"U There?!" - Part II

For Part I click here


They say time heals everything. Almost everything! It definitely had not for Suma. Even though it hurt less now, the accident had left permanent scars on her even though she had escaped unhurt from it! It could have very well been her- in the drivers seat! They had tossed a coin to decide who would abstain from drinks to decide who would drive. Fate had chosen Vimmi. It was as if the toss decided who lost the battle for life.

They left the party just before mid night, even though they were sure it would go on till the wee hours of the morning. After all they were just two young ladies traveling all by themselves through 30 odd miles. Even though it wasn't her turn Suma had just had a couple of drinks - her favorite white rum. They started on their journey back with the eagles evergreen - Hotel California. With their windows rolled down and winter breeze in their faces Suma easily dozed off to the sound of music in the background. She felt herself lifted up in air as the guitar hit a high pitch almost sounding like the siren. She came to know about Vimmi only 18 hours later as she opened her eyes in the unfamiliar surroundings of the hospital. The sedation was wearing off and her bones screeched in unison. But the the throbbing in the head never stopped for the next 72 hours as the loss of Vimmi hit her hard. It seemed as if a part of her was lost, she was lost and she couldn't stop praying to god that she should die of brainfreeze too.

The following months were hard. Only a namesake wall between their houses had been the sole existence of their separation. for the better part of their 21 years they had spent together - in school, at each others houses or hanging out together. Not that they did not have lives of their own, but that life wasn't complete without each other. She cried yet again sitting on the window in Vimmi's room, reminiscing the many rainy days they had lazed, gazing from the very window. But all of it had to be put behind. It had been 5 months. Vimmi wouldn't have wanted her to live her life this way.

She decided to work. After all she was a topper from her Business school. She could have joined her father sprawling business in media sector. But that would have been the easy way out. She decided to work away from home. She left her hometown to work for a technology magazine. The day to day work and ever changing needs of the tech world kept her busy. The industry would never stop churning out new gadgets and neither would she finish writing about them. A year's work in the closely knit team had prepared her for more. She bid good bye to them and moved back to join her father. After all she would have to inherit the same one day. She joined as section writer and at the end of 4 years had found herself looking to fill in the post of MD. The last couple of years had seen her spend more time in office and her mother had often joked about "her office affair". And then they gently started probing for marriage. She had always been so close to Vimmi that they had never needed anyone else. And her parents were worried that she would never look for a partner. But Suma was aware of her loneliness and decided to give it a shot.

And so she was sitting opposite a guy, every square inch of whom was oozing of arrogance. Only his eyes begged to differ. They were calm and taking in everything around them. Despite his arrogance those kind eyes had unknowingly comforted her. The steady stream of "interview" like questions were not helping the cause, but Suma waited. She had heard about his reputation to terrorize the prospective victim of his charm and she was ready. He had thrown a beamer at her asking why he should marry her and she had merely thought allowed why she should! That had been the thunderbolt and everything had been smooth from there on. No one would have thought the date was arranged or they were meeting for the first time. When Vicky offered to drop her, she had so wished that she hadn't driven herself. But she did not show.

Suma was known to be highly alert around her work and she found herself smiling through the team meeting, until she could hold herself no more. She asked Shayna to continue the discussion around the launch of the foodies campaign and came over to her cabin. It had been another late working evening. She called home to tell mom about skipping dinner. After listening to the regular don't-skip-your-dinner routine she logged in to her Facebook profile to catch a glimpse of her social life. And a new invite showed up. Vicky requested to be friends. She quickly accepted it. He showed up online. She hit the chat button on more than one occasion. Each time deciding against making the first move. After all nothing had really excited her in the last few years. Finally she could not help herself from pinging him -- "U there?!"

Continued Here