• Second Chances •

1. Them

Ram loved food alright. Even the stale, dry, tasteless aeroplane food. He picked up the gooey mashed potatoes on his spoon and stuffed his mouth with it. It felt nice and comforting. 

"Disgusting!" 

Ram heard the snide remark. He looked at his friend Aditya with a gentle rise of his brow and smiled knowingly. Aditya was a foodie like him too but unlike him, he had someone waiting for him back home. Brinda would be waiting for him with freshly cooked. Sure, it wasn't the tastiest thing in the world. But did it matter? It didn't. If someone took the pain of cooking food for Ram and then also wait for him; he would happily gulp the tindes that Brinda so loved to cook. Even concrete. 

He smiled and continued to eat the food. A dull ache spread in his chest. He tried to blink it away. Ram knew that even tonight he was going to go back to a soulless house. It wasn't anything new. He had endured it for three decades now. But it still hurt dearly. It always hurt when he saw how indifferent his siblings and Mother were to him. 

Ram rarely let his real feelings show. He just smiled and brushed it off. He had learned very early in his life that even anger attracts questions. Annoyance too. Only smile does not. No one asks you why you are smiling. No one asks you why you are happy. That way, he could evade everyone's questions. It worked for him. 

Another thing that worked for him was working. He kept himself busy. The more he worked, the less time he got to think. Companies, tenders, deadlines...they all were his companions. The more he worked, the less he noticed how sorry his life was. 

"Do you think Brinda will like this necklace?" 

Aditya nudged him and showed him a picture of a necklace on his mobile. 

Ram took a good look at it and sneered. "Nope. Try silver. Not diamonds." 

"God, yes!" Aditya chuckled. "I forgot. She likes silver more. Thanks yaar." 

Ram shook his head. He could never fathom how Aditya could forget what Brinda liked. If he had a wife like that, a love like that, the world would be jealous of the way he would treat her. If only Vedika had agreed to marry him. The memories of that failed relationship intensified the ache in his chest. The pudding turned cardboard in his mouth. He still kept eating it. It was his only respite. Because really, even if he had managed to board this flight, he had long missed boarding the happy flight.  

******************

The pudding turned in Priya's stomach as soon as her sister and brother-in-law walked into the house. And then, the very next second, her blood boiled. Her limbs worked on their own and before she knew it, she got up. 

"Hey Priya..." 

Maitri greeted her. 

Priya looked at her and just nodded. "I will get you guys some water." 

"Okay..." said Maitri and sat down on the very spot Priya was sitting. Then she pulled her husband's hand and made him sit beside her. 

It made Priya smile. That wasn't the first time she had taken her spot. Her chest heaved and she dashed into her bedroom instead of the kitchen. They definitely didn't deserve any service. They had legs and could walk into the kitchen and help themselves. 

She closed the door behind her as softly as she could and sat down beside the window. Looking out, she laughed again. Her view comprised of another building in front of their apartment. She could either look at the kitchen of three families or a street dumpster. She chose to look at the kitchens. Two of them were empty but the third one was busy. A middle-aged lady was making rotis. Her husband and two kids were sitting cross-legged on the kitchen floor and having dinner. All four of them looked in a great mood and were smiling. 

Priya's heart ached. On most days, she didn't desire for anything. After all, when she had wished for something, it had all fallen apart. She had her teaching job, her sister's bakery and then there was always hundreds of small issues that kept her busy. Her family was small but close-knit. Whilst she didn't share a lot with them, they all were cordial. And selfishly, she was glad that her father had left them alone.   

But whenever she saw happy families, Priya felt a little sad. She had been so close to being a part of something like that once. Wouldn't it feel wonderful to have someone beside her? Someone who could just hold her hand and tell her that it was okay? Someone who would take her in his arms and not leave till her storms didn't quieten?           

A wave of wistfulness passed through her spine. Priya didn't think she had any chances of finding something like that now. 

The sound of a plane flying over their house broke her thoughts. Priya craned her neck up. She couldn't see it. But she smiled. Even her flight of happiness had taken off without her.