Fingers clasped around the unlit cigarette, Raman stood in the dark, awkwardly taking in the scene before him. Faint light filtering in through the skylights was hardly sufficient to illuminate the tears pouring down Ishita Iyer's cheeks but the desperation in her sobs was unmistakable.
Had Ishita waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness before breaking down quite so completely, she might have noticed that she wasn't alone and so would have restrained herself. But Subbu's words had cut her deep and the room was dark and generally unused. And she really needed to get away from the party, from the smiling faces of people who suddenly meant nothing to her and appeared to care even less for her.
As Ishita sobbed, Raman stood dithering. He wasn't sure if he should approach her in this condition but her tears tugged at something within him and made him want to reach out. Even as he duelled with himself, Ishita suddenly stood up and wiped her tears off. Raman thought that she must have seen him. But before he could say anything, she slapped herself hard, again and again before falling back against the door, breathing harshly.
He spoke out before he could stop himself. She would not thank him for witnessing this, he knew.
"Ishita?"
At first there was no response and so Raman cleared his voice and spoke again.
"Mrs. Iyer?"
This time it was Ishita's turn to be shocked and she swung in his direction. Her hand fumbled against the wall and found the switch. With a click the room was suddenly flooded with the garish light of the fluorescent bulb. Ishita stood staring at him, her face pale and cheeks still wet with tears.
'"Mr. Bh-bh-bhalla!"she stuttered out, her voice choked.
Ishita's tears had been loud. She knew now that the stone faced man standing before her had heard it all. He had stood there and witnessed her at her most vulnerable condition. She hoped he would not bring it up. There was nothing she could say. There was nothing she wanted to say.
Raman watched her, his eyes taking in her discomfiture. She had collected herself so quickly, one would have never guessed that she had been sobbing her heart out only a moment ago. Well, those tear streaked cheeks gave her away but her face was unreadable now, drained of all emotions. He knew she did not want to talk about what had just happened. It was there in the defensive stance of her body, the taut expression on her face as she squared her chin as if challenging him. So he lifted his hand to show her his cigarette.
"Needed a smoke," he told her with a wry smile.
It took everything in her to return the smile on his face.
She had to get out of there and so she turned around and reached forward to open the door. Raman was beside her in a second, his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice close to her ears. Ishita flinched. He was standing too close to her. All at once, Subbu's words came back to hit her again.
"You look like a prostitute."
The insult, hurt, the humiliation, the loneliness--it all coalesced into a white hot rage and ---
She'd slapped him!
Raman felt the sting of her touch burn into his skin. And then she whipped around and left. He stood there, face frozen in surprise.
*************
Next morning over breakfast, it was Romi who noticed the reddish imprint left by the slap. Mrs. Bhalla was still sleeping off her hangover. Mr. Bhalla had not yet returned from his morning chat with his friends from the park. So at breakfast it was only Raman, Romi and Ruhi.
"Bhai, you have a rash coming, I think," Romi said nonchalantly as he tucked into his breakfast. Raman had been absent-mindedly rubbing his cheek from time to time. Ruhi jumped up from her chair and ran to her father, her face screwed up with worry.
"Should I get you my ointment?" she said, her voice soft with anxiety.
Raman nodded because he knew if he didn't take some kind of medication the poor thing will eat her head up with worrying all day over him. She sprinted off to her room.
"Must have slept awkwardly," he told Romi and buried himself behind the paper.
**************
Ishita had all night to go over the events that had transpired and her agitated thoughts left her with a strong feeling that she had over-reacted, a bit. She needn't have slapped the man. The proper thing would be for her to apologise now but she doubted if one such as Raman Kumar Bhalla would be in any mood to even listen to her apology.
But she was wrong.
As she waited for the other kids to arrive, she noticed Ruhi racing towards her. Behind her at a slower pace came her father. Steeling her resolve, Ishita waited until he had come to stand before them. He was wearing shades that hid his eyes but she caught sight of a reddish tinge on one side of his face and knew what had caused it. Oh lord! She had acted like a crazy woman last night!
"I really want to apologise for last night," she said in a rush. "I got some bad news and was upset and I just kind of lost it." She looked at him, but with his eyes hidden there was no telling what the man was thinking. She plodded on, "I am sorry. I was way out of line."
"Make it up to me then," he said suddenly.
Ishita stopped, surprise flashing across her face. Before she could say anything further though, Raman spoke again, "Have coffee with me."
Catching sight of Ishita narrowing her eyes, he laughed and went on, "I want to talk to you about Ruhi."
Ishita studied him thoughtfully before nodding her head slightly. "OK", she said finally.
Raman left shortly afterwards.
It was common knowledge that Raman Kumar Bhalla was not a man to let even a single opportunity slide. And last night had revealed to him that Ishita Iyer, under all her facade of serene softness, could well be a force of nature.
Anupamaa
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