Story One- Apart

There are different interpretations of love. So sad it cannot be predicted how relationships end.

            Samuel was sitting unobtrusively at a table in one corner of the ballroom. The ballroom had various cynosures worth stealing a gaze- bouquets of roses placed high over the wall could be smelt from anywhere in the hall. the rosy fragrance was mingled with the musky aroma of the meadows outside. The rains, apart from inducing that musky aroma, had made the ambience chiller . The soulful melodies that were being turned out of the piano were worth lending ears, the lights were dim enough to accentuate the passion men and women engaged into dancing had. But Samuel's gaze was towards a girl sitting aloof, in the midst of regaling, elderly, elite people imbued into an air of revelry. The party was for the occasion of her parents' twentieth anniversary, and Samuel's family had recently shifted in their vicinity. She was dressed in black, her long black hair caressed by the cool breeze from the nearby window. She was sitting between her mother, an auburn-haired lady dressed in peach Gossamer, sporadically nudging her whenever she yawned, to her left, and her father, a bald middle-aged investment banker, dressed in black linen for the occasion.

            Samuel observed that she was feeling like a fish out of water, filled with tedium. The table  was probably occupied with people from high social strata- business partners, family friends and relatives of equivalent stature- and the girl tried her best to stay decent and sober, and not to be mocked about anyhow. She was afraid of making clumsy moves or saying things which would ultimately lead her to remain snubbed there. So doing nothing was the best policy. Moreover, the constant vigil that her mother rendered side-by-side made her ill-at-ease. She wanted to be out of that pond where she was not free, but shackled by fetters of social etiquette.  Samuel comprehended her silent cry, as he looked at her black, resplendent eyes, fixed at a glass of water a fellow occupant had, a stretch-of-an-arm distant.

            The girl was sitting still, her father bracing his over her shoulder, rendering her the paternal warmth. But this wasn't something she had an urge for. Her urge was fulfilled by a lean boy in a tuxedo, his brown hairs parted in the middle. he placed a glass of water before her- "Water, Madame!", said he, and went off with an empty tray in his hand. The girl looked at Samuel with eyes full of gratitude. Samuel smiled back to her, in the direction opposite to his stride, and went out.

            He was out of the ballroom now, his heart pounding and his breath gusty. The night was black as usual, and it had stopped raining. He felt good about showing her some consideration. This was where a person feels good, in-fact pampered- When a person is too taciturn to propose a wish, they feel delighted when someone fulfils it for them. That's what love was, according to Samuel. Thinking to keep her comfortable and free, even if he had to be in unrest for that was what made him feel he began to love her.

***

            The party was over and all the elite people were at their homes by that time, when Samuel was looking at her, sitting by the vanity fair, clad in her silk nightdress. The window to her room was open, which allowed Samuel, so lost in fancies of love that he had not changed yet, to look at her, preening herself in the mirror.

            The girl was about to blow off her candle, when she felt she was being observed. Looking at her right, she found Samuel, watching her. But this time, he was not at his own window, but at 'her' window, his face dipped into the mild aura of that candle in her hand.

            "Hi !.....", said he hesitantly. The same phonetic tone was made by her in response. "Hi. What are you doing here?", said she mildly, her voice as soft as a nightingale. "I'm Samuel. I am new here....and...I live nearby...and...", and he kept invoking the pace-breakers as he said along. He was not accustomed to talking to people from the opposite sex, and the same age. He thus halted by asking," What's your name?"

            "Alice. ", and they shook hands. Though her stoic approach had made him less timid, he was still dubious if she had recognized him. His doubt was warded off finally- "Thanks for that glass of water." Never before had such a prosaic declarative produced a smirk of bliss over Samuel's face. Alice asked, "You are new here. Where are you from?" "I am from Connecticut. We had an ancestral house there. We had to sell it to raise funds.", "Oh!", and Alice chose not to probe further. "So how do you feel here, at Baltimore?", she asked. "I feel like home here, with such good people and places around, and it's calm in here." "Baltimore is a silent place." "Yes...", he nodded.

             Suddenly, a feminine voice came from behind the door at the opposite wall. "Alice! Time to bed, darling!" "Oh! Good Bye....Samuel, right?" He nodded, sniggering. "Time for sleep. May I see you later?" "Sure!". hearing this, she went in. "Good Bye, Alice!", said Samuel, and he went off her window. The night was less black then.

***

            The summer vacations were on, and there was a lot of time for Samuel and Alice to spend  with each other. The mornings were spent by the lake, under the pre-vernal maple trees and ducklings that swam with glory, cutting their way through the water, whereupon small waves proceeded to both sides in a diverging fashion. The tepid days were spent in a horse-stable, owned by Alice's father, now in abeyance.

***

            As the lakeside vernal maple trees grew older, the two souls, tailor-made for each other were getting entwined with greater virility. Alice would annoy Samuel by talking about her friends in school, and Samuel would intermittently pass her the bottle when he felt she was thirsty, or would sensitize her whenever she felt uncomfortable at any point of their tryst. Though Alice never complained about her condition, prediction by Samuel would but enthrall her.

            "How do you know I am thirsty?" "Show me your tongue." Alice pulled out her tongue, making that childish sound of purposeful mockery along with. Samuel rubbed his finger against her tongue. "Yuck! Your finger tastes bad!" "Your saliva has thickened. See.", Samuel rubbed his thumb with his finger. "Now let's  have water."

            Long walks would make Alice weary. Though she was ordained free to speak out whatever she felt by Samuel, her ego was her restraint. Samuel would just load her on his back and resume walking. Alice would not say 'No', since she felt relieved, but wherever she thought she could resume, she would dismount.

            As they walked along the aisle of flowers in the garden, Alice found herself spellbound on seeing an adorable butterfly sitting onto the loveliest of flowers. In the next moment, Samuel was trying to catch that butterfly.

            Samuel could easily detect by the slightest change in the expression of her face, when Alice's heel was scratched by a prick. As usual, Alice wouldn't complain. but Samuel would rub that area, making her sit, and removing her footwear.

            One day, Alice was wearing a nylon dress that her mother used to wear in her days of youth. Samuel, looking at the tiny bruises the hefty embroidery had made on her knees and elbows, asked her why at all she wore that dress, if it was not cozy. "It's my mother's. She asked me to wear it for today. She had accidentally found this in her closet." "But I thought you live by your own rules." "Mothers cannot be overruled, you know that!"

            Some people might have interpreted this treatment of Samuel towards Alice to be possessive and that Samuel didn't give Alice liberty and space. Samuel did observe Alice closely, and 'was' possessive about her, as every lover is, but it was just to ensure she was comfortable. He would not poke his nose into where she was already at ease. Nor was he interested in knowing anything intricate about her. For Samuel, this sort of treatment was just a way to express his love, which was duly reciprocated by Alice by gesticulating all she felt for him.

***

            One day, Samuel was cracking a joke. He was an undisputed master in telling jokes with a face poker players would envy.

            'There were these two men, totally blotto! They had returned to their car after hours in a bar. I was standing by, parking my own car. They got in, and one of them yelled, "Where has the steering wheel gone?" "Someone has stolen the handbrake too." "My feet cannot fumble any clutch or brake." They hailed me- "Please help us, sir, if you saw that thief!",

            'I observed they were sitting at the rear seats.'

            Alice laughed heartily at this. Then she looked at Samuel, and said-

            "I love you!" "What?", said the astonished Samuel. "I love you!" She woke up, and gave him a kiss. His heart pounded fast, and like an ailing person, his body grew warmer. Alice felt the same. This was the time when their souls were so close that they merged into one sole soul.

***

            Samuel Wilson chose to pursue higher education in microbiology, while Alice, the sole child of the Smith family, opted to go ahead with accountancy and business studies.

            Events had begun to take a turn. The wheel of time was counter-rotating. Samuel was bequeathed a handsome amount of wealth from his childless uncle. He was proclaimed the owner of a seventy acre farmland and a flanking farmhouse whose assets were worth a hundred thousand dollars. Moreover, Samuel had become an erudite microbiologist, and earned pompous wage for his work.

            Alice, on the other hand, was with his father in his adverse times. Her father incurred unprecedented loss in his business, and the family was falling into the abyss of debt. The conditions were a bit turbulent, as the debt was paid off and money was put into her father's myocardial infraction surgery, which was unsuccessful. But Alice did not lose hope. Samuel continued to provide all help possible. Alice fought it all with extreme fortitude.

            Alice never asked Samuel for any help. Alice was gifted a lavish Bentley on her twenty-sixth birthday. She wore a ring of diamond Samuel had given her as a token of love. Samuel, indirectly, had helped Alice a lot paying off loans and money back to people who had invested in his father's Moto-Corp. Samuel had even won the favour of Alice's mother, and she was quite proactive to tie both of them into a nuptial knot.

***

            Samuel had called Alice for a date. She punctually arrived at the Drei Alpenhaussen, a French food restaurant. Alice, excited as she was, was dressed in a black polka-dot backless dress, with a fluffy skirt with its hem above her waist and fell till her knees, yellow dots over the white. She took the seat shown by the manager, and summoned the waiter. She was thirsty, and Samuel wasn't still at the scene to tell her that. She was enjoying a glass of water, when she heard a commotion.

            The restaurant had less clientele during the day, so it was almost empty. A couple was fighting, hurling vituperative abuses upon each other. A corpulent, bespectacled man with a moustache said- "I ain't your slave....How the hell you meddle with my affairs, you wantonly witch!....I have fucked and thrown away b*****s like you." "I am your wife, you scoundrel! Ergo, I have the right to know where you spend your nights." "Don't forget, you wretch! I have given you everything that you have. You eat well, sleep well, wear gold, have a comfy gaff all because of me. What have you done for me?", said the man pointing his finger at her.

            The manager tried to pacify the situation, but who could pacify the clamour that had arisen in Alice's heart. That last dialogue that man delivered, reverberated in Alice's mind incessantly. She, however, supposed Samuel saying that to her after marriage. "......What have you done for me?" Anyone who would hear their story in times to come, would assert Samuel to be the bigger person here. He had done a lot for her, favours she could never return. Samuel was self-secured, and Alice was insecure. Samuel was madly in love with her, but Alice had this thing called ego. She ran out of the hotel, crying copiously.

            Samuel checked in the hotel, and saw the table to be empty. he sat there and waited for her a couple of hours. The manager at the hotel could not resist telling him about the earlier occupant of that seat.

            Samuel rushed out of the hotel, took a cab and went to Alice's house, where an epistle awaited him, stuck to the door, on the envelope etched-

"For Samuel, my love."

            Samuel was still in dismay, an array of  bewilderment wrapping him into grief. He saw her Bentley, her diamond ring and all tokens of love he had offered her kept at the small verandah flanking the house. He opened the letter-

            "Dearest of all, Samuel

            It is beyond doubt that I love you the most. I feel for you, as you have been feeling for me, passing me water whenever I was thirsty. I feel for you not in the same way, but in the sense that......I will cry a lot when a running car hits you.....I 'will' give you water when I know you are thirsty. But see, I have to 'know' you are thirsty, to give you water. I tried many times to predict when you feel thirsty, when you feel hungry, when you feel any anguish, but I was never great at this, like you. All these years, I thought I love you like crazy, but I now realize just feeling pampered is not loving. One needs to look after people, give them your shelter, like you gave me all over these years. You made my worries yours, thank you for that. See, all that I have to return, is but 'Thanks'. You are a greater lover than me, and I am proud of you for being a very beautiful human being.

            I believe that every relationship must be a give-and-take. You see, that is why I cannot love God, because the relationship we make with God is not a give-and-take. He gives and we just take. Same happened in our case. I think our marriage will not be successful.

            Look, I have a small amount of ego in me. Yet, I have no objection saying that you deserve a better woman than me.

            Wish you a good life ahead

Your Love,

Alice."

            Samuel fell to his knees, and cried like a child, tears in eyes, and ache in his heart, drools of saliva flopping from his mouth, and a face red for several hours. No one has known any of him since.

            There was an Alice that lived inside Samuel.

Reviews

[Romalina]

That was beautifully written :)
but it needs to be spaced out..the letters are clubbed up in one line making it a little difficult to read :)

[Akshay Rawal]

Thank you so much. Glad you liked it. And I'll try re-editing it.