Genre: Drama
Rating: 13+
Word Count: ~3300
She put on her track pants, then her tank top and jacket. She clipped an ipod shuffle to the jacket, then plugged her ears with ear phones that barely work. It became a routine for her, these days, to walk in the nearby park in the evenings and listen to songs along the way to drown out the noise surrounding her. She got quite used to the park, enough to simply close her eyes as she walked. Her legs would automatically carry her around the park, in the route that got programmed into them over the past few months. Thus, she cut off her eyes and ears from the world, feeling all alone in the world, comfortable.
Now, one would think that closing your eyes while walking in the park is a recipe to bump into people. In the past few months, she has not once bumped into someone. Her senses were possibly acute enough to avoid bumping into people. Either that or others simply avoided bumping into her. Either way, she was glad for it. But today was different, she just bumped into a person and it was an ugly bump too. Their shoulders had hit each other, the ipod attached to her jacket got unclipped, fell out and it dragged the earphones along with them. She was suddenly taken away from the slow rhythmic tunes that coloured her world and brought back to the din of the real world. That created a sense of shock that was visible in her face as she fell down on the ground on her rear. She turned her head towards the brute in front of her who was cause of this. The brute was a shortish man with a slight plump face and body. He was wearing jacket and a track pants very similar to hers, and he was listening to songs playing on his phone through his bluetooth headset. His face showed immense panic that subsided her anger towards him.
"I am so sorry!", he said while picking up her ipod and earphones. While he picked them up, he noticed that he could not hear anything from her earphones. He took the earphones closer to his ears to confirm them.
"It seems I may have broken it, I am so sorry! I will compensate for this. I don't currently have my wallet with me, but if you wait here for a while, I can quickly bring my wallet and pay you", he said with an apologetic face that looked sincere enough.
"It's ok, do not worry about it." she said as she slowly got up. The man held out the ipod shuffle and the earphones and she took them from him.
"Still, I don't feel right not being able to compensate you for this."
"As I said, don't worry about it. They were barely working to begin with. I have been asking my husband to buy me some new ones for a long time. Maybe, he will finally buy me one now."
Looking at how she was not angry with him, the man's panic slowly ebbed and for the first time he actually looked at her face more clearly. He found himself speechless for a while as flashes of bollywood scenes went through his head where a hero and heroine bump into each other and fall in love. He quickly brushed aside such thoughts, gave her a bow, an apologetic smile and left the place as quickly as he can.
She looked at his receding figure for a while, let out a sigh and started on her walk back home. She opened the door to her house and saw that her husband was still watching TV in the living room. She went into the bedroom without saying anything to him. In the bedroom, she removed her jacket and her tank top. Her body which was covered in sweat was finally breathing again. She went on to remove her track pants and stood in front of the mirror, just in her inner wear. She ran her hand along the waist, feeling the soft flesh. Then she grabbed onto her slight flab on the waist, closed her eyes and for a brief moment pictured ripping it out with her bare hands. She, then let out a sigh, and ran her hand across her face. It was a bit plump. Her eyes then met her own in the mirror, reminiscing her time in the college. It was merely seven years ago, that she was one of the most sought after girl in the college. Many guys had asked her out multiple times and she had refused them all. She was sure that any of them would have felt blessed to accidentally bump into her. None of them would run away as fast as that guy did today she thought. She put on her vintage maxi dress with rose floral patterns and again looked at the mirror. She was satisfied as it showed none of the flaws she wished to see. She made her way into the living room.
"My ear phones are not working any more, can you buy me some new ones?" she said to her husband while gently sitting by his side. "Yeah, ok, let me just watch this game for now and I will buy them for you later".
Later - she has heard this word often enough to know that it means that he will never get to it. If she fought, he will simply complain to her parents and then she will have to listen to a long lecture from her parents about how she should behave. She had gone through this cycle enough to have given up on fighting for what she wants. She simply rose up and went to kitchen to start preparing for dinner.
---
He was sitting on his computer. The long walk in the park had tired him out but today he was not feeling it in his body. All he could recall for the day was how he had bumped into that beautiful lady in the park. He was feeling a little giddy like the kid in college who accidentally bumped into the most popular girl in the college. He went to amazon.com and looked up a few ear phones for ipod shuffle. After going through multiple products and reading several reviews, he finally chose an earphone that looked good. His mouse at this point was hovering over the add-to-cart option. He slunk back into his chair and looked up at the ceiling for a long time. Then, he simply closed the amazon window and went to facebook. Just as he got connected to facebook, he received a message from his friend Anurag.
"Anurag: Yo! Finally you are online. I am planning to go watch Logan with my wife at CineMAX. However, she is planning to bring another friend along with her. So, I need a company. Will you please come with me? :-("
"Me: Hmm, I do want to watch Logan, but somehow I suspect that you and your wife are trying to play matchmaking again. :-?"
"Anurag: Heck no man, she is way out of your league"
"Me: :-|"
"Anurag: What? you seem disappointed"
"Me: I dont want to be matched with anyone, but I would still like it if my friend had little more faith in me :-|"
"Anurag: Hehehe, sorry, but if I said, she is perfect for you or something, then you would be doubting me anyway. As I said, I just need a male company with whom I can geek out about X-men and speculate the next movie. Will you come or not?"
"Me: Yeah ok, but remember no trying to make me sit next to your wife's friend, or making me go buy some food along with her during intermission or making me sing songs playing antakshari during the car ride ..."
"Anurag: What is wrong with playing antakshari?"
"Me: :-| you know what is wrong with it"
"Anurag: Hehehe, alright promise. So, I will book tickets and send a copy to you by email tonight. See you tomorrow evening."
"Me: Yeah ok"
As much as his friend has promised that this is not a matchmaking session, he was quite sure that the friend's wife is trying to set him up with one of her friends. He is used to their meddling, they mean well after all and besides he really wanted to watch Logan. He opened his phone, went to the gallery and opened a picture from 3 years ago. It was a picture of him - younger, slimmer and with a beautiful girl in front of CineMAX theatre. They both looked very close to each other and the poster behind them said, "X-men: Days of Future Past". He remembered how he used to discuss and explain various plots of the movie to her and although, she was not a huge X-men fan, she fancied Michael Fassbender. It used to irk him, because Michael Fassbender was Magneto and he would have been far happier if she fancied James McAvoy instead, who played Professor X. As he recalled these memories, he was slowly getting gripped by a strange sense of helplessness. He simply closed the gallery and went to youtube and started browsing through a bunch of animal videos while munching on Lays chips and drinking Coke - which has been his dinner course for a while.
---
The next day she put on her usual attire and went for a walk in the park. This time, however, she did not have her ipod on her. She still closed her eyes and tried to isolate herself from the people around her and find her solitude. And again she bumped into someone. It was the same guy. His face had the same panicked expression it had before. In some ways, she found it comforting and amusing.
"We got to stop meeting like this", she said with a smile. "You may not realize this but I am the one who is always falling down and having a sore back".
The man settled down and gave a grin, then gave her a hand so that she can help herself up. She did not refuse. He noticed that she did not have her ipod today.
"I know you had refused it before. But I would truly like to buy you an ear phone, I found a really good one online with good sound quality and noise cancellation. Please, if you would allow me, I would really like to buy it for you."
That sudden change in conversation set her aback a bit. It has been quite a while since someone wanted to buy something for her. During her days in college, boys would often offer buying her things, of course, with the ulterior motive of getting close to her. Is the guy in front of her same as those boys? Does he want to get close to me? He realizes that I am a married woman doesn't he? - such thoughts swirled in her head.
Seeing her hesitation, he responded, "I guess you still don't want it, I am sorry to put you in a spot and truly sorry to have broken your earphones earlier".
"Yes, you can buy me an earphone", she responded. In her heart, she was a little shocked at what she was saying and yet she was quite happy about it.
He smiled and asked her if comes by this park everyday, to which she responded in affirmative. He said he cant be here tomorrow because he plans to go watch a movie with his friend, but he will definitely get her the earphone the day after. They both nodded towards each other and resumed their walks.
---
It was a dull evening near CineMAX theatre. He got there on time but as usual, Anurag and his wife were late. But they managed to catch the show just in time. As suspected, the entire evening Anurag's wife attempted to get her friend close to him as possible. He obliged without complaint, which surprised both Anurag and his wife. He obliged not because he gave in but because he mind was occupied with the park, and the woman that walks in the park, finding comfort in loneliness just like he does. Even when Anurag wanted to geek out with him - discussing how cool Logan was and how awesome and cute X-23 was, his responses were absent minded at best.
---
The next evening, he waited in the park with a newly bought earphone. She came as usual and on time. They both sat down and he offered her the earphones, she was quite happy to receive it.
"Thanks for the earphone"
"Please do not mention it, it was my fault after all. I am quite happy to repay you, a burden off my mind."
"I told you before that it was already at its end, so you didn't have to feel like that."
"The other day when I saw you without your ipod, I felt that I had taken away something important."
"Thanks." and after a short pause, "Oh yes, how was the movie?"
"Eh?"
"You said you were going to a movie yesterday."
"Oh right, it was just a comic based movie. Not sure if it will be of interest to you."
"Oh did you go watch Logan?"
"Ah yes, you know of it?"
"Of course, I may not be a super comic fan, but I love the comic artwork and definitely interested in the adaptations."
"Are you an artist?"
"Well I have an arts degree, but I don't work as an artist. I got married right after the bachelors and that was such a huge change in life, that it took all my focus and efforts." she said looking far off into the distance.
"How long have you been married?"
"For about 6 years now."
"Well, by now, you must be used to your marriage, I think it is about time, you give art the required priority", he said with a smile on his face.
She was dumbstruck at this response. It was true, although the initial parts of the marriage were new and she was getting used to them, but later one she never tried to get back into arts.
"You are quite right, I should start giving some time for art. By the way, what do you do?"
"This is bangalore, so take a guess at what I could be."
"Software Developer"
"Bingo - A profession of which less said the better"
"Hehehe, maybe you can help me setup some computer software, since you have now urged me to give priority to art again." she said with a cheeky smile on her face.
"If there is anything I can help with, without a doubt, I will try to help." he said with a slight bow.
"Alright, I need to go now. See you later" and they both bid their goodbyes.
After walking a while, they both realized they never asked each other's name but at the same time, they both felt it was unnecessary.
---
Soon they both began to meet regularly at the park. Their accidental meetings now got converted into planned meetings, where they both walked together around the park. They both had their earphones and headsets respectively, but they preferred talking to each other. Right now, they could only hear each other and the din of the outside world was drowned away without requiring any noise cancelling headsets.
Soon, their innocent relationship turned into an affair. It was inevitable, since they both had developed feelings for each other. It began with him inviting her for coffee at his house. This invitation soon turned physical. They stopped walking in the park and instead regularly meeting at his house instead.
The park and the activities of people around it continued. The absence of these two had made no difference whatsoever. They were after all always in their own isolated world and now are simply in each other's world.
She was lying in bed next to him, and he lied next to her gently hugging her. She felt happy and contented, but that also made her sad.
"I think we should stop seeing each other", she said with a heavy heart.
He was quite taken aback and confused. "Why? Where is this coming from? I thought we were doing so well!"
"We are and that is what is scaring me."
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. You do realize that this relationship has no future. We cannot go on like this, at some point one of us is bound to get hurt."
"I told you that if you divorce your husband, I will marry you."
"My husband is a decent man. He is negligent towards me but not abusive. There is no reason why I must divorce him."
"He is a control freak who controls every part of your life. I believe that counts as abusive."
"Most woman would be fine with such a husband."
"You are not most woman."
"You know that's not what I mean. Mine is arranged marriage, that involves the respect of my parents as well. A divorce without a good reason would hurt their image in the society and I cannot sacrifice their respect for my happiness."
"If they truly love you, they would be willing to give up on anything for your happiness"
"As would I ..."
He looked at her and he realized that as much as this frustrated him, it is also one of her qualities that he appreciates. "Goddammit, if only I had met you sooner, things would have been so much better."
"I know, if only ..." she leaned to kiss him. If there were any parts in them that had not become one during their earlier intimate moments, they surely became one now as they both could feel each other's happiness, sadness and frustrations.
And they stopped seeing each other and they stopped walking in the park as well.
---
The park and the activities of people around it continued. The absence of these two had made no difference whatsoever. They were after all always in their own isolated world and now are simply in each other's world but separate.
Two old women were sitting on a park bench. Park benches were often occupied by the older people who attempted to socialize with each other often over gossip.
"Did you hear about the suicide in the nearby building?" said one old lady to the other.
"Yeah, I heard that the man was quite young." said the other old lady.
"Must be (because of) some girl and indeed the suicide note was strange."
"Oh yes, I heard that it was written on the wall with blood which read something like 'If rebirth is true and there is another life, you can bet that I will find you before anyone else does.'"
"How strange? Kids these days do not really value their life much. If they only listened to their parents and get married to the spouse they find for them, they could easily live a stress free life."
"Indeed."
---
A year had passed since his death. She drowned herself in housework and artwork. She had already completed 7 paintings. She approached a gallery to ask if they would be willing to show her art there. After a couple of meetings, they agreed. In th exhibition, her art was a tremendous success. Particularly, one of the paiting was deemed to be excellent. It was a painting of Icarus flying towards the sun. The strange thing about this painting was the sun was shaped in the form of a woman and both icarus and the sun looked at each other lovingly. Icarus had a smile in his face even while his wings and body were burning. The painting was titled, "Meeting in the park", which baffled the audience as to what it might mean.
After the success of her exhibition, she stood standing at the balcony of her house and looked at the ground 10 storeys below. She could see icarus flying towards her, so she reached out to him.
