chapter 9

A month ago… “How have you been, Meenu aunty?” Anant asked as they both touched his aunt’s feet to seek her blessing.“I am fine, how are you two?” Meenu aunty hugged Anant and placed a hand on Chetana’s head to bless her. “I am glad that you came all the way from the town to visit me.”Before they could reply the phone rang and Meenu aunty rushed to pick it up.“It’s your uncle,” Meenu aunty turned to Anant with the receiver glued to her ear, “why don’t you show Chetana around? I will be back in a moment.”Anant nodded and raised a thumb to his aunt who then happily turned to chat with her husband.“Let me show you the house,” Anant said as he took Chetana’s hand in his, which was the only liberty she allowed him to take.“This is Meenu aunty’s master bedroom,” he said as he ushered her into a large room.With one stealthy look at his aunt who was busy talking over the phone, he abruptly closed the door. He pulled her the waist and pushed her against the wall, pinning her arms against the wall.  “What are you doing, Anant?” Chetana almost choked as blood gushed through her veins.“I can’t wait any more, Chetana.” He looked fiercely into her eyes as if he were a famished blood hound. “I am going back tomorrow.”“But you had promised me…” Chetana struggled to breathe as her throat became parched.“I am sorry, I cannot keep my promise,” he said as he pushed her down on the bed.“Not here,” Chetana pleaded with folded hands, “at least wait till we get back home.”“No, I can’t,” he said as he took his jacket off.Chetana covered her face with her hands and cried out. She removed her hands from her face and opened her eyes slowly when she heard Anant laughing hilariously at her. Meenu aunty, who had heard her screaming, came rushing into the room.“What happened, dear?” she asked looking at Chetana’s deadly pale face.“Nothing, aunty,” Anant said as he controlled his laughter, “just having some fun.”“Grow up, Anant!” Meenu aunty said hitting him lovingly making Anant loose his battle with laughter again. *   *     Back in the solitude of her room, Chetana felt as if his laughter was echoing in the dead silence of the night. She turned to look at the clock. There was still time for her flight. But she felt as if she was already with Anant. She could see him sitting on the bed and smile mockingly at her. She could feel him whisper naughty things into her ears. Even when she closed her eyes tightly, he was still there.“Urrgh…” she said as she hid her face behind a pillow, “you will turn me crazy, Anant.” *     *     As Chetana looked down the window, the aircraft seemed to move very slowly as if it were deliberately crawling to test her patience. Or was it her eagerness to meet her Anant that made it seem so? It was her first journey by air and her parents were extremely anxious about her safety. But in her current state of mind, nothing mattered to her much. She was ready to undergo any ordeal just to catch a glimpse of her man. She remembered the day when she was helping Anant pack his things when he was about to leave for Singapore. A month ago… “Anant,” Chetana asked, “was it your own decision to marry me or have you married me because of your parent’s wishes?” She remembered her own mother’s emotional blackmailing to get her agree to the marriage. “It was my decision,” Anant answered as he counter-checked his luggage.“How could you decide whether to marry a girl or not just by meeting her once?”“Chetana,” Anant smiled as he flashed a quick glance at her and then turned to look at his over-laden bags, “you wouldn’t believe if I tell you.”“What?” Chetana was puzzled, “tell me, na.”“Even I didn’t used to believe in such things and had shrugged them off as mere fancies, until it happened to me.” Anant sighed.“What?”“Love, destiny, soul mates were once just words for me that I believed to have existed only in the movies that I used to watch with my friends after bunking classes during my college days.” Anant sat close to her and cupped her face. “But the day I met you, I clearly heard a voice within me that said: she is your girl!” Singapore      A hoarse voice announced the landing of the flight at Singapore airport and brought Chetana’s attention back to the world around her. She got up and moved out of the plane along with other passengers. A mini crowd had gathered outside the airport to receive the passengers. She searched for the face she had been missing for over a month among them. Finally she saw Anant waving smilingly at her from between the crowd. Even though she was so exultant that she felt like running into his arms, she had to chain her ecstasy as she was aware of the presence of people around.“How are Amma and Appa?” Anant asked as he placed her luggage in his car.“They are fine,” Chetana looked at him but he seemed to be more interested in arranging the luggage than in his wife.“And what about Meenu aunty and all others?”“They all are fine too.”“Amma told me that she has sent some mango pickle for me.”“Yes, it’s in there.” Chetana pointed towards the duffel bag and went to sit in the car.Anant drove the car silently, as if lost in a world of his own.‘What kind of stupid questions you are asking me, Anant?’ Chetana wailed in her mind while watching his every move from the corner of her eyes. ‘Why don’t you ask, ‘how are you or have you missed me’? After all, we are meeting after such a long time. Has mango pickle become more important to you than me?’ Anant hit the horn violently for the vehicle ahead him to move and Chetana gasped as the sound brought her back to the real world.“People who don’t even know how to drive take it to the road and become headaches for others.” Anant snorted, “Who the hell has issued them a driving license? I wonder whether they have one.”Chetana looked out of the window as she couldn’t bear to stand Anant’s furious face. A little later, her gaze bounced back to him. Both his hands tightly held the steering wheel. Chetana wondered why he hadn’t even held her hand today. Why was the man, who had once dared to touch her right under his parents’ nose, sitting inert when they were alone?Anant turned his car around the corner and pushed the brakes in the parking lot of a building.“Come,” he said as he stepped out of the car and led her towards the lift. “It’s this way.”He turned the key into his apartment’s door and walked in with the luggage after her.“So this is it,” he said as he opened the door of a room and Chetana stepped in behind him.As soon as she was in the room, he pushed her on the bed and jumped over her, giggling madly. Chetana was relieved to finally have her Anant back.“I missed you,” she said as silent tears made their way out of her eyes.“I missed you, too,” he said showering her with craving kisses.