No coffee mug in hand, no newspaper or book lying nearby, no trace of any hot pakoras, no decade old romantic Bollywood songs playing in the background, no pen to jot down thoughts, no nothing to catch her dreams – she stood there looking out while the rain did its thing. She closed her eyes waiting for the soothing feeling one gets whilst watching or listening to the soft pitter patter of the raindrops to overwhelm her. Nothing came. Not even tears. The shock of the earlier day did not seem to have worn out yet. She wondered if it ever would. The phone was ringing. She knew who it well could be – the last person she wanted to speak with. He always called her when it rained. The ringing of the phone was persistent. She was too.
She could not wait for the phone to ring. But it did. It always did. She smiled. This is what fairy tales are made of and the best part was that she was the fairy. At least, he made her feel like one. She picked it up putting the piping hot coffee next to the pakoras. The book fell down from her lap as she reached out for the phone. She used the remote to put the volume down on her all time favorite Hindi Song – 'Suraj Hua Madhyam'. Her pen she still held in her hand as she picked the receiver up.
“What are you doing, my love?” He asked.
“Take a guess!”
“Coffee, pakoras, music, books, thoughts and dreams?”
“You guess right!”
“So what were you thinking of just now?”
“That you would call me any instant!”
“So what were you dreaming about?”
“How good it would be to have you next to me!”
“OK!”
“OK ..what?”
“Be ready to catch your dream....”
She could hear the door open. She resisted the urge to turn. She heard his footsteps. She still resisted the urge to turn. She marveled that the urge still existed. She felt his presence. Her eyes were still closed. He walked nearer. She felt like running away. He hugged her from behind. She did not run away.
“Thank you!” He murmured as he buried his head in her hair.
She felt the same response to him as she always did. It devastated her.
“You know I never meant to hurt you. You know how much I love you!'
That's when the tears started. They came in torrents. She could not breathe as the hiccups choked here. She turned to face him as he hugged her tighter. She winced from the pain.
“Where is my cup of coffee?”
“I had no idea you would be here...!”
“I asked you to be ready to catch your dream and here I am...”
“What did you do?Fly?!”
“Something like that...!”
“I don't believe this...”
“Don't believe what?”
“That you can go to these lengths...”
“Believe it my love, believe it.!”
She still could not believe it. How could everything be so normal? As if nothing had occurred. As if this was a day like any other day. Not only was he the same, she seemed to be the same too. This was not how it was supposed to be, was it? Shouldn't something be different. He was still holding her.
“Where is my cup of coffee?”. She felt the normalcy of the statement like a blow. She stepped away from his embrace. He looked at her – searching. She walked to the kitchen and started to make two cups of coffee. The slight doubt in his look gave away to relief.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking the mugs out!”
“I will do it...”
“No...let me”
“Why? You want to help me?”
“Yes! But even more so I want to be around you.”
“Don't spoil me!”
“But I want to!”
She took the mugs out. She heard 'Suraj Hua Madhyam' lyrics fill the air. He seemed to have walked over to the CD Player and put it on. He started walking towards her carrying the book she had been reading.
“How many times have you played the song today?”
“Maybe a couple...”
“Just a couple?”
“OK truth be told, I did not count!”
She breathed in deeply. She did not want to hear that song. She wished it would stop playing...just like she wished that yesterday had never happened. Both stayed their course. She used to remote to switch the song off. But what was she going to do about the day before – there was no switch to turn it off. To erase it completely.
“So you just use the remote to play and replay it over and over again?”
“Yes I do!”
“You are such a romantic!”
“Yep a hopeless one at that!”
“That's funny!”
“What's funny about it?”
“That you could be like this...”
“What do you mean!”
“Nothing my love”
“Are you making fun of me!”
“No..No...”
“You are!”
“Well if you think so...maybe I am!”
“Ouch! That hurt!”
“I am sorry my love, you know I would never hurt you. Don't you?”
Yeah right! What a bunch of baloney.
“You know I would never hurt you, my love!” he said as he handed the book to her.
