Subrato slumped into his chair after Paridhi left and his eyes fell on the invitation card lying on his table. He picked it up. Engagement was fixed for 26th February. Less than ten days were left. And he had lost her trust! There was nothing he could do. She’d throw herself into an even worse pit than she currently was in. And he’d be able to do nothing.

He took a deep breath and tried to think clearly. It was only an engagement. The truth will come out somehow or the other. Unless there is an evil identical twin plan at work, which was too filmy to be true, by the day of engagement, the truth will come out. He just had to pray that she will hold herself together when it does. There, unfortunately, was no question of him being there for her.

He looked at the invitation card again. 26th February, 3.00 pm. He would be counting days, hours, minutes and seconds till then!

“And it’s only an engagement,” he told himself, “Things will be all right.”

—

It was five in the evening on 26th February. Subrato was restless. What had happened? He recalled his short, not-so-shocking chat with Stacey last night.

“Hi Subrato. Is it too late there?”

“No. I am very much awake,” he replied. Even if it had been too late, he wasn’t going to get any sleep that night, “Everything all right, Stacey?”

“Yes. I was just wondering. About Aniket… What you had asked about him. What really happened?”

“Hasn’t he left for India?” Subrato asked although it would not be surprising if he hadn’t. What could he be planning to do here anyway?

“Left for India? I saw him in the office cafeteria just a while back.”

“Hmm… Nothing has happened till now. And if he hasn’t left, nothing too bad will happen in future either.”

“Nobody is in trouble, I hope?”

“Nobody will be, I hope!”

“Just… take care of yourself.”

“Thanks Stacey. You have been extremely helpful.”

“And you have been very kind. All the best Subrato.”

“Same to you. Bye.”

It had taken him all his self-control to speak with civility to Stacey. He was in no mood to talk to anyone, much less explain his interest in Aniket to anyone. But despite his past grudges, Stacey had been helpful to him and he owed her for that. If Paridhi was not willing to believe him, it wasn’t Stacey’s fault. Whose fault it was? His own? Possibly. But possibly nobody’s. Paridhi’s strong sense of responsibility towards her mother has made her incapable of doing things for her own well-being. Not even refusing to marry into a cheating, lying, greedy family.

Her care for her family was adorable and annoying at the same time.

Subrato snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the watch again. 5.30! What was he waiting for? News won’t come from thin air. He will have to call her.

His call was picked up pretty quickly, though not instantaneously. “I am taking a train at 7 ‘o clock,” she said without waiting for any greetings. Was it a calmness in her voice? No. It was a chill.

“Paridhi. I…”

“I know that you know what has happened. Let me come and apologize in person.”

“That’s not the point. But you are taking a train this late. What time will it reach?”

“At midnight or so…”

“How will you… I will be at the station…”

“No. You don’t need…”

“Which train?”

“I will be fine.”

“Listen to me for once, will you? Which train?”

“Ganga Gomti,” his complain made her comply.

—

“Hadn’t any of your friends gone from here?” he asked while driving back to the institute from the station.

“I hadn’t told anyone.”

“Hmm…”

“Did you mean to ask why?”

“I don’t mean to do anything to make you feel bad.”

“You can’t do anything to make me feel worse than I am feeling right now. I didn’t invite anyone because I did not want to take the risk of everyone witnessing what finally happened. I accused you of unthinkable things. I was trying not to believe you. But deep down, I was only hoping that my accusations were true. I didn’t believe they were. That is no excuse for how I behaved with you, of course. But… that is a way of apologizing…”

“You know what your biggest problem is? You take too much responsibility on yourself. For everyone’s actions. You don’t need to do that for mine. I didn’t feel great that you didn’t trust me. But I have to be responsible for acting in ways that were bound to make you suspicious. So, stop beating yourself up over it.”

She smiled, but with extreme sadness, “Life is funny. Or may be I am funny. Right now you are the only person I think I have wronged. And you are the only person who doesn’t hold me responsible.”

“Who holds you responsible?”

“Everybody.”

“What exactly happened?”

He noticed tears filling her eyes. They were about to reach campus. She must talk.

“Can we… go to my house?” he asked hesitantly. It was past midnight.

She nodded.

He drove silently until they reached his house.

—

She sat silently on a chair in his living room, while he brought her a cup of hot tea. Until she took a sip, she hadn’t anticipated how much she needed the drink. She finished it silently and he let her do that.

“Thanks!” she finally said.

“I know that Aniket never left US…”

“He didn’t? And you knew this?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Just like I knew other things about him.”

“And how did you know anything about him?”

He sighed, “You remember, I had told you about Stacey? She works in the same company.”

“You called her?” her eyes widened in surprise, “Why… How… I mean… had you been in touch with her?”

“No.”

“Wasn’t it uncomfortable? It must have been…”

“Paridhi…”

“You did it for me?”

“So what?”

“And I…”

“If you once again start lamenting how you were wrong and all that, I swear I will throw you out of my house right now and not talk to you ever again. Do you understand?”

Paridhi smiled through her tears.

“And now you will tell me what happened.”

—

To be continued