PART 2
She was tempted to tell him to get out of her car. She rather head home and be alone. She would look through their old photos, the scrapbooks they created, the letters he wrote to her when he first moved away, the emails he sent her when he was struggling to get a movie deal and the postcards he mailed her when he went overseas and ponder where those days have gone by. But she took one look at his forlorn expression and her heart melted. She was always weak when it came to him and she hated herself for it. She had disappointed her family and worried them endlessly because of him. She was the only child and her parents' hopes and dreams lay heavy on her small shoulders.
She saw exhaustion on his face and sadness in his eyes. Somehow she believed the boy she knew back then was still lurking behind this man she disliked. He must be grieving the loss of his mother. No matter what she knew that he loved her and he used to tell her that she and Aaman bhaiyya was his motivation. She wondered who his source of inspiration nowadays was.
"Where do you want to go?" She asked as she started the car.
" Shall we go to Mystic Park? I could use a walk," RK suggested. He put his shades back on and turned his gaze towards the window. What he could really use was a bottle of beer but he knew if he started he could not stop. Instead he drank the view of the town which had changed so much since he was last back.
The short ride to Mystic Park was filled with silence. When they finally arrived, she took the pink sweater from the backseat of her car and put it on before stepping out of the car. RK seemed unbothered about the cold weather as he strolled towards the park. Madhu trailed after him.
"Do you remember how we used to come here after school everyday?" he suddenly spoke.
Madhu nodded and they continued the walk lost in the memories.
Back then, she and RK would come to the park and did their schoolwork although most of time she would be rigorously studying while he enacted scenes from movie and asking her to rate his performance. They would only make their way home when it was dinner time. They were in high school and believed their future had held so many possibilities. RK had always been interested in becoming an actorone day. She thought he would probably grow out of it but was forced to accept that this was his dream when he decided against going to college after high school and wanted to head to Hollywood instead. It was a struggle to get a deal in Hollywood and it was harder when you are an Asian. But his mother and brother were supportive and as much as she wanted him to have something to fall back on, he was adamant that he did not need it as he was going to an actor and have his posters up on the billboards in Hollywood. She reckoned he must be living his dream now while she still struggled to make it as a journalist. She was working for the local newspaper and although they had promised her that she would be a journalist when she accepted the post, she was merely a copywriter. And to think she had worried endlessly back then for him afraid he would never amount to anything and proved her parents right.
A man with a Saint Bernard walked past them and they instinctively looked at each other. They were taken back to the time when they were in the park after school and a Saint Bernard had run after RK. The owner had loosened the leash during the walk momentarily to adjust the collar and the dog suddenly headed for RK. RK had run helter- skelter around the park and Madhu had a good laugh. It was a sight watching the dog after RK and the owner after the dog although RK had claimed that his life was in serious danger and Madhu had not cared about him enough. Madhu had even teased him that she wanted a Saint Bernard when they are married while Rishab had told her then to choose between marrying him and having a dog.
"You never did answer right Madhu if you would choose a Saint Bernard or me?" RK asked as though that incident had only occurred just now instead of almost ten years back. He knew Madhu would know what he was taking about.
"It does not matter anymore does it Rishab?"
"Well'I would marry you if you pick me."
Madhu stopped in her tracks and looked at him. He had been fleeting in and out of her life for the past ten years and totally disconnected himself from his family and her for the past two years yet he could joke about marrying her.
"What happened to you RK? Where is the Rishab I know? I want the old Rishab back! I do not RK!" she was desperate to hold on to her believe that the boy she knew was still there.
"What is wrong with you Madhu? Why are you shouting for no reason?"
"Your mom just passed away Rishab and you act as though you are back from a holiday. You are aware right Rishab that for the past two years, you completely disappeared from our lives? You cannot come back and pretend that everything was back before you left. Do you know how worried Radha Auntiji was about you? Do you know how disappointed she was when you forgot her birthday? Do you know'"
"Shut up Madhu. Just shut up," RK screamed and sprinted away from her.
Tears streamed down Madhu's face as she watched him run away. Madhu sank to the ground and sat there as realization sank in that she was holding on to a futile hope that her Rishab would return. He has become RK. Aaman bhaiyya and Priya had given up on him when he did not arrive after Priya had told him of Gayahtri Auntiji's demise. Radha Auntiji had always told her that Rishab was just lost for a while and he would come back to her but she was not so sure now. Radha Auntiji introduced Madhu as her bahu to her friends and relatives and insisted that Madhu addressed her Radha maaji. She had wanted to but then the scathing remarks that made rounds around town about how she was trying to hold on to Rishab by being close to his mother refrained her from doing so. However, secretly she had always regarded Radha Auntiji as her mother-in-law and she knew Radha maaji was aware of that. She was the only one who was supportive of her relationship with Rishab especially since the last couple of years.
Even Priya who was her best friend and probably the reason why she and Rishab were together had started hinting at her to move on. She could still remember how Aaman bhaiyya, two years their senior, was interested in Priya and had invited her to prom. It was a big deal when a senior asked you to prom when you are sixteen and she and Priya had been giddy with excitement. They had combed the whole town to find a suitable dress and took six hours to get Priya's make up done.
After Aaman had gone to college, Priya and him continued to date and Priya would share her dating moments with Madhu. Madhu felt a little depress that no one asked her out and she guessed it must be due to her not being pretty and thin enough. She wore spectacles back then and always tied her thick hair in a ponytail. Priya must have sensed that and had arranged for a double date with her. Aaman bhiayya had brought along his younger brother Rishab who was in the same Geometry class as Madhu. They both felt awkward and sat watching the movie quietly. After the movie ended, Priya and Aaman were engrossed in their own conversation while Rishab and Madhu struggled to fill the silence between them. Rishab suddenly asked her what she thought of a scene in the movie and Madhu could not even recall such a scene. She could not concentrate on the movie and was just praying for the night to end as the double date was making her self-conscious. Rishab enacted the scene for Madhu and Madhu laughed at his exaggerated expression. And that was the moment they connected.
Since that day she and Rishab started hanging out more often. They both enjoyed each other's company that eventually they were hanging out everyday after school and talking on the phone each night. And one day she realised they were an item when Priya started teasing that she would be Madhu's babhi. Rishab never did officially ask her to be his girlfriend but she guessed she became his girlfriend the day he had kissed her in the park. Like their first date, their first kiss has been uncomfortable. She started giggling when she felt him slip his tongue in her mouth and they had ended up laughing like two crazy souls in the park that day. He kissed her again when he dropped her at her house that same night and she felt the tingles and butterflies that Priya spoke of. She spent that whole night thinking about that kiss and their future. And so far nothing about her and Rishab had had turned out the way she envisioned them when she was seventeen.
Note: I do not think I can PM anyone though...Not sure how to...
Part 3 - page 5
Edited by MissSkeptic - 12 years ago
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