by Palvi Sharma
pages, hoping she wasn’t forgetting anyone’s birthday. She sighed with relief when she saw that none of her friend’s birthday were in February. And she didn’t need a notebook to tell her if it was any of her family members birthday. Those, she knew by heart.
Rhea immediately decided that she had enough of walking in the cold freezing air. She could feel the chill settle in her bones and she desperately longed for another jacket to warm her. She walked quickly to the curb and waited for the cars to pass before she could cross the road. She glanced both ways and stepped onto the road. Seeing her chance, she quickly ran across and walked towards a little grocery. Some French bread would go perfectly well with her soup which would be sprinkled from a packet. She was felt too lethargic to cook for herself today. And a bowl of hot soup sounded like just the thing for this cold February night. She walked into the store, nodded her head at the vendor and walked right towards the bakery section. After carefully sniffing for freshness, she picked up a loaf of bread and a baguette and walked towards the vendor.
He smiled at her and, rang up her items and gave her a bill. Rhea had taken out the exact change, before she had entered the grocery so she didn’t need to fumble around in her purse to look for her wallet. Somehow, she could never find anything in her purse no matter what the size of her purse was. She paid the vendor, took her grocery bag and walked outside. She shuddered in the cold and wished she had worn a scarf to protect her neck. Prone to sore throats, she wished she had remembered this while dressing. Rhea stopped suddenly. Was this what she was supposed to remember? No, this couldn’t be it.
She started walking slowly, lost in her thoughts. It seemed that she was close to the answer now. She remembered wondering if she should wear a scarf or not. She decided for it and switched on the iron, not because the scarf had creases but because she had wanted to warm it up. Rhea took in a deep breath and stopped suddenly.
“Oh no!” she muttered and started to run, oblivious to the amusing glances that the people were giving her. She slapped her forehead. What was she thinking? After leaving the iron on her scarf at a very low temperature, she had gone to the bathroom. And when she had returned….
She started to sprint towards her apartment, staring at her building in the distance and gazing up at her apartment building. No orange tinges. No flickering flames. She rushed into her building, ignored the elevator and rushed upstairs. Her apartment was on the second floor so she didn’t have to run up a long flight of stairs. She reached her floor, took out her key and rushed it into the lock. Throwing her bags on the side table, she quickly made her way into her room. She stared at her ironing table for some time and slapped her head.
“Now I remember.” She chuckled. She had come out of the bathroom, looked at her scarf and decided that it didn’t go with her outfit. So she had turned off the switch to the iron, picked up her scarf, folded it and placed it in her cupboard drawer.
Rhea started to laugh and made her way to the kitchen to make herself some packet soup.
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Her First Dance
The carnival was in full swing by the time the sun had started to go down. The plaza had been decked up with flag garlands, the jesters were dressed in bright costumes and the games had already begun. There was to be a dance later on and Alisa couldn’t wait.
He had promised her that he would come and in the past few months since she had known him, he had never broken a promise- especially to her.
Around her the people were dressed in blues, purples and green. They wore shiny silver masks with feathers while the children favored face paint instead. Her friends waved at her from a distance and Alisa put up a nervous hand.
She was wearing a purple mask and a teal dress. Her hair was loose except for a tiny bow on the back of her head. As far as she knew, her friends had never seen her dressed like this and the thought that they had recognized her regardless made her shiver.
The whole point of taking part in the festivities was so that she would go unnoticed. The last thing she wanted was her friends to mention her affairs to her family. She wrung her hands when her friends drew closer and then saw her chance. A group of chattering girls walked past her and she blended in with them. One of them even wore a similar color dress as hers and she risked a glance back.
When she saw her friend looking around them in confusion, she knew she had succeeded. As soon as the group reached a games stall, she stepped away and walked towards the shadows, intending to be inconspicuous.
She looked towards the bridge where the sun was slowly setting and felt her stomach flutter with excitement. The sunset. He said he would be here after the sun had gone down.
Alisa sat down behind one of the stalls and stared at her gloved hands. She could imagine it now- the soft music playing, the sweet smell of flowers, the way he would hold her hand while they danced and the subtle glow of light surrounding them would all be so magical.
She turned around and saw that the sun had finally set, allowing the evening star to become visible.
Please let him come, she prayed silently. Let him be on time or I would simply die.
She opened her eyes, aware she had almost said those words allowed. What would people think when they would hear it?
Alisa shook away the thoughts and gazed towards the clock tower. The dance would begin soon and he had still not arrived. His work had kept him late again and now she would have to dance with a total stranger.
Her eyes welled up with tears as the minutes passed away. She cursed whoever kept him late and then bit her tongue. It was possible that his family had kept him. The sky grew darker and darker and the music played loud in her ears. She saw couples happily gazing at each other as they started to make their way towards the center where the dance would take place.
She whimpered when the musicians took their places around the dancers. As they strummed their fingers on the strings, the people let out a cheer and the couples took their positions.
A man walked towards her and offered his hand. She looked at his palm and studied him. This couldn’t be him. Although the mask covered half his face, she knew just by looking at his polished shoes and pristine clothes that it wasn’t him.
“Would you do me the honor?” he asked. His voice confirmed his suspicions even if his gait hadn’t.
Alisa covered her face and wiped away her tear before smiling up at him. It was her birthday and a dance was what she really wanted. She got up slowly, exchanged names and made way towards the other couples.
As he drew her close, she looked around her, hoping that by some miracle, he would appear before her. She had wished for this for so long that it hurt that she couldn’t share her first dance with him.
The music changed to a quicker tempo and the couples stepped back for the group dancing. She took her place among the other women, carefully avoiding her friends and stood beside a woman who had grey flicks in her hair. Even though the masks hid faces, they didn’t cover up much of hair and she was relieved to be able to identify at least something.
Her partner smiled at her and she forced a smile back. She swayed to the music and held out her hands. The man in front of her took her hand and twirled her and for the first time this evening, she let out a genuine laugh.
Perhaps, she would finally forget about him and enjoy the evening. It was her birthday and she had desperately wanted to come here. But her parents had disallowed her, stating that she would not leave without their supervision.
She sighed as the events of the day clouded her mind. All her pleading had not deterred her parent’s mind and they had promised her a quiet dinner. So she had done, what she had never been able to do before- she had crept out her window with only his promise to give her courage.
But sadly, he had not made it. As soon as the dance was over, she would have to steal into her house and hoped her Mother hadn’t come into her room, looking for her.
As these thoughts raced through her head, a strong hand gripped her and she ga
sped. Her face was turned away from him and all around her people paid little heed to why she had paused.
Her mouth dropped open, knowing in her heart even before her mind had that it was him. She turned slowly towards him and blinked. The man before her was dressed in darker shades but his mask was bright gold. The hands that came around her waist were strong and possessive but his movements were fluid and lithe.
She put her arms around his neck and smiled. He spun her around and moved her away from the other dancers.
When they were in the little space between two stalls, he bent down to whisper in her ear, still dancing.
“I’m sorry I was late.”
Alisa smiled widely. “You’re finally here and that’s all that matters.”
“Won’t your family be worried?” he asked.
Alisa shook her head. “Those thoughts are for later. You’re here now and so am I.”
They danced silently for a while when he bent down his head again. “Are you having a lovely Birthday.”
She nodded, still mesmerized by the music that was playing.
“Any regrets?”
“Only that you weren’t my first dance.” She sighed.
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The Comeback
She stared at the foam spewing out of the washing machine and clutched the cordless phone tight. This couldn’t be happening. How could she have been so careless? The