You and I, plus 2 years of marriage!

ALMOST IN Love…

{4}

Jacob did not comment on her confession. He quietly sipped the tea and waited for her to continue. She looked lost in her thoughts and stared at her cup of tea.

‘Before marriage I had never been in love or rather I did not let myself fall in love. I always dreamt of marrying the perfect guy and then love him more than anything in this world. I believed that Akash was indeed my prince in shining armour and laid my heart at his feet. Within the first few days of marriage I was madly in love with my husband. People say love is blind… it is true because I was so blind in love that I failed to notice his feelings. He never loved me but only pretended to do so and was cheating both of us. One fine evening… he came home and said that he wanted a divorce. My whole world came crashing down…’ she said in a shaky voice. He felt uneasy that she might start crying. He had no experience in consoling a woman. To his relief, she quickly composed herself and continued talking.

‘He certainly owed me a reason and the one he gave was by far the most justified. Akash had been in love with Sudha for over four years but could never convince his parents. At last he gave in to their pressure and married me. Yet she still lived in his heart, for he could never love me. They both could no longer take it and he had made the decision to divorce me.’

‘And you agreed to it?’ he asked sceptically.

‘Why wouldn’t I? If loving him for just some months could give me so much pain then imagine his plight. They both had been in love for years… nevertheless I could never forgive him,’ she said swallowing hard.

‘It must have been really hard on you and your family,’ empathised Jacob.

‘Yes, it indeed was. Our parents tried really hard to stop us from getting a divorce but we were firm in our decision. He could not forget Sudha and I could not live with a man who did not love me. We got divorce by mutual consent without any claim for alimony from my side. I had decided to leave the man, then why would I need his money?’

Dhwani finished drinking her tea and looked at him. He lightly smiled at her assuring. There was something about his eyes which gave her the confidence that he was certainly not judging her.

‘If you don’t mind, can I ask you something?’ he hesitated.

‘Sure. Ask me.’

‘Didn’t you ever think about marrying again?’

‘Of course I did. My parents were devastated to see me lead a lonely life. Once again they began searching a groom for me but it was not easy. Although I was not against the idea of marriage, I was frustrated by the way arranged marriages are done. Money, caste, family background play such an important role that people fail to give any prominence to love, while that is what is needed for the couple to lead a happy life. Yet the tragedy is that it is the last thing on parents’ mind while arranging a marriage,’ she said smiling wryly.

‘Very true. No matter how much we keep boasting about being a progressive country, our society is still shackled by some ridiculous practices. So you lost interest in marriage?’

‘Well, it would be better to say that I lost faith in society. People began spreading terrible rumours about me… they said that I was to be blamed for the divorce. Otherwise why would he remarry so soon? All fingers pointed towards me and said that it was my fault. The only mistake I did was blindly get into an arranged marriage,’ she said in a lifeless tone.

Jacob could very well understand the pain behind her words. An unfathomable anger towards the society engulfed his mind. In front of him was an amazing woman who had become a victim for no fault of hers. She had lost her life in the process of being an ideal woman in the society.

‘Tell me honestly, are you not angry at Akash?’

Dhwani laughed at his question.

‘Of course I am angry at him, not because he divorced me, but because he married me. If only he had shown some courage before marriage, life would have been so much different. It is better to not fall in love if you can’t fight for it. Nevertheless I am happy that he realised his mistake soon. Now, we both have moved on in our lives,’ she said shrugging. He nodded his head admiring her thought process. For the first time he had come across a lady who sounded so mature and rational. Even though she was angry with Akash, she could empathise with him. For an unusually long moment he stared at her tired face and twinkling eyes.

‘If you find a good man, will you marry him?’ asked Jacob softly. The words had slipped out of his mouth even before he could think. Deep in thought, Dhwani circled the brim of the cup with her finger.

‘I don’t know, Jake… I don’t think I will ever find such a man who will willingly accept Ahan and me. In the past, a couple of men were keen on marrying me, but they were not ready to accept my son. I have no more interest in marriage. My son is my world now and I will do everything I can to give him a wonderful life. We both are happy in our small world.’

Jacob was disappointed with her answer. Somewhere behind her confident words he could sense her vulnerability. Her sorrow was hidden deep in her heart and well masked by the smile on her face. Suddenly he received a call and was cruelly pulled out of the trance.

‘Hello… I am at my friend’s place… okay… I will be there in 30 minutes.’

He disconnected the call and stood up. Dhwani also stood up with him.

‘I have to leave now, Dhwani. It was nice to meet you again,’ he said with a smile.

‘Thank you for everything, Jake,’ she said softtly.

‘If ever you need a friend, don’t forget to call me.’

Dhwani smiled at him and they both exchanged their mobile numbers. She walked him to his car and waved him goodbye until he disappeared into the dark. She stood there alone in the driveway for a few moments. Suddenly she felt all alone and the loneliness of the night slowly creeped into her like the winter chill. Unable to spend another moment there, she went inside the house.

***

‘Are you serious? Is she his mother!!??’ asked Bharni gaping at the laptop screen. Jacob nodded his head and bit into the sandwich. They both were looking at a picture of Dhwani and Ahan on Facebook. Although she had deleted her profile from the social networking site after her divorce, Ahan had his own profile. Jacob had sent him a friend request the very night when he had dropped him home.

‘I have to admit it, she is one of a kind. What a woman!’ praised Bharni.

‘Well, it is not a joke to adopt an eight-years old boy at the age of 25, despite being single. She has literally built a new life from the scratch. I am impressed…’ sighed Jacob.

‘Now that’s a first. I have never heard you praise anyone like this before. Are you sure that he is not her illegitimate son?’

Jacob glared at his friend.

‘Had you not been my friend, I swear I would have punched your face!’

Bharni laughed at his words and gulped down the orange juice.

‘Don’t be mad at me. This is how most of them will think seeing them. Even you suspected that she was a teenage mother when you first met them,’ he said defiantly.

‘I regret it. I really do! It was foolish on my part to jump to such a conclusion. I have never met anyone like her before. It is really unfortunate that she never got a second chance at love,’ rued Jacob.

‘Indeed it is, but that’s inevitable. Who would want to marry the mother of a teenager? Moreover she is successful, independent and ambitious. All put together she is a deadly combination and will make any man insecure.’

‘Life can’t be so unfair… she deserves to be happy. She deserves much more…’ whispered Jacob thinking about her twinkling eyes.

                             To be continued...