Always and Forever

Chapter Two

Lekha's footsteps were slow and heavy as they ascended the narrow staircase that housed her apartment at the third floor. Although the building itself was dreary, it was well-kept and occupied by respectable families. The terrace apartment was thought to be the tiny little terrace one-room occupied by most single working-class people like herself and any of the apartment ladies would have been surprised and perhaps even fainted with envy if they had seen the actual size of the apartment.

The one-room structure had been extended and half the terrace been occupied by the owner of the apartment who had lived there previously. He also owned half the building and this extension had been done illegally. Since he wanted to avoid trouble with the local civic authorities, he had kept quiet about the actual size and charged the rent due to an actual one-room.

The estate agent had explained to her the reasons she was getting it so cheap and had demanded double his usual agency fee. She had known the man ever since moving to Delhi and he had seen her through five places in six years before finding her this place. She smiled as she thought of the agent in his shiny sequined shirt and pointed boots even in the heat of summer.

"I hope this is your last apartment, this is the best I can find, I hope it does good things to you," he had told her seriously as he handed over the keys.

"Well Pankaj, if everything you hope for comes true then you would have lost your regular customer," she had joked.

Pankaj had frowned. "Making money is important madam, but not at the cost of people's peace of mind and your home should bring you peace."

Lekha had laughed at the agent's unusual philosophical mood but he had not smiled back. "Pardon my familiarity, I say this because of our years of acquaintance and with a feeling this will the last time I am finding a place for you. Please madam, whatever it is that broke your heart, forget it. Move on, fix yourself before it is too late. Women like you are not meant to be alone. You need family. If you are not able to make one of your own then please go back to the family you came from. Do not live her alone for so long that you cannot change things even if you want to."

Lekha shook her head, wondering why she thought about the real estate agents' words so much right these days and then as she let herself into the apartment, she wished she hadn't. There it was, the empty loneliness she had been battling against all day. Even taking on the extra night shift and working until she felt she would drop from exhaustion right in the middle of the office floor, had done nothing to elevate this feeling she got whenever she returned to the apartment in the night, all alone as usual.

She had always been lonely but it had begun to seep into her bones from the last one year ever since she had heard that his mansion was being renovated in Ooty. No one knew if he planned to return and there were rumours that the place was being converted into a resort. And, there were rumours rife that he was planning to get married and install himself there with his new wife. All this and more had been conveyed to her by her mother who had begun calling her with whatever information she received about him.

She didn't seem to notice her daughter's distress and seemed to assume that just because she didn't talk about him, she had forgotten all about him. In fact, she had even expressed on occasion her wish that the two of them would get back together. Discussions like this usually ended with a bitter fight but her mother persisted in the topic.

Lekha went through the motions of switching on the ac and then having a cold shower, before fixing herself some peppermint tea and settling herself on the comfortable sofa. The apartment had two bedrooms, one living room and one dining room along with a kitchen and Lekha had furnished it slowly over the years.