THE THERAPIST

END OF MIDDLE

The next day, Ranveer felt sleepy as he knocked the antique door that seemed to get stranger with every visit. Mukul, as usual welcomed his guest with warm etiquettes and a glass of chilled juice.  "You want more?"..........."No. I need to leave early so I'll start the session abruptly"..........."No problem". 

Mukul was cooperative till midway when he started looking uneasy. Being asked, he hesitated at first and spoke only when asked the second time "If you can please give me leave for 15 minutes, I shall be grateful. I need to go to the market" to which Ranveer laughed "What's that to worry? Go as soon as you want while I give my legs some air". In a couple of minutes, the main door shut behind Mukul.

Ranveer passed his time making a brief surveillance of the house, moving from bedroom to bedroom and stopping to gaze at the many antique decorations that adorned the house. In one bedroom he found a stack of neatly arranged books, volumes in history and anthropology, Fredrick Nietzsche's biography, Adolf Hitler's Mein Kamph and Charles Darwin's Magnum-Opus 'The Origin of Species'. The kitchen was small, the lobby was large, and there was only one window in the complete house. "What man is that" the therapist chuckled.

Wait turned long; and longer; and longer. Once the clock stuck 12, Ranveer could hold it no longer. He took out his phone and dialed a contact by the name of 'PsycoRamanRaghav', faintly remembering the stale sarcasm with which he had given Mukul this name. But now the same name was taking the his breaths away. The call would not go through. No signal. How could it be! It's the middle of the city! Ranveer moved to the main entry door where a shocking realization dawned on him. Goddamn! He locked the door before leaving. I am trapped.

I am trapped till the scoundrel comes, thought Ranveer Raghav wiping away the sweat that suddenly appeared on his forehead. To wait seemed the only sensible option now. The other of course was to escape from the window but it was full of risk; the house being on the second floor and Ranveer being a poor gymnast; it was also not in accordance with Ranveer Raghav values as a responsible psychiatrist. Moreover, the window glass was cemented to the wall and outside was a narrow passage that led to nowhere, extending no more than five meters to either side. The last resort, Ranveer decided, is the window.

The day turned into evening and the evening turned into night. At 9, Ranveer Raghav, with a hint of aggression in his gait, walked to the end of the lobby and brandishing what looked like rolling pin above his shoulders, shattered the window to pieces.

👇Ranveer used dis to break d glass👇

Mr Kalyan was about to retire to his bed when he received an odd call. After he put the phone to his ears, his face changed many expressions before finally settling to an unsettling frown, " My dear my dear; don't blow this out of proportions. Tell me, what do you call a driver who won't drive on a highway? And what good are you if you run away from your client? You, Mr Ranveer, deal in madmen. Don't make a fool of me, for I call them the greatest fools who employ fools in their office. If you don't want to continue, it's your decision, but do consider my words"

👇Mr Kalyan is seldom happy👇

It took Ranveer half the night to make a decision. The next day he stood at the same door again. Mukul opened the door and gave the visitor a gentle smile, seated him on the sofa set in the lobby, served him a glass of chilled juice and sat waiting on the opposite seat.

"Before I start the session" said the therapist whose red eyes were even redder today, "I would like my client to tell me what might have been so important that made him disappear without trace in the middle of the session."

"With due respects sir, your client disappeared with your permission"

"Was it with my permission that you bothered not to come back for a full damned day?"

"I don't understand"

"Don't understand"?

"With due apology sir, I went out with your permission and came back in less than 30 minutes"

"30 minutes?30 odd minutes?"

"I apologize sir, if that was long"

Ranveer wrapped his arms about his head like a madman and coming slowly back to himself said softly "Dear Mukul. Sometimes, we humans over-think ourselves into creating dreams and blind ourselves into believing them. Come with me, let me show you something."

He led Mukul to the far left of the lobby and pointed to the window. Mukul didn't seem impressed. "I am sorry, but I'm so much in love with this antique glass sheath, that changing it is out of question, may come a million new glasses having a billion better qualities."

The moment Ranveer realized what Mukul was talking about, the earth shook beneath his feet. At the dead end of the lobby, covering the entire window and cemented solid into the brick wall, a single glass sheath shimmered in the morning sun, flawless and beautiful.

"Shall we start with the therapy, my therapist?" whispered the other.

.......continued............