You and I, plus 2 years of marriage!

Two Strangers… One Lockdown!

{6}

Standing in front of me was the same woman who had walked straight out of his painting. It was just that now I could see her face. She was draped in the same sea green saree. For a moment, I could not believe my eyes. The next moment I was scrutinizing her with my hawk eyes. She was a young woman probably in early or late twenties, hard to tell. Her ears were adorned with matching terracotta jhumkas and there were metal bangles clinking in her hands. She was not slender but rather a curvaceous woman with slightly chubby cheeks. The saree accentuated her curves well and the smile on her face brought a lovely dimple on one of her cheeks.

‘You must be Sharini, right?’ she asked in her breezy voice.

‘Yes, of course. But how did you know?’ I asked perplexed.

‘Atharva told me that you are staying here since yesterday. By the way, I am Ekaparnika,’ she introduced herself and outstretched her hand.

‘Hi, nice to meet you. I am sorry but would you please repeat your name?’

She laughed and nodded her head.

‘Ekaparnika, a name as unique as her.’

His voice almost made me jump. I turned around and she too walked into the house.

‘Eka, this is Sharini and she is a senior consultant. Sharini, this is Ekaparnika, theatre artiste, writer, director and an amazing friend.’

‘Nice to meet you Sharini. I hope that your stay is comfortable here. This lockdown has indeed inconvenienced all of us but looking at the global crisis, I think this initiative was very much necessary.’

‘Yeah, I agree.’

I really could not speak more than that. I needed time to digest the fact that the beautiful portrait he was painting so intently was indeed her.

‘If you would please excuse me, I need to get back to work.’

‘Yes, of course. We can catch up later in the evening,’ she said with the same smile.

So she was not going to leave until evening or even after that. The whole city was under quarantine, I have no clue, how did she manage to turn up at his doorstep. After I walked into the room, I could hear both of them speaking and moving towards his painting room. After a couple of minutes the door was shut, and I could no longer hear them. In a way, it was both a relief and torture.  

***

‘We don’t need to buy the car, Avi,’ I said combing my hair.

‘Well, we didn’t have to buy this flat either but still we bought it, right?’ he said leaning against the bed-rest.

‘Arey, how long could we stay in a rented flat? Paying rent was such a waste of money. Now, the same amount we are paying as EMI.’

‘We are paying 10k more as EMI. Also, it is really difficult to commute in the crowded metro trains every day. The EMI will be less, and we can manage it in your salary. Anyway, we are paying the EMI for the flat from my salary,’ he said shrugging.

I could not find anything wrong with his argument. It was also such a pain to wait for cabs every time we went for an outing. Sometimes we reached late for events just because we could not get a cab in time. So his idea was actually very tempting.

‘You are right. I think we can easily manage both the EMIs. Alright, over the weekend let us check out the cars that you have short-listed.’

A smile lit up his face and he pulled me into a bear hug. I looked up and his lips came crushing down on mine. I let out a soft moan and soon we were both a heap of breathlessness and kisses. It was a long night and ten days later we both were owners of a swanky sedan.

We both had exciting careers and money was never a problem for us. There would not have been any problem until one of us lost the job. Correction, he quit the job. And now he was locked up in a room with a woman whose portrait he was painting so intently as if his life depended on it. Had things been different in the past, would it have been my portrait instead of hers?

***

Meanwhile, in the painting room…

‘Oh my God! The portrait looks very mesmerizing, Atharva…’ said Ekaparnika staring at it.

‘Wait, until I complete your face,’ sad Atharva with a smile.

‘Now come on, please take your seat and try staying still. Although, you are free to talk as usual.’

She smiled and sat down on the chair placed next to his canvas. He picked up his brush and began to work his magic over the canvas.

‘So how is Sharini? Did you interact with her?’ she asked.

‘Nothing much, just the basic conversation and doing my best to make her stay comfortable. She did appreciate my paintings, though.’

For a few minutes, there was silence in the room. But is was a very comforting silence. He was immersed in painting and she was absorbed in her thoughts.

‘Life is strange, isn’t it? You both went to the court and separated from each other and now the rule of the land has forced you both to be locked down under one roof.’

Atharva rolled his eyes at her.

‘Please don’t get philosophical with me. I am doing this only for the sake of her father, Bhavesh uncle. He is an amazing man and I learned a lot from him as a son-in-law. In a way, you could call him my guide. In fact, only after speaking with him, I actually made the decision about the divorce.’

Ekaparnika knew the story behind his divorce and she could not agree more with what he had just said.

‘Yet, is it too hard on you? I mean staying alone with her…’

Atharva stopped painting and gazed at her for a couple of seconds.

‘Actually, I thought that it would be hard. But… now when I think about it, it has not been easy, but it has not been difficult either. Seeing her, certainly unlocks the dungeon of my past wounds and mistakes. Yet it has not been so unbearable. It just feels like a burn on your finger. In the beginning it really hurts but as time passes, you get used to the pain and after some time, you don’t even realize that you had burnt your finger. The scar will remain longer, but it cannot hurt you anymore.’

‘You are a very sensible and mature man, now,’ she said raising an eyebrow.

He laughed at her words and continued painting.

‘Eka… there is something that I wanted to ask you,’ he said kneeling down in front of her.

‘Go on,’ she said caressing his cheek.

‘Shall I lose that scar from your face?’ he asked apprehensively.

She instantly moved her fingers over the scar which ran from her right eyebrow to her cheek.

‘Why?’

‘I thought… I thought maybe you would want to get rid of it at least from your portrait,’ he said softly.

‘No, let it stay as it is. Nothing can change the reality that I would have to live with this scar for the rest of my life. Also, it was this wound which gave me the courage to seek freedom. I no longer feel ashamed of it. This scar is my badge of honour and I am going to wear it with pride for the rest of my life.’

He was left speechless. This woman did not fail to surprise him ever since he had met her for the first time in Bengaluru over a year and a half ago.

‘Does this scar make me any less beautiful?’ she asked with a smile.

He shook his head and kissed her palm gently.

‘You are the most beautiful woman in this world, and I am extremely proud of you,’ he said looking up at her with admiration saturating his eyes. 

To be continued...