love is not enough (part-2)

Read Part1
REa

 This was the third time she had resolved to break all relations with Jai. The earlier two attempts didn't work because of her own indecision. There was something about Jai that made him so special to her. He brought her happiness, something which no one else could do before.
   She is Renuka Agrawal. She was destiny's child she believed. She had hardened herself after all that life had shown her. If she hadn't fought back, she would have been married at the tender age of 15 like all other girls in her small village of Rajasthan. She had grasped the opportunity of working as a help in her own Aunt's house in Pune. Her aunt was a childless widow who managed her husband's shop after his death. Her aunt was a practical woman and she thought it wise for Renuka to continue her studies so that she could help with the shop accounts. Renuka could see a door of new opportunities open up for her.
    After her schooling , she left her aunt's house without informing of her decision to live in working women's hostel while she worked in the nearby departmental stores. She studied at the night college to complete her graduation in commerce. Her struggle to make ends meet had taught her to use people and chances very well to her advantage.
     She understood quite early the art of handling men. She was amused thinking how men never really grow up. There is always a switch in their personality. They either want to be around protecting their women or they want to be pampered like a child. The trick was to never acknowledge it and always to know what mode they were in. She was an ordinary looking girl. She wasn't there to understand men and be their companion as they often thought. She was there to put to use what she knew and that' what she had been doing ever since she was on her own.
    Arun was the stable guy in her life who was blind to all her faults. He was what she could always go back to when others let her down, which was never.
     She had befriended Jai as he was a close friend of her former boss. It was due to his reference that she got promoted and transfered to the central branch of their company. Jai was always fun to be with and she would never admit it but she really loved being pampered by him. Their weekend trips were always thrilling.
     Once when they were together Jai had mentioned that his grandfather once owned a Tea Estate which was now under dispute. If he were to get his share in the estate he would turn very rich overnight. But the court case had dragged too long and now it was all a distant dream.
      Months had gone by and now this relation was like an added burden. Each meeting had to be meticulously planned. Now there was no benefit. She had to be practical and let him go. She meant no good to him but she didn't want to hurt him more.

love is not enough (part 1)

     She knew she had to do it today. This had stretched too far. If she didn't stop it now it would destroy everything she had worked and planned for. She would not let him influence her anymore.
     Her phone beeped once again. His name flashed on the screen. She pressed "READ". "wer r u? m w8ing. come soon" She didn't reply him back. She was anyway going to severe all ties with him today.
     She looked next to her. Arun was driving too slow. It was obvious that he wanted to prolong the drive. But she was in  no mood to talk today. She thought of getting down and hailing a cab but that would appear too rude. She dropped the idea. She needed to reach CCD in 10 minutes. Reluctantly she requested,"Arun will you drive faster? Sheetal is already waiting" He  increased the speed.
     Arun looked at her. He knew she was lying but he didn't dare to confront her. The last time he expressed his objection to her platonic friendship with Jay,she had threatened to leave him.She knew he could not lose her at any cost. He was just delaying their meeting hoping that Jay would walk out in fury. But if was futile to think of anything like that because Jay was too lovelorn to do that. They reached the outlet and he dropped her at the entrance. She was relieved he didn't insist on coming in.
    She promised to call him later that night and entered CCD. She saw him seated at the regular table at the far end. It reminded her of the days when they used to meet daily during their lunch hour. After lunch they would visit CCD and then would proceed to their office.She was his junior then. Now she had come a long way. She no longer needed him or did she? Ofcourse not. She had to let go of this relation..

(to be coninued)

a Live-in tale....

       She was sitting alone on the bed. She knew time had come to make her move. She had dreaded this day for 3 months now.
       It was hard to accept the fact that she had made a wrong decision. She should not have entered a live-in relation with him only after few months of their affair.
        She had fallen in passionate love with him in Pune during his brief visit. She shifted to Mumbai to complete her MBA and he was already working in Mumbai. They had rented this flat for 2 years and she had put in all her money to pay her share of the rent and deposit. She had not informed her parents about her decision because live-in was too modern a concept for them to gulp down.
         But Mumbai was free to such ideas.


         Life was easy and happy for the first year.
He helped her set up their meals and often took her out when she was too tired to cook.
She never woke up to the alarm while he was an early bird.
On some mornings she would wake up in his welcoming arms and he would get her breakfast
ready.
She would wait for him for dinner no matter how late he returned home.
She took care of his laundry and cleanliness of the house and he would look after the accounts. Together they werejust perfect.
Those were the happy days...


Trouble began when he had to travel on work and she got busier in her MBA program.
She would get home too tired to cook and he would have already had his supper with his clients.
On such days she would turn bitter and blame him for not caring enough.
His work responsibility increased and he began faltering with his work of paying bills and cause inconvenience.
 She on her part gave lesser interest in cooking for him.
Whatever time they had was spent in arguing and complaining.
Distance grew and sometimes they would go on without talking for days on end.


After one such arguement, in a heat of fury he said ,"Let's just end it. This isn't working". That
was the end of their dream.

She had fought with him, nagged him and done all that she could to make him see her point.
She had forgotten he could leave her anytime. She was left insecure. She begged him to let her
stay on for 3 months after which she could collect her share of deposit and move on. He had
calmly agreed to this.


Last week her course ended and today she was leaving for Pune. She was hoping against hope
that she would have enough strength to let go of his memories. In last 3 months she had tried her
best to be the girl he loved in the first place. His existence with her was devoid of any feelings.
She had tried in vain to make him love her back but inspite of knowing she was leaving today, he
left early for work and hadn't returned home yet.

She took her bags and headed for the door. She took out her purse and reached for the keys. She
pulled out the keys and attached to it was a note that said,"PLEASE DONT LEAVE".


She locked the door and came downstairs to get the cab. No, she wasn't going to wait. If he
cared then he would have stopped her himself. She reached the gate and he was there waiting by
his car. After so many months she saw something she was longing to see.. She could see feelings in his eyes...

She walked towards him.
He didn't move from where he was standing and simply asked, "Are you ready to leave?"

"You want me to leave?" she posed another question to him.

He smiled and replied, "Yes ofcourse. That's precisely why I am waiting here."

She was too stunned with his reply. "What do you mean?" she asked him.

"I mean to say if we don't leave for Pune how will I ask your parent's permission for our marriage?
But before that let me ask you, will you marry me?"

If she could then she would have married him right there. "Yes, yes, a million times yes".

 She hugged him with all her love and he held on to her for what seemed like an eternity .
They left together to her home and when they returned back they were no longer living in .They
were now "Mr and his Mrs"

Lucky boy continues

"But why lucky boy?" asked Mia."Remember that annual day jackpot? He got the prize money in that. That's why Pushy calls him Lucky boy".
"Oh really? But what's his real name?" Mia asked further. Katie replied,"He is Rehan. Ninth grader new admission. No wonder we haven't seen him before."
Katie had found out all she needed.
 Mia was not the one to be left behind. Soon after, she found out that he lived near school and that he was actively involved in sports.
They began to spend their lunch hours hanging close by and never once missing a chance to have a good look at him.
 Katie and Mia were the best of friends in school. A Lucky boy could create ripples but never a rift in their friendship. They never
acknowledged their crush on him. "He is you cup of tea" was what Mia would reply if Katie teased her and Katie would retort back by saying,"No,no he is your cake".
 Crushes are not new to teenage life but sharing of crush might be a rare case. This friendship surpasses all the tales of teenage jealousy.
 "so are you going to talk to him" quizzed Mia one day. "Me? Mad or what? No way" was the same response of Katie.Both equally interested and both equally reluctant.
 Poor guy Rehan! He noticed the girls and often thought one of them would approach him because they happened to be everywhere he was. But his Lucky boy charm didn't work this time.
They both never spoke to him. The year passed and both Mia and Katie got promoted to the eighth grade. It was heard that Rehan left the school following another transfer of his father.
Katie and Mia soon forgot of their common crush and found out new hobby ideas( not involving sharing of crush anymore).
 Years later if Katie and Mia meet up and Rehan's mention crops up then the immediate response is always,"Oh wasn't that your first crush? what were you thinking?" and both would burst into
laughter and go back down the memory lane. This time it's both of them teasing at the same time...

The Lucky Boy

Katie and Mia had both given their names for the general knowledge exam that happened every year in school. They were now regular participants. Though only a certificate was handed at the end of the year, it was always fun to to go to school on this particular day when all the school was deserted and they could have lots of fun roaming in the campus before the exam. Right from the first grade Katie and Mia had a favorite place in the school. It was the wall that faced the playground on one side and the road on the other. This was their place of timepass in the otherwise boring school time.
      Numerous play periods were passed standing there and commenting on the games and the passersby
until some instructor chided them to join the games. Games were one of the few things they never participated in.
      It was 10.45 and they were still standing and giggling about something when the entrance warning bell rang. Exam started at 11.
      Mia said,"Katie do you realise we are now seniors? Lets go to the class and see how many juniors turned up". Katie lazily replied "Yeah,lets go ,there's nothing interesting here." Oh God! Has this exam now started for the ninth graders as well?" Katie shouted out aloud. The fun was all gone. They sank back into their respective seats and looked at the ninth graders. One of them came over to the board and scribbled something. Two more of his friends followed and started doing the same. There was some playful fight going on over what they were scribbling. Then the ninth grader turned around. Though Katie and Mia almost knew everyone atleast by their faces due to their passtime activities ,this one was a new face. Katie was more interested,"Have you seen him?" "nope" was the reply from Mia.
     Miss Pushy entered the class with the question papers. Miss Pushy was a little deaf or maybe acted like one. She had long and thick hair which were always adorned with white flowers. There were rumours in school that she suffered from depression following her mother's demise but then every other person had some disorder according to the rumours in this school.
      She looked at the ninth grader and said,"Lucky boy, get back to your seat."
"Lucky boy?" both Katie and Mia said aloud at and time and giggled. A look from Pushy quitened them but the name stuck around for a long time. Lucky boy then returned to his seat. The exam commenced and ended without more event and Katie and Mia returned home. A new story started that day. Katie and Mia just had a new crush rather a common crush "THE LUCKY BOY".


(the story continues )

A simple love story (part 2) FICTION

Read Part 1
The librarian looked above her spectacles and adjusted it back to her eyes. It felt as if she too had experienced every moment of my anxiety. He smiled at her and then glanced at me. I had cried so much while I was pretending to read that my eye make-up had smeared and my face looked pale washed with tears.
        He came to me and we sat at our usual table. He calmly took my hands into his and whispered," I am sorry". I didn't know what he wanted to say sorry for. My stupid mind was calculating endless probabilities. Maybe he is sorry for asking me out. Maybe he is sorry for not informing about his changed plans. But then why had he bothered to come?
        He leaned closer and murmured, 'I am really sorry dear, I wanted to get you your favourite flowers on this special day. Not only did I fail miserably in doing that ,but I also made you cry on our first date."
I could see regret on his face. The intensity with which he was looking into my eyes pierced my being. It was as if he could see through everything that was going on inside me. My fears, my indecision and my feelings were all exposed to him in that moment.
       I asked him how he knew about my favorite flowers because I could remember no such incident where I mentioned him my liking for tulips. He just teased me by saying," I can get to know almost anything if I want to" and started laughing. I was still getting mad at him for running around for a tulip and making me wait and now he was making fun of me. But he looked adorable when he teased like that. The librarian coughed a few times and that made him quiet.
     He pulled me closer this time and cupped my face in his hands. What he said in the few minutes that followed will be something I will cherish for a lifetime..
    "The very first day I saw you in this library I felt drawn to you. A girl with bookmarks having a tulip flower. Lost in wonder of books and that expression you give when you find what you need are somethings I enjoy watching everyday." He reached his pockets to draw out the most beautiful purple tulip I could ever get. I could only imagine how far he could go to get this to me. I smiled at him. A tear which was around the edge strolled down my cheeks.
    He gently touched my cheeks with his lips and whispered into my ears," Have I ever told you how beautiful you look without makeup? I just love you like this". That was one moment I would want to rewind over and over again. There was so much  I felt for him that very instant but all I could say was,"I love you too".
    We still saw the movie that day even though we had to catch the next show. I don't remember much of that movie because that day nothing else mattered to me. I found my love in my ordinary guy that day and my first date will be something I will remember with butterflies in my stomach.
    As I said , ours was just a simple love story ..

P.S: A fiction with inputs from real story of the most romantic couple I know of..

A simple love story (part 1) FICTION

Ours was just a simple love story.
    The first time I saw him, no violins were playing romantic tunes, no breeze blew over us and nothing seemed to stop for us. No time freezing event happened when I first met him..
     I saw him sitting in the library. He was senior to me. I was busy searching for some book when he himself came over to help me search for it. We exchanged small talks which over the days extended to long chats and we began to know each other more. He was always sweet to me. He was ever helpful and encouraging and his presence in my life was like that of a bright ray in an otherwise cloudy existence.
   I liked to think that he too waited eagerly for me at the library everyday and I felt I saw his face glow sometimes when he saw me coming to him.
   He was just an ordinary guy. The kind who you like only after knowing them. He used to dress simply in casuals. His presence never made my heart skip a beat. Yet, my days used to pass thinking of what I would say to him and how he would reply to it.
   We used to occupy the table between two racks where we could avoid the glare of passing strangers and the librarian. On one such day, he held my hand for the first time. His touch didn't send shivers down my spine like I had heard of in mushy love stories. It was warm and friendly just like him.
   That day he asked me out for a movie. My joy knew no bounds and two days later we fixed up our date.
I had taken extra efforts to see that I appeared at my best. I knew he loved to see me in blue and so I had done lot of running around to get that perfect royal blue dress for my first date. As decided, I reached library at 5 but he was nowhere to be seen. I waited patiently till 5.30 without calling him once because I didn't want to appear desperate.      
    My bubble of joy was bursting now. what kind of a guy keeps a girl waiting on their first date? I felt so foolish for agreeing to this date. Tears had filled my eyes to the brim and in a desperate attempt to avoid the attention of the suspicious librarian, I buried my nose in the books.
     The clock ticked to 5.45 . I couldn't control my emotions anymore. The movie started at 6 and there was noway we could reach the theatre by then.
      Had he forgotten all about the date? Had he gone with someone else? Did I do something which made him reconsider his decision? There were so many questions engulfing my already stressed mind.
      At such conditions thoughts are not in your control. I began to worry about the worst. Had he met with some accident on his way or was he in some other danger? Without giving any other thoughts way I dialed his number.
       As the ring went I could hear his ringtone very clearly. He was nearby...

(to be continued)