Unbroken

He was sitting by his window when her call came. It had been cloudy all these days and finally the rains had come well and truly. He loved gazing aimlessly out his window watching the rain. He could almost feel getting drenched by them. He loved that feeling.

His moments of solitude where interrupted by the vibration of his mobile phone. He looked up and was surprised to see her name flashing. After all it had been 4 months.

He kept staring at the phone unable to decide whether to pick it up or not. He felt unsure. Because, he knew her. Once she’d decided it was over between them nothing and no one could change her mind. Hence he was surprised to see her call after all this time.

He finally did pick up the phone.

“Never thought I’d call again did you,” she sounded bright and cheerful. Once again he was taken aback by her tone. He was expecting her to sound grim, stern and stoic, not this cheery. “How…how are you,” he fumbled, his mind still confused with too many thoughts.

They had broken up four months ago. Fights and disagreements had been an integral part of their relationship. Tumultuous was the word he often used to describe what they shared, in his post-break up phase. They were both strong-willed egocentric individuals and like their love even their disagreements had a lot of passion. The fights had increased drastically towards the end. At one point it felt every time any one of them opened their mouths it would lead to a counter retort from the other, ending up in a bitter fight. It seemed as if they’d forgotten to be nice sweet and loving towards each other. After one of such many violent disagreements, she’d decided they split up. “It’s no use fighting like cats and dogs just to stay together. We hardly have fun anymore,” she announced. “We can always try,” he had tried to reason. But like always she overruled him. “I can’t stay with you any longer.” She had made her mind up. She had to move on.

“Are you still moping about for me, or have you moved on CB,” she chirped, knowing his response very well. She knew he was still pining for her. “I…I am single still but doing well,” he tried to sound chirpy too adding a false bravado to his tone. “My little Cry Baby,” she cooed on the other side, smiling it herself. “Ok so we fought again and this time it lasted four months. Can we be normal again,” as always, she was calling the shots. He nodded silently, the mobile stuck to his ear, not a word from his lips. “I can’t see you, you idiot, but I know that’s a yes,” she laughed out loud. She knew too well.

They spoke for hours that day. Cleared out a lot of things, misunderstandings, and a whole lot of unresolved issues. They both felt happy from inside. For all their fighting and disagreements they did share a love which they knew was special. It couldn’t end so easily. I’m not promising you no more fights, get it CB, she was still teasing him relentlessly. She called him Cry Baby as she knew he was a softie from inside. “Yeah right, as if I don’t know you,” he retorted with gusto. By now he was back in his elements, the happiness of having her back in his life, evident in his tone. “Let’s meet quickly instead of wasting our time on phone calls,” he said. “Our usual place. In an hour,” she was excited at seeing him after a long gap too. They both were.

“I don’t know why you had to do this,” the elderly gentleman told her, as she disconnected her mobile and struggled to get off her bed. She looked at him and smiled.”You won’t understand this doctor. You have to know CB to understand. If he finds out a couple of months later he will be shattered. I can’t make him go through that. No matter what happens to me.”

These four months had taken a toll on her looks. She was almost half her size now and her lustrous mane now reduced to a fashionable boy cut. She yanked the drips off her arm even before the elderly gentleman could take them off her. She put on a trendy cap and her favourite Armani shades. He had gifted them to her on her last birthday. She smiled as she saw herself in the mirror. “CB get ready to be bowled over again,” she cooed.

“Can I at least drop you,” the gentleman offered. “No worries doc, I can drive very well even now,” her eyes twinkled as she grabbed the keys from the bookshelf. As she sat in the driver’s seat she noticed the envelope from the nursing home in the passenger’s seat. The positive malignancy report from the oncologist still lay there. She folded the envelope twice over and put in her handbag. “Let me leave him smiling and happy. With happy memories of me,”  she said to herself as she turned on the ignition.

The car sped along, reaching its destination where he was eagerly waiting to meet her, to start a new life. And she was reaching there, just to be in time for a last happy goodbye.

Copyright (c) Pratik Majumdar