The Proposal: Part 4 of 4

The night had been a surprise for both the sisters.

At midnight, as the new year begun, Rahul had asked Zara out. A very shocked Zara had agreed. 

Ashish had intended to ask Naima to be his wife that night. He had prepared a full speech about why she should marry him. It had taken him four days to just get the start right. If he would have known how the moment would actually unfold, he would have put in slightly less effort.

As Ashish and Naima had walked towards a secluded corner on the terrace that night, he revised his speech one last time. As he had gone down on one knee, Naima had gone absolutely still. But before he could actually mutter a word of his well prepared speech, Naima had shrieked with delight and agreed to marry him!

Even today, that memory managed to calm her frayed nerves. 

Though Naima had been quite sceptical about counselling, it had helped. Whenever she felt low or emotional, she thought back to the happy moments in her life. 

Not surprisingly, a lot of them were with Ashish. It was difficult to take him out of the picture. Over time, she had begun fixating on that particular trip to Bangalore. Sometimes it was what followed that trip. First, there was the crazy phase of her wedding preparation. A year later, she was busy making wedding arrangements for her sister.

She had been so happy before that fateful night four years ago. 

Just like it did for every woman, her life had changed when she was expecting her first child. She now knew in hindsight that she had been too preoccupied with being pregnant. After the arrival of her darling son, she had gotten further engrossed. She had forgotten that Ashish still needed her. Maybe that was how she possibly had no idea that Ashish had been under a lot of stress.

Had she known how stressed her husband was, Naima would never have insisted on meeting Zara and Rahul that night. Since no one was in the mood to cook, the men had volunteered to get some food home. She did not understand, in hindsight, how she let the men walk out with her toddler. Her little angel had just started walking and every time someone went towards the door, he got up and hobbled towards it.

The men were at a crossing, waiting for the signal to turn red when Ashish had received a call from work. He had lost a lucrative contract to a competitor firm a few weeks back and the same firm had got the contract for a bigger job this time. In some very subconscious reaction, he must have let go of his little one’s hand during his call and before he had realized, a speeding car had rammed into his son.

After a two hour long struggle, the doctors had declared his son dead. Naima was distraught. She refused to let the doctors take the baby off life support. She just stood by the crib and talked to her little one as if he was sleeping. After a day of this, Naima had been hauled out of there by Ashish.

Ashish refused to leave her side even though she did not acknowledge his presence. Naima had been admitted in the hospital after she collapsed during the funeral. She refused to eat, drink or even meet people. Ashish had kept apologizing but she had not responded to him.

After Naima went home, things got worse. It had never been this silent. They had gone for counselling. He would have really liked Naima to show some emotion - cry, laugh or even hurl some abuses his way. But she had mourned her son by herself completely shutting out her husband.

The doctor suggested having another child but Ashish did not take to the idea. He just did not trust himself anymore. After six months of no response from Naima, he had walked out. He called to check on her but the two never exchanged words. The last call had come around two years ago after which he had moved to America.

She had agreed to start looking at men for a second marriage just so her parents wouldn't worry about her. There had been some heated words between the sisters when she had agreed to a second marriage instead of getting back with Ashish.  

It did not take long for her to realize that everyone just paled in comparison to the man she had married the first time around. She had even started considering how to approach a possible reconciliation but had not been convinced about it till today. 

This advertisement could not just be a coincidence. As loopy as it sounded, Naima took it as a sign. Zara could have easily missed it, but had not. For some reason, she had assumed his whole family had moved to America. At least his younger brother Ashwin was still here. She would get in touch with Ashwin and take it from there.

Four years was a long time to look at every possible mistake and alternative reaction. She should have been there for him. She had done nothing to assuage the guilt he must have felt. They both had lost a child. She had made a couple of mistakes the last time around. She should have handled things differently but now she knew better.

As Naima continued to gaze out of the window, she felt her sister come up and stand behind her. Just one look passed between the sisters and Zara knew Naima had made the decision she had always wanted. They sat together as Naima dialled the number without having to look at it.  

For the first time in many years, Naima felt hopeful. As a familiar voice answered the line at the other end, Naima knew she was going to get Ashish back in her life again. 

The Proposal: Part 3 of 4

'Can I please sit by the window’, Zara inquired.

Seeing that Zara and he had been talking all the way upto their seats, Rahul had assumed that the gentleman in question would move to the aisle. Of course, he did not. Wasn't the universe supposed to conspire to help him achieve his dream?

The energy he had gathered from the time Zara arrived at the airport until the time they entered the airbus, all went pop in one second. Even though Rahul had silently started counting backwards from fifty in order to somehow get a grip on his emotions, he was far from relaxed by the time he was done.

He wondered what Gaurav would have said if he called him right now. Possibly, something glib like patience is the key!  Yes, that sounded wise enough.

As they buckled themselves into their seats, a subtle floral fragrance wafted towards him.

How does this happen to me, Rahul thought to himself as he felt the tightness around his chest melt away into insignificance. She is a whole seat away and the fragrance was making him loopy in the head. Giddy with delight was one way to describe how he felt, but the whiff of her fragrance somehow made him feel a little positively towards getting off at Bangalore.

Naima and Ashish just could not believe what they were seeing.

‘He just is not getting a break today’

‘Do you remember that time when I asked you out? That opportune moment had come after 4 days of having decided that I liked you mister. Each day, I used to be all charged up about asking you out on the way to college and decided it was hopeless on the way back home. I don’t envy Rahul one teeny tiny bit’

‘I know from a dependable source that you had a crush on me since the welcome party. That was a good month away from the day you asked me out’, Ashish replied with a goofy grin.

While Naima and Ashish playfully exchanged notes about their week at work, Rahul had plugged in his ipod and had reached a state of calm by the fourth song in his playlist. He did not notice the glances Zara threw at him whilst the music worked its magic on him.

He looks so peaceful, Zara thought to herself. She was almost certain Rahul was a little taken aback when she asked for the window seat. Looking at him now, she felt fairly certain that he hadn’t felt even a bit weird that she had chosen the window seat.

But she had no other option.

She had a massive crush on Rahul. Worse, Ashish had figured it out. And just to prove him wrong, she had taken up a bet to not sit alongside Rahul on the flight today. There was no point in letting anyone know about her stupid crush. Naima had told her that Rahul was interested in someone. What good what it do? What if Rahul got to know, got uncomfortable and distanced himself?

Zara knew the four of them would pretty much be stuck together for the trip. She hoped there was plenty of booze at Zubin’s. If the twenty minutes at security were anything to go by, she was going to need a major distraction to survive his dimpled smile over the extended duration of the next four days.

Ashish glanced to where Zara was sitting a few rows ahead. As he noticed Zara throw  another glance at Rahul, Ashish giggled to himself. He felt like the devil. Rahul was going to kill him after tonight. Zara was obviously going to say yes, but he just decided to make his buddy sweat a little before that.

If Naima could keep secrets, he would have definitely told her. But she couldn’t keep anything from Zara - the two were thick. He still didn’t know why Zara had kept it from Naima. He had not asked and she had not voluntarily offered any explanation.

Tonight was going to be a night of revelations.

To be continued...

The Proposal: Part 2 of 4

Women and time possibly had an agreement to never get along, Rahul thought to himself as he dialled Zara’s number for seemingly the hundredth time. Zara should have been at the airport at least thirty minutes ago. How can one always estimate time wrong?

He had given her a wake-up call at 4 am. Even then, he had to call her seven times till she actually picked the phone. She better show up in the next fifteen minutes else they were going to miss the flight.

Just as he was about to dial Naima, his phone beeped. So she was stuck in traffic. As real as the reason may be, it is a convenient excuse for those having difficulty with punctuality.

Breathe in, breathe out. We are headed to a holiday. And not just any holiday – he had been waiting for this since six weeks now. The six weeks since he had realized that he was in love with Zara. The trip just wasn't going the way he had thought it would. 

With his patience in short supply, Rahul decided that the situation warranted a call to his agony uncle - his self proclaimed ‘worldly wise’ friend.

‘She is late. Again’

‘It is your mistake to expect anything different. If you had started out expecting a delay, you would be a happier soul my child’

‘Don’t make me regret calling you man. I need some pep talk before she shows up. I was counting on the journey together giving us some time alone. In my current state of mind, the lone journey won’t do me any good. If I don’t scream at her, I think I would label it achievement of the day’

‘In the interest of humanity, I shall try my level best to show you the silver lining. There is plenty of liquor here and some really interesting looking people in case Zara turns you down’

After a few lines of encouragement from Gaurav, Rahul hung up. As Rahul pondered over the last few weeks, he realized that Gaurav could possibly write a book on the things he had done to make an impression on Zara.

‘I have informed the staff of our little situation. The lady at the counter seemed to completely understand our predicament’, Ashish said as he walked up with Naima in tow.

As they waited for Zara to turn up, Rahul couldn't believe this trip had finally begun. Considering how fast the last few months had flown, the last six weeks had been a drag.

Naima, Ashish and Rahul were from the same college. Ashish and Naima had met at the makeshift bar at the freshers welcome party. What started out as idle chat, lasted the entire duration of the party. Their friendship had naturally evolved into a relationship despite the three years that separated them. 

Rahul was the brother Ashish never had. Rahul had met Zara at Naima's graduation party a few months back. He could not recall a time before he met her. It seemed like he had known her forever. All mushy romantic songs suddenly began to make sense. His ipod was a testament to his emotional state - Richard Marx to Atif Aslam, all crooned to him, sometimes more than multiple times a day.

Luckily for them, a profusely apologetic Zara showed up under the next ten minutes. As they rushed through security, Rahul tried to remember why he was pissed at Zara. One smile was all it took to wipe his emotional plate clean of the distressed forty five odd minutes.

As they were headed to the boarding queue, he saw Naima turn and give him a wink. It had been abundantly clear to Naima since the day they had first met, that he was taken by her sister. Over the next few meets, even Ashish realized just how smitten a kitten he was. They had teased him quite mercilessly about it. 

They were also aware that he was going to ask Zara out tonight. 

After security, Naima and Ashish were to conveniently disappear in a coffee shop. Zara hated coffee. So did Rahul. That would have left Zara and him alone. As a rehearsal, he had even tried his speech on Ashish...! 

With her delayed arrival, all their planning had gone awry. 

It would be fine, Rahul consoled himself, just as long as this trip doesn’t have any more surprises.

To be continued...

If Only...

If only, Ayesha sighed to herself. This happens to me every time I come here, Ayesha realized as she rang the doorbell to Simran’s home. Today was Simran’s ‘surprise’ birthday party.

‘Hi Esha’, Simran’s mother opened the door to let her in, ‘Any idea where Simran is?’

‘She sent me a text. I am supposed to meet her here in an hour’

Conversation flowed freely between them as they worked on the decorations. Ayesha did not remember a time when she had a relaxed normal conversation with her own mother. Agreed, her parents had a lot on their minds. Both of them worked and they were so exhausted by the end of the day that they barely had any energy for small talk. They discussed mostly pending bills and tuition fees. Stretched finances are a conversation killer.

If Ayesha would have pictured a dream family, it would possibly be Simran’s. The money was not the only difference: the family, well, behaved like family. Simran had an older brother and a really adorable set of parents. Each time Ayesha was with them, she wished she had a family just like this.

‘Looks like we are all set’, Kabir said while surveying the living room, ‘Looks like everyone is here. Now just waiting for the little princess to show up’

The door bell chimed as if in response to Kabir. Kabir eyed the peephole and gave everyone a nod. As soon as he opened the door, everyone enthusiastically screamed ‘Surprise!’

‘Oh my God! Wow!’, Simran hugged her parents,’ You guys are the bestest’

You could not argue with that. Ayesha was treated like the second daughter in Simran’s house and she really cherished the warm feeling she got whenever she was around them. They really were the bestest family in the world.

‘Esha, come here babe!’

Kabir clicked away the perfect moment and turned his attention to the table laden with food. After stuffing his mouth with a handful of kebabs, Kabir picked a few trays and started walking around the living room.

Simran split from Ayesha and started mingling. Ayesha was not very comfortable around too many people and when Simran’s parents left for the evening, she found solace in an empty kitchen.

A couple of hours, is what it usually takes for me to start feeling guilty about wanting a different family, Ayesha mused. Not that Ayesha was thankless, but sometimes she just wished things were different.

She was humming to herself while arranging the finger food, when Kabir walked in with a few empty trays. Kabir was Simran’s older brother. He was older, mature which actually should have made her feel out of depth around him. But it never did. He always made her laugh. He always made her feel good about herself.

Ayesha did not have a great deal of expertise in dealing with people from the opposite sex. Most boys in college were downright dull and she preferred to spend time with her girl friends. But she liked spending time with Kabir. Lately, she wasn’t really sure why, she felt all funny inside when she met him.

‘I am guessing you don’t want to be outside with a bunch of hungry lunatics’, Kabir motioned to the commotion outside, ’Not that I blame you’

‘You can take these’, Ayesha pointed to the tray of cutlets and chips she had just finished arranging. She barely made eye contact with him. She really wanted him out of the kitchen. She knew it was a stupid thought. It was his house!

‘So, what are your plans after graduation?’, Kabir questioned while using some tissues to clean the trays.

’I will apply to the university here and see what courses I am eligible for’, she rambled too quickly.

If Ayesha did not manage the scholarship for her master’s program, she would not be able to study further. Simran’s parents, on the other hand, were encouraging her to try a program abroad to get a broader perspective.  

‘Simran is still undecided about where she wants to go and for what program. Since I have studied in the US, chances are she is headed to the US as well’

The choices the rich had to make, she smiled to herself. She thought back to the first day she had met Simran. They had both come into class quite early and sat on adjacent chairs, right at the head of the class. They had hit it off and by the end of the first week, they were pretty much inseparable. Gradually, they had realized the differences. They were poles apart in terms of social standing as well as individual personalities but their friendship just grew stronger.

‘You both want to study advanced architecture, don’t you? Simran wants to learn landscaping, but she would need to stay abroad to practice that. Not sure India has a market for landscaping yet’

‘Yeah, we both think the same as well. She has narrowed it to interior design for now. Depends on the school she gets through’

As they continued the conversation, both were quite oblivious to Simran standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Simran had been looking for Ayesha to share some juicy gossip, but it could wait.

Simran had realized just a few weeks ago that Ayesha had a massive crush on Kabir. Ayesha had not expressly acknowledged it but Simran knew enough about Ayesha to understand without having been told. Interestingly enough, her parents had been looking for a suitable girl for Kabir and they had not come across any good alliance so far. 

So Simran had asked Kabir what he thought of Ayesha. She had waxed eloquent about the goodness of her darling friend and Kabir had laughed her out of his room. But sometime between then and yesterday night, Kabir had been convinced about Ayesha.

Simran’s parents were ecstatic. Coming weekend, they had decided to talk to Ayesha’s parents about Kabir. If Ayesha’s parents agreed to Kabir as their future son-in-law, they would all tell her together as a family. Ayesha and Simran would both study abroad for their masters program and once their studies were done, Ayesha and Kabir would get married.

The girls had often discussed their lives, the future aspirations, their knights in shining armour. Simran could not believe how perfect Kabir and Ayesha were for each other. She had been warned not to talk about anything to Ayesha till it was all discussed and agreed upon. Frankly, Simran found that quite difficult. She wished she could tell Ayesha. She could not wait to welcome Ayesha in the family.

Leap of Faith - II

Gina is going to flip out seeing me at the premiere today, Gerard thought to himself. He checked himself in the mirror: sparkling white shirt, well fitted black tuxedo and the red kerchief from Gina. He thought he looked quite ok. Handsome would be too arrogant.

A lot of people thought Gina had made it big in the movie business because of her parents. Gerard knew the dark, dirty truth. No-one wanted to deal with a new comer. A movie was too much money. For every struggling actor, there was at least one rich, spoilt brat who had the money to sponsor his way through at least the first couple of movies. And it was tough even for them.

Though Gina would qualify as the spoilt child, simply by lineage, Gina had made it all on her own. Gina had been lucky. She had got her first offer when she was studying for her graduation. She was chased by film-makers all through her masters as well. By the time she completed her studies, she had decided to give it a try.

Right from the first shot, Gina had shown promise. With her easy charm, she  mesmerized the audience. She had shot to instant and incredulous fame. And that had just been the start. The glitz and glamour had always been part of her life and she knew how to deal with it without being overbearing about it. Her humility won her more adulation.

As Gerard locked the apartment and climbed down the flight of stairs, his mind wandered back to the first time he had seen Gina in person. It had been during the rehearsal of an award function. He had shown up early for his rehearsal and was just walking around the auditorium when he had seen her. She was attractive even without make-up. She was headed in his direction and it would have been perfectly natural to just congratulate her on her latest movie. But Gerard slipped away before she could notice him. He had not had the courage to talk to her. He was a struggling nobody and she was a superstar.

His crush was as strong as ever when they were introduced to each other. It was the dubbing session for an animation movie. After wrapping up work, they got to talking. She was waiting for her car and he couldn’t find a reason to leave. One thing had led to another and they had ended up having dinner together. There was no looking back since then.

He couldn’t believe how life had changed in the last year or so. They complimented each other perfectly and their relationship just grew stronger each passing month. He had even met her parents with their new partners. It should have been awkward but it wasn’t! How could it be? These were people with a background in performance arts. They pretended for a living!

As he started the car, he thought back to the last 24 hours. He had thrown a tantrum, pleaded and eventually begged for the weekend off from work. It was all hazy now: rushing from the movie set to the airport and the very uncomfortable flight back home. The movie was special for her and he did not want to miss being by her side.

As he entered Gina’s green room, he couldn’t have been more surprised. Gina sat in a chair with her eyes closed and was calmly doing her breathing exercises. It helped her deal with the stress better. He willed her to open her eyes. It was quite difficult to stand motionless in front of her when all he wanted to do was to give her with a bear hug, just the way she liked it. But nothing in his imagination, prepared him for the look of absolute single minded pleasure he saw in Gina’s eyes. Before he could mouth a word, Gina had launched herself in his arms. He couldn’t stop grinning. Life couldn’t possibly get better than this.  

Leap of Faith - I

Gina flipped through the tabloid with a grin on her face. All these tabloids ever carry, are stories of some incident woven out of hand. Maybe that is why she was never ever allowed to read such ‘trash’, as her parents called it. As she flipped through artfully put together photographs, Gina could not help but feel enchanted by it all.

Growing up, she could not remember a single glossy tabloid at home.  Even the celebrity news section that the daily carried was never there! She did not notice this for the longest time till she tried looking for page 25 after a friend at school mentioned it. The newspaper at home went miraculously from page 24 to Page 29! The fact that her parents were big in the movie business was something she did not know for the longest time.

Gina carefully read each alliance on the ‘New on the Just Friends List’. Jaxier and Rhea – they did make a brilliant couple but then they had a movie coming up. It was possibly a well timed ‘romance’. Rachel and Jimmy – she knew that was wrong. She knew exactly who Rachel was seeing. She had to admit though, Rachel and Jimmy looked quite spectacular together. Rachel was smiling into the camera donning a rather brilliantly put together royal blue sheath. Gina made a mental note of the designer.She would need to look him up.

But the media got it right quite often. Gerard and she had been on this list sooner than they had figured out their feelings for each other!

Her parents always looked so in love.She had seen them argue but then all marriages have those moments. Her friends at school were always cribbing about warring parents. She considered herself lucky that she had two loving parents who loved her as well as each other. But how hard could it have been for professional actors to fool a 14 year old? She had been devastated when her parents decided to split up. When she had told her friends about it, they had not been surprised. The tabloids had reported a rift before she got to know about it herself.

As she turned the page, the blood drained from her face. There was a picture of Gerard and Nina. The two had been together in drama school and had joined the movies at about the same time. Gerard was in Naples this month. And apparently so was Nina. Gina was unaware of this till now. The article went on about the weekend the two had spent in private gambling rooms. Gerard didn't even like gambling. They must have gone because of Nina. There was a speculation about Gerard missing the premiere tonight as he was otherwise occupied by Miss Nina. In a fit of anger, she threw the tabloid across the room.

She had never expected to join the movies herself, but the lure been too great for her to ignore. Today was the media premiere of her sixth movie. Time sure flew fast. 

Gina turned towards the mirror and gave herself a critical appraisal. As she went through her mental checklist, her mind was in turmoil. She had met Gerard while dubbing for an animation movie and the two had hit it off. That had been more than a year ago. Everyone thought they made a beautiful couple. She herself thought they complimented each other perfectly. She was the restless soul and he was the solid rock. Their relationship had pretty much been smooth sailing. They were planning a short vacation once her movie was released. In fact, they were supposed to meet his parents.

But what if this was true? 

She had read all the stories published about her parents. Her parents had fed her a lot of half truths about lunches, dinners and weekends spent away from her. But should she doubt what she had with Gerard because her parents had lied to her?

To be fair to Gerard, the media premiere had been re-scheduled at the last minute. He was not going to be able to make it. Even without Nina in the picture. 

She decided she would wait for his version of the story. As Savage Garden said, trust was more important than monogamy. Nina had been his friend since a while now. If they had wanted to get together, they would have by now. If Gerard had moved on, then he better tell her himself. Till then, she was going to be happy and deliriously drunk on love. If things were to go south, they would and she would deal with it.

Breathe in, breathe out. She could hear the commotion build up outside the door of her green room. She could hear Brenda, her assistant, soul sister and confidante, all rolled into one. This movie was important for Gina and Brenda knew just how much. She closed her eyes and thought of Gerard. I wish you were here to hold my hand.

When she opened her eyes, she half imagined she was dreaming. Gerard was standing there next to a beaming Brenda. Gina was very glad she was sitting down. She half feared she would have flung herself at him if she wasn't. 

All she could see was a smiling Gerard. She did not notice the bouquet of her favorite orchids he was holding. 

Her Gerard was not in some hell hole gambling away. He was here where he belonged. 

A Second Chance - II

Now, if I just dunk this. Rafael faked a left, dribbled the ball and sprang towards the basket. Yes! As his team mates lifted him, his eyes automatically landed on her. There she was. His heart rate upped a bit when she smiled back .She was possibly about to say something, when he got dragged by his team to form a rowdy huddle.

As he walked off the court, he could hear the men chant victory slogans. As their gaze reconnected, he could see the suppressed laughter in her face. He did not blame her. It wasn’t exactly the NBA playoffs but the men all behaved liked it was. Her smile increased in wattage as his stride brought him nearer to the stands. It took all effort to not run the last few steps to her. I can’t believe she is mine, thought Rafael, as they hugged.

As he headed to the locker room for washing up, Ashley proceeded to the bar as always. As he saw her walk away, he could not help but think about their up-coming trip. Nowadays, they did not get as much time with each other. The trip was just a weekend away and yet, Rafael could not wait for it to begin. Their itinerary had been planned weeks in advance. Everything was ready.

He just had to pick the ring tomorrow on his way back from work. I hope she says yes, thought Rafael. She should, ideally. But proposals could be tricky business and they had a complicated history.

During college, whenever Michael had met Rafael, Ashley featured prominently in Michael’s conversation. Everything led back to Ashley. Absolutely everything. Ice-cream, coffee, movies, music. Rafael could see Michael was falling for her but the idiot did not know it himself.

Thankfully, Michael had figured it out for himself. Rafael met Ashley when she came home to meet their parents. In the days leading to the wedding preparation, Rafael got to know her better. He could see why Michael was in a hurry to marry this woman. Ashley was everything Michael needed in his life.

Ashley’s parents were just like her. Warm hearted, sunny people. The families were happy. The couple was deliriously happy. The two families had decided to spend Christmas together. It was a quaint holiday planned outside the city and everyone was looking forward to the break.

It had been quite a Christmas - food, wine and people you love. It had started snowing with gusto and Michael had decided to get some lumber before they got snowed in – a trip which he should not have taken. Michael hated driving through fresh snowfall. If he would have just woken Rafael up, things would have been so different.

When Michael was not responding to his cell phone, Ashley had woken Rafael up. Rafael remembered the frantic drive to the lumber yard. One look at the mangle of blue metal, and Rafael’s heart had dropped to his stomach. Had Mike lived, he would have been a vegetable. Mercifully, he had died on the spot.

A family Christmas had turned uglier than anyone had ever imagined. Ashley was beside herself. His parents were inconsolable. Rafael had hidden his own sorrow somewhere and acted the older son. He cancelled the wedding preparations and made funeral arrangements instead.

When Ashley left the city and went back to her parents, Rafael had almost felt deserted. The one person who could share the sorrow with him was going away. When she had moved back to the city, she got in touch with him. What had initially started as companionship of a shared sorrow, had turned to more than that. He did not know exactly when, but they had stopped talking about Michael and had started talking about each other. Two years after the fatal crash, Rafael asked Ashley out.

As he reached the bar, Rafael could see Ashley sipping a deep red colored cocktail. There was an olive green colored drink waiting for him. Ashley was definitely more adventurous than him when it came to trying food or drinks. As Rafael took a tentative sip, the bartender who always served them, walked up to them and asked,’ did you like your drinks?’

As the three got into an easy conversation, Rafael could not stop thinking about the ring he was to pick tomorrow. The ring was a princess cut solitaire, sitting on a band of platinum. It’s been close to five years since the accident. She was back to being the bubbly, cheerful Ashley he had known and come to love. Yet there had been times where there would be a shadow over her. She had been honest about it to him which is why he was feeling confident about getting a ring now!

I just hope she is ready to take this step, Rafael thought. If she wasn’t, he would wait till she was. Being in love had burnt her once and he hoped she was ready to take the chance again.

A Second Chance - I

As she saw Rafael dodge the opposition and dive towards the hoop, Ashley hoped he would dunk the ball. And yes – the ball went flying through the basket in the last few seconds of the match…! Rafael’s team had won!

Everyone lifted Rafael in jubilation. Amidst the chaos, their eyes collided and she could sense the euphoria he was feeling. His enchanting smile was magnified in this moment of extreme joy. He held her eyes, gave her a thumbs up but before she could mouth ‘well done’, Rafael was pulled down on the court and everyone huddled around him. So much emotion over a month end basketball match, Ashley thought smiling to herself. Only men could conjure up the energy for this.

As the huddle broke, she picked Rafael with ease. Of course, the fact that he wore his favorite black jersey made him easy to pick, but she could have picked him out of a ground full of similar clad people.

As he walked out of the group of excited men, his eyes connected with hers. And he smiled just for her. And the world ceased to exist. The noise, the commotion, all disappeared as he started walking towards her. She got up in time to receive a bone crushing hug from him. He got into an animated description about how the game had gone. She did not stop him even though she had just seen the entire match from court side seats! As they walked away from the court, Ashley realized just how much she looked forward to their upcoming vacation. They barely got quality time together nowadays.

As Rafael headed to wash up, she proceeded to the bar as always.

‘What should I get you?’ asked Jim.

‘Why don’t you surprise me today?’, Ashley smiled back. The bartender smiled and walked towards his work station.

It was a bar just like this one where Michael had asked her out. She always wanted her partner to be her best friend, someone she knew inside out. And one who knew her as well. She had known him for close to 4 years by when she had realized he was going to be a very vital part of her life. Saying yes seemed so natural.

She met Rafael the first time when Michael took her home to meet his parents. Rafael was Michael’s older brother. During the days leading to the wedding preparation, she got to know Rafael better. Lunches, dinners, movies, shopping trips. Some with Michael, some without.

But a dark Christmas morning, four months before the wedding, Michael went to pick some lumber and never came back. A trailer had lost purchase on fresh show and crashed headlong into Michael’s car. Had he lived, he would have been a vegetable. Mercifully, he had died on the spot.

Ashley did not remember much apart from going home to be with her family. She had quit her job and left the city where everything reminded her of Michael.

When she had moved back to the city after two months, her old boss was more than willing to take her back. Rafael helped her find a convenient apartment, was around to help her move. He asked her out two years after Michael died.

Rafael’s voice broke her reverie and brought her back to planet earth.

‘Are we being adventurous today?’, Rafael slid on the barstool next to her and looked at his green concoction quizzically.

‘It’s got kiwi and lime’, Ashley mouthed while sipping her drink.

‘Why does your drink look so much easier on the eyes’, Rafael had not even touched his glass,’ Like I have always told you - Jim likes you better’. He took a tentative sip of the green liquid.

’Did you like your drinks ?’,pointed more towards Rafael than Ashley.

‘It’s not as bad as it looks actually. It’s quite nice. Well done Jim. Tell me, how are your classes going?’

She could not take her eyes off Rafael. He was everything to her. She would never have imagined the gaping hole in her heart to disappear one day. Soon, it would be five years since the fateful accident. She could think about Michael without an ache in her chest. She could remember him fondly for who he was, for what they had shared.

She had never thought she could be happy again. But she was. Life had given her a second chance. She had found love again.