An idle chat by the window
It was a rather quiet evening. With an uncommon stillness surrounding them, they could almost hear each other’s heartbeats. The room had a pinkish tinge as a final souvenir from the setting sun. A weird wave of tension ran over their faces. As an act of defense against the situation, both admired the red ball without uttering a word. It was only when his cup clinked with its saucer that the proverbial ice was broken.
Her: “Is the tea OK?”
Him: “Yes, yes.”
Her: “I don’t remember the last time I prepared tea for anybody else.”
Him: “I do.”
She smiled. Well, it was painfully shy of a smile but memories have a strange way with humans. They — at least the ones that aren’t made up by our cunning mind — are brutally honest. We don’t remember things for the heck of it. If you remember something from 20 years ago, it is not because you want to but because that piece of history means something to you.
Tea meant something to her. Sharing a cup of tea once meant much more to them.
Her: “Are you happy?”
Him: “You mean, on a personal level or professional?”
Her: “Per… both.”
Him: “As much as I hate to say it, I am fine. You?”
Her: “I can’t complain. There are good days as well as bad.”
Him: [pauses] “It’s nice to see you. I thought we’ll never meet again.”
Her: [pauses longer] “I thought we’ll never leave each other.”
Him: [grins]
Her: “Sorry, that came out wrong.”
Him: “No, no. You are right. We had something great going on.”
Her: “We messed up, didn’t we?”
Him: “Maybe.”
Such a strong word there — maybe. Everything can be encoded or decoded with it. It doesn’t mean anything and yet, manages to interrupt our thoughts when it comes to actions. Am I going to die tomorrow? Maybe. Will I finally get to live a little today? Maybe. So many possibilities, so little time.
Her: “You know what I miss the most about us?”
Him: “My jokes?”
Her: “That’s the last thing on the list.”
Him: “So you do have a list?”
Her: [rolls eyes] “Actually, I miss these moments of tranquility the most. For so many years, we took so many things for granted. It never crossed our blessed minds that we ought to safeguard ourselves.”
Him: “From?”
Her: “Ourselves.”
Him: [smirk alert]
Her: “We got complacent.”
Him: “What could we have done differently?”
Her: “N number of things, really. We let noise embrace our drawing room and silence creep in to our bedroom. It happened right in front of our eyes and we didn’t notice it.”
Him: “I thought it was all my fault.”
Her: “I felt the same too but over the years, I’ve realized that you were partly to be blamed, not entirely.”
Him: “That’s a relief!”
Her: “So, what do you miss about us?”
Him: “I miss… having tea with you and staring at the sky.”
Her: “Ditto. We wasted so many weekends in between, didn’t we?”
Him: “Maybe.”
