The Guy with the Handkerchief

XIII: The Unpacking

Shreya's House

"So, Arindam here is the plan. Here is the list of items you will find in each boxes. When you open a specific box follow the list with the box number.", Shreya explained.

"I guess we can go about this category wise, like first we can open the box related to the Kitchen stuff.", Arindam advised.

"Yeah, I guess you are right. Already some of the things have been arranged. It would take us less time.", Shreya replied.

The box of the kitchen items was already open. Shreya and Arindam started decorating the kitchen.

"Where are you actually from?", Arindam enquired while he unwrapped the plates..

"I am from Shimla", Shreya responded, "My dad's from Kolkata and my mom is the daughter of a Kashmiri Pandit."

"But you don't look like a girl from the mountains at all.", Arindam was surprised.

"I know, I know, I get that a lot.", Shreya had a ignorant reply, "I am just like my father."

"Oh! Okay, what does he do?", Arindam was curious.

"He passed away Arindam, 2 years ago.", Shreya said after a pause.

"I am so sorry, Shreya. I didn't mean to rekindle your pain", Arindam apologised.

"Please don't apologise Arindam, this is very awkward. I don't understand why people apologise for something they were not even aware of moments before apologising.", Shreya seemed a bit irritated.

"I don't know about others Shreya, I apologised because I can understand that many memories, happy and sad, are associated with the thoughts of the person who is no longer there by our side. It is sometimes extremely painful to accept the fact the truth. So asking about them, even unknowingly can really bruise your old wounds.", Arindam explained.

There was silence in the room for the next few minutes.

"I guess we are done with the Kitchen.", Arindam broke the silence.

"Okay, now Arindam can you help me shift the cupboard from this room to my bedroom?",Shreya told.

"I guess if I won't break my back, Sure",Arindam was sarcastic.

The cupboard was heavy. Shreya pushed it from one end and Arindam pulled it from the other. Mission was finally accomplished after a tiring effort for 30 minutes.

"Oh! Shreya I am super tired. Can we do something light weight now? I want to sit down.", Arindam was exhausted.

"Okay, lets sort out the photo frames and books then.", replied an equally tired Shreya.

The box of photos were locked inside the wooden box using nails. Arindam found a hammer in the store and pulled out the top side of the box. It has to be said that the packaging was really good. Every frames were kept in a shelf created by the cardboards inside the box. Arindam started pulling out the frames one by one. Shreya was sitting just behind him with a cloth in hand in case they required cleaning. Every frame had a sticker in the back informing about the room it was kept earlier. Shreya looked into the first picture as Arindam was holding it.

"This is me in the middle. This must have been clicked when I was around 8 years old. I had won a prize in the poetry competition at school. Behind me are my mom and that's dad on the right.", Shreya spoke as if she was remembering the moment when the photo was clicked.

"Who is that beside your dad?",Arindam curiously asked.

"That's my cousin sister, Neha. Even if she was younger than me, she was the one who has inspired me to do what I wanted to do the most.", Shreya laughingly replied.

Arindam continued taking out other frames. Each of them made Shreya narrate incidents from her life, which were amusing to listen. Arindam was right. Pretending to be gay had actually helped him get to know Shreya better as a person.

As Arindam was about to pick out the next frame, something pricked his finger and it started bleeding. Maybe a broken piece of glass. Arindam still managed to pull the frame out. The frame was broken. Probably the pressure of the other items was the reason behind it.

"Oh no! Arindam you are bleeding. Wait , let me get you some first aid.", Shreya exclaimed.

As Shreya went to the other room in search of the first aid box, Arindam gently picked up the broken frame and placed it aside so that no one else gets hurt. It was a recent picture, at most a couple of years old.Probably it was a picture of the Farewell Party at her school. It had only two people in it. Some guy had lifted Shreya in his arms. Her eyes into his eyes and her arms around his neck.

"That's Manav", Shreya suddenly spoke up from behind.

Arindam was taken aback. It was all silent moment's ago and the sudden words of Shreya startled him.

"Who?", Arindam responded back in a split second as if he had committed some crime and was caught red handed.

Shreya sat down with a deep breath. I guess she had a lot to say.