She sat on her bed crying. Today again she had a fight with Somu, her beloved husband. It had just been 2 years since both of them got married. These fights have already become a part of their early morning routine.
She was a financially independent woman before marriage who left her job to cater to the initial demands of a family life. Sitting home was just not her. Yet she chose, to strike a balance. Why would not Somu understand that. Every other morning he would give some or the other reason to come home late. The passion was already amiss.
It was her parent's anniversary today and they had called both of them. As usual Somu did not have time. She could have gone alone but that would hurt her parents. After all how many times did they formally invite both of them for the fear of letting her down.
While she was sitting, he called out - loud and clear, the ragpicker for the colony. Yup, she did have some old stuff to discard. She went out to ask him to wait and noticed a young boy in his early twenties doing the job. "Who are you, where is the elderly fellow who comes daily", enquired she. "He is my father and off late is not keeping well hence I come". There was a certain charm to the boy hence she asked him to sit and offered him water. She came to know that he was doing his post graduation and was not at all ashamed to pick rags. If his father could do this for the entire life to give him a good education he could surely do it for a few days. They sat for long and chatted. She contrasted his love for his father with Somu's love for her. How similar situations and how different the treatment. One took time out of love and the other could not find time for the love of his life. They talked for almost half an hour.
And then it became a routine, she would talk to him daily on some or the other pretext. She sensed he also liked talking to her. Both of them found solace in the conversations they shared. He would tell her about how his mother left his father because she did not like the job he did and he swore to stand by his father no matter what. She would talk about Somu and how love was just crawling out of their marriage. The class confines held no bar for both of them. Where hearts meet, brains are forced to take a backseat. There were no worries of inflated egos, pretenses, false sophistication, Only plain, unadulterated admiration.
They now started looking forward to this happy hour as they termed it, free from the worldly woes and so personal. She was no longer bothered by Somu's indifference to her. Somu was also happy to be relieved of her constant complains.He was amazed to see her light, playful demeanor back but failed to understand the reasons behind it. It was good for her if she continued this way.
It had been a month today that they met. She offered to take him out for coffee. He was a little reluctant to get inside the five star hotel. He had still not adapted to her expensive ways. But he liked the way she kept a low profile despite the class. Hence he agreed. It was just the upbringing she had. Once inside they sat sipping coffee without a word. For the first time there was silence between them. Probably their eyes did most of the talking without letting the brain know of it. She paid the bill and came out. As they sat in the car their eyes met again. There were two agonized souls lurking in them. They came closer and then their lips met. There was no urgency. Slow, soft, pure emotions simply flowing in as if in a gesture of giving. Giving peace, calm and soothing the bruised selves. Their eyes met again. And then she realized. The reality of the situation struck her for the first time. She withdrew in a fraction of second. He, not knowing what happened, just gazed at her. She started her car and raced home. Once there she ran inside and locked herself in, tears streaming down her eyes.
Does happiness always comes attached with a price tag. Suddenly all the money in the world fell short to buy what she wanted. She opened her door to have a last look at him, he was already out of sight.
