The fault - Part 1

 

The road is dark and foggy. It is clear up to a few feet, preventing viewing clearly what lies ahead. Anyways, this road is familiar for him. He can manage except on those nights when he is diving deep into his thoughts. Unfortunately, tonight is one such night.

**

His colleague, Rekha. He is in a dilemma.

He wants to be with her, and at the same time, he fears what can happen if they get together.

He is trying hard to be with her, most of the time. At the same time, he is forcing himself to stay neutral.

Recently, he observed that Rekha has preferred to be with him. She sits with him whenever possible - at the office, during lunch, tea breaks and tours.

Whenever they talk to each other, they look into their eyes, directly. Just the eyes. Eye contact makes them lose track of time. He does not know what is happening.

Does he feel happy with her being near? Yes, no doubt.

Does she feel uncomfortable with him being near? No, she never expressed such a thing.

"Hi, Sumit. Err, so, I want to talk to you about a thing today evening. You will be available after office right?", Rekha asked him today morning.

"Yeah, of course. Sure", he replied.

He does not have any idea what it will be. No, hopefully, she is not going to ask the same thing he is thinking. Nope. However, he cannot know in advance about the future.

But anyways he started to estimate the probabilities for all the events that may have occurred.

Is it another call to share some secrets? Maybe.

How has she been doing for the past few days? It's normal.

Has he been ignoring her? Nope.

Has she shown any signs? Nope.

Did something happen at her home? Maybe. Is that marriage proposals? Yeah, might be. She has been telling recently about her parents' attempt to marry her off.

She does not find any fault. She says, her parents are respecting her decisions, but she laughs saying that her parents are in a little hurry to marry her off.

What if all of the above are not cases? He can sense his heartbeat. He is getting a little tense.

No, he does not want her to do that. He started to think about his actions. Has he been acting too close? Even though he knew what has happened, how could he even do that? He scolded his brain.

Yes, he will explain everything to Rekha tomorrow morning. He does not want to give bad signals to her. He is sure she will understand.

Maybe, better if he calls now and asks Rekha to not tell anything till tomorrow morning. He wants to clarify and settle things.

What if he is just overthinking? Maybe she wants to share something with him normally. Maybe she just needs him to hear her version of things.

Finally, he decides to talk to her tonight. But, first, he will talk. He says what he wants to say, will explain things neatly, and then listen to her. Deal done.

**

He observed that a sound is reaching his ear which he was not paying attention to. He stopped thinking. It is a horn from the back. He had slowed down which led to traffic in the back.

He felt sorry for them and moved aside to give place for them. The first car crossed him - the driver gave him a serious look - she was angry for blocking the way.

"Sorry", Sumit said. He hoped to be forgiven. He cursed himself for losing on thoughts. He decided not to be on auto-pilot mode from then on. Immediately he realized it might be the 164th time taking that decision. Anyway, he lost the count after 100.

He checked the time. He could expect a call from Rekha at any point. He was about to start from the office, but at the same time, he got an important call which forced him to start late.

He thought to message Rekha that he was running late and looked at the phone. At the same time, when he grabbed the phone, there was a message. Yes, it was Rekha.

It's a voice message. He started playing it.

"Hello Sumit, this is Rekha."

He was late. Again.

"Well, actually, I have no idea of how to say this or when to say this. But I know I can't say it directly, to face or through call. I think it will be difficult for you too, to reply spontaneously."

Was it happening? What did she mean? He had calmed himself so he could listen to it completely.

"I try to keep this short."

He stopped the car to the side.

"Okay, maybe it feels weird, but the thing is I am missing you. Yeah, don't laugh and say 'I am with you till evening in the office right?'. You are not there here with me, right now. I do not want to feel that. I don't want to miss you anymore. So, can you please be with me at all possible times? Okay, that's the end. Please don't judge me for my proposal skills." She laughed. The smile - he always tried to make her smile. He liked whenever she laughed.

But the message was not yet over.

"Yeah, you can be sure that I respect your opinion. I know, respect and consent always have more priority. So, whether you are in or not, I will remain the same Rekha to you, and I hope I can see the same Sumit as well." Completed.

He did not know what to do. He was sweating hard. His past. It was hitting him. He was unable to handle it. He was trying to concentrate on his breathing. He set the Air Conditioner to be cooler. He could not come out anyway due to the dust.

It seemed he was going out of his control. Finally, he figured out the only way to get out of that. The only person who could bring him peace. He opened the contacts to make a call.

While he was about to call, he felt a disturbance on his back. It was hard. He was immediately pushed forward and his airbag opened. He, along with his car, was getting dragged. He had heard the screeches of tyres before he got knocked out.

**

While Tara was making the bed for her children, she got a call. It was from an unknown number. But the caller ID application showed it as a hospital number.

She did not understand. She picked up the call.

"Hello, do you know the person called Sumit Thakare?", said the other side.

"Yes, I know him. Who is this I am talking to?"

It had been a long time since she last talked to Sumit. She never expected him to be in such a condition for the next meet.

"Yeah, I am coming there. Will start now. Thank you." She cut the call. She asked the maid to take care of the kids and started to the hospital.

**end of part 01**

Thanks for reading!! Feel free to share your feedback in the comments..!

P.S. Interested in reading the next part? click here!!