Sara's Trilemma

Sara loves Sid

"Sara dear, I was hoping you would stay the night. Why are you insisting on leaving in this weather?" Pooja beseeched, looking inside through the window of the car. I adjusted the seatbelt and looked over to Sid.

"Siddharth beta, I don't like you two leaving now, especially now the storm is coming," added Rajdeep, in his concerned tone.

"Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Kaushik. We just can't stay. We will reach safely. Besides, it's only a couple of hour drive. I hope that we could meet again," Sid said, ducking his head to address them. The serious lines from a few minutes before were masked with forced pleasantness.

"We will meet again, soon," I assured, and smiled. "Thank you for the wonderful dinner."

They smiled back and Sid started the engine. I looked over the house again. Viraj did not come downstairs. The drizzle had stopped, though the air was humid, hinting of the storm ahead.

With a final wave, we joined the narrow road, sloping upwards to the hill. There was silence in the car, with the sound of branches of trees swaying in the wind and lightning muffled through the impressive soundproof glass windows.

I looked at him, not quite turning in his direction. He stared at the road as if he wanted to ablaze it with fire. I checked the speed, the indicator titled beyond seventy. I wanted to explain. But I knew it would be futile. I opted silence for the simple reason that I could not predict his mood, his real feelings. He was angry for sure. Although, I couldn't know the reason. Perhaps, that he came all the way to Lonavala for nothing. His dislike for Viraj was evident from the start.

After a sharp one eighty degrees curve, I could not stay silent anymore. "Slow down!"

He gave me a sharp look, though the eyes betrayed his despair. Then, turning his gaze back at the road, he drove without slowing down. In the dark night, the road looked all the same. And no particular landmark helped us to know where we were going. His navigation system was the only way out of the snaking narrow roads.

Again, I looked at him, helplessly. Sid, please talk with me. It's not what you think. I don't love Viraj. It just that he tried kissing me, that's all. Words couldn't form in my mouth. Please, just, this one time, listen to me!

Suddenly, the hill before us flashed with light. The bolt of lightning ripped the sky with a thunderous noise, making my heart leap out. The sound was as if a tower had come crumbling down. The scene was frightening. The groaning mountainous clouds gathered in the sky with trees oscillating in agony. Suddenly I reached out for his hand!

I felt him grabbing my hand before mine touched his. I could breathe just at the comforting touch. He had stopped the car at the roadside where leaves and stray twigs piled over.

"Shit!" he said. "The navigation system is fried!" The touchscreen in the middle of the dashboard had gone blank.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, panicked.

"We have to follow the sign boards," he said, pressing my hand and then let it go.

He started the engine and drove ahead until we hit forked roads. One road turned upwards and the other way, sloped downwards, vanishing in the trees. He stopped and we looked for the sign for the highway leading to Mumbai.

To our horror, we noticed a bent sign board, half of its part swaying in the unruly wind.

"I think this way will lead us out of here," he said, pointing towards the road sloping downstairs. I readily agreed with him, as I remembered climbing upwards and then turning into the road towards the hill station. Though there was no way we could validate our hypothesis. No soul was in sight.

We checked our cell phones only to get disappointed. There was absolutely no network. Slowly, the worry was clouding with the anger, making it frustrating combination. The torrential rain started pelting against the windshield, making it impossible to see out on the road.

"Sid, we should go back to Viraj's house," I said, refraining from looking into his eyes. "It's better than getting lost and stranded somewhere."

"You would love that, don't you?" His reply was quick to come.

"What?" I turned towards him.

"I said, you would love to go to his house," he suggested, with an emphasis on 'love.'

"Sid, why are you being so insensitive?"

"I am not. I am fucking used here in your plan to get back with your ex-boyfriend." He bellowed.

"You very well know, that's not true!" I protested, in an equal aggravated tone.

"Sara, why don't you just admit it and let me go my own way!" he fumed and then, turned his gaze back at the road, clutching the steering wheel so tightly that I believed it would snap out.

Before I could open my mouth, he started the car and proceeded towards the first plan to drive downwards.

"You don't understand, Sid," I muttered, looking out, in the dark silhouettes. "You are not even ready to listen to my explanation!"

"I do understand, Sara. I perfectly know what a kiss means," he said, bitterly.

"No, you don't. You are arriving at a conclusion."

"Oh god. Stop it. Why don't you just admit it?" he snapped, trying to control the speed over a steep slope. "Admit it that you love Viraj!"

The anger sparked suddenly in my head. "You stupid, idiot! I don't love Viraj!"

"That means, you kissed him just like that!"

"He kissed me."

"One and the same thing." He muttered, slowing down as again we faced with two roads. "Shit."

"We are lost, because of you," I fumed and crossed my hands on my chest.

He glared at me, shifting the gear and turned to get back from where we came.

As soon as he turned, he breathed deep and faced me. "Mr. Kaushik told me about Viraj and his fiancé. And the reason was also made clear. He obviously wants to get back with you. I don't see any problem now. You can go merrily into his arms, I won't care."

"You won't care? Is it because you hate me?" I blasted.

He again glanced at me. This time his lips quivered as if he was going to say something. Instead, he looked back at the road and revved the engine. "It's now settled with your kissing."

"I don't love him. I love..." I stopped as another lightning struck, this time hitting a banyan tree just before us, standing on the edge of the road.

The next few seconds went in a fast motion. I could see the bright flash on the top of the tree, a thunderous sound. Partially, I saw the tree tilting right. It sounded like it was uprooted completely and fallen on the ground. Although, then, I could see that we turned leftward, away from the falling Banyan tree and encroaching into the trees. With a loud screeching sounds of, what seemed like breaks, the car came to a complete halt, throwing us forward in our seats.

We panted, looking out through the windshield was a big tree. We had stopped just a foot away from car slamming on it. All the stress, the worries vanished in a second. It all felt stupid in front of a close call to death, well, perhaps a freak accident. I looked at him, breathing fast and deep. The same expressions reflected on his face.

I removed the lifesaving seatbelt, scrambled towards him in a flash. I felt his arms pulling me closer, without a second wait, I kissed his divine lips, feverishly, wanting to shut him up forever.