The night (Part IV-Concluding Part)

(First, apologies for having taken so long to post the concluding part. I was almost done with it when the poetry contest was announced and the lounge was closed. Then when it reopened, I got busy with college. Anway, for those of you who have been following this series and those of you who would like to read the previous parts, you can find them here, here, and here. )

Yes, indeed it was—the voice of Shashank. Just last week, on her birthday, Shashank had gifted her a cell-phone. She was very happy. She’d asked him to record his voice on it and had set it as her ring-tone. So every time she received a call from him, it was as if he was calling out her name. Neetu had been shaken back to reality… Shashank was calling her, and she needed to answer her phone.

“Hello Shashank…” she muttered into the phone, while the stranger stood beside her.

There was no answer.

“Shashank… Hello, Shashank… is it you?” Neetu stammered into the phone. Shashank had never bothered to call her ever before. There had been many instances when he’d not returned home at night; he’d come back the next morning, pick up some more files, bathe, change, have breakfast, and leave without uttering a single word or even looking at his wife. Sometimes, she wondered if he was a workaholic robot! She’d tried to kindle love for him in her heart. Alas! All her efforts had been in vain. But the question remained: “why had he called up tonight? And why wasn’t he answering?” The question made her uncomfortable and her stomach cringed.

“Hello…” a different voice answered. “Hello… who’s this?” Neetu asked. “May I know who I am speaking to please,” the stern voice said matter-of-factly. “This is Mrs. Neetu Sahni, wife of Mr. Shashank Sahni, whose phone this is,” replied Neetu, starting to get worried.

“Well, Mrs. Sahni, I am afraid I have some very bad news for you,” the stranger said with deathly seriousness. Neetu could hear her heart thumping wildly within her chest.

“Mrs. Sahni, your husband has been found dead in his office this evening. Apparently, he’d lost all his money and had mortgaged his house and business in a bid at the race last week. So, he committed suicide this evening. There’s a suicide note here as well claiming the same. We have started the investigations. May I please come and meet you tomorrow to hand over the body and complete some formalities? Mrs. Sahni…. hello… are you there?”
Neetu was frozen. She’d just lost her husband forever, and she had no wealth or house to fall back on. Everything was lost. She started to feel dizzy. As she was about to fall, someone held her, held her close, comforting her. She clung on to him tightly as the world turned into a blur.

“Neetu…” she heard her name escape from the stranger’s lips. That was the first word he’d uttered since their chance encounter. “Neetu… are you okay?” Hearing him utter her name injected some strength into her, and she composed herself. Tears filled her eyes, but they were not tears of sadness or loss. They were tears of relief, tears of freedom—freedom from being imprisoned in a relationship that had killed the woman within. It was as if Shashank’s death had given a new lease of life to the woman in her. She felt nothing for Shashank or his wealth—both had never mattered to her, and she was, in some way, thankful that both had gone away from her life for good.

She looked into the stranger’s eyes, her own eyes full of hope, love and some apprehension. The stranger seemed to understand: he tightened his grip on her as if to reassure her that he’d never let her go, and looked back lovingly into those dark brown eyes of hers. Yes, finally, she had found love, even if in the most unlikely of places and under the most unlikely circumstances. She didn’t even know his name. But deep inside, she knew that they were meant to be. And they would be, together, forever. She closed her eyes to let the feeling, the moment sink in. From the secure confines of his arms, she opened her eyes to the sky… the first few rays of the sun were beginning to grace the sky. Love had finally dawned… after that night!

(PS: I had initially thought of a rather sad ending. But something urged me to try and end it on a happy note. I hope I have been able to do what I set out to. This is the happiest end I could think of. If you think you could come up with a better ending, I'd be glad to know. Thanks for stopping by... I hope it was an enjoyable read!)

The night (Part III)

(This is the third part of the story. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. As always, comments and criticism are more than welcome.)


Neetu stood there, speechless, numbed, her eyes filled with despair and helplessness. She could not come to terms with the fact that she had come this close to finding love... but had lost. She didn’t know what to do. A ray of light flickered at the end of the platform… a train was entering. Neetu stared blankly at the train as it approached her. The logical next step would have been to get into the train and go back to the same old loveless life. The train stopped in front of her. She took a step towards the door, contemplating whether to get in or not. She again turned back to where he’d stood, with the hope of finding him. Destiny had decided otherwise. There was still no sign of him. She was being a stupid, mushy, crazily romantic teenager hoping for the impossible to happen. Reluctantly, she got in, tears in her eyes; the train was rather empty, but for some reason, she decided not to sit and leaned against the door. The horn blew. She looked up…

There he was, staring right back at her from the platform. The look on his face urged her to get off the train… and the horn blew. What was she to do? Was she dreaming of him or was he really there? What if she took her eyes off him and he disappeared the next moment? What if she stood helplessly in the train looking at him on the platform, while the train moved out, shattering beneath its wheels her hopes of finding love? “Oh my God, the train’s moving,” she realized, and ran to get out of the train. She jumped out of the moving train like it was a matter of life and death, she was about to fall on the platform when he caught her in his arms... The world around them stood still. They looked into each others’ eyes—eyes filled with pain, hurt, anger, guilt… but sparkling with love.

After their collision, he’d tried to walk away… but the look in her eyes when they’d first collided urged him to stay. He had contemplated walking up to her, but decided against it because she didn’t seem to care. He felt as though the entire episode meant much more to him than to her. He had started to climb up the foot-over-bridge, but halfway through, he decided to go back. He had turned and looked down at her, standing on the platform. She was talking to someone on the phone. And then, she turned and seemed to be desperately looking for someone in the crowd. “Maybe she’s looking out for me,” he thought. A lump formed in his throat. He started to climb down the stairs, one by one, and when he was only 4 steps from the ground, he saw her getting into the train that had just arrived. “Oh no,” he said to himself, “I can’t let her go…” He ran… and two breaths later, she had jumped from the train, into his arms…

He held her tight, as though he was there to protect and comfort her, and she rested her head against his chin, tugging at his jacket. He kissed her forehead lightly. The world was watching, but to them, nothing else mattered as they enjoyed the quiet company of each other. Not a word was spoken, not a look was exchanged… love had entwined them in a bond so unique; it was as if both had been destined to find each other. They stood still in each other’s arms… until she heard a familiar voice that shook her and brought her back…

“Neetu…”

Was she imagining things, or was it really the voice of Shashank, her husband?

The night (Part II)

(This is the second part of the story. Read the first part here. I got a few suggestions and all of them have pointed out that they want a happy ending. I assure you all that it will be a happy ending... as it is, we have enough sorrows and unpleasant things to deal with in our daily lives... the least we can do is have happy endings at least in stories!!! Hope you enjoy this series...)

She was walking away, tears streaming from her eyes and flowing over her cheeks. And as she stopped, she looked at her hand, and something glistened over her finger… a tear… atop the diamond on her ring finger. It was as if someone was reminding her that she, despite being held captive in a loveless marriage, had no right to love or be loved…

Her marriage was like a heartbroken lover standing at the edge of a cliff, wanting to jump, but slightly hesitant to end his life. The woman in her who’d wished for her prince charming to come and sweep her in his arms had died a brutal death when she’d married the stranger whom she was now living with, under the same roof. The stranger was happy with his life—work, parties, racing, and alcohol. He took good care of her, like he did, of the vase in his living room or of the Picasso on his bedroom wall. But that was all there was between them. And today, she’d run into another stranger! There was one little difference though—the person whom she’d been living with since 2 years seemed like a complete stranger, and the stranger whom she’d run into a couple of minutes before seemed like she’d known him for years…

Neetu had turned to work in order to distract herself from the emotional trauma of this meaningless relationship. She looked for love in all the possible places—right from buying an ice-cream for a street kid to helping a blind old woman cross the road. However, the desire to be loved and cared for by a companion had persisted as a void deep within. And today, destiny had given her the opportunity! A turbulent debate simmered inside her… between the woman who was lawfully wedded to a man and the woman who’d just had the first taste of love. And it seemed like the latter was winning…

Her phone rang. Someone from home was calling her. She expected it to be her husband…after all, who else would be calling her from her house at this hour? She felt surprised at the fact that he’d be concerned enough to actually call her. The next moment, fear took over. Had he come to know of her feelings for this stranger? “No, how can that be when I am myself not sure of my feelings,” she said to herself. Her phone kept ringing, and finally, she composed herself and mustered up enough courage to say “Hello…” “Memsahib, where are you? Are you okay? When will you reach?” It was the maid servant.

“Radhabai, I’ll be late. The trains are late. Is sahib at home?” she asked.

“No memsahib. Sahib won’t be coming home tonight,” Radhabai replied.

“Had he called? Has he had dinner? Did he ask for me?” Neetu inquired, like a dutiful wife.

“No memsahib. His secretary had called,” Radhabi said. The debate still continuing within her, Neetu said, “I’ll be there as soon as possible. You go to sleep. I have the keys,” and hung up.

“Now’s the time to end it all,” she decided. The man whose wife was out somewhere till the wee hours of midnight didn’t even bother to inquire about her. All her efforts to save her marriage had been in vain. She couldn’t be stuck forever in her loveless marriage. She had the right to love and be loved in return. The woman had won over the wife. She was yearning for love, and what she had seen in this man’s eyes overwhelmed her. She had to tell him how she felt. She didn’t care if he felt the same way or not, but she simply had to tell him. If she didn’t, she’d regret it for life. She clenched the phone tightly as if to derive strength from it, wiped her tears, straightened herself, and turned back…

Alas! There was no one in sight. He was not there. He was gone. Desperately, she looked around…her helpless eyes sought him. But he was nowhere to be seen. Was this destined? A taste of love and then a rude shock? Her heart sank. She could not believe that she’d lost him… forever

Or had she?

(PS: Please keep pouring in your suggestions for the next part. I'd be obliged. And a big thanks to all of you who read the story and gave me feedback.)