Along Came Bonny Meghali Barua
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As she lay on the unfamiliar hotel bed, she could see his tall silhouette by the French-styled window, a dark shape outlined by the silvery moonbeams coming stealthily into the room, like an unwanted, unwelcome intruder. Much as she did not want to, she could not help throwing shy, furtive glances at his straight, gaunt back. “Tall, dark, and handsome,” these three words so aptly described him. It was like whoever had come up with the phrase must have laid his eyes on him first. And it was a wonder, that he pursued had her the whole evening…with his mesmerizing, brown eyes…with his intoxicating words.
The little red haze from his lit cigarette revealed deep furrows on his forehead.
“Was he already regretting it?”
Moments of passion now over, she felt suddenly cold. She could almost feel an icy draught in the room or maybe it was just her rabid imagination. The tiny hotel room was no longer charmingly decorated, as she had thought so at first. “How many women must have beguiled? How many must have tried to escape their loneliness like me, if only momentarily?” she thought angrily.
She did not even know his name nor did she want to know, she added as an afterthought. She had been lonely this New Year’s Eve, as she always been the past few years. Her close-knit friends had plans of their own, with their families of doting husbands, boisterous children, and proud parents and she had not wanted to be the third wheel in their celebration. Not that her friends had not asked her to join them, she did not want to…she did not want their sympathy for once.
A few days ago, when she had heard about this open-to-all party at the Radisson’s, she stood undecided. She did not know what would be a better way to usher in the New Year; wearing her comfy, old pajamas and eating bad Chinese take-out like she has done the past few years or to put up a brave face and finally go out and meet new people, strangers to be honest. At least it would give her a reason to go out and splurge on a nice dress. She could not remember the last time she had gone out shopping. She never socialized nowadays, there was no reason anymore.
The day came closer and closer and in a fit of bravado and silent anger she finally made up her undecided mind that she will not spend a dreary evening in her silent-as-a-tomb bungalow, crying and moping about how lonely her little world was. And that was how she landed up in that packed-up-with-people party hall that New Year’ eve…a decision she immediately regretted. But, not being accosted by a single, familiar, welcoming face, she decided to go back to her empty house, to her sanctuary where she will not have to pretend to enjoy the company of utter strangers.
Feeling slightly foolish now that her sense of adventure was fast draining away, just as she turned her heels, she met him. Like a badly written movie script, as she stared at his face for the very first time, she could not help noticing how incredibly brown his eyes were. And just like that, in even less than a fraction of a second, his twinkling, brown eyes completely captivated her.
“Hi! Can I get you something to drink?” and she stood flabbergasted on the pristine-white marble floor, unsure of her reply. She must have blabbered something for he had smiled and a few minutes later had come back to her from the drinks counter with a colorful, bubbly glass in his hand.
The gaieties of the magical evening went on and she felt ecstatically happy and completely free. Free from what, that she did not know but it was like her life had taken a completely different track, where she could be whoever she wanted to be, even if it was only for a few hours. The infectious happiness of the melange surrounding her seemed to have rubbed off on her. “I am happy,” she repeated those words with a sense of wonder…how many times, however, that she lost count of.
And he was there right by her side, the whole time. She felt light-headed, deeply intoxicated by his presence or by the potent drink she had been sipping or maybe, by both.
“One…two…three…,” people started chanting as the countdown to welcome the New Year began. She was in a hazy stupor as a wave of mysterious euphoria hit her. She laughed like never before, she could feel his piercing eyes on her face, already red and feverish from all the gaiety engulfing her. As their lips locked, like all the lovelorn couples on the floor, she felt happy, truly happy…that she was not alone and that she was never ever going to be.
She did not question him when he hailed down a passing cab, still holding her trembling hand. She did not even question him when she stood outside a strange hotel room, trembling like a virgin. A flushed face greeted her back when she smiled at her own reflection in the hallway mirror. She was still playing the character of an unknown woman, a part she did not want to give up, just yet.
And now, it seemed so different. As he slid into the bed again, she could not help shuddering…his embrace felt so strangely cold…so unfamiliar and she could not wait for dawn to break in…
When dawn finally broke, she opened her sleep-heavy eyes warily… at first, she could not remember where she was. She closed her big, almond-shaped eyes and opened them again as if doing so would transport her elsewhere. And then she remembered…everything and all at once.
For a few minutes, she laid on the cold, hard bed, still as a corpse, her mind furiously working a way out to escape unnoticed from the hotel room. A few moments of dead silence followed and not wanting to delay the inevitable, she fearfully turned towards the other side of the bed. It was then she realized that she was completely alone in the stillness of the room. Baffled, she sat up in sheer panic and looked towards the ornately designed chest of drawers by the bed. There was nothing that belonged to him…only the stub of a half-smoked cigarette in the ash-tray remained as the solitary evidence of what had happened the night before. She did not even know his name, she thought hysterically. It was as if she had made love to a ghost…. a ghost who smoked, she thought wryly.
Trying to gather her thoughts, she laid back on the bed again. “Well, this is it!” she thought, feeling oddly relieved. She will not have to go through the motions of explaining to him how it was not going to work out between them…how it was not prudent to be seen together…how she is going to remember their night of passion forever…and hundreds and thousands of unnecessary things she will not have to say anymore.
Now drawing the heavy drapes of the dingy hotel room, the starkness of the cold, ugly hotel room hit her. The golden flecks of lights streaming across the room could not dispel the sense of morbidity she was feeling. It was not an escape into paradise as she had led herself to believe. The broken light fixture over the head-board disgusted her and she could not wait to go home.
A rigorous, scalding shower washed away all the memories of the night before and she felt that she was ready to become what she really was. The woman whose character she played the other night…the seductive temptress was no longer in sight.
As her cab drove up the driveway to her house, she looked at her beautiful, vibrant garden… colorful azaleas, marigolds, pansies…every shrub she had painstakingly planted, collected from horticulture fairs and nurseries across the country. This was her home, though lonely she was up here, this was her home…her escape…the only safe haven she had ever known.
Walking towards the brightly painted house, she could see a familiar suitcase near the entrance, as if unsure of its place. As she rushed in, she heard a familiar voice, “Happy New Year, honey! What do you think of my surprise?” She turned sharply towards the voice and a beaming, boyish face looked at her expectantly…waiting to see her reaction…whether he had done the right thing by surprising her like this.
“Roy?” a tremulous voice came out of her lips. She could not recognize her own voice, it sounded slightly raucous, like the voice of an unknown woman. She stood shell-shocked as she stared at her husband of five years. “I took a week’s leave…and thought of you,” his voice trailed off. He was a software engineer based in the States, working for one of the biggest IT companies. He looked intently at his beautiful wife realizing how he had missed her, how he regretted not spending more time with her. He had not been able to come home the last two years in a row. Not that he could have helped it, he thought defensively. Wasn’t it a logical decision taken between two mature adults years ago?
It was she who had decided not to relocate to the States when they got married; she did not want to give up her job, one she absolutely adored. You see, she loved teaching and if there was something she was passionate about, this was it and at that time, he was not earning well to support both of them. And thus this decision was taken, he was to work in a foreign country and she was to stay back…a decision which he had supported half-heartedly at the time.
In the early years of their marriage, he had missed her terribly and wanted her by his side but as years passed, he got used to living alone. The times she had visited him, there was too much distance between them…too much of a distance to want to live together.
And now they stood a few meters apart, staring at each other, trying to fathom out what the other was thinking. Her lips suddenly broke out into a smile.
“A very happy New Year to you too!” she wished him, praying that this year would paint a different story for them.
As his open, waiting arms embraced her, a delicate, flowery perfume wafted to her nose. I wonder where he was the last night…I wonder…
Beautifully written
Thank you 🙂