PeeVee
In the time it took for me to call my lawyer and file for divorce, he had made the split decision to end whatever time he had left - the next I saw of him was face down, on the pavement, the brains splattered.
Her pearl drop earrings mesmerized him - the perfect curve of her cheek with the pure, pristine white jewellery seemed to have hypnotic capabilities that he wasn't aware of. He had never paid attention to women before - just a cursory glance, one that was demanded by Nature and his birthright as a full-blooded male. But this one had caught his attention right the first time when her dupatta whipped across his face when he was cross the road from Forum to Koramangala - a scene straight out of a movie and yet, one that remained with him for a long time to come.
The rains lashed on the roof of my house with biblical fury as I tried hard to keep the only lamp that I had from going out. It was like the heavens were beating down upon me as punishment for all my sins.
All I could think of in that moment is that he was in harm's way and that I had to get him out of there. I sprinted towards him and whisked him away with an arm, one quick movement in one life stopping moment and he was out of the tram's track.
I washed the clothes. I did the dishes. And I picked up the groceries.
Then I sat down and counted the cards in the stack, all wishing us a very happy married life.
The shine had faded from the stars and our eyes but the cards seemed to not notice.
He wiped his tear-streaked face, leaving smudges of dirt across it. Slowly getting back on his feet, he walked away from the torn Care Bear that had been his constant companion all through his short life. He consoled himself with the toy train, trooper that he was.
I don't understand the corporate mechanism - they tell you we matter but ultimately the business comes first. Always comes first. Which is funny considering the 'business' is made up of single, individual units like us, building each painstaking block at a time.
The typhoon of emotions swept over her senses, leaving her wrecked as her eyes brimmed over with unabated tears. It wasn't the desertion that broke her; it was the cold, hard look in the eyes of the man she had loved and loved her back for two decades and the indifference that she saw in them that really drove the knife in - where there was no emotion, there was no marriage and now, she was a rudderless ship that had been cut loose in the sea of life without even a compass.
What he did to me was unthinkable. More than what he did to me, the damage he caused to my mother's health and her relationship with me is what boils my blood. There was a point in my life when I couldn't think of a life without him but now, I wish we'd never met.
I told him I have to go. What he chooses to derive from it is his problem. But then, it isn't like I want to be rude or push him away for that matter. It is just.... that I need my space and he is crowding me, pushing me to make a decision when all I need is some time to think about everything and get my head around the fact that I might be in love with him after all.