You and I, plus 2 years of marriage!

BREAK THE RULES

{2}

Rutva [rolling her eyes]: Please explain.

Partha quietly handed her a folded paper from his pocket. She quickly unfolded it and read through it. The waiter arrived and placed their drinks and pizza on the table. He picked up the mug and sipped the chilled beer. It had been more than six months since he last drank beer. He had his reasons for not drinking and even now he had reasons for drinking. The familiar bittersweet taste of beer lingered on his tongue. Rutva shook her head in shock after reading the paper for the first time. Once again she slowly read through it and looked up at him with almost moist eyes.

Rutva: You made it to the Air Force!

Her voice was down to a whisper. He nodded his head. A slow smile entered her face and transformed into a hearty grin.

Rutva: I can’t believe this! You did it, Puttu. At last you have achieved your dream. You have no idea how happy I am! I thought you had given up.

Partha [smiling wryly]: I had given up. I was happy in my life. Good job, handsome pay, lovely girlfriend, amazing parents! I could not have asked for more, Ru. But one day I saw an advertisement of career in Air Force and the first thought that came to my mind was the time we spent together gazing at the sky during Air shows. That moment everything came crashing down and I knew what was missing in life. When I checked, 23 was the age limit to join Air Force. This was my last chance and I took it.

She raised her hand and locked it with his in a firm hold.

Rutva: I am so proud of you.

She said those words from the bottom of her heart and it resonated in his mind for a few moments. This was the first time she had ever said that to him and the first person to say it after hearing about his achievement.

Partha: Thank you…

That was all he could manage to say without wavering his voice. The happiness on her face was priceless and it was worth the pain he had gone through to taste success.

Rutva: This calls for a toast. [raising her glass of mocktail] To my best friend who is a hero! Cheers!

Partha [raising his mug and touching it to her glass]: To my BFF who is the best thing that could have happened to me in life! Cheers!

She laughed at his words and they both sipped their drink.

Rutva [smacking her lips]: This tastes like Frooti. Do you want to try?

He took a sip from her glass and smiled.

Partha: Yeah! It’s perfect for you. My drink tastes like beer. Do you want to try?

Rutva [pouting at him]: No thanks. I am happy drinking mine. By the way, now I know why you were so conscious about your fitness all these months. I thought you were doing it to impress your girlfriend [winks at him].

He shook his head and they both shared a hearty laugh. They hungrily began eating the chicken pizza. Once their hunger was satiated to some extent, Rutva fixed her gaze on him.

Rutva: I can understand that aunty and uncle are not very happy with your decision. Yet we can convince them. Quitting your present job should not be very difficult. So that solves two of your problems. But I cannot figure out the problem with Harini. Isn’t she happy that you made it to the Air Force?

Partha looked at her with fond amazement. That was how she had dissected his every problem and worked out a solution in no time since their childhood. He had showed her the letter of selection and she was so happy for him. She had neither been upset that he had not told her beforehand nor was she cross at him for disclosing it so late. She was unfazed by the fact that he had approached her only after facing problems with his parents and girlfriend. This was exactly why she was the first one he always thought about in the time of crisis.

Partha: We had a fight… she does not want me to accept this offer.

Her jaw dropped in shock.

Is she mad??? What’s wrong with her?

But she could not use these exact words with him. No matter what she thought about Harini, she was Partha’s girlfriend and he loved her.

Rutva: Why? You had informed her before taking the exam, right? In case she had any objections, she should have voiced it at that time.

Partha [shaking his head]: She knew nothing about this. I had never told her. I disclosed only after being selected because I thought she would be thrilled with happiness. But she went wild with anger.

She slapped her hand to her forehead.

Rutva: Have you never spoken about this dream with her? I can’t believe it. You love her Puttu. You have made a conscious decision to spend your life with her. Then, why didn’t you tell it to her before? You should have prepared her for this decision.

Partha: What do you mean by being prepared? She loves me, then I certainly expect her to love my dreams too.

Rutva [shaking her head]: That is not how it works with girls. You should think about her situation also. Moreover what you are going to do will not be easy on her. She is the one who is going to be directly affected by this and it was your duty to keep her in the loop before taking the plunge. I suspect there is more to this. What was the actual reason for hiding it from her?

He ran his hand over his face and let out a sigh.

Partha: I did not want to be a loser in her eyes. If I had not cleared the exam I would never have even let her know that I had attempted. Somehow I was not comfortable in sharing my childhood dream with her. Moreover I had lost the drive to concentrate on it. Since I was not very confident about succeeding, I did not want to take a chance.

She understood what he meant. Sharing a failure with a friend was completely different from sharing it with his lady love. A friend is not judgemental and will not treat you differently if you fail or win. But a man will always want to be a hero in the eyes of the woman he loves. Rutva ate another piece of the pizza and sipped the mocktail. She gestured at him to eat and he bit into the last piece of pizza. The problem was critical but not serious enough to keep them starving.

Rutva: What have you decided?

Partha: I don’t know. I am confused.

Rutva [frowning]: Confused? You are accepting the offer and joining the Air Force. There is no way we are going to debate that decision. All we have to think about is, how we are going to convince Harini and your parents.

Partha: But I don’t want to lose her, Ru. I love her and you know that. I am tired of trying to convince her…

She thought for a few moments.

Rutva: Alright! I will talk to her. Maybe I can convince her.

Partha: What if she doesn’t agree?

Although he had expected that reply from her, he was not even half-sure that Harini could be convinced by Rutva.

Rutva [smiling]: I will do my best to convince her and let us hope for the best. But you don’t have to worry anymore about this. We can sort it, we always have. You are not alone, buddy!

He nodded smiling back at her.

Partha: I know.

The problems had not yet vanished from his life but he had unburdened his worries on her. He believed that they would work things out and find a solution. No matter, how tangled his life was, she always stood by him. For Partha, Rutva was not just a name, she was his hope, a promise that she would do anything for him. She was a magic called best friend…

                              To be continued...