SOULMATES

SOULMATES

She stood there. The wind was creating riffs in her lustrous black hair and her face shone in the moonlight.

The street lamp at the corner of the lane glowed giving light to all the wanderers of the night. A stray dog was barking out loud faraway and the neighbourhood mothers were trying to put their babies to sleep. An old record was blazing out of the window in the next apartment. And she stood there leaning against the railings of her balcony speaking her heart out to him. She knew it was only he who could understand her. With him, there were always words of comfort and love that were like music to her ears, words that she wanted to hear, words that soothe her senses and make her feel alive. He was the person of her dreams. He never stopped her when she talked. With him she felt relieved to share all the happenings of the day. He listened with a smile laughing at her joys and worried at all her woes. She knew all her friends were busy with their lives and there were things that she could not confide in them. But with him it felt nice even to share her deepest secrets and latent desires. She can feel a paradise of her own- a utopian world where the heart danced with mirth.

TRRRRINGGG....The doorbell rang. The clock on the wall showed 10:30. She hurried off to open the door. Her husband came in with a scowl on his face,” I have been ringing the door bell since eternity and I am tired like hell. I can’t afford to stand there all time.” She replied with a smile: “I have been in the kitchen dear. It seems like you had a busy day in the office. Did something happen baby? You seem worried.”

“Just give me my dinner. I am starved and am not in a mood to talk.”

At the dinner table not a word was exchanged .She tried many times to start a conversation but all he replied was with a word or two paramount to silence.

“How is the food?”

“Good.”

“You know my seniors praised me at work today..i felt so elated and..”

“Can we talk about it later?”

“Please tell me what has happened. You seem to be behaving so strange since last week. I guess you will feel better when you share dear.”

“Shut the topic please. Can we keep quiet for a while?”

“But this is always the case. I wait for you the entire day and when you come back you hardly talk. Don’t you understand how I feel when I hear your curt replies? DEAR, I love you..Please don’t do this to me.” She spoke with a broken voice and moist eyes.

“Don’t do what. I cannot always have soft words for you and pamper you all the time. Just give me some peace.”

He walked up in a rage from the table and she remained there seated, her face wet with tears.

This was like a routine in her daily life except on days when he was extremely happy or wanted to make love.

She remembered the days when he himself used to spend all his energies in trying to make her smile. Those periods of courtship three years back when he professed hi s love for her...and she too gave back him her heart in return. Those days of bliss when he told her that her smile meant the world to him. That he would always open up his heart to her. That a single tear in her eyes breaks his heart into pieces. She remembered how he would die to meet her at the college bus stop daily with a toffee or a wild flower in hand. They used to walk hand in hand and he would just love listening to her-her voice, her laughter and even her tantrums. He would speak of the things disturbing him and when she had a word of advice, he confessed that none could understand him better. This in itself made her happy.

She never dreamt of a husband who would be a source of money for her shopping and eating sprees. She knew she would be independent even to attend to her own material needs. She just needed someone with whom she can build a world of love and care, with whom sorrows turned into happiness, with whom she can make a house into a home. She believed that love has healing properties and can make the world go round.

Her friends envied her and told her she was lucky to have a husband as loving as him. Her parents however warned her that things change after marriage. She however listened to her heart. She knew people and things change with time..But he always used to tell her...”DARLING WE ARE SOULMATES..MEANT TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER.” And she held on to his every word.

Today sitting there alone in the dinner table, she knew he had changed. But in her heart he still remained the charming prince that stole her heart away. In her heart there was still the same man who used to never stop her when she talked, with whom she felt relieved to share all the happenings of the day, who listened with a smile laughing at her joys and worried at all her woes.

She began talking to him again:

How was the food?

Wonderful  dear.  It’s your food that can make me smile even after a tiring day.

She smiled and added:

You know my seniors were so pleased with me at work today. I felt so elated. I guess I am getting a promotion very soon.

I am so proud of you sweetheart. See, I always told you .

Darling, you seem worried these days. Did anything happen back at work?

It is about this new project that I told you last week. Somehow, I am not able to make the most of it. I am trying so hard to appease the client but it’s getting all the more difficult.

Baby, please don’t worry. Things will get well soon. I know you can do it. You have done harder things before and come out successful. You know I was so worried. I even thought maybe you were angry with me.

How can I be angry with you for so long, don’t you know DARLING WE ARE SOULMATES..MEANT TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER. I LOVE YOU BABY.

I LOVE YOU TOO DEAR...