I
“Ria! Look at those flowers; finally got the exact one I had been looking for.” That lady in Red whiz passed him, grabbed his attention while waiting for his bus at the stop. The crowd before him didn’t give him a proper view of her face. But it was her voice that rang a bell to him.
“Rachael!!” her voice was enough for him to know that it was her and walked to the direction she had just darted to.
A smile of relief ran across him as he found her standing before the flower shop delving at the bunch of lilies in her hand.
“Is it possible to tie this bundle with a pink ribbon? I guess madam still likes it that way.” He trotted to her from behind.
She was completely taken aback to find him standing with both his hands in his denim pockets, with that smile on.
“Jeet!! What on earth are you doing here?”
“Well….I am stalking you!” his playful eyes went wide and his head tilted to the left…. ‘Gosh! They are still so alluring’, shaking off all the inappropriate thoughts, she brought herself to the present.
“Mom! Please come here if you are done with the flowers,” a call from the shop made them both look that way. His brows arched as a beautiful young girl walked towards them from behind the tall standing bouquets. “Your daughter?”
Nodding, “yes, Ria!”
“God, Rae! This is you twenty years back!!” He exclaimed amused to see the resemblance.
She looked at her little girl with pride and affection, giving him an agreeing nod.
“Come here dear, let me introduce you to Jeet, a very old friend of mine…and this is Ria…”
“Glad to meet you, young girl. You look exactly like your mom when she was young.”
Ria responded with a smile.
“Coffee?” An awkward silence crept and he instantly regretted his inappropriate approach. ‘bad idea’ he mumbled to himself. He knew he should be at home at this moment and not asking his ex-wife and her daughter for a coffee, but it just came out.
“I mean If you don’t mind!!” trying his best to cover up what he just blurted.
A little surprised at this impulsive request she heisted a bit.
“If it is fine with you Ria?”She confirmed turning to her little one.
“Mom, you know my friends are waiting, I have to be home in fifteen.”
“Oh yes how could I forget, maybe next time Jeet. Good to see you.” saying that she hurried away with her daughter. His heart ached as he watched them go… ‘Maybe next time,’ as he was consoling his heart, a sudden thought hit him, turning around Without giving it a second thought he cried out, “but how?”
“How can I make that next time happen?” With his brows, all arched and lips press he watched her look at him shocked. He continued “how do I contact you? I mean I don’t have any of your numbers.” Shrugging his shoulders he tried justifying his say.
A trace of a smile on her face brought back his shaky confidence….
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“What took you so long Jeet?” It was Anita who opened the door.
‘God, how could I forgot I had a wife waiting for me’ cursing himself for his stupid acts this evening.
“Ya, I know, actually I missed the bus.” Before he realized he had already come up with an excuse to cover his late coming.
He was quite relieved that his lie went unnoticed by her as she had some other thing to keep her thoughts busy
“God! I don’t know how long is that car going to take to get repaired” looking at the time “At least you managed to be home right on time; we are leaving for Vinay’s house for dinner in fifteen.”
“Rachael, we are leaving for the pub in twenty minutes.”
Flash from his past sank his heart. He stood there staring at Anita.
“Are you fine? You look lost!!” noticing his husband acting weird that evening.
“Yeah, I am fine, just a little tired. Please, give me some time.”
“Rachael, we are leaving for the pub in twenty minutes.” this was how Jeet came back home every second day, twenty years back. Things were different back then, for a twenty-three-year-old whose telecom business was giving enough fortune to go party every night. But Rachael his wife was different. She was a young, ambitious and hard-working mind, wanting to grow more in her profession.
They were childhood sweetheart who was now married for six months and everybody believed were the perfect couple. None of them had any idea that this marriage would breathe its last breath so soon……
(Find the next episode here.)