Where it all began
I poured some water into my new crystal glass. It reflected the light of the mobile screen near it. I did not allow the poor phone to take rest for a minute. Continuously I checked it. I was desperately waiting for his reply. I could not bear so much tension. I gulped down the cold water hoping to dilute my hormones causing anxiety. I took a walk on the open roof of my under construction apartment. Still I looked at the phone every minute. I looked up, tried to watch the stars, tried to breathe deep but all in vain. I thought of sharing the problem but then he did not want any third person to know about our relationship. That was probably because he was a public figure. Thanks to whatsapp that I could find my messages marked as seen. I ought to be used to his ignoring behavior for every time we had a fight he switched his phone off for long time breaking my heart but not patience. Later on when the great moment came and he turned on his phone I would jump and say sorry. He would stay indifferent for some time. I would explain and beg with as much soft tone as possible and as much love as I could. Then another great moment would follow when he sighed audibly. I sighed too but silently feeling relieved for the time being. After two days things would repeat I knew. I cried and fell sick. I pledged to change this behavior. With years he did change but I could not forget those days; the never ending days that left me drained. I sat on the floor of dining room resting my head on the sofa. The digital clock read 11:45PM. My phone rang loudly tearing the silence of the moonless night.
It was Nikhil.
“Why are you angryNikhil? What have I done?”
“Relax. I was busy. By the way I had a word withDheer”
“ What? What did he say?”
“Don’t worry dear. That dog is going to lose his job, but no legal action can betaken.”
“I knew.”
“Come on, he won’t be there to harass youanymore.”
Tarun Aggarwal, the head of sexual harassment committee of the organization I work for had been harassing me since last month. I tried to talk about this with our manager but he thought I wanted to blackmail them since I was not getting promotion for an unknown reason. So Nikhil directly approached our CEO. I wanted to talk to Mr. Dheer Shishodia myself. Nikhil did not allow. He had stopped me before also. Dheer and Nikhil were partners. Nikhil had said,” What will Dheer think when he gets to know about us? He will think I have done nothing to give justice to my girlfriend.” Anyway, I did not expect things to work out so easily. I felt relieved.
Next day I went to the office happily only to be greeted by smiling Mr. Aggarwal who introduced Gauri Aggarwal who would take her proud father’s position from then. I called Nikhil at once.
“He is replaced. Isn’t that enough? What problem do you have with his daughter? Don’t expect me to ask your boss to fire hertoo.” He abruptly cut the call.
I understood Nikhil was not telling the truth. Whenever he lied he ended calls quickly without waiting for the other person to react. There must be something I need to know, I thought. I tried in every possible way to understand why Tarun Aggarwal was not fired. I asked and argued with Nikhil. He gave lame reasons .To avoid the topic he kissed me tenderly. I melted as usual.
The matter tortured me within but I kept silent. After two more months of restless nights I came to know something that changed my life.
