Broken But Brave!!

Many times, life brings us to a situation where we have been before. All that is happening has already happened before, and the seeds of what will happen in the future are sown today.

“Enough, Anamika!! Just leave me alone…”, a voice pierced the walls of the bedroom.

“What happened, Rudra?”, a sobbing voice asked.

“I’ve already told you a million times…I don’t want you. I hate you!”

“What have I even done?”

“Exactly!! You have not done anything for me…It was just me always who cared; who cared for ‘you and I’ to be damn ‘we’!! You know why? Because I loved you and…you? You loved just yourself…”

“What makes you say so, Rudra?”

“You just think that I am a bloody puppet of yours! I need to wake up when you tell me to; I need to eat when you tell me to; I can talk to only those people that you tell me; I need to sleep when you tell me!! I am fed up of being a mere dancing puppet of yours…”

“Rudra, I’m sure there is some misunderstanding. I…”

“Yes…you are absolutely right Anamika! There was a misunderstanding when I thought that I love you; there was a misunderstanding when I thought that I can be happy with you!! You know what? You will never understand ‘coz you’ve never been there. Just forget it!! I’m leaving for office.”

“Rudra, your breakfast is…”

“Ohh, please don’t make the efforts. I’m done with the breakfast that I just had…My tummy is full with your lies and crocodile tears!”

This used to be the scene in the Roy House every morning. Their “good morning” consisted of “go to hell” and “I hate you.” Rudra, who once used to live just for Anamika, was now fed up with her! Why? What took place in their lives to make him turn this bitter? Why did Rudra leave Anamika in tears every single day?

*phone ringing*

“Hello, Roy House. Who’s this?” the maid answered the call.

“Can I please speak to Anamika? Tell her it’s Monica on the call.”

“Who is it, Alka?”

“Didi, Monica is on the call. Wants to speak to you.”

“Monica…” a huge smile appeared on Anamika’s face in between her tears.

“Hello, Mona…How is life going?”

“Hi Ana, I’ve missed you so much…I’m fine. You tell.”

“I’m…I’m fine…” Anamika hesitated as she completed the sentence. How could she lie to her best friend?

“Ana, you ok? I called you up for a reason.”

“Ya. Tell me.”

“How’s your married life going?”

“G…great. Why?”

“I saw Rudra today. He was at the café with a girl…”

This sentence left Anamika numb!

After a moment, she answered, “Oh god, Mona…He might be with Ms. Chatterjee, his investor.”

“Oh, yes, it can be. But I got some negative gut feeling. So, I thought I must call you…just for the sake of confirmation.”

“Ok. Thank you, Mona. I’ll call you later. Someone’s at the door.”

“Sure. Bye Ana…”, and while hanging up the call, Anamika felt as if she was giving up her life.

Tears rolled down her cheeks without stopping. Her eyes were already swollen, and she could barely speak anything.

Gathering all her strength and hoping her best friend’s doubt to be untrue, she picked up the phone to call at Rudra’s office.

The receptionist picked up the call, “Hello, Ruan Publication. How may I help you?”

“Rhea, Anamika here. Is Rudra at the office?”

“No ma’am. He is on leave today. I thought he might be with you.”

“Oh yes…I forgot. He had an outdoor meeting with an investor today.”

“Meeting? Investor?”

“Yes. Bye.”, Anamika hung up the call with a sinking heart.

She tried to call Rudra many times, but as usual, her calls were ignored. She felt as if someone had trapped her in a cage from where she could not escape despite her endless tries.

Alka, the maid, came out of the kitchen and saw Anamika lying unconsciously on the floor. She got worried and ran immediately to get a glass of water. On sprinkling some water on her face, Anamika returned to her senses. Her eyes were terribly red as if the force of blood in her eyes had blasted the veins. Her face had turned pale due to dehydration, and she was burning with 104^o of fever.

Alka took Anamika in her lap, and trying to calm her down, made her drink some water. Anamika’s condition was so bad that Alka could not resist her tears. Trying to console Anamika, she said, “Didi, if you want to know a person’s nature, put that person in danger. In that situation, either he will save himself, or he will save the humanity in him.”

Being an extraordinary writer, Anamika was smart enough to understand what Alka wanted to convey.

Anamika loved Rudra more than she cared for herself. The only problem was that she was never able to express her feelings. Or probably, Rudra was blind to not be able to see what everyone else could see. She knew Rudra inside out, and that is why she was sure where he would be.

Despite her worst condition, she gathered all her strength and got up to save her pure relation with Rudra. She got ready, and while leaving, she thanked Alka with a smile on her face. Alka wanted to stop her, but she knew that no obstacle can weaken Anamika’s determination.

Anamika knew that either her love will win or Rudra’s hatred. If her love wins, she will get her Rudra back, and if Rudra won, his happiness would be a victory for her.

So, despite being in such a terrible situation, she thought of it to be a win-win situation for herself.

Anamika reached The Dark Dusk Café. She held her locket tightly, hoping for the best to happen. As she entered the café, her eyes ran to the left corner of the place, to her favorite table. Anamika and Rudra always used to book that table because it was Anamika’s favorite, and she loved that place as it was isolated from the entire hustle and bustle. She preferred peace and isolation when she used to be with Rudra.

And what did her eyes see?

Rudra was sitting there with a girl and holding her hand. Who was she? What was his relation with her? Thousands of such questions rushed in her mind. Controlling her emotions, she decided to focus on what she had been there for.

She walked in and took a table from where she could see Rudra as well as she could be visible to him. As planned by her, Rudra had seen her, and was trying to hide himself.

After a few minutes, suddenly, there was an alarm, a fire alarm. Everyone panicked and started running to leave the place. Anamika saw Rudra run out with that girl.

He knew that she was there but did not bother to save her. Hiding himself from Anamika seemed more important to him than his wife’s life. Anamika sat still.

After a minute, she got up from the table, walked to the manager, thanked him, and paid him the price. On being asked about the reason behind the scene, she replied,

“When the rope of trust goes on entangling, it becomes a neck’s noose. And that rope should be burnt before it kills you.”

This left the manager, puzzled.

Anamika left the café with a huge smile on her face. And everyone who knew her was aware that when Anamika smiled in a challenging situation, it was definite that someone was in danger.

The clock showed 8:00 pm when she reached home. Alka opened the door, and seeing Anamika’s smile, she was tensed.

“Is Rudra home?”

“Sir is in the room,” Alka answered.

“Hello, sweetheart…How was your day at the office?” Anamika entered the room.

“Missed you so much, Anu…”

Rudra seemed to take it all with such an ease! He reacted as if nothing had happened. Probably he was a fool to think that Anamika knew nothing.

“Anamika…Anamika Mehrotra”, she interrupted.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Actually, now it is turning right. Something ‘was’ wrong, I guess.”

“Didn’t get you, darling. What are you…”

“Relations don’t build trust. Trust builds relations. And once the trust is broken, the relation makes no sense.”

“I think you are up for a new book,” Rudra tries to hold Anamika in his arms.

“Yes…did you like the lines?”

“Yes, definitely. After all, you are the best writer!!”

“The specialty does not lie in the person. It lies in the perspective of looking at the person. There might be people who may think my writings to be ordinary, but if they try to see from your side, they may see the ‘best’…”

“Anu…are you not angry on me for the morning thing?”

“Anger often drives a person to take wrong decisions; these wrong decisions lead to wrong beliefs, and wrong beliefs weaken the power of thinking. And, my darling, a person with no thinking power, often gets lost in the ‘illusions’ of this materialistic world!”

“So Ms. Illusion…I’m sorry for saying I hate you…”

“Every coin has two sides, Rudra. When you said that you hate me, it did not show your disinterest in me, but it meant that you love someone else.”

“Wh…wha…what!”

“Dinner is ready. Freshen up and come fast.”

*At the dining table*

“I’ve made your favorite pasta. Have it.”

“What a coincidence. Rakesh had also got pasta today.”

“Destiny is another name for ‘coincidence,’ and no person is capable of fighting against destiny. Right from birth till death, it is only the fate that always stays. No one can ever escape from destiny, not even destiny itself!”

Smiling at her lines, Rudra says, “Food is really great. Such a pleasure to have you as my wife…”

Anamika smiles back at Rudra.

“Why are you sitting so far, Anu?”

“Distance is just a test to see the limits that love can cross…”

Rudra gets up from his chair and heading towards Anamika, he says, “Love is that depth from which one can liberate only after death.”

“When love is weak, it breaks trust, but when love is true, it can take life, but can never break trust.”

Anamika gets up and trying to control her tears, hugs Rudra tightly like never before.

Rudra lifts her, and they head towards their bedroom. Seeing this, Alka feels that everything is back to normal and, thus, takes a sigh of relief.

Making Anamika sit on the bed, Rudra sits beside her and says, “Anamika, I have been so rude to you, not once but many times. Then too, you love me as you always did. Why don’t you ever say anything?”

“Those who say less, hear more.”

“What?”

“Nothing, Rudra, do you want to tell me anything?”

“Umm…no. Why?”

“Whatever you want to tell, must be said. Time and opportunity might not return.”

“Actually, yes. I want to tell you one thing. But promise me you won’t get angry.”

“The more you think, the more your decisions become weaker. Because then, there come others’ opinions in them. Tell me.”

“I love you…Mrs. Anamika Rudra Roy.”

Anamika was highly shocked to see her love hide things so easily from her. She felt as if she was still in a nightmare. She really wanted all of it to be false.

“Good night, Rudra.”

“Anu…you, ok?”

No response. Anamika was probably getting answers to her questions. There was a time when, despite being away from Rudra, she felt his warmth, and today, she was in a situation when despite being in his arms, she could not feel his love for her.

She was again in the same condition where she had been five years back. But today, she was more substantial than before, smarter than before, and wiser than before. She had control over her emotions, and she knew what was right for her. Today, she was capable enough to sow the right seeds for her future.

*Next Morning*

“Come on, Alka, pack your stuff…”

“What happened, didi?”

“We are going on a holiday…”

*An hour later*

“So…ready to leave?”

“Yes, didi. I’m ready…but Rudra Sir? I haven’t seen him since morning.”

“Neither do we die, nor do we kill…We just do all those things which the almighty makes us do, Alka. Let’s leave.”