Part 89: War and Peace Update 1
There
was no way he was going to escape the dreadful meeting and so he had stayed
back at office grudgingly and was now rushing back home. She was already there
in NY, resting and recovering well, as per Daadima's last phone call, which he
had asked her to do so intermittently throughout the day.
Once
having dropped off Geet back in her apartment, he and Daadima had taken the
night flight to NY. And en-route to the apartment is when he had received her
call, informing them, that she too was on her next flight to NY. Of
course they had not discussed any details before she hurried off at the
beckoning boarding call, to get to her gate. Not being able to excuse himself
out of office again, he had made a brief visit to set the needed affairs in
order and had planned to pick her up from the airport. Although the workplace
schedule had gone haywire, making him send for a limo to receive Naini, along
with Daadima.
Now
that his day at the office was over, he couldn't wait to get back to her. More
importantly, his imagination had given up on him, to come up with the list of
all conceivable reactions to the anticipated moment. At the top of his listing
being, her resorting to inflict physical damage from the nearest possible
object that was capable of delivering a blow equal in quantum to that of her
resentment of 9 years.
The
last time around, he had been positive; she had been in no state to discern
that the image in her mind had not been one from her fantasy. He had not felt
the indignation rise up his throat and neither had the walls in his mind gone up
in reflex. Although, now he was beginning to rotate his fisted hand about its
wrist, while rested on the arm rest, in part concern and part anxiety. The latter,
being hidden under many layers of worry over her ill health, was camouflaged in
plain sight.
Not
surprisingly, the elevator did not seem to be fast enough for him today. The
mail box had not opened sooner either. Every moment was building up the same
force like a dam of water behind a frail wall, waiting to break open. He
wondered what had blocked these tiding emotions in him and never made its
presence felt those nine silent years. It seemed like blinding light was
entering his fortress of solitude and his wall of defense was coming down one
brick at a time and he had little doubt it was his wife's undoing.
He
latched open the key and entered the living room. Finding his way across the familiar path between suitcases and furniture, he entered her bedroom. And
just like that his nervousness had fizzled out, starting to recede back into
the black hole that it usually stemmed from, once he was pacing across the
hallway to get to her room; the inherent unperturbed appearance resurfacing in
no time. Like an instinctive survival response, he had gone stiff and distant.
It was going to take practice on his part to show he was extending an arm in
her direction...that he had already started walking to meet her half-way or more.
As
he stood by the door, watching her nap with an uneasy frown, a plastic smile
came on his face. After what seemed like a minute, the curve on his lips had a
life of its own, widening as a sign of approving her quirks, that had managed
to filter through the eroding years it took for her to grow into a woman.
Nonetheless, her heart was the same age as the time she had left home. Or how
else could he explain the blanket lying down on the floor, which she often
kicked off her body, while being asleep?
He
stepped closer to the bed, picking up the comforter he covered her once again
and tucked the edges by her sides. The same confiding smile played up his face,
only no one was there to read the secrets he was giving away. He moved closer
to the head of the bed, wanting to check up on her temperature. When he reached
out to touch her forehead, his cellphone rang suddenly, making her shuffle
about her position and it had him running towards his room.
Immediately
he silenced the phone and picked up the call, once outside, after attempting to
laugh away his chagrin. Being a softy, was just not his cup of tea...
"Ooh!
I didn't expect you to pick up the phone. I thought you would be busy" she
said, sounding unsure, as she heard the last traces of a laugh leaving his
tone.
"Pagli!
Then why would you call?" He asked with a faint chuckle, while he flicked the
buttons off his shirt, gearing to change into casual clothes.
"What
shall I do? Yeh Dil hain ki maanta nahin" Her voice dropped low, with a false
pitch and dulcet tone, rising with the tempo and picked up the musical note.
"Anything
but singing Geet...Please spare me the torcher" he commented, almost trying to
shake off with his index finger a mock ringing tone in his ears, of which she
was unaware then.
"Ok...serious
Maan. How is she?" She paused, before adding, "Is she ok? I mean you will talk
to her right?" She ended impatiently.
"Yes,
she is fine, the temperature has come down. And I will talk to her when she
wakes up" He stopped short for a moment, trying to open his closet, balancing
the phone with his ears pressed to it, which was in turn resting on his
shoulder "Done with the interrogation?" It was the fourth time that day she was
confirming that the nascent bonds formed on the unexpected Sunday morning were
going to continue.
"No...of
course not...Done eating? Chai? You should have at least something Maan...What time
is it?" She drawled looking at her watch "Its 4.00 already...Did you have lunch?"
He
rolled his eyes, but her care was pooling an inviting warmth in his body "I
brushed, I bathed, I drank some OJ, Of course I wore clothes, we don't want to
forget that on the way to office and then had a sandwich from lulu's around
11.00, one coffee at 2.00, now I really don't feel like eating...Done with the
enquiry? Or do you want me to go into details" he said sounding slightly ticked
off, repeating the routine he was now following. More so, the frustration came
from the fact, that she had no part to play in his regimen.
"Hai
Babaji! Why do you get annoyed at everything?" she came across irked" "I was only
making sure you were fending well for yourself...After marriage, you are slacking
when it comes to you and here I'm being blamed over being a nag" she said, her
pitch now loud. She was making a face
and looked miffed.
In
another second, the line went dead, while he still held on to the call. He
sighed, rubbing his forehead. Hanging up on each other and the follow up calls
to coax her, was one other regular, he had missed out mentioning to her, he
thought. Since he was in between the process of changing into comfortable home
clothes, he decided to delay calling her back until the he was settled in the
living room, which he was sure would not take him more than a few minutes.But little did he know it would not be the case.
He
was done with dumping his soiled clothes in the hamper, when he sighted her
standing in the far corner of his room, swaddled in that same comforter he had
tucked her in. He paused in his turn, going rigid all at once, as she strode
towards him with a long face. Before he could say or ask anything, she was
resting his forehead on his shoulder, moving into a position to lean on him in
profile. In no time, he was hugging her, slightly patting her head right about
her ear.
"I
missed you..." She said in a meek tone, punctuated with a cough.
"Don't
talk...you need some rest and some tea" He muttered low, swaying her gently. He
was glad it had all happened fast, with no time to think or process on first
reactions. This had been nothing like what he had thought of initially,
although he felt, there could not been a better alternate moment in a parallel
universe. If this is what people called closure, then he didn't mind seeking
more of it.
"And
then we will settle some old squabbles" he said, look down at her thoughtfully,
albeit surprised, he had said that to start with.
"Whatever
it is you already win..I really am tired of fighting" Her voice was getting lost
in the big room; it came out hoarse or throaty, owing to her congestion.
"Not,
so soon..not when I'm here..I can play your side too" He said, trying to cheer
her a bit.
"Your
cape is not going to protect me from everything that lashes into..." she stopped,
thinking awhile "or rather walks out of my life"
"Perhaps,
it has not gone far..Sure it was a big mistake..and only a nod from you will make them come running back..." He said as she got out of his hold
and went to sit by his bed "Have you thought about it?" he questioned her as
she looked grave, more from the topic they were discussing.
"Even
I didn't come looking for you at that time of need. I left you too..." He said, acknowledging
the failure on his part.
"No...I
left..." she interrupted, swiftly lifting her head to face him as he inched towards
her "And you just stopped looking...that's all"
"Then
I don't deserve any forgiveness either" his face gave away the trouble and
guilt in his heart.
"And
this is where it exactly goes moot...given that we all have done our share to
deserve nothing and everything when we compare each other like that" She was
starting to feel dazed with the range of emotions she was going through for
everyone in her life.
"Well,
all the more reason, to start thinking about giving him another chance" He said
somberly, slightly ruffling the hair by her crown.
"I'm..."
She stuttered uncertain at first, but her words accrued stubbornness as she
went on "I need some time and I'm still not sure about anything" She said,
stressing upon the last word she let out.
Right
then, his phone rang breaking his flow of thoughts. Putting it to his ears, he
heard her get on with her usual spiel that was meant for such situations, even
before he could greet her with the standard 'Hello'
"I'm
waiting here, in the phone room...thinking that you will call and look at you..."
she sounded dramatic "You don't care at all...do you? Oh! Wait...now this is the
part where you taunt me saying I was the one who hung up on you, right?" She
was breathing down her anger into the microphone.
Something
about the set-up made him crack up into a hearty laughter and that made her
groan with irritation on the other side of the call. Naini gave a small smile
and left the room at the same time. He placed a pillow against the headboard and sat
back into the bed.
"Ok...Geet
listen...I'm sorry..." he started knowing well, he was going to be stuck in that
call for another hour.
To be continued...
Edited by 6thElement - 12 years ago
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