Topic started by Jaya (@ acca09be.ipt.aol.com) on Sun Sep 26 07:41:01 EDT 2004.
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I was lost in contemplation and could feel the tension build within me. Raju could see it. He was finally going to know, after all these years the answer to his question, why? A question I had always avoided. I wondered at my silence of all these years. What had I been afraid of, of hurting him? That, I had already done. Perhaps a fear of making him feel undervalued? But an explaination, that much I owed him.
"It's time I explained everything properly.I owe it to you Raju, for my peace of mind and your happiness," I started.
"So I'm a burden to you?" he asked, a little sharply, "What's the matter Maya? Getting on your conscience are we?" I composed myself, "No", I replied, "But you must understand why things are as they are now. You have to understand Raju that life is full of complexities. The future can change in a blink of an eye."
" Our future could have been bright Maya, if you had chosen it but you didn't. You rejected it Maya and in doing so rejected me," he replied, his tone accusatory, "You can change your future Maya but you can't change your past. Just as you can't change the fact that we were once in love and that even now I still am and will always love you!"
*
The girl raced towards the sliding doors and managed to just slip through into the carriage. Maya, soaked to the skin from the torrential rain outside, made her way to a spare seat. She leant back, exhausted. "Excuse me, that's my seat," she heard a voice say. She looked up, "You!"
"Yes me," replied the waiter, "Now if you don't mind?" Maya started to feel irritated again, what an annoying fellow, "Didn't anyone ever tell you that you're supposed to offer seats to a lady? And what do you mean by it being your seat?" The young man idly replied, "And didn't anyone ever tell you that you're not supposed to sit in someone else's seat? I had to help that poor paati maa there to climb into the carriage at the last station. A person can't even leave there seat unguarded nowadays. Now do you mind, you're getting my seat wet." Unable to give any reply to this, Maya had no choice but to give up her seat.
She stood there holding onto the pole for dear life as the train continued it's rattling journey. The waiter was looking out of the window. "Thanks," he said finally. "For what?" she replied. "For giving me your seat," he said. "But you said it was yours," she started than realising the implication of his words, "Why you rascal! You didn't even have this seat in the first place!"
"Yes I did," he replied playfully, "Ask that paati maa there," he pointed. She turned around to look and ask "Where?" but they had pulled into the next station and he had dissappeared. "Hi," she heard a voice behind her. She turned around, it was Raju! "Oh hi," she smiled back. They stood there, awkwardly. "Erm, there are plenty of seats," he finally managed to say, "Do you want to sit down?" She assented and they sat down. "So erm, how come you're on this train?" he asked. "I had to go and see my cousin Lalitha, she just got married recently," she replied. I can't believe she's talking to me, thought Raju, this girl is talking to me. Maya looked ahead and saw the paati maa gazing, dissapprovingly. She shook herself back to sense, she was talking, as far as she knew, a complete stranger! As if sensing what she was thinking Raju became more direct, " Erm, I was wondering whether you would like to go and see a movie sometime."
Maya blinked, "But I don't even know anything about you," she said. Talk about no inhibitions, she thought. "Well maybe it's time we did then," he replied. She didn't say anything to this but merely smiled and decided to look out of the window instead. Raju watched her and she knew that he knew that she knew he was watching her. The rain had made her hair fall in soft, loose waves.
The train pulled into her station and she got up. "You haven't given me a reply yet," he said as she made to go. She turned around, "Here," she pressed something into his hand and left with the rest of the crowd before he could say anything else. It was a ball of paper, why on earth had she given him a ball of paper? He opened it up and on the crumpled paper was scrawled her number. Raju smiled as he folded the paper neatly and put it into his pocket. She likes me, he thought, she likes me. You're falling in love, you're falling in love, said the little voice in his heart, you're falling in love and so is she. He leant back in his seat and smiled into space.
TO BE CONTINED............
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