Thinking this to myself, I left the auditorium, leaving my past who could have been my present and future behind. Forever.
"Rono!"
Aranya and Arjun called.
I turned back, quickly masking my broken self with a fake smile.
I raised my eyebrows at them to know why they called me.
"Look, who wants to speak to you"
They shouted from a distance.
I looked beside them to see whom they were referring to.
"Who!" I shouted back when I saw nobody familiar.
Aranya and Arjun smiled and stepped aside, revealing the last person I wanted to meet then.
Mishti.
Mishti Khanna.
My expressions changed almost immediately. The fake smile I was wearing soon turned into a curious and unsure look.
Why would she, of everybody, want to speak to someone like me.
No, correction. Why would she, of everybody, want to speak to ME!
Wasn't she satisfied with all the taunts and digs at the stage? Or was their more for me? More humiliations and embarrassments for me?
I was staring at her since the moment my friends had stepped aside. But she?
Huh! She was not even looking at me.
With narrowed eyes, disgusted face and ofcourse, irritated eyes, she stared here and there. Here and there everywhere, besides me.
I laughed bitterly at the distance between us. Not just physical, but even emotional.
All these years I had made my heart believe in 'out of sight is out of mind' but when she was there, right in front of me, all my inhibitions, my self control, my pep talks, all of those seemed to be complete wastes!
What we used to be and what we had become!
I thought sarcastically.
That's what mistake do perhaps.
One wrong move, and your entire life gets messed up.
As I was retrospecting and regretting my past mistakes, I suddenly felt my blood boil with anger.
The man who was her 'alleged' fiance, had stepped from behind and was slowly sliding his hand around her bare waist from the back to pull her closer to him.
His grip over her waist tightened and almost simultaneously my jaw tightened.
My fists clenched.
I looked at him with a glare fiery enough to burn him down to ashes.
Even after five years, the madness, the intensity, the desire with which I felt for her, made me want to rush to them, pull Mishti by her hand into my chest and break the nose of the man who dared to touch my woman.
I looked at them with anger when I heard that man speak.
"Dr.Chatterjee!"
Ujjan Rai waved at him.
I gave him my fakest ever smile and walked to him. And her too, who clearly was riled up due to our increasing physical proximity.
"Yes, Mr.Rai right?"
I asked with superiority complex as if I didn't know his name.
"Yes Dr.Chatterjee."
He smiled warmly at me.
But my focus was somewhere else. It was where it shouldn't have been. It was on Mishti. It was on his hand which was brushing against her soft, sensitive skin. Again and again. Disgusting!
I quickly locked my hands behind me and started digging my nails into my skin to stop myself from doing something stupid.
Pain. Pain relieves pain.
The philosophy I believed in did help me calm down.
Physical pain against emotional pain.
That was what I signed up for.
And in round one, clearly endorsing physical pain was overpowering the pain due to the heaviness of my heart.
"So, what makes you call me?"
I asked, fixing my eyes on Mishti who didn't bother to meet my eyes.
"Rono, he wanted to invite us for dinner at him home."
Aranya said.
"Hmm? Why?"
I asked confused, still not shifting my gaze from Mishti who was then busy admiring the sky.
Ofcourse, between me and the dark sky, the sky had to be more pleasing! So obvious!
I sighed.
"Actually Dr.Chatterjee, I don't think you remember, but back during your residency years, you had saved my mother from almost dying. She has been very grateful ever since and today when she got to know that you're taking part in an event organized by my team, she nearly threatened me to invite you over."
He replied gratefully.
