FF: Adrift Completed Feb 3rd 2014 - Page 25

Blood curdled in Madhu's eyes. Her face turned pale and her breathing stopped as terror ran through her veins. A spurt of adrenaline pushed her feet to move forwards, and she ran, hand outstretched, one name in her shout - RK.

He seemed to turn, their eyes met, and even in the low light, she saw a hint of recognition appear across them. Instinctively, she nodded even as she ran, as if to communicate something to those eyes she knew so well.

As if to say, I am here. For real.

But then they were gone, and so was he, disappearing into the vast darkness underneath.

Rishabh - she shrieked, but the voice was no more than a choke.

He was gone.

Madhu's heart was racing as she finished reading RK's letter. She frantically called RK but his phone was switched off. She tried a few more times, but quickly gave up and called Bittuji instead. She needed to find RK right now and talk to him.

"Hello...Bittuji...where is RK? Are you with him?.."

"Madhu..hello...is everything ok? You sound panicked..."

"Bittuji I screwed up. I thought RK didn't love me and oh God, he was so heartbroken when he left.."

"Wait, slow down. Madhu, breathe. Tell me what happened."

"I will tell you Bittuji, but I don't have time right now. I need to speak to RK right now."

"Ok. Let me call him and find out."

"His phone is switched off. Maybe he's home. I should go there right now"

"Ok, I will also come and meet you there."

Bittuji was only a few minutes behind her as Madhu reached RK mansion, but by then she knew what she needed to know. The house was empty. RK wasn't home.

Bittuji and Madhu asked the servants and driver and even called at the studio trying to find RK's whereabouts, but they were coming up with nothing.

"It sure was simpler when he drank. I could start checking his favorite bars one by one." Bittuji lamented, unable to think of where to look for RK next.

Noticing Madhu's tears, he got concerned "What happened all of a sudden? A few hours back when I dropped you at the apartment, you hated him. You wouldn't listen to anything I said. Then after some time he called me worrying about your safety. Now you called me worrying about him."

Madhu quickly summarized the past few hours.

"I didn't think he loved me any more. And I was devastated at the thought of ending our marriage. I said so much to him. I even signed the divorce papers."

"I told you at the hospital he was not the same RK from one year ago. I have been telling you for months - he loves you and he has been dying in guilt for what he did. Does not mean that you have to forgive him, but I thought you knew that."

"I...I don't know Bittuji. I hate him but I also love him. I just know that I cannot imagine a life without him. I need to find him. What if...what if something happens to him?"

The fear on Madhu's face was mirrored in Bittuji's eyes. RK had tried to kill himself before, and judging from Madhu's account of RK's letter...

"Maybe he has gone to the farmhouse. He has been going there when he's disturbed. Let's check it." Bittuji pushed all thoughts as both of them started driving towards RK's farmhouse.

Eventually, the tears dried out. There was nothing left to do. He called his mother, but she did not pick up. He left her a message that only said one thing - that he wished he had been a better son to her. He looked at the pictures of Madhu he had on his phone. Of happier times. He thought about the day he first met her. He thought about their first half-wedding and how cruel he was to her. He thought about the day Bittuji told him Madhu was dead, the day he realized he had killed her. Well, she was alive, but he had killed her spirit, her life and the person she was, hadn't he? He was a murderer, a monster. He remembered the scar on Madhu's face. It was no worse then the scar that he had left on her life. He needed to get out of Madhu's life permanently. He switched off his phone.

RK looked at the rear view mirror of his car and saw a reflection he had spent so many years of his life being proud of.

"What's there to be proud of? What have you ever done that is of any good whatsoever to others" RK asked the person in the mirror.

Then, he started driving.

After 90 minutes or so he reached the Sarjanpur cliff, his final destination. It wasn't very far from his farmhouse and was the very same spot from where Madhu had jumped off. He had come here several times in the last couple of months, trying to imagine what Madhu would have gone through the moments before she jumped, trying to find Madhu in the aura of the place so that he could at least attempt to apologize to her.

But today was different. Then, he was trying to find Madhu and this was the holy place where Madhu had breathed her last, as per RK. Today, he was here to get lost himself and to secure for himself the fate that Madhu had thankfully escaped, for a punishment that was his from the very beginning, not hers.

The car engine stopped, and RK sat there for a couple of minutes taking in the silence of the place. It was a low-lit, secluded spot. RK walked to the edge of the cliff and stood there, staring into the great abyss. He closed his eyes and thought of Madhu. He apologized to her. He prayed for her so she could be happy and strong again. Finally, when he opened his eyes, he felt light. He was at peace. Now.

He took a tiny step forward, so that now half his feet were in the air. He closed his eyes, ready to jump, when he heard, at a distance, a shriek. A familiar shriek.

He turned to see behind his back, and in the blinding glare of car headlights, he saw in the distance a pair of frightened eyes, urging him to return. Madhu! The shock of that thought made him turn swiftly and his feet lost their footing. His gaze was locked in Madhu's eyes - what were they trying to say - even as he slipped and fell down the cliff.

He was gone.

Now that RK-Madhu's life have come through the circle of similar turn of events with the cliff being the end point...hope with this guilt trip to the extent of death, RK will find his Madhu if manages to come out unscathed since this attempt in front of her own eyes will be able to douse the fire of anguish that's burning inside Madhu all this long as the result of atrocities from superstar RK !

RK has sinned a lot before turning into what he is now, don't want him sin again by taking his own life which actually belongs to madhu lol, how much ever hatred Madhu has for RK, his death will make her soulless zombie that will nullify all her struggle of all these months of staying alive, which can't be right after all !!

This chap was splendid, I could visualize RK at the edge of the cliff, dying for the sake of his Madhu's survival...tragic turn..where both are still bonded by a fine thread of their ever stronger pure-love!! No wonder RK had to jump(slip) in front of Madhu herself, as nothing else could redeem him, the RK !!

Pls continue soon Taru