HOPE

Chapter Seven

Susheela was pulled out of her memories as she felt a warm hand on her knee shake her in a gentle manner. Susheela slowly opened her eyes and came face to face with the same elderly couple that were travelling with her in the train. Susheela looked at them confused and then at the old lady's outstretched hand, which held a neatly folded handkerchief. After a couple of seconds she realised that tears were freely flowing down her soft cheeks, she silently took the handkerchief and gently dabbed her face clear.

She took in a few laboured breaths and then finally found the courage to look at the people staring at her. She gave them a small smile, "Thank you aunty.", She said gesturing towards the handkerchief.

"It's okay beta, tum thik toh ho na?", The old man sitting beside his wife asked Susheela in a gentle tone, afraid to trigger her emotions.

"Haa uncle, wo bas apne sheher se dur jaa rahi hu na isiliye thoda upset thi.", Susheela said sighing to herself.

"Samajh sakti hu beta, apno se dur rehna bohot muskil hota hai. Pehli baar dur jaa rahi ho? Kaha tak jaa rahi ho tum?", The old lady asked Susheela with a warm smile.

"Himachal tak jaa rahi hu aunty. Waha par main apne zindagi ki nayi shuruaat karne jaa rahi hu.", Susheela said absentmindedly fiddling with her pendent that now held her engagement ring as well. The old couple noted the dull look in her eyes and looked at eachother with a deep understanding.

"Agar apne zindagi ki nayi shuruaat karne jaa rahi ho toh apni sari purani yaadon ko yahi station par hi bhulna hoga. Tabhi toh nayi yadon ke liye dil mein aur man mein jagha ban paayegi, kyu?", The elderly compassionate woman said, and kept her worn out and soft hand on Susheela's hand.

Susheela smiled through tears, clearly getting the hint from God to move on and step into a new chapter with a blank page. She nodded her head, "Thank you aunty, mujhe iss sala ki iss waqt bohot jarurat thi. Thank you.", Susheela said smiling through tears. The elderly couple smiled warmly at her and went back to look outside the window.

Susheela looked out of the window and sighed tiredly to herself. Her mind drifting back to the memories she was trying to block and delete from my mind.
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Pramod laid awake the entire night, a sense of abandonment seeping little by little into his heart as the hours passed. He tried to study all the cons and pros, look into all the possibilities and dissected Susheela's behaviour, but still he couldn't reach a final conclusion. In the end he finally decided to talk to Garima and listen to her side of the story as well. He wanted to be fair with this whole mess that life had thrown in his face, and as much as his heart yelled at him that his mother couldn't do the vile things that people had accused her of, he has to see into the bigger picture. What if this entire thing was just a big misunderstanding? But then again, does that even justify Susheela's harsh behaviour with his mother? Could he still forgive her for what she has done?

Pramod groaned loudly and got up from his bed, it was hardly 6:00 in the morning. Pramod went towards his bathroom and took a nice clean shower. Once he was fully ready, he checked the time to see it was past 7:30. He decided to head towards Agni's home to meet Garima. He looked at his packed suitcases kept near his nightstand and sighed. He had a flight to catch at sharp 9:00 in the morning. Whatever decision he has to take, he has to make them soon. He took his car keys, his wallet and shoved his phone in the pocket of his pants and jogged downstairs to inform his parents about his whereabouts.

As he was about to barge straight into his parents room, he heard them arguing about something. Deciding to listen quietly, he cupped his hand near his ear and leaned a bit near their door.

"Mini tum samajh kyu nahi rahi ho!", Jay bursted out angrily.

"Lekin tum kyu nahi samajh rahe Jay! Agar ye ek bohot badi misunderstanding hui toh? Humare bete ki aur Susheela ki zindagi ko hum ek choti misunderstanding ke wajah se kharab nahi hone de sakte.", Pramod could hear the agony in his mother's voice, as she sniffled in between her words.