Trembling Shadows
A romantic, psychological thriller
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
They all thought that they could enjoy atleast the trip even the old woman would not let them stay in her house. But it has turned out like this here. If there was no rain, it would have been to some extent enjoyable. They could atleast go out and see the village if there was no rain. The rain not only appearing ominous and bad but it was creating a lot of inconvenience also. There was no sight of rain until they entered into the village. Why it had started this suddenly she could not understand at all.
“Malathi what you are thinking?” Vinod came near to her and asked finding Malathi thinking in such a way all alone in verandah. “It seems became an epidemic that everyone keeping himself alone and thinking deeply”
She drew a long breath and hissed out. “I am thinking whether I did a mistake by taking all you people into this old house”
“Why you are thinking like that?” knitting his brows Vinod asked her.
“We all have thought it would be more enjoyable. Even we have not been let stay here by the old woman we could enjoy travelling. But see how it is now?” frowning herself she said.
“Who said we are not enjoying our time here?” he asked her again with the grin which usually played on his lips.
“Are you people really enjoying here?” she surprised a lot. “How anyone can enjoy a rain ridden place like this with a bedridden old woman inside?”
“Call her grandmother. If Rajesh or Tanuja heard they would get angry.” He mocked angry.
“They would not hear us. They are in the upstairs room.” Malathi said with a smile.
“Where the other people are now?” looking around himself he asked.
“Don’t search too much. You could not find them downstairs. They are all as well upstairs in the same room.” She said.
“Why all these people have gone to upstairs?”
“Why don’t they go? In this rain we cannot move ourselves into the village anyhow. The upstairs room is the only place that we people can go into and enjoy.” She said.
He seemed submitted. “It seems that our daughter and son in law managing themselves with other people easily here.” changing the topic Vinod said.
“They are managing themselves with other people easily of course” she paused for a moment as to give stress to what she was going to say, “but they cannot manage in between themselves.”
“I cannot understand what you are saying” he frowned. “Put it straight for me”
“Are you that dumb Vinoo?” she looked straight into his face. “You are a psychologist. Cannot you know by looking at our daughter and son in law that there is a problem to them?” There was irritation in her.
“I am sorry I could not.” he said in slow voice which filled with worry suddenly. “I did not observe them that minutely. You tell me what that problem is?”
“I too don’t know what it is exactly” now he could see worry in her voice. “But I came to understand that it is mostly because of our daughter’s boyfriends”
There was some gruesome silence. “How he could come to know about that? Our daughter is not that much dumb to let him know about her affairs.”
“If there is an issue like that it would not be covered for longer” she said. “There are so many ways that those types of things would come out and to be known to the other partner. I had foreseen a possibility of it in before itself. I had discussed about this with you too.” she said.
“You did, of course” he nodded his head in agreement.
“It is mostly your mistake Vinod. I warned you in before itself about our daughter’s friendships. You did not take it seriously at all then. If you have taken it seriously then itself, it would not have come this far at all now.” the anger in her intensified.
“Cool my dear” putting his right hand on her left shoulder and squeezing it gently he said. “Whenever a problem like this shot up, we should try to find a solution but not fault with each other.”
“The problem now came and find a solution to it” she tightened her mouth like a child and said.
He laughed suddenly. In her fifty three years of age as well she was a surprising thing to him. She would appear like a child sometimes. Sometimes she would appear more skillful and matured. Sometimes very much a problem solving type and sometimes would irritate at even very smaller things too. He stooped forward and put his lips on her lips. “Huh, someone may come down and spot us kissing” she feared but she too enjoyed the kiss.
“First we should know what the problem is.” he said with a calm and steady voice slumping himself in the chair next to her chair. “If you cannot know about it yourself, I employ myself. Then we shall try to get a solution to it. Before that, you don’t break your head with unnecessary thoughts.”
That was what she liked mostly in him. A real problem solving type and not like her. He would maintain that coolness at almost all the times. He could in fact solve any problem without much struggle. But she would make even a small problem too to a big one with her uneasiness and irritation.
“What would happen to me if you are not with me all the time?” she placed her head on his shoulder and said in his ear.
“I was always with you and I shall be always with you.” he said in an assuring voice. “That is why you are not using your brain in other things to solve the problems as you are using it in your professional life. Otherwise you can be as much successful in other matters as you are in your professional life.”
She took her head off from his shoulder and asked him “Do you say I am successful in my professional life?”
“Why do you doubt yourself like that? Rajesh said many a time with me how skillful and successful you are in your professional matters. He said to me on so many occasions that the hospital would not run at all without you.”
“That is an exaggeration. I may be skillful and successful but he is more skillful than most others. There is no doubt at all.” she said and clipped her lower lip between her teeth frames and started thinking. She was helping Rajesh from the day they started practicing together. In some cases he could not involve as freely as she could especially when it comes to ladies. Sometimes he would handover the cases come under his specialization also if the patients were sensitive women. He would help her in delivering the babies even he was not a gyneacologist. He developed the skill in looking after the pregnant women and delivering the babies under Malathi. Just like her, Rajesh also was quite indispensable in that hospital. As she was the gyneacologist, the case of Tanuja was handed over to her. By the time Tanuja came to the hospital her abortion was half the way and Malathi worked very hard not to make it bad. Rajesh also helped her while treating Tanuja but not as much involved as Malathi. But the little time he has spent with Tanuja, made him attracted towards her so.
At first Vinod did not like to interfere with her thought process as she was appearing more and more beautiful to him in her deep brooding so. At her advanced age too she could manage herself to be slim and there was little sagging in her breasts. Under her sari he could see the cleavage and it was still luring and beautiful. There was very little grey in her hair. Her facial skin was not wrinkled at all and her eyes were as active as they were before.
“What you are looking at me so?” she suddenly found him looking curiously into her face and asked.
“What every time I am looking at” he smiled.
She smiled and breathed deeply again. In their twenty five years or so of married life the instances that they had quarreled in between themselves were very little. He was in fact such an understanding type. She too was not an arguing or quarreling type. Even his income was quite lower comparing with her she never had thought about it and considered him as lower. He too never felt any inferiority complex because of his less income comparing with her.
“What might be the problem? How it would be if we try a guess” she suggested to him.
“You need not try much. I think it is certainly because of our daughter’s boyfriends as you have said” Vinod said.”There would be no other reason at all to create differences in between them”
She remained silent for a moment and then said “If it is so what should we do then? If the difference created between them is because of our daughter’s boyfriends it would become very difficult to settle it.”
“It is not as difficult as you are thinking of” he smiled. “Now a day all the girls are entertaining boyfriends. In towns it is a common feature.”
“Anand would not take it that easily at all. If he asks for a divorce what we can do then?” there was fear in her.
“Are you thinking that he would go to such an extent?” he knitted his brows again.
“Why would not he?” she was expecting some reasonable explanation from him saying that it would not happen like that.
“What good he would get by taking a divorce from our daughter?” she got irritated as she encountered with a question rather than a pleasing explanation.
“Vinod try to be kind with me, I cannot understand riddles easily.” she said pleadingly.
He kissed on her lips again and said “Our son in law in his right mind never does so. Why because, our daughter is beautiful and attractive. He cannot get a girl like her again in his whole life especially after he became a divorcee. At the same time we both have hoarded a lot for our daughter’s sake and bought properties as well in her name. Are you thinking that he is mad enough to lose them all?”
Her face brightened up suddenly and she smiled. “Why cannot I think in your way?”
“Mainly because you are not me” he smiled “We are going to play it in this way. Even he complains about our daughter’s boyfriends we take it very easily. We are not going to put sorry faces and say excuses. All right” she nodded her head, understood fully what he had said.
“There is another point we need to take notice” Vinod said “Except his impressive degrees our son in law is not having either looks or means. He has to work like a beaver if he goes out leaving our daughter’s society. So he must be compromised to the situation however worst it may be.”
“What we do if he says he wants to give divorce to our daughter anyhow?” there came a fearful expression in Malathi’s face.
“We ask him to go ahead. In his right mind our son in law never would do it like that. The situation never turns like that. If our son in law asks for divorce, then itself we think about it.” he paused for a moment and said again. “Anyhow I assure you it never does happen so.”
This time she kissed him strongly on his lips. “You are always having an ability to make me happy” she said. Whatever he said made her relieved from her anxiety.
(I hope that you enjoyed upto here. I shall publish the next chapter as soon as possible. Please don’t forget to rate and review.)
