It's perhaps a human's unique ability to go back and relieve time. Memories! You are here, but you are there too. And during those times, its a cozy blanket of nostalgia you are wrapped in and at others, the sorrow of the past could cripple you down even in the present. But tonight, as he walked into their suite, well past midnight, the windows of time they had met, aimlessly talked, bonded, and yet remained indifferent at parting, for all those years, came back to him as an agreeable memory.
Their parents had been neighbors long before they were born and their friendship had continued amicably, even after their respective families come into wealth. While his father had steadily climbed the highly, vicious, but influential ladder of one government organization after another, Kushi's uncle had risen to being the city's most successful builders. Over the years that their parents had worked on and off on government projects, their families had met and celebrated their success and other family occasions. Though he'd abhorred nearly all conversations that he fell into with the elders during such events, given their incessant questions over his career choices in following his father's footsteps, the throngs of cousins and other friends Kushi's family invited, was something he looked forward to.
And she... she'd always been a flurry of activity, song and dance, he recounted, turning to smile at her sleeping form, while he carefully clicked the lock into place.
It didn't surprise him that she was well drawn into slumber, when her cousins had stalled him for hours, playing games, torturing him without giving away the number of the suite she was at. And now, he politely acknowledged to himself that he perhaps enjoyed the thrill of anticipation... the prospect of being with his wife more so than he'd believed. Perhaps, it wasn't so much about calling her his wife that appeared to please him, as much as the fact that she was his wife - the tall girl who had picked on him all through his awkward teen years, until the summer, he'd shot through, affording to tower over them all and intimidate with his mere presence. The boisterous girl, who had grown into a balanced and appealing woman... the girl he'd had a crushed on for a few years, before her disappearance to the states had wiped out his boyish fondness for her.
Walking to the window, to take in the view of Udaipur, twinkling in its night glory, he made swift work of the buttons on his sherwani. The day had been an elaborate affair, with the ceremonies drawn out to such extent that they had hardly gotten an opportunity to exchange a few words. All of Lake palace had come alive in their wedding festivities, with every ceremony taking over a new part of the palace, with decor that unparalleled many other destination weddings that had been planned there. After all, both families had many government and social dignitaries to impress. However, the question on his mind now was, if she'd been impressed at all, when he hadn't seen anything of an authentic cheerfulness come over her face.
Turning in profile, as he leaned against the window, his eyes slid down her huddled form on the bed. Folding his arms, he held himself in that stature - the one he'd used to frighten her that long gone summer... a stance that was second nature now and one that alluded the authority, he wielded in his job as the reigning collector of the Nilgiris district. "I have never been to Ooty, let alone Coonoor, " she'd told him nonchalant over the phone, "I don't mind it." Did anything about him impress her at all? he pondered again, reminded of her long standing indifference to him.
Despite whatever answers... or questions her still form concealed, that night... the night of their wedding, felt nothing short of a dream state. Kushi Surabhi Singh - his wife, and former crush, didn't know that she had another identity to come to terms with.
Edited by -Mitra - 8 years ago
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