Chalk & Cheese
If her body found his at night or his found hers at night to cuddle they didnt say anything to each other or had recollection of it
They needed each other at night, the most traumatic of their young life, and young-ER marriage. 9 days after their wedding they were going to be separated from each other for good
She was asleep well past 1 PM... he didnt wake her... she wont give him credit today though... she woke to sounds across the block again... it was still cloudy and raining hard
she sat up in bed and stared out the window.. well he slept by the wall of French windows
She immediately scampered to the living room... and looked... ran to the second bedroom study and paused... held her bangles tightly so it wont click...
leaned on the wall by the two glass doors, on a Miles Davis water color concert announcement
And peeked...☺️ 😳
AND MET HIS GAZE, as if he waited for her to peek
She immediately pulled away, as if she saw the neighbor nude or something... her heart hammering in her chest
Walked back to the bedroom on her toes softly... She slept on the side towards the wall, he slept by the wall of windows, the building over 140 years old had fabulous architecture, solid with wainscotting along the walls and artistic original false ceilings, chandelair like lighting
She did not know he didnt like old historical structures, he had shared that with Bally in Jaipur when Bally had asked him why he didnt stay at the pricey properties
In Paris it was a tad difficult to find good housing that wasnt old, afterall he was the managing partner for a successful venture capital firm
She walked over to his side of the bed to peer at his pillow, found an indentation... so he did go to bed!!!
The sheets were ruffled and crushed underneath, his tee shirt lay between the pillows... he liked to sleep ermm...in the nude or atleast top
He was never cold... like he was an Eskimo child... the doors and windows were always half or fully open... today being no exception
There were kids in the balcony across from theirs, II assumed that flat was like R&B's they had the same windows... laid out similarly
The oldest was 6, and then 4, and 1, the Mom stood by them...
the one year old holding rails with both hands, they had a wire mesh protectant 4 feet tall over the rail
The kids were all in their jammies... "My friends" II giggled
She stepped out to the balcony to stare, the woman was surprised to see her "Bon jour" she greeted
AYYYO NO... I DONT WANT TO HEAR THAT WORD EVER AGAIN... NO
I FORGOT WHERE I WAS... VISIONS OF THE TAPE LIKE PASTA AND THE POWDERED HERBS ON THE RIM, THE BAR THE RED LIPSTICK LADY
ALL RETURNED, HER SMILE WAS WIPED OUT
The kids showed her their toy, she smiled weakly the younger one was fat and "lumpy" as Rakshasan would call her like Lasya was
She wanted to go home, and be with the ones she loved... everything about here was strange
The weather wasnt helping either... Delhi seemed far away... locked in honeymoon... lost & found honeymoon
Warring couple honeymoon
She had not had one decent love making session since she arrived... ermmm.. all because of her condition but nevertheless there was not one
They didnt even make out like they did before they were married
All they could do now was fight...
The woman said something distracting her from her train of tragic thoughts
She did a thumbs down and said proudly "NO FRENCH!"
THERE!! I AM GOING TO TAKE IT OUT ON EVERY FRENCH NATIONAL I EVER MEET
I AM GOING TO HOLD IT AGAINST YOU GUYS. ITS ALL YOUR FAULT U DONT SPEAK ENGLISH AND CAUSED ME TO BE LOST
DUMB FRENCH PRIDE AND ALL...
I AM NEVER LEARNING YOUR LANGUAGE OR GOING TO ATTEMPT TO SPEAK IT TO MAKE U GUYS HAPPY
I AM NEVER MOVING HERE, NEVER GOING TO STEP OUT UNTIL I LEAVE FOR HOME
DILLI IS WHERE I BELONG
RAKSHASAN!!
HE CAN LIVE HERE IF HE WANTS
The woman said something again, she said "sorry?"
The woman pulled her tee and pants and pointed to II
II nodded and smiled concluding she must like II's pink kurta and purple salwar
"thank you" she said
"Femme?" she asked
She knew it was wife because on the Seine cruise R&B had mentioned that to the lil girl's Mom
"Oui" she said spontaneously speaking her first French
The woman said she was really tall
She tapped the door and reached for the top
II smiled... and pointed to her and did a thumbs up
U ARE JUST FINE
TALL PEOPLE ARE MEAN
RAKSHASAN IS TALL
SO HE IS MEAN
U DONT WANT TO BE TALL
DEDUCTIVE THEORY?
WHATEVER!!
Balcony and II and Rakshasan were connected... there was no swing here... her worst opinions about Rakshasan were expressed in balconies
Must be some connection
Instead of speaking with Akka she was miming with a French dudette
II waved at her went in brushed her teeth... wore silver jhumkas to celebrate the brushing routine
A strange calm enveloped her at the realization that she was home with him. she was not lost near the zoo, wandering or sitting outside a closed store front, shivering
Having St Paddy's Day revelers gawk...
She was home... in the bathroom... he worked in the room next door... and he was where she could see him, she heard him talk on the phone
She went about her routine, making beds... picking up stuff off the floor, stacked the newspapers... poured herself some espresso, and filled up a cup with steamed milk and tried to mimic a Iyer filter coffee
Brought the news papers to the kitchen balcony and sat down to read, made herself toast... applied every fruit spread she could find and ate two slices
She looked for bird seed in the kitchen R&B's bowl was empty the pigeons were flying to the neighbors'
terrace lawn...
She called Sam on Skype on his ipad, she saw Lasya and cooed at her for half hour, then bugged Akka... and Shravu
Didnt tell anyone she was lost yesterday...
Akka wouldnt talk to her for than 10 minutes she had a Doc's appointment...
SHOW ME THE ULTRA SOUND SHOW ME SHOW ME SHOW ME she screeched
The study door opened and he wandered out.
Their gaze met for the second time
"Hey R&B, tum ghar pe ho?" Akka asked when he came in front of the camera...
"Hey Vandita" he said smiling
Wandering to the round kitchen table, II had leaned it on the wall as she spoke, he stood behind her chair
"Kya chal raha hai?"
"Just work" he said
"U are working from home? HOW SWEET" Vandita gushed
"What is Bala upto?" he asked immediately cutting her off
"Kaam par hai, I have a Doc's at 6:30 16 week ultrasound, so she is yelling to see it"
"Nice... good luck"
"Bahut tang kar rahi hai kya tumhe?" Akka asked giggling
"Always" HE SAID
And left with a beer drinking as he walked back into the study
"Ponum dee enakku, DID U JUST WAKE UP?" Akka asked horrified
"Hmmm" II said smiling
"Enna dee its going to be 6 PM..."
"2 here ka"
"Ayyoyyo Amma will kill you, DONT skype her" Akka giggled
"Like youve never slept until 2 on your honey moon" II argued
"NO! U are a moron... Bala and I didnt sleep much" Akka said smugly, like "that teacher only likes ME"
"Well... umm... uhh... never mind... nee po" II sulked
"U look all dressed up for someone that just woke up" Akka was baffled "Did u play JNU Professor, 😆
and he your jhola waala IAS aspirant student, uski to hamesha daadhi rehti hai, all he needs is a JHOLA" akka began cracking herself up rolling on the bed🤣
"Ayyyo! shut up"
"What could u teach? Political Science!!! U can deny him admission to M Phil or Ph D, in class u can be hard on him and he can be hard on you later on your desk"🤣
"I WILL KILL YOU. SHUT UP SHUT UP" II screeched
"U will have chalk powder on ur back... JNU mein abhi tak chalk and black board use karte hongey (not white board and markers like some posh colleges at DU) Akka was hysterical🤣
"I am going... BYE" "Tell Shravu I am coming to rescue him from YOU. U are a devil"
II ended the call
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She played Sooryan FM on HER NOW CHARGED PHONE... loudly... humming along to Vidyasagar's compositions
She showered and changed into lounge pants and a skinny tee like her brain was working in reverse...
she dried her towel in a clothes stand in the bedroom balcony, like India, no hopes it would dry though since it rained more
she left her jhumkas on, oxidized and grey they went well with her navy floral lounge pants
She went to the kitchen and opened all the cupboards it was a baker's paradise...
She made herself chai... and opened his door and asked "Tum logey chai?"
He stared at her for the longest time and said "Nope!" going back to his screen
She tried making corn bread... she set up her laptop on the kitchen table and let all the patches and updates install and reboot multiple times
Heated the Desi leftovers
Checked on her bread...
Went and tapped the study door and asked "I am making corn bread not sure how it will be do u want some?"
He shook his head
She returned to the kitchen balcony to cry, went to the frig got the container of Swiss cheese out, it has irregular holes all over
She meticulously connected all the holes with a knife from the butcher block making it a big torn up mess..😈. and set it back carefully in the frig
He always ate sandwich with cheese she knew...
Her day went by in the kitchen... his in the study...
The bread was OK...ish.. on a scale of one to 10 it was 6? maybe
It was 8 ish when she went to the living room to turn on the TV flipped channels to watch TV 24 news
He wandered to the bar to make himself a drink... he had fixed himself a turkey? ham? sandwich for lunch...
he had found the shredded cheese and set it back on the counter, sliding it until it hit the breakfast nook wall
He had a suspect in mind but didnt care to confront the 5'9" perpetrator
as she pretended to watch something on YT with her ear phones
"I am going home tomorrow" she said fighting tears when she saw him finally in the living room at 8
As if she waited to throw it on his face... he was still inscrutable
~~~~~~~~~
Edited by Nisha0604 - 9 years ago
comment:
p_commentcount