Amor Perfecto
Here I was meeting her again. Just the
thought sent a shiver down my spine! There was this inexplainable feeling, I
felt all soft inside. I met her four months ago on social media which is
something I generally stay away from. But my cousin sister, Shikha created my
profile with the hope I would meet someone new on Tinder of all places. I had
read umpteen horror stories of relationships and marriages gone wrong through
social media platforms, but Shikha had her own ideas. The eternal romantic, she
thought this was just what I needed to bring some excitement in my life!
Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. The
name’s Aaryan, 27 years old and still single. Yes, I knew you had guessed that
because well, I gave enough away earlier. So, I would scan Tinder with boredom,
swiping left along the way until the day I saw her.
I swiped right and I know she did too,
because the next thing I knew, the words ‘It’s a match’ popped up.
She said her name was Ahana and she stayed
in the same city as me. She was a fashion blogger and travelled round the
world, catching the latest fashions and trends and writing all about them. She
sounded very glamorous, whereas here I was, a simple guy with a desk job. Working
as a Relationship Manager in a bank from 9 am to 5 pm. We started chatting on a
regular basis, wanting to know all that we could – our likes, dislikes, hobbies,
movies, music etc. She wanted to meet but I kept putting it off.
Until the day she asked me “Aaryan, am I
just wasting my time?” I knew then that if I said ‘Yes’ and let her go, I would
probably live to regret it forever.
And so, we met at Cafe Dream Heaven (I know
it’s cliched!) exactly two weeks ago. I remember the moment she walked in
wearing a white gypsy tee and blue jeans. Her hair was cut in bangs and kept
falling over her face. She kept trying to get it out of her eyes with her
bangled hand, a multicolour riot on her wrist. A dark grey black scarf was
casually thrown over her neck to complete the look. She walked up to my table
and introduced herself. I gave her a shy smile.
As the waiter came to take the order, she
asked for a cappuccino and a hot chocolate with marshmallows. I was surprised
she remembered how I loved Cappuccino. She then launched into what she had been
doing the last 10 days or so. Not that I paid attention. I simply kept staring
at her face and the whole gamut of emotions that crossed it. When she smiled,
it reached her twinkling eyes, transforming her face. How beautiful she
looked! I thought to myself. Her fingers laced around the coffee mug and
her expression of complete satisfaction as she took the first sip said it all.
The chocolate left a moustache and I reached out to wipe it with a tissue. Our
eyes locked and we both knew then that we definitely wanted to make this work. She
loved to talk and I didn’t mind that at all. The evening was over in a flash
and promising to meet again, we went back to our respective homes.
Continuing to meet, today was my fifth
meeting with her within two weeks. Every time I felt closer to her than ever
before. As always, I reached the Café before her and saw her as soon as she
walked in. We were considered amongst regulars now and were seated at our usual
table. The staff knowing our order by now, left us alone. A toddler at the
adjacent table, tugged at Ahana’s jeans. She smiled and picked him up. He gave
her a mischievous grin and pulled her hair. He was playful and she didn’t seem
to mind. Finally, his mom pulled him away and Ahana laughed and gave him flying
kisses. Her laughter was simply magical and lit up her face, just like the
lights that were hung in the Café. Low hanging paper chandeliers set the mood
at this place. There were cream, yellow and orange paper chandeliers hung from
the ceiling and lit each table at the centre. It was a soft and romantic setup and
to me, it was perfecto, just like Ahana!
I looked at the lights again. How
beautiful everything looked, sparkling and glowing, I mused. I had always
been fascinated by lights. My parents had always maintained that even as a
baby, I loved staring at lights whenever they took me for a stroll in the pram.
I wanted to be lifted out and kept trying to get hold of the strung lights
wherever I could. Even the carousel at the amusement park had been my favourite
as a kid when I was growing up and I know it was all because of the lights.
It was a pity that my parents were gone
now. I never even had the chance to say goodbye. I still remembered that awful
day. Mom had sent a text saying that they would return late that night. They
had been to Paris as a celebration of 30 years of wedded bliss. She messaged
that she missed me and was looking forward to seeing me. Her last message was ‘I
love you - Mom’.
In the evening, my childhood friend Mihir
came home and turned on the television. The words ‘Plane crash’ and ‘all
passengers feared dead’ flashed across the screen. Nothing made sense to me. It
was too much to take in all at once. Mihir flew out with me to Paris. The plane
had crashed only half an hour after take-off we got to know later.
The bodies were in the local mortuary and
Mihir was with me every step of the way. The bodies were charred beyond
recognition. I only recognized my mom because of her wedding ring and as I
looked at the charred hand with the Rolex, I knew it was my Dad. He never went
without his Rolex and it was his only one indulgence. The bodies were
repatriated back. I don’t remember much about the flight but recall staring at
the twinkling and dwindling lights as the plane soared in the skies. Even then
the lights seemed to help me find solace.
And after the funeral, I came back to an
empty house. Somehow, I tried to pick up the pieces of my life and move on. My
mom would have never wanted me to sit and mope, I reminded myself. And her ‘I
love you’ remains forever etched in my heart.
Lost in my thoughts, I suddenly became
aware of my current surroundings. Ahana was used to my being quiet and was slowly
sipping her hot chocolate. The silence between us was comfortable. She was
meant to travel out the next day and hence we decided to leave soon. Bidding
goodbye and promising to meet as soon as she was back in town, we both went in
opposite directions.
I turned left from the Café and then I saw
it. Oh! The twinkling lights how they glowed beckoning me to them! I
thought. The display window at the upscale fashion store across the road was a
myriad of colours and lights. From lanterns to the smallest of twinkling lights
which looked like fireflies, the display window had them all. There was even a
lamppost, just like in the Harry Potter movies! Unable to resist this visual, I
walked quickly in their direction. They all seemed to be calling out to me, to
reach out and touch them just once! My feet were alive like never before. I
felt like I was Charlie about to enter Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory.
With brisk steps I moved towards them.
Suddenly, I felt a jolt and a push from behind. With a smack, I fell face down
on the road. There was a sharp pain on the side of my head. I touched it to
find something sticky trickling down. It was blood! What had just happened?
I looked up to see Ahana thrown on the
ground next to me. And our legs were now entangled. How had that happened? Hadn’t
we just parted ways at the Café?
I stood up and so did Ahana. Staring at her
face blankly, I tried to make sense although she was speaking to me. I could sense
her frustration as it showed on her face.
Suddenly, she pulled me to her and turned
me around in the direction of the road with the moving traffic although now
everything was at a standstill. A car was stalled in the middle and people
gathered around. A cat lay unmoving beneath its wheels. Someone was checking to
see if it was alive or dead. Staring at Ahana again, I watched her lips move.
And then it dawned on me! She had pushed me out of harm’s way to save my life,
risking her own in the bargain. I had had a very narrow escape and I had only her
to thank for it. But words would never be able to convey what I wanted to say
to her. And I wouldn’t be able to say them anyways. Born deaf and dumb, yes,
that’s me!
I simply hugged her and knew she understood
since she was in the same boat that I was in. She was deaf too! It was our Amor
Perfecto I knew then.
No comments:
Post a Comment