11 Chapter 11 - Blunt Talks

'Tarun said he wants to meet me' she spoke up.

Why? To create chaos , to make circumstances more volatile , to leave you void again? I asked.

'What if he doesn't , what if he wants to make things right ? work stuff out'

The fact that her long gone husband was suddenly showing up before a month really bothered me and the situation was getting on my nerves, and I was surprised by this as much as she was.

So I guess I should head out, if he's really coming back , there's no point in me accompanying you here , I said , yeah and I sobbed for a while .

'No I want you to stay. He'll be arriving here the next weekend and why can't I have a friend accompanying me? I'm not giving you the choice to object here'.

The more Reema tried to hide her feelings the more they seemed evident. She had a soft corner for him, and why not , she tied threads of love with him , but the only thing that I was anxious over , was him feeling the same or this was the start of demolition , in Reema's life!

She asked me to stay and told me that I could use the room next to hers, called up a couple of maids the very next moment and asked them to clean the room.

'So, you got a cab after getting off I suppose!'

'yeah, was hard but finally luck favored' I replied.

'you look all worn out , get a bath maybe , and freshen up , we'll have the lunch together at my room since I don't go to the dinning hall downstairs which is most of the time empty', she said.

I went to my room which was all clear now , opened the windows by the billet and let the fresh air penetrate , it was beclouded , the sunshine nowhere near to be spotted , It would raining within a very short period of time , I thought that I should better get a shower, I remembered each and every part of her house vaguely but enough for me to reach my destinations.

I stood under the shower and thought of all possibilities that could take place, her husband settling with her , though the chances in this case were pretty thin or him coming back and asking her for the custody of the baby that was to be born , I thought all these with my eyes fastened , the cold water felt soothing and I couldn't get enough of it , it all felt like remedy , but then my stomach ached for food and I figured out I was hungry. I got out of the shower only to find that rain had already begun , maybe I couldn't perceive it because of the sound of the water gushing from the tiny yet substantial shower holes, the garden was all wet and all of the center courtyard as well, I walked towards Reema's room wiping my wet hair.

'There you are, you almost starved me to death, guy' she said gently.

' I ain't that ruthless!' I replied.

' Were you counting the number of tiles ?' she joked after a gloomy start to our conversation , in the wake after my arrival.

' the younger me did that often, not sure about the older lad, ha ha  ' I said smiling.

Her maid brought us lunch and we dug in within no time.

' So how did he proceed with the conversation?', I broke the ice.

' Dunno, said he'll be here and wants to meet me desperately' she smiled as she said these.

'Maybe he understood the fact that what he did was not praiseworthy.'

But deep within I kind of knew what he was upto, It seemed clear but I couldn't understand why Reema wasn't able to solve an equation this easy. There was a ray of hope that had ignited in her and she was certainly hoping for things to get better.

I nodded gently and went on with my food.

' So who's maintaining all the finances here at Calcutta?' I asked.

' You remember that my great grandfather left quite a handsome sum right? Enough for a couple more generations I guess!' she answered.

'yeah' I replied. 'And what did you do after graduating ?' I asked.

'Worked for a few banks here and there, never got to settle perfectly in a place, continued that even after my union with Tarun, he never had any issues, you see, the work of a chartered accountant is more difficult than it seems, years of education, banks, offers , maintaining audits , providing necessary statistics and that was one tiresome job, so decided to get rid of it once I was expecting' she stated.

'Are you going back? To the bank I mean'

'Maybe' she answered.

We decided to complete our lunch and take a stroll onto her rooftop.

It was partly chilly and the winds were expectedly colder. Rain had stopped a while ago, it was the same place where Reema and I had shared a brief moment before I left for Bangalore , neither Reema nor I were able to face one other and as soon as we entered her terrace a strange atmosphere surrounded us and we went into total silence.

'You remember this door right?' she asked.

I knew what she was hinting at, our last kiss, the memory that will probably never fade, it was candid, everything was perfect back then and yeah, I messed up things pretty soon and pretty effectively.

'Coffee?' I approached.

'you know the limitations and the ingredients' she answered smiling.

I went downstairs and roamed quite some time trying to remember where the kitchen was. I finally found it and got both of us mugs filled with coffee, with extra sugar in hers of course.   

I climbed upstairs, and I saw that she was staring at the sky and smiling faintly, that smile when you know something or somebody with a satisfactory answer is approaching.

I handed the coffee mug and added 'with extra sugar'.

She sipped and smiled at me; I knew what that smile was about but I was waiting for her to say it aloud. 'Perfect' she remarked.

I was pleased. It sounded euphonious and melodious to my ears. We both talked a lot that night, about trips, The Great Himalayas, read conspiracy theories on the internet and then dined in together later that night. It was one of the best evenings I'd ever witnessed, I thought to myself.

We laughed, had Pringles, played UNO, scrolled memes just what the youth does these days  and finally we decided that she should go to sleep.

'It's late' I said, 'I should get going

I helped her prepare her bed and wondered how she had managed to live here all by herself these months.

'So did you ask anyone to come over, all these months, you did not live here all by yourself did you?'

'I did,well,for the most of it, a couple of my cousins came over to stay, not more than three months and yeah for the rest,i've been alone.'

I bid her goodnight and passed.