You and I, plus 2 years of marriage!

It is over…?

{7}

Almost 6 weeks had passed ever since Uttara had come home. There was no sign of her recalling her past. Her mother and mother-in-law took turns to stay with them for a month. Once she had recovered completely from her injuries they let the couple to stay on their own as before. She had completely transformed their balcony with plants and she had bought some indoor plants too. Even though she remembered nothing about her life in that house, she did not take long to get accustomed to it. Above all, she immensely liked the man with whom she lived in that house. They both shared a good rapport and it was easy being with him. It was more of a live-in relationship than a marriage. Her company was prepared to give her a medical leave for 3 months. Like her marriage, her work life also had been erased from her memory. They were very clear with their terms that if she did not recall her past, they had no choice but to dismiss her from her present job. Since she still had a sound knowledge of her academics, she could be given the job of a fresher and she would have to once again start from the scratch in that company. She was not very much bothered by their terms and conditions because she remembered nothing about her previous job profile. Therefore she was prepared to start her work as a fresher once her medical leave was over.

Bhuvan put a smile on his face as he knocked on the door. He was pleased to look at his wrist watch. It was only 6.40pm. Within a few moments, the door opened and there she was! Her face lit up with a huge grin but her eyebrows were knotted into a frown. It was indeed a very peculiar expression showing both her surprise and joy.

‘Hi!’ he greeted her cheerfully and stepped inside.

‘Hi! You are early today,’ she said as she closed the door and latched it.

‘Is that a complaint?’ he asked raising his eyebrows. Her tinkling laughter filled the room.

Ahh! Where was this laughter before the accident?!

‘Not at all! I always thought, your manager was so much addicted to you that he could never send you home before 8.30. I am just shocked that you have come early,’ she said winking at him. He gave her a lopsided grin and went into the bedroom. After some time he joined her in the kitchen.

‘What are you doing?’ he asked peering over her shoulder. His sudden proximity sent shivers down her spine, but she quickly gathered her wits.

‘I am cooking mushroom manchurian,’ she said smugly.

‘Wow! I can’t wait to taste it. What do you want me to do?’ he asked eagerly. 

Whenever he was at home he made it a point to help her in the kitchen. She promptly handed him the mushrooms and he began cutting them. She went about making other preparations required for the dish. They spoke endlessly about the way they spent that day. Working together in the kitchen gave them ample time to be close to each other. Every time his hand accidently or intentionally brushed hers, her cheeks went pink. He loved being around her and enjoyed every conversation they had. Yet he was still far from accepting that he had actually fallen in love with her, again. Uttara did not take long to admit to herself that she indeed had a huge crush on him.

They had spent almost an hour in cooking and were very happy with the aroma of food. She served some delicious manchurian onto a plate and placed a fork in it. Bhuvan tasted the first piece and was quite pleased with it.

‘It’s delicious,’ he said and fed her a piece. She relished it smacking her lips.

‘We are an amazing cooking team,’ she said grinning widely. They both walked onto the balcony with the plate and sat on the small bench which was placed amidst their plants. There was enough space for only two on that bench and she was totally mindful of her right arm pressed against his sturdy left arm.

‘This balcony looks really pleasing,’ he said gazing at the various plants lightly swaying in the evening breeze.

‘Hmmm…’

‘All thanks to your efforts,’ he said turning towards her.

‘There should be some amount of love in anything we do, otherwise no matter how much of efforts we put, it’s simply not worth doing,’ she said shrugging. Her words reminded him of the important issue at hand. It was also one of the reasons for him to come back home early. Once they finished eating, he went to the other end of the balcony. He stood there facing her and let out long drawn breath.

‘Uttara, I have something to tell you.’

She looked at him curiously waiting for him to continue. When did not say anything further, she prodded him.

‘Go ahead, Bhuvan. What is it?’

‘I am going to return the car,’ he said coming straight to the point. She frowned at him.

‘But why?’

‘Well…we bought this flat and the car on EMI. With my salary we can pay the EMI for the house but not for the car.’

Her face fell a little in disappointment.

‘I am so sorry. If I worked like before, we could have managed, isn’t it? I have made a mess of our life,’ she said softly.

‘Not at all, Uttara. Please don’t blame yourself. We bought the car because I was desperate to own one. But only later I realised that we hardly use it and moreover the fuel and maintenance expenses add to the burden of the EMI. Anyway I can very well manage with my bike, so it won’t be hard,’ he said casually. She looked into his eyes and understood that it was not an easy decision for him.

‘But you really like the car.’

‘Not as much as you,’ he said with a half-smile. The next instant, she walked up to him and held his hand.

‘I have a surprise for you. Come with me.’

Bhuvan let her pull him along, without questioning her. When they reached the guestroom door, she stopped. Standing on her toes she covered his eyes gently with her hands. He couldn’t help smiling at her gesture.

‘You are making me reach my limit of curiosity,’ he said eagerly.

She guided him into the room and after walking a few steps asked him to stop. She moved her hands away from his eyes.

‘Surprise!’

‘Oh my God! It’s so beautiful,’ he said in a stunned voice. Before them was a beautiful oil painting of a scenery. But the picture looked quite familiar to him.

‘Hey this is the view from the hill-top in Coorg, right?’

‘Yeah! I used one of the pictures from that album to make this painting,’ she said gushing with joy.

‘It was a lovely place… I will never forget that vacation…’ he said lost in his thoughts. He was lost in the memories of the past which weighed heavy on his mind. Uttara could quite easily guess the reason for the change in his tone. Even with her best efforts, she could not remember one single moment of her married life. Sometimes it really frustrated her and she would vex about how painful her memory loss was for him. Wordlessly she put her arms around his neck and embraced him. He slid his arms around her waist and hugged her back. For him, it was as if they were embracing each other for the first time. Her warmth made him forget all the worries shrouding his tired mind. It was one moment which made them feel that they were indeed meant to be together.

‘I wish I recall our past soon,’ she whispered.

‘Try not to think about it. Our present is way better than our past,’ he said tightening his hold on her. Uttara thought that he was only trying to comfort her. But she was ignorant of the fact that he had meant each and every word.

Our past is not worth remembering, Uttara. I only hope that it does not haunt our future…

                                    To be continued...