The windy rain lashed against his body and the betrayal burnt ugly holes through his soul.The rain drops felt putrid and foul.The streets were deserted.Save for some faceless folks darting about, seeking straw shelters to thrust themselves into.His face was twisted in a paroxysm of pain.But no one took any notice as he ignored the torrential downpour and trudged on.The sky was bleeding,his heart was bleeding,maybe his eyes were too.The wound just ran too deep.
"Is this some joke?Coz I am not the least bit amused,"he had spat out angrily at Simran.10 minutes ago.
"I only wish it was,Rohit,"she had replied,guiltily averting his gaze."I myself am at a loss at why I did that.The whole thing happened so.....I don't know why I did it..I.."
"You kissed another guy,dammit!!!"The rage in his voice hit her so hard that her feet involuntarily shifted a few steps back."Why the fuck?"
She just hung her head in shame.
No excuse.No explanation.Just a deafening static of contorted conscience.
"I am sorry,Rohit,"her voice quivered and trembled,as the first drop of rueful tears wiggled out her tightly shut eyelids.
"I don't need this,"he shook his head, disgusted and made his way for the door.
"Rohit,DON"T GO!!!!!!!Pleasee...listen to me!!!!!!"She called out to him,utterly downcast and disconsolate.
Only to have the door slammed on her crestfallen face.
And he had stormed out of her house.Out of the tainted stench of betrayal.And into the fetid rains outside.Her scent was still lingering in his nostrils.Her essence.It used to drive him crazy,fanatical,smitten.Now it just gave out the stench of decaying disloyalty.The smell.It was everywhere.Rank,reeking,rotting.It made him want to puke.
As he peeled off his glasses to wipe off the droplets,memories of happier times deluged him.
Memories which now lay splintered into a million pieces of torn embraces,tattered hugs,scalding kisses,meaningless gifts and broken promises.The nestling of her butterfly-like small body in his bear hug,her clutching his arm tightly,all the fondling,all the coddling,his patting her delicate hands,his grazing his nose against the nape of her neck,their cuddling on the sofa,their huddling on the carpeted floor;the nuzzling,the playing around,the rubbing,the squeezing,the stroking,the toying;her burrowing herself into his chest,her curling up into a tiny ball in his enfolding arms;the snug comfort of her hands fitting perfectly into his,the snuggling,her soft cheeks pressing against his,the brush of her hair against his face and the delightful tickling which accompanied it.Every thing.Every tiny detail,every peculiarity of her,every minutia,every trait.Seared into his memories.To remain there now and forever.
But everything was in vain.She had spat on all his efforts.His love lay begrimed. Be-soiled.Blackened.Blotched and botched.
A car screamed past him,spraying up a grimy storm at the wheels,sloshing his already soaked body with mucky waters.
Oh joy!Just what the doctor ordered to make him feel all the more messed up.
Yet all the grime on his soiled shirt felt strangely befitting his situation.Inside,he was feeling as scummy,as stained,as squalid as his clothes.He felt his cornea burning,tiny needles biting upwards through its surface.The prickle of pain,the trickle of tears,the sting of sadness.The blood of the heart pouring out through miniature wounds in the eyes.He looked up at the skies oozing out heaven's blood and sobbed silently.
His clothes dripping with the liquid fury of the skies,and with his eye fluids zig-zagging down his cheeks,he now understood completely why Adele wanted to Set Fire To The Rain!
He returned to his home,drenched and soaked.Pulling out his soggy clothes and soppy shoes,he changed into something dry.As he flopped down on his bed,he reached for his cellphone.Five missed calls.All from Simran.With all the rain outside,and his mooning about her,he had been totally unaware of his Samsung
Corby buzzing in his pocket.
She had even sent over a dozen texts.
"It's raining so hard.Please come back inside.Plzzz.We need to talk."
He angrily jabbed the Delete option on the touchscreen.
"Are you ok?Don't get wet walking in the rains please.You have barely recovered from that viral.You'll fall sick again.Please pick up the phone."
Delete.
"Why aren't you picking up the phone?Please Rohit.Talk to me.I am dying to hear you say something.Anything.Say you hate me,say you never want to see my face again,say I hurt you,say I am a slut,say I am a whore.But please talk to me.Plzzzz."
Delete.
He didn't bother to read the rest of the messages.He ticked them all and expelled them to his phone's trash.Almost immediately,his phone pulsated in his palms.Simran was calling.He let the phone ring briefly.His finger hovered over the Receive button for a fraction of a second.But in a flash,he disconnected the call.
His head plopped down into the pillow,exhausted.He turned his face to the side to see a picture of them together set beautifully in a photo frame which she had spent three hours picking.The frame boasted of a majestic craftsmanship.It was classy,comely and charming.Its pleasing symmetry and its refined polish reflected off light in resplendent beauty.In many ways,the frame was just like the girl in the picture.Dazzling,delicate,divine.Fair as honey-mixed snow,fascinating as the sunrise on golden yellow sand,eyelashes as fine as silk.Gorgeous twin black planets in her eyes,around which his heart floated around purposefully and rhythmically like a satellite.Splendid eyes which makes a weary traveler feel that he has finally arrived home.An angelic smile which almost felt maternal-gentle,kind,overflowing with compassion.
Just a kiss on her lips in the moonlight,just a chance to drown himself in her eyes so bright,just to set everything in her life alright.These were all he wished for.He could clearly see everything in that photo.The thoughtful look on her face,as they cuddled together,watching the rain drizzle outside the glass pane.The misty reflection of her face on the glass.
The twinkle in her eyes.And her lips.Her heavenly lips.Their inviting wetness,which reminded him of hibiscus petals wet with early morning dew.Lush lips,he fingered them gingerly.Like he would the leaves of a touch-me-not plant,because they would fold inward and droop at the slightest touch.He gently played around with the mouthwatering,mellow moistness of her pout.And whenever he used to do that,she would blush.He would see them right away-tiny red rivulets climbing up the fine veins of her cheeks.It would start with a warm tingle in the sides of her face.Tiny pin-pricks of pleasure would scale down the walls of her face and down the flank and nape of her slender long neck.
They were just meant to be together.He knew it.He believed in it with his heart and soul.It was written in the stars,million miles away.Seasons would come
and go,but his feelings for her would never change.
But she had thrown all that away.Singed all that he held dear,scalded his faith in her,scorched his love.Everything.Reduced to ashes.With a violent jerk,he yanked the photo off the frame
.Fuck you,bitch!!!He cursed,venom dripping under his breath,and ripped the photo apart through the middle.The piece containing her image lay in his right hand and the part contaning him in his left.He tossed his half away and proceeded to tear up her half with a cancerous chagrin.He kept on lacerating her portrait,punishing her,until he couldn't tear anymore.He flung those pieces away in the trash bin,his face convulsed in rage.
Good riddance!!!
Five minutes later he was rummaging through his trash bin,collecting all the fragments of her shattered portrait.He spent the next two hours painstakingly gluing back every shred of the tattered Simran under the dim light of his study lamp.Once he was done,his fatigued eyes fell asleep,with her sewn back photo clutched tightly against his chest.
To be continued????
P.S.I am sad today.A friend of mine desperately wanted to crack an interview.And for some weird reason she didn't make it,despite being the only one in her institution to be interviewed twice.I wish her all the best for her future endeavors.She will make it one day soon for sure.
Anyway,this is the post I wanted to put for V-day but my writer's constipation beat me to it.So anybody wants to continue this story?Clarify the female POV?Anybody?Anyone?No one?Shucks!!!I knew my writing sucked and no one would give two hoots to continuing this tale.
Ok...I guess we have to wrap up the tale here.Unless,of course,one of you decide to end it for me.:-)
Do tell me what you think about this story.Comments and brickbats are welcome and warmly encouraged.
