All Hell Broke Loose

I turned around as I felt someone tap me. "Are you bengali?" asked the man. As soon as I saw him I couldn't explain what I was feeling. It was like a battalion of butterflies in my stomach. His sweet scent instantly hit my nose. It reminded me of the mangoes from our mango tree back in Calcutta. My daughter Usha looks up at me, and I realized I still haven't answered the man's question. "Yes, I am bengali," I felt my voice changed into a very high pitched tone as I answered him back. He seemed excited and glad knowing that we were bengali, as if he hadn't seen someone from his culture in ages. "My name is Pranab, I am a graduate student at MIT," as he spoke, I couldn't help but noticed hot captivating his light brown eyes were. I started noticing all his features. He had a face that would stop you in your tracks. The more I looked at him and more better looking he got. His face was strong and defined. His eyes so mesmerizing, as if I can stare into his soul. I broke out of the stare and quickly replied back, "My name is Aparna and this is my daughter Usha." He started talking about what he was doing in America, and how much he missed Calcutta and the food. I don't know what happened to me but I asked right away if he would like to come back with us to our apartment for food. He quickly agreed and followed us back. I served him the leftover curried mackerel and rice that we had eaten the day before. He ended up staying for the rest of the day until my husband, Shyamal came home and ate again with all of us. It started becoming a ritual with Pranab coming over everyday to eat with us, he eventually became family.
Pranab, coming over to our house was the only thing I would look forward for. His presence brought life into that house. Before he came into our lives, I would just read my books at home, while Usha would be at school and Shyamal at work. I never experienced this feeling with Shyamal. I knew I loved him but in a form of respect and as a friend. It was different with Pranab, with him I felt like I was at home. He made me feel comfortable.
During the weekends Pranab started taking Usha and I out. He felt that we didn't explore as much and thought it would be a great idea. When we would go to our mini outings people would think we were a family, we looked like one too. I never really liked going out, but having these outings were something that I started really enjoying and getting accustomed to. One afternoon as Pranab was sipping on chai, he exclaimed, "Boudi, they're opening up a Indian movie theatre, let's all go watch a movie!" His excitement made me and Usha feel excited. I was waiting for the week to be over so we could go, Pranab had already gotten our tickets. More than the movie I was excited about the drive there, it was going to be a long drive since the theatre was almost an hour away. I wore my light blue Tangali saree, it was my favorite one. I usually only wore it for special occasions but this felt like a special day to wear it. The door rang, "Usha go open the door, it must be your Pranab Kaku!" I came out of the room and I couldn't help but noticed his eyes taking in how I look. His eyes lingered on me more than usual, "You look really beautiful Boudi." My face started heating up and I looked down right away and barely whispered a thank you.
We finally got to the movies. Pranab went and got popcorn and drinks for us. As we watched the movie a few times I felt Pranab's hand brushing against mine, I didn't pull it away. After the movie finished, we got ready to head back. I was disappointed
2
that our perfect night was about to end. We got into the car and while driving the car suddenly stopped. Pranab got out and checked, he realized the car's battery was dead. I called Shyamal to let him know what was going on, he quickly told us to find a place to stay because it was the weather was going to get bad. We waited to see if any cars would pass by so we can get some help. But the roads were completely empty and it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. "Boudi, maybe we should start walking to see if we see anything near by." Usha and I quickly followed him as he led us through the deserted road. "Are you guys lost?" we all turned to see a man with a flashlight. He comes up to us and starts questioning after we told him about the car breaking down. He offers to help by letting us stay in his guest house for the night. As we followed the man, it started raining. When we finally got to the place, the man led us to his guest house and he told us he would be back with some towels and dry clothes. We were completely drenched and shivering from the cold.
After Usha changed into dry clothes I put her to bed and came back out to the living room. I walked in and Pranab quickly looked at me, "I'll sleep on the couch, you and Usha take the room." I nodded my head and shivered again. Pranab quickly got up to turn on the fireplace. "Boudi, you'll catch a cold. You should go change," as he said that he looked at me intensely and I could feel his eyes staring into me. My saree was completely clinging on to me and I felt as if he could see through everything. Pranab was having trouble turning on the fireplace, I went up to help him. After we successfully turned on the fireplace, I got up to leave and dry up. While walking I feel something pulling me back and I turn to see my saree stuck to Pranab's shirt button. I quickly go
3

over to him to take my saree out of the button. As my fingers are on his button, he places his hands over mine and looks at me. I look away after detaching my saree, "Aparna...." I looked at him right away. This was the first time he had called me by my name. I couldn't understand what was going on. He started pulling me closer to him, his soft lips looked very attractive and captivating. Everything at that moment just felt so right. I stared into his eyes and I knew what we both wanted to do. "Ammu.." I hear Usha calling me out from the room and I backed up right away. I quickly run back to the room to Usha. I closed the door and I close my eyes for a second while everything that just happened flashes through my mind.

*************************************************

It's been three years since I've seen Pranab. I can still look back to that night and feel what I had felt. After that night, Pranab had started coming to our house less. I would miss him, but I knew it was for the best. He had called a few times to keep in contact, but that eventually stopped as well. Until one day he called to let us know that he was getting married to an American named Deborah. I felt jealousy, but I knew I couldn't do anything about it. I congratulated him and thought about what would have happened if that night Usha didn't call me. I shook the idea out of my head and closed
my eyes. I finally open them and think everything happens for a reason.