The Fault - Part 3



***
Missed part two? Click here!
Want to read from the start? Click here!
***

Sumit is standing near the top of the cliff while the Sun is preparing to call it a day. The cool breeze is giving him company. He closes his eyes to register the scenery deep in his heart. After a few moments, he opens his eyes and gets startled to see someone near the cliff's edge.

The silhouette looks like a woman. She is not watching the sun. She is watching him. Does she know him? Or, does he know her? He decides to move towards her. She is wearing a black scarf around her neck, which is swinging opposite to the direction of the wind. As soon as he starts walking, she also starts moving. After a few steps, he realises it - she is moving, but not towards him.

"Hey, what are you doing?", Sumit shouts. Now he starts running.

"Stop! Stop moving that way..!", he screams.

She stops at the edge of the cliff. He is still running to catch her before she can do something horrible. While getting close to her, he starts to recognise her. He indeed knows her. She is smiling at him. But there are tears accompanying the smile.

"Why did you do this to me, Sumit?"

Her voice is choking with tears. The eyes - which he wished could see forever, lost their cuteness and embraced the pain. The pain for which he is the reason. The pain that he could not imagine he caused.

He is unable to breathe, but he is running very fast. He wants to stop her. But, even though it looks like he is reaching her, she still seems farther for him.

She jumps off the cliff. 

"NO!!"

Sumit woke up. The room was dim. No cliff, no sunset, no silhouette. He grabbed the water bottle beside him. He took quick gulps of water and a deep sigh. A sound sleep, which he always loved, had left him since that day.

***

One day, after the morning office, he stopped by a restaurant for lunch. The restaurant is busy, with many people filling up the spaces to fill up their stomachs. There was a party being celebrated in one corner. They brought a cake, but they had not cut it yet. Maybe, there were waiting for someone. Sumit ordered his routine main course. He started going through the social media feed while waiting for the order. Then he came across a video and started playing it. He raised the volume a bit. At the same time, he saw a woman coming inside. She was removing her scarf around her face while she was entering.  Even though her face was not clearly visible, her eyes are giving a familiar view. The video started playing.

Hello busy people! 

This is Iftikar, and I am back with another topic to improve our social awareness!

Let me introduce our guest today. Born and raised in India, she is now recognized as one of the best teachers by the Government...

She was going to the corner where the party is being hosted. Everyone stood up when she arrived, and she gestured for them to sit down. She tucked her scarf inside her bag and settled in the middle. People around her are preventing Sumit to get a clear picture of her face.

...and her name is...

Sumit was trying hard to get a view of her face, trying to listen to the video, thinking about her eyes and doing all these three while waiting for his order.

In general, whenever we consider the topic of abuse, we mostly think of obvious actions that are directly visible. But equally...

Sumit's attention was back on the video as he recognized that the voice was changed. 

..many situations that we do not speak of. 

His full attention was now on the video. 

Like, for example, watching someone without their permission, how many of us think that is abuse? People think, 'I am not disturbing them, so what is wrong?'. 

His heart is racing. Who was she? About whom was she talking?

Even as a child, I experienced it. You know, it is such a haunting feeling you get, that, you just, feel so uncomfortable. It's like someone is spying on you.

He started sweating. He did not even recognize that his order was served. He was beginning to understand who the guest in the video was. But he did not want to accept it. It's not this moment he was prepared for. The video went on and on.

..so, just to sum up, if anything makes you uncomfortable, your mind points it to you. Just acknowledge it and solve it. Never hesitate to take help from people who are capable, and can listen to you.

The woman in the video completed her talk.

Thank you so much for being with us! 

Okay, it's time to resume your life, busy people! Signing off, Iftikar; And, remember her, the name is...

"Tara!"

She turned her head towards the entrance. It was her husband. He brought kids along with him. 

"There is your mommy!", he pointed at her to the kids. They rushed and hugged her tightly. Her husband followed the kids and embraced her. They begin to cut the cake. 

Sumit was not able to hear much. His hands were shaking and his vision was blurring. Tara was a schoolmate of Sumit for less than a year. He did not know when, but he started liking her. In fact, he thought of marrying her once he settled in a good position.

During school days, whenever he got time, he used to look at her. But if she looked back, he would look away. He feared looking into her directly. His brain pointed out that something was wrong. He did not follow up properly.

Since getting the job, he had been trying to contact her. He did not know whether she was married or not. If not, he wanted to talk to her and convince her parents to marry her. He thought of being with her for life long. He wanted to be the best partner.

Even if she was married, he wanted to be a great friend to her. He wanted to reintroduce himself. He wanted to look into her eyes without fear. One thing is for sure. He wanted to be in her life. He wanted her in his life.

For Sumit, Tara always had been a great memory. But when had he become a bad memory for her? Did she feel haunted because of him?

He jolted back to reality when there was some noise near him. Tara and others were winding up the party. They were giving leftover cake to the hotel staff.

He was almost at the end of his eating. He did not even realise when his brain auto-piloted it. After a few minutes, Tara left.

He returned to the office after a while. His face did not have any expression. He was smiling a little so that he would not grab much attention. His brain safely made him sit on his chair at his cabin while he was lost in nothingness.

He reached his room that evening after the office. He did not eat anything. He did not feel hungry. In fact, he was not feeling anything. Whenever he used to feel down, the only medicine is sleep. So he locked the door, switched off the lights, jumped into his bed and closed his eyes.

"Why did you do this to me, Sumit?"

He woke up, drenched in sweat.

***

The next day, at the office, while he was still feeling numb, he heard a woman knocking on the door of his cabin.

"Excuse me, can I come in", she asked. He never saw her before in the office.

"Uh? Yeah, sure. Sorry, but do I know you?"

She smiled, "Actually, I have just joined today. I am here to meet you.."

He did not remember any appointment that day. Maybe he had forgotten about it.

"Is it? Welcome. Please be seated."

"Thank you!!"

He quickly went through emails to check his schedule. He found none regarding a new associate. Maybe his colleagues had not sent it yet.

"I have not actually been informed about you. So, I was unable to recognize you.." said Sumit.

"No problem, it's fine. I am Rekha."

**end of part 03*

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

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