The Anklet's Lost Rhythm #Wattys2017

CHAPTER 1

SIDDHARTHA

I was twenty minutes late for office and was almost running down the escalator to reach Marks and Spencer's. Today was the 7th of May- Ishan, my best friend's birthday, and I had to buy a gift for him. I quickly rushed into M&S and the security stopped me. "Sir, the bag," he eyed at my bag pack. I quickly took it off and handed it over to him, and he handed me a token. I went in with it and looked for a perfume or an after shave gel which would surely please him. He has always been fond of things which make him smell good. But Kolkata seldom allowed you to smell good, especially in these months of May and June. I looked through the brands to pick up a good one.

I was terrible at choosing gifts. My wife used to tell that to me very often. I decided to ask for help and called for the salesman.

"Yes Sir?" the salesman asked politely.

"I want perfume for men."

It was then, when I sensed someone looking at me intently. I was engrossed in reading the names of the brands and slowly moved towards the right and finally felt a pair of eyes glued to me. That was when I turned my face.

My eyes widened and I felt a lump in my throat. I lost my voice and my eyeballs ran down from her eyes till her toes and back to her eyes. It had been five long years since I saw her last. There was a time we held each others' fingers and spoke of how we could not spend a second without each other. I felt her voice reverberate in my ears, "tumi kothao jaabe na, ami baanchte paarbo na." She refused to let me go anywhere for she could not live without me. I felt my eyes moisten and quickly looked away. I could feel she was still looking at me, as she moved I could hear the tinkling sound of her anklets. I missed it so much that I begged for time to stop then and there so that I could continue to hear those bells tinkle for eternity. A wave of memories came to me and I did not know whether I wanted to escape or stay. Suddenly, the voice of the salesman brought me back to reality.

"Sir, how about this?" He held a bottle in front of me.

"Oh...err yes, absolutely."

I quickly chose one of the bottles and sighed to myself. Unable to resist, I looked at her direction again. She had moved to the billing counter. I observed her from the corner of my eye. She had changed so much. Her hair wasn't shorter though, but I could not see that known smile of hers which I admired so much. Another thing, something was missing. Just something was not fitting into the puzzle. I observed closely trying to figure out what exactly was the change when my eyes stopped at her feet. She was extremely fond of shoes, especially the heels. She had so many in her collection and she hardly wore anything else other than heels. But today, she was wearing flats. Did her choice change so much in these five years? Or was it an exceptional day?
She looked at me again and I looked away. My fingers itched to touch her once. Her hair reminded me of her enchanting smell and her lips drew me back to its nostalgic taste. Her blue saree pleats were perfectly arranged, as always and her hair clipped with a clutch as she used to keep it every day. I kept my eyes down as I walked past her to the line next to hers to her right. I wish I could read her mind. What was she thinking of? How much does she hate me now? Were her hands itching to slap me, or I dare think, to hold my fingers again?

Suddenly I heard a sound and looked down. She had dropped her phone. I bent down to pick it up and so did she and our eyes met. I felt a surge of electricity rush through my veins as she looked at me so closely. I held her phone towards her and she immediately snatched it away. I wonder if my touch on her phone would make a difference. Would it be too bad to speak once? I wondered. Maybe I had already lost that authority. I could curse no one but myself, for I was solely responsible for losing her. I had failed to be the prince of the princess.

"Rs 3,430, Sir," the lady at the counter broke my thoughts.

I handed over my card. In the line next to me, she was billing her things too. I made up my mind that I had to speak to her, even if it was just a hello. I wanted to hear her for once. That was when I suddenly spotted both our bills kept together on the counter side by side. She was filling up some customer preference form, and the lady in front of me handed me a pen for the same. I seized the opportunity to grab her bill and write down a short note behind it.

"Do you no longer wear heels or is it because I was fond of your heels too?"

I wrote and kept it back in its place. The lady handed me my packet and I rushed out as quickly as possible. I had almost forgotten my bag pack when suddenly the security stopped me.

"Sir, your bag." I sniffed and nodded, unable to smile back.

"Thank you." I handed back the token and rushed out, regretting it almost immediately. Maybe I could never see her again. Maybe I could never have her walk by my side and look at me. Did I waste this chance? Her sight for a few minutes could never quench my thirst though. So I left a mark. She used to tell me, "You always leave a mark no matter where you go. It's difficult to forget you." I smiled as I got reminded of her words. There was another visible change which I noticed. She had left no sign of me or our wedding on her ring finger any longer.

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