No matter where you are in your life, you may regret choosing the wrong love.
You may repent of some bitter deeds you committed in the past.
What is it like if life luckily gave us a second chance? Can those issues be resolved at least then for a better life?
For instance, what about love in middle age?!?!
"No!Nothing! Why would I say anything? What should I tell?", shouted Alok, raising his eyebrows and hiding his smile. Nisha sighed. She then grabbed the jar with rasna on the dining table and emptied it on his face. While Ishitha threw her mouth open, Alok wiped the cool drink and exposed his innocent and tiny eyes at Nisha who got up and left.
"Sir, why don't you confess to her? That's why see how angry she is now", whispered Ishitha. Alok gulped a glass of water. He reasoned," Madam, I am scared to propose to her. Why don't you understand the man's nervousness?" Ishitha collected the three white plates with chilies or traces of chutney left, on the table. As she headed towards the kitchen's sink behind, she chuckled, teasing him, "Oh come on! In most relationships, it's the guy who proposes first! Being a grown-up middle-aged gentleman, why the hell are you so scared? Spill the beans, sir. It's the only solution to cool your lady's volcano down."
Dr.Alok nodded and headed towards the end of the hall. As soon as he opened the wooden door, his eyes went over Nisha sitting on the commode. "Hey, you!", she yelled, at which he closed the door. He saw himself in the mirror of the washbasin beside and slammed his forehead. "Fuck!", whispered he. "How dare you?", Nisha, standing behind him, screamed, in his ears, like a baby at the theatre.
"Nisha medam, I am sorry. I didn't mean anything wrong...Your fault too. Why didn't you lock the door?...", Alok began to justify himself. "Didn't I get up and walk to the washroom in front of your damn eyes? Won't you knock before coming inside? Is this the way you behave with a girl?...", she continued scolding him as he kept stepping back while her steps neared him with big red eyes.
They went inside the dark bedroom. She stumbled on the cot's leg and was about to fall on the bed when he caught her hand. "Leave me!", she refused, trying to release her hands from his. "Sexy! You will fall", said he, tightening his grip. She yet pulled her hand with all available force that his right leg slipped.
He fell on her who fell upon the bed. With his hands wrapping her waist and her right hand on his left, their eyes were interlocked. She closed her eyes as he leaned forward and smelled her right hair bit by bit from the hip to the head. She opened her eyes only to witness him kiss her cheeks. Just as he was about to kiss her lips, she put her hands on his chest and pushed him. "Ishi, why did you invite this deer?", asked Nisha, barging into the kitchen where Ishitha was busy washing the plates. She chuckled, enquiring, "What did he do now?"
Nisha spoke out, "He entered the washroom when I was using, and then he ki..." She blushed, recollecting how he kissed her cheeks. "I have always been longing for your love, saar. But now when I am getting it, it's the wrong time. Yes, I hate Payal. It doesn't mean that I should encourage you to cheat on your wife for me. Its injustice although she is my enemy", she thought, with tears accumulating in her eyes.
"Hi ladies! Deer here", joined a voice from behind her. Nisha smiled at the giant spongy orange deer soft doll with white circular dots on its body. Alok revealed his face behind the deer at which Nisha blushed. She turned back to face Ishitha and the two laughed their hearts out. Alok too laughed along as Nisha took the doll from his hands.
Ishitha's laptop buzzed from inside the room juxtaposed to the dining hall. She turned on the lights as soon as she stepped in. "Guys, I got a call now with my sister." She continued, "You both carry on. I will join you after a while. Excuse me!", as she closed the door and headed towards her bed. Nisha frowned at Alok and sat on the single sofa in the hall. Alok shrugged and sat opposite her.
Resting her chin on the right hand, she glanced from the ceiling to the door, noticing the bright yellow chandelier fixed to the opposite wall. Her eyes finally went on Alok whose hands were holding the newspaper but his eyes were all on his lady. On being caught, he shook his head and skimmed the daily manual. She looked away and smiled to herself. He yawned after a quarter an hour, stood up, and moved his hands from left to right as if he were exercising. She smiled, watching him.
"Sexy! Medam, are we going to sit like this forever?", he asked. "Suggest something then", she replied, getting up and walking towards him. He blushed, nodding readily.
"I have a plan", he began, adding, "You must be tired of discussing and gossiping over the same old tenth-class stories with the same Ishitha. For a change, this time, why don't you share with me?" Nisha laughed. She pointed out, "My dear saar, you don't even know any of my school friends. How will you be able to involve?..."He shook his head. He caught her hand and pulled her towards the kitchen. "What's funnier than chatting about someone your listener doesn't know? Let's try something different!", he highlighted, "Especially over a bowl of noodles!"
She turned on the electric stove. He opened the yellow packet of noodles to keep the silver-painted masala packets with 'Masala' written in dark red on them. "Oh god! There was a guy called Rohan. He used to run out of our Chemistry classes yet our sir kept ignoring him. Hahaha!", she began, as they laughed while she filled the vessel with water. She placed it on the smallest burner on the extreme bottom left end. He started smiling and chuckling as she resumed, "One day, sir was teaching in the class. This guy suddenly got up and ran out without seeking any permission!"
Tears filled her eyes as she laughed. He asked, "What funny medam? Rohan must have been punished for being disobedient..." She gestured with her right hand for him to stop." Wait, saar. Rohan had gone to fill his water bottle. He forgot the lid above the drum. So, guess what? He had spilled all the water on his way back from the drum at the end of the corridor to our class at the other end...", she narrated. He pointed at the bubbles jumping on the surface of the liquid inside the cooking vessel.
She broke the noodles and added the crunchy wheatish pieces to her vessel. "And then?", asked he. She laughed and continued, "He had not only forgotten the lid but also carried the bottle upside down. On top of it, he, the sportsman, ran on the water and slipped like mad. 'Abho!', shouted he, with his legs at the entrance of the classroom." She then added the spice as she cooked the noodles. He chuckled. She completed, "See that's why you should respect teachers-said our Chem sir." He burst out a round of laughter while she held her stomach tightly and laughed aloud.
"Sexy! The Chemistry sir really had a nice Chemistry with Rohan, I believe. Just look at how he utilized the situation for himself. How clever!", Alok commented. Nisha gestured for him to bring the two white bowls from the opposite shelves covered with glass. They laughed as she filled the two bowls with yellow spicy noodles with tomatoes and beans here and there. He placed a fork in her bowl and another in his.
"Wow! Alok saar the gentleman!", she teased, and he laughed again as they walked towards the balcony. "Some other day, Pooja began singing bah bah black sheep suddenly during the assembly! Come on we were in high school back then! Mad girl, I used to hate her back then and even now", added Nisha, as Alok pulled a chair for her and sat on the opposite resting chair.
"Fuck!", he exclaimed, bulging his eyes with anxiety. "Princi went mad and....", Nisha went on, laughing her heart out making him chuckle along. They ignored the bowls in their hands; Nisha went on, on and on, moving her lips with words of various schoolmates. Alok laughed and moved his lips after every story she shared.
The grandfather clock in the hall struck half-past twelve. Ishitha walked out of her bedroom. "This bitch Pooja once pricked Rohan's buttocks with a compass. It was the first day of our geometry class in sixth grade. She had placed the compass on his bench and the sad guy really just because he snatched her snacks! I was sitting beside her. Yuck! So, I hate her. Hahaha!!!", Nisha's crackling laughter accompanied her narration. "Fuck! Pooja sucks! Looks like she was a selfish and nosy girl back then", added Alok. The two nodded and smiled at each other.
"Phew! Guys, yummy food in vain?", asked Ishitha, grabbing their bowls of noodles which had turned pale yellow by then. "Oh boy! Alok and Nisha were so spellbound in the conversations that they forgot to have their yummy snack", commented Ishitha, raising her eyes and lips as she smelled the food sticking to the cold bowls.
"They bought two cups of coffee to drink. But, they saw each other and totally forgot their plans! This is how lovers are. They keep talking on and on that they end up talking for hours", Alok commented, blushing at Nisha who was looking outside at the water continuously flowing from the fountains in a line with the crickets chirping in the background. Nisha glanced at him. Their eyes were into each other again.
"Good going, sir! Say it now. Tell. This is exactly the right time", thought Ishitha, pushing her fringe behind her ear. "Cool breezes, midnight, and on a balcony. Perfect romantic setting! Go ahead, sir!", Ishitha wondered, smiling at the two.
"Dude, I am leaving. It's getting very late", Nisha informed. She got up and headed towards the couch in the hall. She picked up her handbag that Alok caught her hand. "Give me a minute, medam. I have something for you", Alok stopped her. He opened his bag. He took out a long rectangular box wrapped in a red glittering gift wrapper and a small box of diary milk silks along. He extended his hand and offered it to her.
"Why me? Gift them to your wife, Payal", screamed Nisha. Alok shook his head. He argued," No, I bought these only for you and not for anyone else. I am serious, medam. Please accept them for me..."
"Shut up!", yelled Nisha, at which Ishitha left the bowls on the teapoy. Her eyes went from Nisha to her colleague and back to her bestie. Nisha grabbed his gifts and threw them on the floor. She caught Alok's collar and gnashed her teeth. She warned, at the top of her bossy and loud voice, "You are acting like a typical man now. What are you up to? A single and unmarried mother is always looked down on by society. Are you underestimating me? Wow! Your intentions are crystal clear now. You feel that a lonely lady would come and live with any man. That's why you were pursuing me all these days, am I right? Some random lady who is still a virgin...why don't I take her true love for granted?..."
"Stop it!", Alok yelled, slapping Nisha hard on her cheek. Nisha looked back at him. Tears rolled down her cheeks as his meek eyes felt heavy blinking at her. "I never thought that you too used my feelings just like Payal. Husband and wife both are made for each other. You both are such a nasty and sadist couple." Nisha wiped her tears. She smiled and looked at him, concluding, "I wonder how someone could be so rude or even think of being rude to someone who was always nice to you...In my case, I had always loved you...all these twenty-eight years."
She sobbed and left the house. Alok ran behind her. "Nisha! I didn't mean anything as you think. I am sorry for slapping you...Nisha, please stop!", Alok cried, following her in the heavy rains. He managed to catch up and spread the umbrella for her. "Sorry", he apologized while she snatched and threw it away.
"A man who raises his hand at a woman is never a gentleman", she whispered in his ears and ran towards the car she had parked afar. Alok knelt down, looked up at the sky, and yelled, "Nisha, I love you! Please don't go away!"
What on great heavens just happened? Will Alok manage to convince Nisha now?
Dear readers,
Thank you for following my series and reading the episode. Rate it and write your review, give it a heart and share it in your circle whenever you are free. Your voice matters a lot to me.
