ACP Arjun Rawte.

***

Arjun stood at the window of the flat which he was renting for the three weeks. His three weeks in London. Away from Mumbai, away from ETF and away from...his past. A week had passed and yet, he hadn't really been able to "move on" as he had wanted to. It wasn't easy. He knew he couldn't really run away from memories.

The sun had set, somewhere, behind the dark grey clouds and the sky was slowly turning darker. He missed the sunsets of Mumbai, at the Marine Drive. It was so hard to see a sunset here. But whenever the sun did come out, London looked so vibrant, so different. Like a different city altogether.

His phone rang and he groaned. He knew who it was already.

He disconnected the call, opened his laptop and logged in to Skype.

Rathod's voice blasted into his ears as soon as the Skype call went through, "Honestly, Rawte. How long does it take you?"

"In case you haven't noticed, you called like a minute ago. It does take some time to turn on a laptop." He grunted.

"Yeah, whatever. This is stupid, Arjun. I honestly don't think it was a good idea to fly to a distant land just to "move on". Yeah, add the quotes around move on. You are alone there. I don't even know what you are doing. You shouldn't even be alone!"

"Honestly, Sam, I am fine. I needed to do this. I needed to take some time off and come here. I needed these three weeks."

"Out of which one is already over and you don't sound any different."

"God, will you stop complaining?" He snapped at him, unintentionally. "This is my life, my holidays, I needed a change. I needed to get away from ETF for a while. And trust me, it would help if you don't remind me of it every day!"

Silence.

He paused and took a deep breath. He knew Sam was only concerned and he shouldn't have snapped at him.

"I am sorry, Sam. I need to go. I will speak to you later."

He disconnected the call and sighed. Sam was right. This wasn't really helping. Perhaps, he made the wrong decision. Perhaps he can never escape her memories. They still haunted him, even here in this new city. He glanced out of the window again, at the pale yellow street lamps that lit the road below. It felt as if his life had come to a standstill.

He needed some fresh air. And his book.

Perhaps, he would go to Regent's park again. One of the places where he found solace.

He grabbed a nearby book and stepped out of the flat.

***

Sakshi sat huddled in the corner of a wooden bench in Regent's Park, completely submerged in her newly attained copy of Rebecca, totally oblivious of her surroundings. The dim light from the streetlamp above made it harder for her to read in the dark. But somehow, the dim yellow glow had a sort of warmth in it that stopped her from freezing in the chilly winds that were starting to blow through the park. She shivered and wrapped her scarf tighter across her neck as the wind whipped the hair across her face. Her fingers were freezing even though she wore her favourite festive red gloves, which had tiny snowflakes knitted on them. They made her happy, just like reading did.

She paused for a moment and stared at the dim outline of the bare Weeping Willow tree before her. The pale golden light from the streetlamp illuminated parts of its drooping branches which just about touched the surface of the lake. It looked haunting and mysterious, as if the tree were concealing a secret from her. Just like the book in her bag which held the secret note. Goodness knows for how long.

The stranger's message that had intrigued her. For some reason, her mind kept wandering back to him. To his story. What happened to them, she wondered.

What was their story? Did they meet? Are they still together? So many questions.

She glanced at her surroundings to see a lone couple walking through the path that winded through the park, just along the lake. Her eyes stopped at a man sitting on the bench on her right, just at a little distance from her. He was wrapped in a grey overcoat, a white scarf wrapped all around his neck and face, so she could barely see his eyes.

She smiled because he too, held a book in his glove-covered hand.

She didn't know the stranger, but his presence there just beside her, comforted her. There was something about him that stopped her gaze on him for a good few minutes. She wondered if it was the fact that he was at the same place as her, wrapped in heavy woollens and reading, just like her. Or if it was that weird feeling that suddenly sparked within her. The feeling of being connected to that stranger. Somehow.

The wind was picking up its speed now and she briefly considered going home. But the book was getting far too interesting to be abandoned. And then she would have to walk all the way to the tube station.

No, she decided, just a moment longer.

This was her time. No one had the right to steal her reading time. Not even the weather.

And her eyes went back to the black words inscribed on the page.

***

ACP Arjun Rawte stopped reading when he felt a gaze upon him. The park was quiet, except for the distant sound of cars that came from the roads beyond the park. And of course, the sound of the wind. It was getting rather cold. And yet, he sat there, reading.

He looked up when he could no longer contain his curiosity and his eyes stopped on a girl in a red coat sitting on his left.

Wind blew her long dark hair across her face, obscuring her face behind a curtain of black. And then, his eyes fell upon the book in her hands and a faint smile appeared on his lips. He didn't think anyone would be even here at this hour, let alone reading in the cold, under the dim streetlight.

He wondered what book she was reading. Either it was too engrossing to compel her to sit in the cold and read on a Friday night, or ...she was an avid bookworm. Just like him.

It would remain a mystery, he thought. The girl in the red coat.

He smiled to himself and buried himself in the novel once again.

***

She jumped when she felt her phone vibrate in her bag.

She heard Aisha's teasing voice from the other end as soon as she held it to her ears, "Sakshi! It is a Friday night and I know the book is very interesting, but kindly look at the time. And there are two hungry girls waiting for you at the flat simply because you are our friend and roomie. Will you be so kind and make yourself appear on our doorstep as soon as you can please?"

She laughed and replied, "I didn't need such a long speech, Aish. I am coming. And...sorry I didn't realise I got so late!"

"Yeah. The usual. Hurry up please! Otherwise I might eat the books that lie on your shelf. And dude, make some shelf space. Please. I feel rather sorry for your books. They are getting squashed."

"Ok, hold up on your speech I am coming!" She hung up the phone and capped the pen she held in her other hand.

She held the tissue paper towards the streetlamp. The delicate paper now had words engraved on it in dark blue ink. A quote that she had liked from Rebecca. She smiled at it as she read it one last time. Another collection for her quotes book, she thought.

She hastily shoved the tissue paper in her bag along with the book and got up to leave. It was rather late.

Before she left the park, her eyes fell upon the man in the grey coat; he was still just as absorbed in the book.

She smiled and left the park.

***

The wind was stronger. So strong, that it picked up the stray piece of tissue paper from the bag that she had slung over her shoulder. She didn't notice, but the paper flew towards its freedom, into the dark night sky. Away from her, and towards the stranger in the grey coat who sat upon the bench to her right.

The stranger caught the paper in mid-air, thus hindering its flight.

He read the quote that was written on the delicate paper, in a neat cursive handwriting:

"If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again."

Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

Arjun smiled as he read the words over and over again. His eyes searched the darkness for any traces of the girl in the red coat. But she had disappeared. He wondered how she happened to pen down the very quote from a book that reflected his thoughts.

What sort of a coincidence was this?

He pocketed the piece of tissue paper and got up to leave.

Something about her handwriting had struck a chord with him. It had almost felt...comforting. Did a handwriting have the power to comfort a person? Perhaps.

As he left the park, he glanced back at the bench that the girl in the red coat had occupied a few minutes ago and wondered, if he would ever be able to meet her.