Love – Past & Present

Ritu felt shocked to see Arjun.  Arjun was calm neither excited nor worried to see Ritu and Varun. He came to their table and introduced himself as Ritu’s best friend. Varun was in such jovial mood for their anniversary that he invited Arjun to have dinner with them. Ritu did not want this but she refrained from letting her emotions out, covered with a fake smile. Arjun joined them and the chain of discussions from the distant past started unveiling. The chain, that Ritu had long-buried in the deepest corners of her heart. The memories that she never wished to have. Those days in Pune, S.P.College, Chatushrungi Temple, Tulshi Bag, etc.  She was thinking that she had planned so much today and this happens.

Ritu had been busy all day planning a great evening with Varun for their anniversary. She planned a temple visit to seek blessings and a quiet candlelight dinner with Varun at his favorite restaurant. To enjoy this day with Varun she had also dropped their only son Krishna to her mother’s place.

It was 11:45 AM after finishing the chores she went on the checklist for her wannabe perfect dinner date – Table booked – check, special instructions to the live band – check, Gift – check, her evening dress – check…

She wanted this to be a memorable 10th anniversary. So she just about had her lunch and was looking at the gift wrapping and what struck her was an open corner on wrapping paper.  She felt an immediate urge to make it right, she knew, how fussy Varun always was about things being perfect. It opened the door of the old memory: she had bought a small gift for Varun when they were dating and in a hurry, the wrapping paper was not tucked properly. Varun did not say a word but his discomfort was showing all over his face. Ritu kept on asking what was wrong and he pretended to be happy. The secret got revealed later after they got married. This brought a smile to Ritu’s face and she got stuck in the world of memories. One after the other, memories came like she was pulling the handkerchief from the magician’s pocket and the same never ended. 

 She remembered how romantic those dating days were, they used to talk in gardens for hours, watch movies, had great dinners, walked hand in hand on lonely streets in sweet winters. There were a few issues in their marriage Varun’s parents did not approve of Ritu but he was adamant and went against all to marry her. Ritu being an orphan never really had a family but Varun had always been with her. It was not all rosy even after marriage they had there shares of struggle. When she was pregnant with Krishna and was asked to take the bed rest, Varun had taken such good care of her that she all most cried every time he used to feed her. Not only this but when Krishna was born and detected with jaundice she had all the most lost faith in his survival but Varun had been a strong support and Krishna survived the ordeal. 

It was not all Varun but when a few years back Varun lost his job, Ritu took on the responsibility of the family and started working, it was not easy and she had to manage a lot of stuff, Varun had become a little skeptic, Krishna was just about starting to go to school, but Ritu took full onus and kept her calm to stabilize their families rocking boat. Those two years were the worst for them. She used to get very tired and frustrated at times, but she held her nerve and Varun landed into a good job as a legal counsellor, she had a small breather and then she also joined an MNC, her talent in finance was strong enough to make her climb the corporate ladder and she was now heading the Finance department in a reputed organisation.    

In these 10 years, they had been through a lot of good, bad and ugly moments and both had complemented each other perfectly to make their relationship and their lives a great place to be in.

The doorbell rang and Ritu came again to her senses. It was 4:30 PM and her housemaid was home. She realised that Varun would be home in some time and she had to get ready now. Thinking of being blessed to have such a great life and wishing the same luck she went on to instruct the maid and getting ready.

At 5:30 PM Varun came home and he looked a bit tired but Ritu pushed him to get ready and both went on to the temple, after spending some good time and with blessings, they moved to Varun’s favourite restaurant and it was crowded and Varun was annoyed at the first sight, but when he came to know that Ritu had already booked a table for them, he suddenly got excited and realised that he is in for a good evening. He realised that Ritu had planned this. Once they were seated and comfortable, Ritu made a small gesture and the live band started playing his favourite songs. Varun was floored he looked at Ritu and his eyes were sparkling. Ritu was happy to see that look on his face. He held her hand in his and lovingly thanked her for all that she has done and is doing. Ritu calmly handed a small box to Varun, now he was excited, he looked in detail and found the gift perfectly made and was happy, he opened it and it was a wristwatch, the same which he had wished to have some months back. He almost jumped with joy like a kid. He was happy that Ritu bought him this gift but he was happier that she remembered. They ordered their dinner and just when the waiter was about to serve, Ritu saw Arjun. She tried to ignore him but he came straight to their table. That entire evening Varun kept on chatting with Arjun and Ritu was disturbed maintaining a fake smile on her face.

At night Varun went to bed and slept being tired. Ritu also slept wishing, the day could have ended better without Arjun.

The next day she found Arjun near her house, he also followed her to office. He tried to befriend her colleagues, talk to them, and get information. Ritu neglected the whole scene, but remained disturbed.

Varun was unable to understand the reason of Ritu’s irritation that night but he left her alone to settle down and went on with Krishna to sleep. She was unable to cope up with this turn of events. She remembered those old days when Arjun used to follow her everywhere. She never approved off him due to his bad habits and inclinations. He however was madly in love with her. He even had threatened to harm her and her parents if she did not accept him. 

Another day as usual Ritu made the tiffin’s and all 3 of them started for their work. Varun dropped Krishna to school and went to his office. 

Ritu on her way back from the office went on to pick Krishna and was shocked again, she found that Arjun was with Krishna and they were both chatting. She became very furious and lost her control. She went directly to Arjun and asked him the reason he was with Krishna. He replied in a rather annoying tone that it was not her prerogative to question him and he can be anywhere he wishes to be. The spat turned a little ugly and after a heated argument and ultimatum to stay away from her and her family, Ritu picked up Krishna and left the school.

She was hit by the old memory of the annual function where one of Ritu’s friend proposed her; she quietly turned down the proposal. This news went to Arjun and he beat the poor guy black and blue that night, the poor guy lost his life and Arjun was jailed for 5 Yrs.

This was really scaring her. Ritu was not able to believe how the destiny turns – the best planned day has suddenly turned into the worst nightmare. She was confused as this past was never shared with Varun and she did not know how he would react. To end this and get out of the situation once and for all, she went on to meet Arjun privately at his residence.  

During that meeting, she tried to explain to him that she was never interested in him. It was never going to work between them. She pleaded him to leave all and get out of her life. But he took her initiative wrongly and tried to force himself on her. She was in shock and was trembling, she never expected any of this, she tried to get out of his grasp, but he was strong and pinned her down. She moved her hand and found something; bang she hit him on the head, the blow was so bad that he instantly fell off the bed and was immovable; she checked and found that he was dead. She was terrified and ran out of there. Then suddenly she realised no one knew she was with him and she wanted to keep it like that. So she went and carefully eliminated all the signs which could link her visit to Arjun and left.

The next day the news was all over, police tried to investigate but due to his bad background, no relatives and no major proof the case did not go any further. Varun was shocked and asked Ritu, but she responded with a sad face and matter was over. After several days she was content that the matter has settled and she had been out of a huge problem rather easily, but she was again underestimating the turn of events.

As usual, she went to the office and the day was going normal, post-lunch she was feeling sleepy, so she went on with her friend for a coffee. They had a small chat and were refreshed and came back. Ritu was unaware of the surprise waiting for her in email inbox.

She stared at the email message on her computer, her mind was racing so fast that the words blurred together and no longer made any sense. Just three lines, but enough to make her life–the life she’d worked so hard and sacrificed so much to build–begin to crumble around her. 

The email read as follows:

“I saw him die. 

I have a video. 

I will call you”

Ritu could not believe her eyes and destiny. Her mind was racing to figure out who could this be? How could someone video shoot that? Is this real/fake? She went on from one horrifying thought to another, unable to link the dots and unable to think of a solution.

She went home but her mind was still in the email, she was not in her senses. Varun tried to understand what could be the issue, but she shrugged it off saying she was tired. A few days went by but the call did not come. She thought somebody would have joked with her and went on with the day.

In the evening when she came home she received a photo where she was entering Arjun’s building and the time punched at the lower right corner. The timing matched the time slot of his murder. She was again terrified, her mind was disturbed, she was trying to figure out who could this be? And she realized that this could only be available to the security guard of the building and he would be trying to get financial benefit from this. The cat was out of the box. She now decided to tell Varun all since this was out of her hands now.

That night she explained every detail of the past and the happenings of her visit to Arujn’s place and about the email and the photo. Initially, Varun did not believe on what he was hearing and he felt sad that she did not share this ordeal earlier, but gathering his senses and his lawyer mind, he thoroughly analyzed the situation and said that all the shreds of evidence are circumstantial and she cannot be proven guilty on the photo as she is visiting only the building and not Arjun’s flat. There is no other evidence, but he said let’s check with the blackmailer and then decide further.

Ritu felt relived and when the person called she asked him to meet her at her place. He was the security guard of that building. Varun had set a camera in their hall and had the meeting.  When Varun was sure that there was no other proof than the lobby videotape he intimidated the guard and showed him the recording where the guard tried to blackmail them. This put the guard on the back foot and he handed the CD to Varun and left. Varun also ensured that he will not trouble them again by taking in writing from him that he was doing all this for money.

That night both sat for several hours on the terrace watching stars and reliving the good old and haunted memories, hand in hand.