A Heart of Stone with a Coat of Gold

A Bottle of Wine and Tears

Nishant and Natasha begged and begged for them to stay. Finally, Neel relented after getting a nod from Anu. The next day was a weekend so he found no believable reason to decline. Soon, the kids dragged Reema to play with them in their room, while the men resorted to drinking.

Natasha, however, pulled Anu to her room. It was a lovely room, with green walls and had a homely feel, not like the ascetic bedroom Anu was used to by now.

Natasha was a very free-spirited lady, Anu sensed that soon enough. And she was planning on having some good old women's gossip and quality time. Anu listened quietly, as she told her about herself, the kids and then quickly the discussion jumped to movies and other arbitrary topics. Anu was having a pretty good time, it had been ages since she had had the company of a woman to talk to. Soon, Natasha started complaining about her husband and men in general, she was a really loquacious woman.

"Men are scoundrels. Look at them, drinking and enjoying, why shouldn't we do the same?" She said with a glint in her eye and left the room. She came back sporting a bottle of good old red wine.

"I don't drink." Anu, declined, horrified. Natasha on the other hand, wouldn't take no for an answer. "Don't be a spoiler." She said as she pushed a glass in Anu's hand. As Anu took the first sip of the blood red water, which was sweet with a tinge of bitterness, she coughed, while Natasha urged her to continue. Soon, however, Anu started feeling light-headed and was smiling at the thin air. She imagined her old mother scolding, and the rebellion made her feel proud of herself. The stuff was good, she mused.

As they continued their talk, out of the blue, Natasha nudged her, and with a foxy smile, shot her a question, "How's Neel in bed?"

Anu threw the wine in her mouth as her face turned red with embarrassment.

How could she answer that to a woman she just met? That, even months after her marriage, Neel and Anu were man and wife just in name. 

Natasha, however being a perceptive woman, sensed the dilemma. Her face turned serious, as she mumbled honestly, "Oh, I see. My bad, I shouldn't have asked."

To break the seriousness in the air, Natasha gave a sly grin and continued, "Nishant sucks, by the way, that's why I asked. Even since the first night, I have to guide him through, you know, the whole act. That idiot."

Anu couldn't help but grin at the joke. Natasha however, soon again resorted to her serious self, now the mood was again a bit light. Or maybe it was just the alcohol playing with both of their heads. "Anu, since you came, you seem so lonely. You are so younger than me. But still, think of me as a friend. If you want to talk, I am here. With all the wine, I probably won't even remember it much, but it might help you."

Anu hesitated, her whole head was dizzy. The green room looked like a forest to her, where she could be naked, could spill out her secrets to Natasha, the free-spirit of this greenery. It was an intrinsic feeling, she felt like telling her. Somehow she knew this woman could be trusted. So for the next hour or so, she bared her soul. Her childhood, Ishan, and her marriage, and then Neel.

"I sometimes feel suffocated Natasha. I don't know what to do. The past has been just a barrage of misfortune. I am afraid the future would be the same. What kind of life it would be with this man? " She said, wiping tears off her face.

Natasha patted her. It was not sympathy, it was empathy. She somehow could feel Anu, her desperation, her fears, her plight. "I cannot answer that Anu. But I can tell you a bit about Neel." Anu was surprised at her words.

Natasha continued in a solemn voice.

"Well, I know Neel from college. I was his senior, you see. When I first started dating Nishant, I got to know him. They were best friends. And I instantly disliked him. He had that aura that told me to stay away from him. I was afraid of him. 

I never told Nishant about what I felt. I just used to bear him when he was with us, for a few hours or so. It was unavoidable.

I guess it was because of that incident." Seeing Anu' puzzled face she explained further.

"It was a memory that just stuck. You see, even before I actually got to know my husband, I had met Neel. It was the first day of the new batch. There I am heading towards a desolate area of the campus, I had some work to do, when I hear a whimper from a corner. I see a junior student, holding his hand, bleeding from a paper cut from the campus pamphlet handed over to first years. But it was his eyes that haunted me. Blue, and filled with fear, as if seeing a ghost from the past. I rush to help him. But he only shouts, "Go away, I don't need your help.". It was rude but it was his eyes, the fear gone, now replaced by rage and anger like he was caught redhanded in a crime.

I never talked to him much after that, but he was always there in our lives. At our wedding, on occasional dinners where I first met Shruti. " Natasha's face turned bright as she went on about Neel's first wife.

" What a lovely woman Shruti was. It was like I had met a twin. We soon became friends. We use to have a gala time together. Shopping. Drinking. You know the usual stuff." Natasha smiled as she remembered the fond days. Then her eyes turned dark, her voice all the more serious.

"My blood boiled when I learned about her life with Neel. She used to come here and cry. A lonely woman pining for her husband to talk, to smile, to love.

And the day, their child died. The man not showing an ounce of emotion, standing there and just smoking. I wanted to slap him out of his wits. That day, I know the Shruti I loved and admired, died with the child. Not because of the child, but because of that man. She gave up on her hopes, her dreams." Natasha took a deep breath. 

"Then something happened in our lives, that changed my outlook on Neel. 

Do you remember the 2008 recession? My husband, who runs a stockbroking agency, lost millions. In a single day, we were bankrupt and homeless. Nishant was devasted. He wouldn't talk to anyone. So, I called our family and friends. But who would take the burden of a whole family on themselves? The world is not so kind.

Then finally Nishant asked me to call Neel. The last person I wanted to ask help from. I told him he wouldn't help us. A man so heartless who wouldn't cry for his child. But Nishant said, "He would,". There was such a conviction in his voice that I relented.

Neel took us in. In this house, his house. In a few days, he and Shruti shifted to a small apartment he had brought as an investment. I stopped him, I did not expect such kindness from a man I loathed. I offered to move to the smaller apartment, ourselves. He refused blankly. He did not give us sympathy, he did not cry like our relatives did and then went back to their cosy homes.

But he did more. He gave us a home, he helped Nishant back on to his feet till we could pay all his loans. He said that he was doing it for the kids. He had none. It was that simple for him."

Natasha had a troubled look on her face as she went on.

"I should revere the man who did so much for us. But somehow I can't. I still can't forgive him for Shruti. He killed my friend, I know it. And I hate him for it.

Still, whatever his faults are, I think inside him is a man that deserves some redemption, some happiness. After what he did for us, I wish it with all my heart.

I don't know whether you have two have a future or not. But the man deserves a chance. That is all I can say "

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