Now and Then...

“Just listen to me once at least! I’m sorry goddamit!”

“Bhavya, what’s left to hear now? It’s all clear, crystal clear.”

“Shweta come on now! Don’t behave like a kid! I told you that I’ve had a bad day, and now you do this?”

“You had a bad day, so now you spoil mine?”

“No sweetheart, it’s not like that.”

“Please Bhavya. I’m going. Don’t stop me. I just need some time alone.”

“Just because my boss doesn’t allow me to return home on my first anniversary, you go away from me. Wow! Too damn good.”

“Bhavya, it’s not going to work. I’m going.”

She banged the door shut behind her and raged off into the darkening night. Her foot on the gas pedal, she raced around the city, finally stopping at her favorite place, the bridge. Parking the car, she got out, and sighed as the scenic view of the city dazzled her eyes and slowly worked on her previous mood. As she leaned onto the railing, her brain wandered back in time to that day, the day he had made her realize how much he loved her.

He banged the door shut as the third chime sounded on the wall facing the door. Throwing his bag onto the already piled up bed, he began picking up the clothes which lay around haphazardly and assembled them in a makeshift heap. Shifting the bag and some of his books on the bed, he lay down, and shook his head in despair as his eyes swept through the room. First the results, and now this, the whole day was going wrong. He couldn’t do anything about the former, but the latter he could change.

“Bhavya, my man, you just did something you shouldn’t have. Just go and correct it all so that the matter doesn’t go any further. Shweta had been right in the first place, and you just shouted her down after not listening to her.”

Referring to the aftermath of the results, which took place in the car outside the university, he meant the shouting match he had had with Shweta, his new girl friend. He hadn’t scored good enough in his subjects, and that had been because he didn’t listen to her.

“Having my study time after football practice was a bad idea in the first place, and I ended up skipping around half of those sessions. Wish I’d just implemented her plan. But after all this, I shouldn’t have shouted at her today morning. Damn my anger,” he said to himself, with a string of swear words.

As his brain looked around for a solution, eye lids took refuge together, and plunged him into a wave of darkness.

His eyes slowly creaked open, and widened steadfastly as they spied the glowing display of the watch.

“Holy cow, I’m going to be late again,” he exclaimed to himself, remembering his meeting with Shweta.

He was the one who had called her, and he hoped to make her understand what was going through his mind. His thoughts had pranced around for a bright idea, but unfortunately, he had come up with none. Dropping his shirt, he quickly changed his clothes and with a brief glance in the mirror, he ran out the door.

Bhavya ran through the night towards his destination, where Shweta would be waiting. About to round the last corner, he saw a florist, and that sight made an idea pop up in his mind.

She still remembered him turn round the corner with the flowers held in his hand. She breathed deeply and turned to the spot where she was standing on that day. She still remembered his words, and they echoed to him as she pulled out her mobile phone and texted him to come where she was standing. He had commitments at work, and she would have to accept it, rather than making a mountain of it.

She drove off to get what she wanted, the taillights of her car glimmering in the darkness of the night.

He nursed the drink in his hand as he read her message. Expecting the worse, he shook his head, and got ready to walk to the bridge, avoiding the car and further luck problems. Tracing the path he had taken on the day of their first fight, he walked past the florist, and round the corner onto the bridge.

There she stood, beautiful as ever, facing away from him. His head bowed low, he shuffled to her, and then cleared his throat. She turned to face him, a smiling hanging precariously on her face. Clearly surprised by this, he walked a step back and began, “I’m sorry Shweta. I don’t do all this purposely, but it just happens. I just want you happy, and I try to do that always. Things go wrong in between, and it all gets spoiled. I’m sorry.”

“I know Bhavya. It’s fine honey. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”

“No! It’s not your fault Shweta.”

“Hush, let me complete. Don’t interrupt me, okay?”

He just nodded as she continued, “You were right, and I know that I should have understood your point before removing all my anger on you. We could have gone out later too, but then anger clouded my vision. There are some necessities in life, and we can’t just skip them in order to get what we want.”

“You remember it all…”

“Bhavya, it’s our first anniversary today. But let’s take it as a lesson, and make sure we never do this again. This fight lasted us some hours, so let’s make sure that this is the longest fight forever between us.”

“We shall make sure. I love you Shweta.”

“I love you too Bhavya.”

Reaching into the car, she pulled out a bouquet of purple orchids and roses, it was just a mirror image of what had happened in her flashback. As he came to her and enveloped her in his arms, she murmured to him, “Happy Anniversary Bhavya. I love you.”

“I wish you the same sweetheart.”