Marry

Fifteen minutes of talk, twenty seconds of laughters and five seconds of eye contact was all we had and I was in love with her.

“hey, saw that girl, had she not been married already, I would have proposed her”, said my friend.

“You can still have her company on her way back home”, said I.

How?

Give me your phone

“Hi Marry, should I drop you home”, I texted from my friend’s phone.

“Sure”.

“Go drop her, she’s all yours for next 10 minutes”.

I could see her going with my friend, her hand on his shoulder, her thighs touching his back. She looked at me for a second, then t hurned her gaze to the sky, like she was thankful, like she was asking so many questions, like she held heavenly fire deep inside those rich dark eyes.

“So, how was the ride”, I asked my friend.

“Ride”?

“There have been so many of them, we have met thrice in last two months. I had this honor to feel her murmur, listen to her gossips, her hands pushing me away, then pulling me over her next second. We have been to unknown places, experiencing unknown feelings together, hiding under my blanket together, turning the shower on together”.

Heaven knows, with what ecstasy I listened to him, feeling each and everything they had gone through in past days. Yet, something was missing, like I had put a house on fire and was looking around for people to appreciate how I lit up that small village, which never needed that light.

“Where’s marry”, asked our program manager on get together.

“She had a personal problem, she can’t join us”, told a lady from her office.

“Look guys, we meet every three months and evaluate your work. Decisions for next quarter are made and one who doesn’t show up, can’t be expected to perform up to desired level”, said the manager.

“She would never show up”, said her colleague in low voice.

I rushed to her to inquire about the remarks she had made during the session.

” She’s fighting for her life in hospital. She had to go through abortion since her husband was abroad for last two years”.

I could literally feel the earth slipping under my feet, like the sky was falling over my head, like everyone was cursing me for lighting up the village.

“hey marry!, I’m sorry”, I leaned forward to hold her hand.

She turned her moistened eyes over me, placing her hand over mine said, “I knew from day one, I knew it’s you”.

“I had no other choice but to meet him, since you initiated this relationship. I’ve been fantasizing you, every time I met him. I knew, he tells you the stories that make you laugh, so I had to be a reason of your chuckle, even if it was killing me”.

It was more than I could hear. I had profaned her. I bent over, kissed her hand and left.

She was going away. I can never return those smiles, I knew. I had to die in chunks, unlike she did whole. I had to go through the same pain for decades, before I could die peacefully, like her.