The sun was shining hard on her head. The partly cloudy sky did
nothing to sieve the heat. Iti laughed at her judgemental self after
recognizing the events of the morning. The moment she met Shiv, she was
clear and she knew what lay ahead of her. But here she was; walking back astonished
and amazed and shamed at her outlook towards the less privileged people than
her. Lost in her thoughts she continued to walk. Walking without knowing the
destination was something new. A part of her was enjoying it and another part
was sceptical.
And she was listening to none.
Iti spotted a Costa Coffee outlet and made it her momentary
destination. Although she often complained about it being brutally expensive,
she loved their outlets, the pristine white cutlery, the cappuccino mug kept at
off centre in the saucer served with a cookie, and their policy of employing deaf
and dumb people. She somehow felt as if she herself is contributing to their
well being after paying for a highly over priced coffee.
The café was sparsely crowded. Iti was seated on the table
next to the window. She always preferred to sit and watch the world go by. And she
suddenly realised she was doing this after a long time. Whenever she needed a
coffee outside her home, her laptop accompanied her and she too was smitten by
his loyalty that she never deprived him of her attention. But today she had
ditched him.
And she was not guilty.
The coffee arrived precisely after 15 minutes. The rich
aroma was soothing to her senses. She poured half the packed of brown sugar into
the cup and sipped the coffee and her phone rang. “It might be from the office”,
Iti thought. She fumbled for few minutes in her larger than life bag before
getting stuck to its screen.
“Neil calling”
The screen flashed the name. Iti gazed at the screen in
excitement and horror and despair. Her last few years of life ran in her mind
in mere seconds.
She pressed the ‘Accept’ button without even knowing.
“Hello? Am I speaking to Iti?
“Yes Neil you are”
“So you have not deleted my phone number?”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to meet me?”
“Why?”
“I need you here.”
“Where are you?”
“In Gangtok.
“What the hell are you doing there? Are you alright?”
“Yes I am all fine here. Can you come here?”
“When do you want me there?”
“Now!”
“Are you nuts?”
“Yes I am! I want you to take the next possible flight and
come here.”
“Fine I am coming.”
“Call me after you have booked your tickets. Bye”
Call disconnected.
The last time they have met, she had vowed never to see his face
again. And now was she was ready to fly miles just because he needs her. Perhaps
he was the only one who ever needed her.
Iti took an auto and headed to the airport. Her morning
became hazy and melted into the physical form of Neil. Perhaps this is what
life is. She just was living it.
