‘I don’t care! And you deserve it if they do so.’
‘I’m sorry Rivanah.’Prateek collapsed on her feet. ‘Please forgive me.’
It made her feel awkward: an HR person from her office pleading to her by touching her feet. It can’t get more absurd than that. This guy was a psycho. Period.
‘Get up Prateek. What nonsense is this? Don’t make a scene now.’ She tried walking away but Prateek refused to leave her. Another employee came in and stopped when he saw his HR on his knees in front of a junior.
‘Forgive me please,’ Prateek pleaded.
‘Yes, okay,’ Rivanah somehow managed to say and sauntered away uncomfortably.
Prateek stood up and smiled at the employee who was looking at him aghast.
‘One has to plead mercy when your girlfriend is angry,’ Prateek said with a smile. The employee shot him an acknowledging smile before entering the washroom.
Later that evening, Rivanah shared the incident with Ekansh on the phone.
‘I just don’t get it. I have told him clearly that I’m committed and yet he keeps pursuing me.’
‘Then all you need to do is lodge a complaint with the authorities. This is a kind of passive harassment,’ Ekansh remarked.
‘Hmm. I will if he repeats it again.’
From the next day onward, thankfully, she saw Prateek maintaining a distance as he had been doing before. She was relieved. But it only lasted till the Friday evening of that week.
‘I know I did a bad thing. May I make it up to you with a nice dinner tomorrow? It’s Saturday after all,’ he asked. They were alone in the office elevator.
‘It’s okay Prateek. As long as you don’t repeat what you did, it is okay. And sorry, I can’t come. I’m busy tomorrow.’
‘Boyfriend?’ he asked.
None of your business, she wanted to tell him.
‘Yes.’
She saw his face go pale.
‘Is he coming to Mumbai?’
God, his questions never end! ‘Yes,’ replied.
‘Great. How is he coming—train or flight? Let’s go and fetch him together?’
Why can’t I kill this person? RIGHT NOW. Rivanah feigned a fake call and excused herself.
It wasn’t her boyfriend she was supposed to meet on Saturday. She had planned to meet the stranger—someone she knew nothing about. But somehow she kept getting the feeling that the stranger knew a lot about her. Who was this person? Someone she knew? She was itching to share this with Ekansh but she knew he wouldn’t take it well and would refrain her from meeting the person. She promised herself she would tell him everything once she met the stranger.
On Saturday morning, Rivanah was reading the newspaper when she came across a report about a young techie’s brutal murder in Bhandup by an unidentified person. What if this stranger is a serial killer? she thought and freaked. As Ishita walked into the room with her cup of green tea, Rivanah finally decided to share the whole story with her. Ishita listened to her patiently and said, ‘So, this person wants to meet you because you didn’t cook the three dishes he asked you to, even after he gave you a month’s time?’
‘It’s not that simple. I told you one of the messages said I would be crying soon.’
‘Confusing indeed but intriguing nevertheless.’ A naughty smile appeared on Ishita’s face. ‘I so love mystery men. What if he looks like Ian Somerhalder?’
‘Ishu Please! I’m not in the mood for this.’
Ishita seemed pensive for some time and then jumped up, clapping her hands in excitement.
‘Wow, you have a secret admirer daring! You know secret admirers are awesome in bed because day and night they only think about fucking you and when they finally get hold of you, they don’t let you go. Don’t you remember SRK from the movie Darr? That K...K...K...Kiran thing was so damn sexy!’
‘Come on, I’m not going to fuck him. I only want to know who the hell this person is and why he is leaving messages for me. And I’m not sure if he is an admirer or not.’
‘Trust me he is one. This crying business is all a farce. He said so to gain your attention. Now that he has your attention, he wants to meet up. And I’m so damn sure he’ll be hot looking.’
‘How are you so sure?’
‘Gut instinct. Tell Ekansh he has some competition now.’
‘Shut up! If I tell him about this person, he will ask me not to meet him.’
‘Oh yes. And once he tells you something, you will have to obey it, right my Bhartiya nari?’
‘Whatever! But I’m a little scared too. What if he is some creep or a killer or something?’
‘But it isn’t a secluded house or a garage that he has asked you to meet him at. It’s very much a public place. So don’t worry. I have been to Cafe Basilico before so I’ll go with you,’ Ishita said.
‘Thanks sis,’ Rivanah said giving her a relived smile.
‘But if he turns out to be someone really hot, he is mine then, okay? You can have him only when I’m done. Deal?’
‘Oh please! You can keep him for all I care. But what if he doesn’t meet me if he sees you with me?’
‘He won’t know we are together,’ Ishita winked at her.
Rivanah reached Cafe Basilico in Bandra on time. She had stepped down at the Bandra station along with Ishita but they took two separate autorickshaws to reach the restaurant. The guard outside asked her name and immediately took Rivanah to a table reserved for her. The cafe had both an outside seating arrangement as well as an air-conditioned area inside. The waiter took Rivanah to a table which was in the open. She made herself comfortable, looking around to see if she knew anyone there. Ishita came in minutes later and sat by a table opposite her. Minutes passed but nobody approached her. The stranger had asked her to meet at 8:30 and it was already 8:50 now.
What should we do? Rivanah Whatsapped Ishita.
Wait. And don’t look tensed.
Rivanah looked around smiling.
Don’t smile like a fool too, Ishita Whatsapped.
Rivanah giggled and sent her a smiley emoticon.
At 9 pm sharp, a message popped up in Rivanah’s phone from an unknown number.
Call Ekansh.
Rivanah frowned reading the stranger’s message. She had a bad feeling about this. Was Ekansh alright? She looked at Ishita once. She hurriedly called Ekansh. He picked it up on the third ring.
‘Hey babu!’ He sounded busy.
‘Hi, are you alright?’ She couldn’t hide the tension in her voice.
‘No!’
Rivanah immediately missed a heartbeat.
‘I’m fucking my life sitting in front of a computer in my office,’ he said.
‘Oh okay.’ She relaxed a bit.
‘But what happened?’ he said.
‘Nothing, just wanted to hear your voice,’ she said quickly conjuring an excuse. ‘I’m with Ishita. I’ll call you later.’ She cut the line and noticed another message had popped in by then from the same unknown number before.
I’m waiting inside.
Ishita’s eyes followed Rivanah as the latter stood up taking a deep breath. There was momentary eye contact between the two girls. Ishita understood she had received some communication from the stranger. She kept her eyes fixed on Rivanah who ambled inside the air conditioned sitting area. Standing by the entrance, what she saw almost made her hurl. Ekansh sitting with a girl, their hands clasped on the table as they sipped on a single blue coloured mocktail together. There was a certain spark in their togetherness which made Rivanah feel they were long time lovers. She collapsed on the ground before Ishita could reach her.
11
The love that seems true isn’t always true love.
The stranger had sent Rivanah this message sometime after Ishita, with the help of the restaurant staff, put her into an autorickshaw and took her back to their flat. Ishita had identified Ekansh from the pics Rivanah had shown her. Before the staff reached them, she glanced pleadingly at him a few times but
Ekansh, for reasons best known to him, didn’t leave his seat or the girl he was with. His face said he wanted to help but his action conveyed his reluctance. Ishita understood that perhaps he had kept the girl he was with in the dark about his relationship status as well and approaching Rivanah would call for a lot of explanation.
Rivanah was semi-conscious in the autorickshaw and Ishita was trying her best to keep her awake.
‘Should we go to a hospital?’ Ishita asked slapping her cheeks softly.
‘Home. Take me home,’ Rivanah mumbled.
Her mother called. She knew she had to take the call. Summoning every ounce of energy left in her, she took the call.
‘Hello mumma.’
‘You don’t sound good Mini.’
‘Nothing mumma.’
‘Is everything okay?’
She would have almost cried out when she stopped herself, ‘Yes. Everything is okay. I have an exam tomorrow at office so I’m studying. I’ll call you later.’
‘But tomorrow is Sunday.’
‘I have an exam,’ she repeated and asked Ishita to switch off her mobile phone. After reaching their apartment, Ishita helped Rivanah to the bed where she slept for an hour and then, in her sleep, started crying. A disturbed Ishita woke her up only to find her cries transform into howls. Ishita tried her best to console her half-heartedly knowing well nothing could mend a broken heart except, maybe, time. Sometime later, when Rivanah had still not stopped sobbing, Ishita mixed a few sleeping pills that she often took with milk and coaxed Rivanah to have it. In no time, she was sound asleep.
A little after midnight, the doorbell rang. Ishita opened the door to find Ekansh.
‘What is it?’ she asked in disdain.
‘I want to talk to Rivanah.’
‘She is dead. How do you care?’
‘You don’t know anything about us, so don’t judge me.’
Ishita looked intently at Ekansh and said, ‘You work in Mumbai itself and not Bangalore, right?’
Ekansh was quiet.
‘And you would have never told the girls about each other till you were done with one of them, isn’t it?’
‘Look I wanted to…’
‘You, or for that matter every other douchebag like you, are still alive because it is illegal to kill else I would have castrated you in the restaurant itself. Do you have any idea how much Rivanah loves you? If I see you around this place again, I’ll call the police. Get lost,’ screamed Ishita and closed the door on his face with a thud. She looked through the peephole only to see him wait for a minute and then leave.
Ishita went inside to check on Rivanah and heard her blabbering in her sleep: I love you Ekansh. Don’t leave me. Don’t walk away. I won’t do anything wrong. I have listened to you and I always will. I’m yours forever. Be mine always. The verbal ramblings continued all through the night. At times when she was quiet, Rivanah’s body suddenly shuddered while her eyes oozed out tears. Ishita sat beside her all night, caressing her forehead whenever Rivanah spoke or cried. There was a moment when Ishita too broke down looking at her roomie pleading for love in her sleep. When she couldn’t take it anymore, Ishita finished every drop of Vodka she had with her and slept.
Rivanah woke up in the morning feeling unpleasant about herself and about life in general. She heard Ishita talking to someone over phone in the other room. It was her mother.
‘Why is Mini’s phone switched off? Is she alright?’ a worried Mrs Bannerjee asked on the phone. She and her husband had finally allowed Rivanah to stay in a PG only when Meghna explained how common a thing it was for young girls.
‘She has a little fever, aunty.’
‘Fever? She said she had an exam today.’
‘Wait, I’ll give the phone to Rivanah.’ Ishita pressed the mute button on her phone, went to Rivanah’s room, and saw she was lying on her bed staring at the sunny day outside through the window with swollen eyes and messed-up hair.
‘It’s your mother,’ Ishita said. ‘Talk to her.’ She passed on her phone to Rivanah.
‘I told her you have fever,’ Ishita whispered and sat beside her grasping her hand with assurance.
Rivanah sat up, cleared her throat, and said feebly, ‘Hello Mumma.’
She was having problem suppressing her pain.
‘What happened, Mini?’
Those were the words her mother said to her as a child whenever she went to her with a complaint. These words would make Rivanah howl till her mother hugged her tight and convinced her everything would be alright. And everything indeed would become alright. But now she was a grown up. She couldn’t go to her mother for every little problem no matter how much she wanted to. She simply couldn’t tell her mother that Ekansh had turned out to be the asshole that she thought he could never be. That their fairy-tale romance had come to a brutal end. That true love indeed was like stardom and it didn’t happen to everyone. Just that until yesterday she thought Ekansh and she didn’t belong to that ‘everyone’ category. The sight of him clasping hands with the other girl flashed in front of her eyes, and she felt like her head would explode.
‘Mini?’
Rivanah locked her jaws, took a deep breath, and said, ‘Nothing mumma. Just a little fever.’ She glanced at Ishita once.
‘What about the exam?’
‘It has been cancelled. My battery was exhausted so the phone got switched off automatically. I’ll charge it and switch it on in a minute,’ she said and talked as normally as she could for the next two minutes before cutting the line. She gave the phone back to Ishita, released her hand from her grasp, drew her legs close to her chest, and sat looking out of the window. Ishita took her roomie’s phone from beside her and switched it on.
‘Get up!’ Ishita said. ‘Take a shower. Shit happens. Flush it before your emotional room starts to stink.’
‘You don’t get it, Ishu,’ Rivanah said without looking at her. ‘I loved Ekansh from all my heart and soul, and whatever there is that constitutes the core of me. He was my world, my everyfuckingthing. There was nothing beyond or before him.’ Tears announced their presence in her eyes again.
Ishita scuffed and said, ‘I won’t understand?’ She let go off a heavy breath. ‘Some years ago,’ she began, ‘there was a prince charming who came into my life. I was nineteen then and he was thirty two. He was a smooth talker who pampered me silly. He made me feel like a princess who was born for good things. I was simply clean bowled by him and he knew it. Everything was so perfect. And all of it happened so fast that I felt I was living a dream. I even lost my virginity to him and after my graduation, I told my parents about him who took an instant liking to him. He was even ready to get married to me. Invitation cards of our engagement were printed and were about to be distributed when he vanished all of a sudden.’
‘Vanished?’ Rivanah now turned to look at her roomie.
‘Three months later, my father located him with the help of the police. He was living in Jalandhar with his wife and a kid. Basically, he began the affair with me when his wife was pregnant. But when he was confronted about it, he insulted my dad and called me a whore. And his wife supported him on this. Can you beat that? All these prince charming types that we read about in books are actually prince chutiyas in real life. I cried, I sulked, I was depressed, I was angry, and then I accepted a simple fact: what shopping is for girls, sex is for guys. It’s too basic an itch to be controlled with the dog-collar of loyalty.’
There was silence after which Ishita continued, ‘Do you think it is possible for me to fall in love after this? The kind of love where you prefer to remain blindfolded because you trust your heart too much? Do you think it is possible to even live after knowing you won’t ever be in love again because you will never ever trust anyone? Every time I think of him, I hate myself. I feel wasted.’
Rivanah stretched her legs, leaned forward to reach Ishita, and hugged her tight. The emotional storm brewing in Ishita calmed down.
‘Ekansh was here last nigh
t,’ Ishita said. Rivanah broke the hug and looked at her, ‘What did he say?’
‘He works in Mumbai.’
And she thought he was flying for her from Bengaluru.
‘I don’t believe this.’ Rivanah’s jaws dropped.
‘You know I did slap my prince chutiya in front of his wife. That was my only comeuppance. You have to get yours otherwise you will keep crying forever.’
‘Hmm,’ Rivanah said. As her phone turned on, it started buzzing with continuous messages. There were fifty Whatsapp messages from Ekansh. Each of them said he was sorry and that he could explain himself. Rivanah immediately blocked him. She tapped on her Facebook app, next, and blocked him from her friend list as well and threw away the phone on the bed in disgust.
‘At least you guys weren’t physical. I can’t tell you how good I felt when that bastard made love to me for the first time. And now I feel like a fool thinking about it.’ Ishita observed how Rivanah hid her face with her hands.
‘Oh dear, when did that happen?’ The last time Ishita inquired, Rivanah was still a virgin.
‘He was here last weekend. We did it then,’ she said crying profusely.
‘Bloody mother-fucking faggot.’ Ishita said and consoled Rivanah caressing her back. ‘It’s okay. It’s not a big deal. At least your feelings for him were genuine.’
A few seconds later Ishita added, ‘By the way, you should be grateful to the stranger who disclosed this truth to you.’
Rivanah picked up her phone again and showed Ishita the stranger’s message: The love that seems true isn’t always true love.
‘It’s so correct,’ Ishita said, ‘We all are in love with the fictitious version of a real person; our self-made illusion. We commit ourselves to what’s going on and not to what really is. But...’ Ishita paused and then said, ‘Who is this stranger? And why doesn’t he help me out the way he helps you?’ Rivanah tried to smile looking at her roomie’s mischievous face.
‘I think you should at least thank him,’ Ishita said.
Rivanah was about to type a ‘thank you’ on her phone when Ekansh’s call came.
Marry Me, Stranger Page 7