-5-
Abhi woke with a start… and realized that he was lying on the bed in his room in the dark. He felt terribly hungry and his throat was completely dry… He must have dozed off sometime during the evening when he had smoked on the last joint from the weed Rudra had given him in the morning. He remembered not going down for lunch when his mother called him making odd excuses. He gathered himself up and groped for the water bottle near his bedside table. Having taken a swig of water he felt more at ease. He remembered his resolutions and the course of action he had concluded to. Basically the weed had helped clearing his thoughts and keeping the emotions at bay. It was mathematically simple and all he had to do was to eliminate the choices that had some uncertainties. There was just one decision he had to take and he had two choices… He picked up his mobile phone and saw two missed calls from Rimi. The two options he had really a tough time choosing upon before he fell asleep now suddenly got resolved. Not bothering to call back as he would normally do he felt light headed and proceeded to have some food.
* * *
Abhi waited five days before he called Rima … Accepting no calls from her during this period.
"Hello…"
"Hi, Abhi what was up you were not accepting calls what has happened?"
"Sorry darling, I was not in town and I had to go to Jalpaiguri to look after the divisional training that we had organized…"
"But you could have called and let me know that you were leaving the town…" she sounded agitated…
"Well… you would not believe this but I had tried calling you up several times but every time it has given me out of network…"
"You could have sent me a SMS"
"I did not have my cell with me Rimi… Do you think I could not see you and not send you any updates about my whereabouts… Can we meet tomorrow? Now don’t say no…"
"Tomorrow?" the voice sounded as if she had skipped a beat… "Well I am not very well today and I was thinking of staying in bed tomorrow… lets meet on Sunday"
"Oh! So you are not well?" replied Abhi putting all his concern into his voice… "Shall I come over to visit you then? I really want to meet as soon as possible… this assignment has pushed me to my limits…"
"Oh! I remembered…" hastily replied the voice at the other end cutting him short "I have some relatives coming over tomorrow as well… I don’t think your coming over would be a good idea. Abhi lets meet day after tomorrow and it is Sunday and we can have the whole day… really"
"What’s the matter Rimi? I want to meet you tomorrow or forget it" Abhi replied shivering inwardly… "I think I deserve to see you don’t I?"
"Please not tomorrow… I will go out on Sunday … be reasonable…" entreated Rimi.
Abhi felt a wave of sorrow pass over him as he spoke… He knew he was still fighting a losing battle and the end is very near.
"Okay… dear. But Sunday might be too late" and he hung up.
Immediately after he had hung up he received a call from Rimi. His heart fluttered for a moment and he picked up the phone.
"What is the matter with you Abhi? Why did you disconnect? And what is this thing about tomorrow? Don’t you believe me?"
The flurry of questions took Abhi by surprise. He had expected that somehow without him saying anything, Rimi would be able to see the logic behind his strange persistent request. But, it seemed that nothing of that level of intelligence was forthcoming. All she had asked were some questions that would help her keep the point of not coming tomorrow at bay. It was a defense that she was building in order to avoid the real reason for her not coming tomorrow. She could not of course say that she would be meeting her new suitor in Rudra and she would never admit to that… It was something that Abhi saw plainly and wondered if he would ever speak with Rimi.
"WHY don’t you answer? What is it with tomorrow? And Don’t you believe me?" cried a shrill voice from the other end.
"You know something?…"… Abhi was taken aback by the calm resoluteness that emanated from his voice… "You never could lie properly…" he heard himself say, almost unable to control his speech from bursting out in rage…
"All I wanted from you was a meeting tomorrow and you have not agreed. This goes on to show how much you really think of me. I have never turned my back on you as you have done today for a reason that even a four-year old boy would know to be untrue. You never were considerate and your materialism is really glaring. Your ideals, your futuristic plans and your lies have always bothered me…. Now I know for sure that you are lying. Don’t ask me how but get this right, you have been a dishonorable person all along and I wish you realize some day what you have done. From this day forward please don’t bother to call me up for I won’t be answering your calls anymore… Good bye and Good Luck!"
Abhi did not realize that he was actually shouting in the phone towards the end of his conversation. Having disconnected the line and switching off his mobile he suddenly felt the growing silence around him. The options were difficult and the resolution even more difficult. He knew that he might falter and give in somewhere but this was done clinically. Only if he had kept his cool towards the end it would have been very satisfying. But he felt no regrets. He knew that regrets were of no use for they only hurt. In-spite of having a tiring day at work Abhi felt suddenly relaxed, as if a load had suddenly been lifted from him. That night he had a sound sleep for the first time in the whole week.
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