Retribution

It was one week after my girlfriend’s vicious coup d’état that I realized I needed to make good the weekend that I lost loitering incognito in the shady corners of the city. If you are curious about what happened, I can only summarize it by saying that it was the most wily and sinister trick ever played by any girlfriend or consort of any type in recorded human history. She tricked me into packing my bags and scooting when what I really deserved was a great weekend lounging on the couch, gulping beer and binge watching Netflix on TV. Of course, she apologized and all, but the heart was broken, and emotions were hurt. I needed to do something to mend myself. Something to lighten my heart, and warm it up at bit. So, I told her in no unclear terms that I was going on a holiday, alone, to Hawaii to recover from the ignominy of scooting out unceremoniously in the middle of a capital Friday night. She had no choice but to agree. 

I was packing my bags for the evening flight when I heard her shout from the living room to ask if I had kept my tickets. She is so damn outdated. Who carries paper tickets these days anyway? I had the ticket in my mobile with the QR code and all. But I had to let her know that I had it all under control. So, I simply said yes. She came in with my favorite yellow loafers neatly wrapped in a paper bag. She threw the bag on the bed, went to the closet and took out a pair of new handkerchiefs and handed them to me. I almost felt sorry for her. She had been trying to be extra nice to me since that day. In fact, she had offered to drop me off at the airport. But I knew her strategy. She was looking for a way to pierce my cold exterior. I could not allow that anyway. After so many years, I had this wonderful strategic advantage to capitalize on, and I could not let it slip away so easily. 

I went for a shower before my travel. I love to feel fresh when I travel. I came out decked up and all and picked up my bag to leave when I heard the shout from the living room again, asking me if I packed the damn loafers. I won’t lie to you, but I hadn’t. But I couldn’t lower myself before her. I retorted saying that she need not remind me so many times as I had in fact packed it the instant she threw them on the god damn bed. That seemed a bit harsh, but I had to stand my ground. After all, what she did to me was pure evil. How could she just dump me out of the house to enjoy with her dumb friends! 

The cab had arrived. I pulled my travel bag from the bed, unplugged my mobile phone and walked out. I did not bother to say a proper farewell. I imagined her standing at the door teary eyed and all watching me leave. I felt sorry for her again and looked back to find no trace of her at the door or anything. I glanced at all the windows. Damn, no trace of her. I wondered if she was already planning her next get-together with her damn friends. Well, I couldn’t have cared less. I asked the cab driver to turn on the radio. 

The cab was cruising on the freeway, and I had this feeling that something was not right. I quickly checked my mobile. I was not suspicious in vain. My mobile was about to die. I had plugged in the charger but had forgotten to turn the switch on. I checked with the driver, but he hadn't got the charger. In a situation like this, other mortals would have simply panicked. But as those who know me know that I think on my toes in situations like these. I quickly downloaded the ticket and turned on the flight mode. I was relieved, it was a close call. It could have jeopardized my entire trip. Going back home would have meant accepting that I was a good for nothing moron. I can accept being a good for something moron, but never a good for nothing moron. 

The battery had reached two percent when I reached the airport. I turned off the flight mode to pay the driver with google pay when I saw messages of at least five missed calls from my girlfriend. Ha, there you go. She was already missing me. I thought she deserved to miss me a bit anyway. The battery was too low to reply the call. So, I headed to the counter for check in. I already started missing her a bit. It felt a bit gloomy without her. She can be a pain sometimes, but it is strange that pain in the right amount could be addictive. She brings in that noise and tension to the situation and you feel alive. Now, without her, it was like there was no action, like I was watching a sad rom-com with teary eyes and all. I was drowned in these thoughts when the sweet lady at the counter asked me for my ticket. 

I love these modern mobiles with gargantuan battery life. I mobile still had one percent battery left. I hate to admit that sometimes even those ideas that we think are moronic don’t turn out to be so moronic after all, in the hindsight. May be a paper ticket would have obviated this stress I went through bothering about the damn mobile phone surviving till I reached the counter. I showed her the ticket at the counter. She seemed pleased. She politely asked for me id. 

You know that feeling when you are going about your stuff normally and all, but a nagging feeling at the back of your head keeps hinting you that you are making some mistake. And the happiness you feel when you finally get to know what it is. Not an epiphany of sorts, but something close. Well, what I experienced then was absolutely nothing like that. I knew all the while that there was something amiss, but I was far from happy when I got to know what it was. I was in fact miserable. It so happened that I forgot my wallet, with my id and all the cards in it. 

I was about to cut a sorry face before the lady at the counter, when I saw my id card placed on the counter. I turned sideways to look at my girlfriend standing beside me, with her radiant smile and all. The smile was pure though. Not hint of show off or sadistic delight at my folly. It was as though she said it could have happened to anybody. She had tried to reach me on my mobile, and when it was unreachable, she drove all the way to give me this wallet. I kissed her. I told her that I missed her, and then almost begged her to go with me. She let me go alone, though. Those two days of vacation felt like a million years.