CHAPTER VI

PART -VI

 

Su woke up and saw Anju dozing off in a chair by her side. She felt thirsty and so she silently got up from the bed and went to the kitchen to drink some water. As she poured herself some water, she realized that she was feeling very weak. She thought that may be it was because of the food she had in the party yesterday. Her mind wandered from the party to the memory in the diary and she remembered everything. Su dropped the cup of water that she was drinking as the memories flooded in her mind. On hearing the sound, Anju jerked awake. Seeing the empty bed, she rushed to kitchen from where the sound had come. When she entered the kitchen, she found Su sitting in the corner with her back against the wall, hugging herself and sobbing uncontrollably. Her body was trembling. Not knowing, what had caused her friend this much grief, Anju rushed to her side and hugged her and started to console her.

            “Shhh! It’s gonna be alright!” Anju just hoped that those words become true.

          “It’s ok. I am here. Nothing will happen”

Su’s sobs slowly reduced but she was still crying. Anju helped Su to stand and they went to the bedroom. Su was still crying. Anju didn’t know how to make her stop crying and each time, she said anything to console her, the sobs increased with more vigor. Anju felt very sad to see Su so distressed. Not able to bear the plight of her friend, Anju started speaking.

 

            “Hey Su!, I seriously don’t know what happened to hurt you this much. I know you have always been withdrawn. And lately, u have been having those nightmares. I have never asked anything about you,as I knew you weren’t ready to share it with me. I respect it. U are my closest friend apart from Sanjay. You have always been there for me. U made me happy whenever I was feeling down.And I too want to be there for you. I feel so sad when I see u fighting these nightmares and whatever that is disturbing u all alone.I feel so helpless. It is not fair,Su. You don’t have to fight it alone. You are not realizing what you are doing to urself. And yesterday , I wake up hearing a sound and when I rush out of the bedroom, I find u unconscious on the floor. I panicked  and it took me so much to get u wake up. Su, U don’t have to fight alone .I am here to help u. I am happy to have u as my friend and I don’t want to lose you.I have always been here. Please do tell me whatever it is disturbing u . If u are scared that I will judge u, then u must be stupid. U know me better than that! Please Su ! Let me help u! I can’t bear to see u like this.”

          Su who was listening to Anju couldn’t control herself anymore and she told everything to Anju. Anju was shocked to hear everything, but her respect and admiration for Su increased in folds. Anju hugged her and let Su cry as she held her. It was a long time before Su’s tears stopped. Su was feeling drained and her eyes were drooping with tiredness. Anju helped her to lie down so that she can rest for sometime. Anju saw that it was already quarter past twelve. Realizing that she hasn’t prepared lunch yet, Anju went to the kitchen. Once she finished cooking, she went to wake up Su so that they could have their lunch. But when she saw Su sleeping, she decided to wake her up later. She went back to the living room and started thinking about everything Su had told her. She realized that the nightmares started when Su had left her past behind i.e  from the day Rahul left her. Anju thought that maybe the nightmares will stop, if Rahul came back.

But she also was angry with Rahul. How could he have been so selfish? She had  known  Su only for the past six months and in this time she had come to consider her as a close friend. And then she remembered that Su told her she fainted on hearing Rahul’s voice. She took Su’s cell phone which she had put on charge earlier,and went to the logs. In the received calls list, she saw the same unknown number from which Su was getting missed calls yesterday. She wanted to call that number and talk to Rahul if it was really him. But then she knew Su would not  be happy if she came to know,so she fought down the urge. And she had a instinct, that if the person was really  Rahul, then he would definitely call Su again. She just hoped everything will be alright.She didn’t want Su to suffer more. That girl had suffered a lot. After half an hour, she went to wake up Su and then they had their lunch. Su was still feeling tired ,so she went back to bed after lunch to rest.

            While Su was  sleeping, her cell phone vibrated in the living room where Anju was reading  IF TOMORROW COMES. She picked up the cell immediately to attend the call as she didn’t want to disturb Su. It was the same unknown number. Steeling herself ,she hesitantly said

             “Hello! Who is this? This is Anjali here”

           “Hi, this is Rahul here. I am Suparna’s friend. Can I talk to her?”

          “ Oh! So it’s really you! Rahul?”

          “ Yeah ! Can I talk to her?”

          “Sorry! U can’t talk to her. She is sleeping. She fainted, when she heard your voice on the phone. I don’t think she is in a condition to talk with you.”

          “What happened?!”,Anju could feel Rahul was tensed but still she was angry.

          “ As I said she fainted”

          “Is she okay now? Am sorry, I didn’t know that she ….”

          But Anju didn’t let him finish. She could no longer control herself

          “She’s a bit better now. By the way! Why are U calling her NOW after all these days. You left her just like that ,didn’t You ?

          You should have been a stupid for not able to understand what she was going through and u called urself her best friend. Before u ppl became lovers, u were friends. That friendship was the first thing that made u love each other. She told u the truth, because she considered u as a friend too. She thought that u will understand. But u thought like a selfish lover. Poor gal was shattered when you left her. U left her to suffer all these days and now u come back saying U are her FRIEND. Where were you all these days when she needed you?”

          Anju composed herself. She took deep breaths and listened to What Rahul had to say.

   “You know everything ?”

  “Yes I know everything. Sorry! I have no right to be angry with you. But it all came because I care for Su.”

  “You don’t need to apologize. I know I was a stupid. U were completely true. I did act like a selfish lover. I was very angry with her because she didn’t say anything abt it earlier. When in anger,u turn blind and not know what u are doing. It was the same with me. Without thinking, I left her. But I have been regretting it for a long time. When my anger subsided, I realized what I had done. I called her immediately, but she didn’t respond. I didn’t want to lose her and when I went to the place where she lived, I found that she has left. I was distraught not knowing where she went. I broke down completely. I cursed myself for letting her down. But I had a blind faith that I can find her. I started my search for her and have been search for a long time. I ran into Sanjay during one of my searches. He was my college mate. We had not been in contact for a while. After that, we started to talk frequently. One day when I was feeling very depressed, I told Sanjay about my search for Su. He asked for Su’s photo and when I showed him, he was shocked. But he didn’t say anything to me. He had come to know Su through you. He knew u respected her and hence he realized that Su wouldn’t want him to tell me. So he kept silent. He had agreed to help before I showed the photo. But then after that whenever I asked him whether he had any progress, he started evading the topic. One day I confronted him regarding it and he told me that Su was ur friend. U have no idea how happy I was. I got Su’s number from him and couldn’t wait to speak to her. Speaking of Sanjay, I should tell you one thing. That guys is so deep in love with you but hasn’t realized it yet! Don’t Worry he will come to his senses soon!”

Anju who was listening silently to everything blushed at his last statement.

          “Thanks! I am sorry for shouting at u earlier”

          “As I said  u need not apologize. I am happy that Su got a friend like you to care for her. Do you think I can see her tomorrow?”

          “I am not sure Rahul. She is very emotional at the moment. So I can’t tell you what her reaction will be when she sees you. She might get worse. I know u have been waiting long, but still I think it would be good if we give her sometime. I think, it will be better if u meet her after a couple of weeks. I hope she would be better by then.”

          “Okay! I will wait. I just don’t want to lose her again”

          “Don’t worry!. Everything will be alright”

          “ Am just keeping my fingers crossed”

         “ Just have faith.”

          “Thanks a lot Anjali for hearing me out. I feel confident now.”

          “It’s okie,really!. Okie. Will talk later. Bye”

          “Bye”

Anju disconnected the call and went to check on Su and found her sleeping. Feeling a bit tired herself, Anju slept  next to Su.

            It took three weeks for Su to recover completely from the depression and all those days Anju took care of her. Su was normal once again and she felt good after a long time. Though she still had nightmares, they were not that much distressing. The familiar shadow was taking shape. Su went back to work after the long leave and started working with the usual enthusiasm. Anju was very happy  to see the change and the new confidence that Su exhibited. Anju was in contact with Rahul, keeping him updated about Su’s health. After one week, almost one month after Su got ill, Anju decided that it was time for Rahul to meet Su. She felt that Su can manage well and not breakdown. Anju informed Su  that Sanjay and his friend will be visiting them that weekend.

            On Sunday, they woke up early and started to prepare food. As they were waiting anxiously,their door bell rang.Anju squeaked and rushed to open the door. Su laughed and followed her. Anju opened the door to find Sanjay standing there.She hugged him and Su invited him inside the house. As Sanjay stepped inside the house, Su was shocked to see Rahul standing near the door. Her face went through a myriad of emotions and she stood staring at his face. She came to her senses when Anju inivited him to come inside. Su mumbled a welcome note that no one could hear and left to the kitchen.Anju,Sanjay and Rahul looked at each other. They didn’t know what Su was thinking and Rahul was very tensed. Su came back from the kitchen carrying a tray with plates containing some snacks that she and Anju had prepared. Rahul’s  eyes never left Su’s face. There was so much tension in the air. Rahul wanted to meet Su’s eyes but she had her head down.

Sensing that Rahul would want to talk alone , Anju and Sanjay left the living room.

             Rahul stepped near Su and lifted  her chin with his trembling hands. He was startled to see tears in her eyes. He had expected her to be angry . But he could see only pain in her eyes. He was not able to hold himself anymore and he apologized to her.

            “Su ! I know  I hurt you very much and I can’t take  back the suffering you had gone through. I know I was stupid when I made the decision. I know it hurt u very much. I am sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I let u down. I was not thinking properly.

I realized my mistake and when I wanted to apologize to u, I found that u have left. I didn’t know what to do. I love u so much and I didn’t want to lose u because of a mistake that I did. I have been searching for a long time with a blind faith. I missed u so much. I know even if I apologize a thousand times, it wouldn’t be sufficient. I love u so much Su and I Know how much u should have loved me to tell me the truth. I was a complete moron, a stupid git. Su ! I don’t want to lose you. I know u have been living a life in hell all these days and I don’t want you to live like that anymore. I know u are angry with me. U can hurt me how much ever u want Su !, but I never want to leave u again. I love u so much! Please take me back Su! “,Rahul was on his knees pleading with all his heart.

Almost ten minutes passed in silence and then Su replied.

            “ I don’t know Rahul!. I have been through so much suffering. But I don’t blame u, nor am I angry with you. I don’t know why, but it ha always been that way. Never could be angry with you. I loved u so much and I still love u. But have been suffering so much and have been hurting a lot. And I am scared if I take u back,  and then again if u leave me, I will not be able to bear it anymore. I do love u more than anything, but I am scared of the pain if it doesn’t work out. I don’t want to hurt anymore. I missed u very much. All I am asking you is to wait for sometime. I need sometime to make myself believe that u will never leave me again. I know that u mean that but still it will take time for me to believe it completely. Till that time can u wait for me,Rahul?”

          “Of course! Su ! I will wait. I cant expect u take me back just like that. I will wait and I don’t care even if it takes long time,till the time u say ok. I promise that I will never leave you!  But just one request ,can I get an hug please ?” Rahul asked with his arms wide open.

Their eyes met each other and Su rushed to his arms that were waiting to hold her. Su held on to him tightly and started to cry. Rahul started to pacify her.

            “Sh! U have nothing to worry. I am here with u now. I will never leave u. I love u so much and I missed u”

            “ I too missed u , U IDIOT. U have no idea how much!”

           

In Another Room…

          Anju was happy to see everything went well. She turned to find, Sanjay looking at her.She smiled,but he just kept looking at her. She raised her eyebrows and asked what’s wrong.

Sanjay blurted out “I Love you”  Anju replied “I Love u too”

Sanjay then said  “No! No! I don’t mean it in the usual way I do . What I meant was …….. Anju , my babe, I am falling in LOVE. Will YOU catch ME?”

          Anju was so happy . Her joy had no bounds..She turned around.She has been longing to hear that from Sanjay. Sanjay thought  he had said something wrong and started to ramble on a apology. But Anju didn’t let him continue as she kissed him on his lips. Surprised  but happy,Sanjay kissed her back. When they parted Sanjay asked

            “Was that an yes?”

            “Well,what do u think it was?”

            “ I think it was an yes, but I would like to hear it from u”

            “Yes. I am crazily in love with u”

After sometime  Anju went ti Su and whispered the news in her ears. Su shrieked happily  and  hugged her . Rahul conveyed his wishes to both Sanjay and Anju.

Sometime later Sanjay and Rahul left for home.

            That night, Su slept with a peaceful mind. As she entered the abandoned  alley,she sensed the familiar shadow.With renewed confidence,she turned to face it and was amazed to see two people in its place. One was a male and the other a female. As she took some steps closer to them, a smile formed on her face which slowly turned to a grin. It was Anju and Rahul. She held their hands and when she once again started her journey through the alley she was amazed to see that the dark alley has transformed itself in to a lane filled with trees and sunlight was pouring through the branches. The Alley was neither dark nor abandoned ….

 

 

                        EPILOGUE.

Rahul kept true to his promise and was waiting patiently. He had suggested Su to join a NGO so that she can help girls who have suffered the fate similar to her.

She can give them the confidence and show them the reason for them to move on and that the life is not over yet,that they are not alone in this world.There are people who care for them too. Su thought about it and joined a NGO. Apart from the time she worked in the call center,she devoted rest of her free time in helping the girls in the NGO.Su realized that she was feeling content in doing the service. Even Anju,Sanjay and Rahul helped her organizing some events for the benefit of NGO. Anju and Sanjay got married a year later.On their wedding day, Rahul proposed again to Su and she said yes. They got married after six months. Su was leading an happy life that she deserved.

 

THE END.