Five Weeks

Chapter 5

"Pick up the fucking call, Mukund!" Anahita muttered under her breath. Her grip on the plastic handle tightened as she looked around. Tapping her foot in agitation, she skimmed her gaze through the swarm of people to find Mukund.

She clicked her tongue in frustration and anger, dialling his number once again. She was calling him from half an hour but her calls were being directed to voicemail. Heat from the morning sun was itching her skin as if punishing her to trust him. But, she was there.

At the railway station.

On her wedding day.

With her luggage.

She had worn the same dress she had on during Henna celebration. It was about ten in the morning and she had no clue where her boyfriend was. She tried to recollect if she had missed the platform number. Her chats showed that she was on the correct one. Trains for Coimbatore would depart from platform three.

As more rings were missed, an uneasiness began to settle in the pit of her stomach. She looked around and every glance on her made her squirm in discomfort. In a bottle green salwar-kameez, hands painted red in fresh henna and hair styled straight, she was center of attraction. She avoided eyes and made futile attempts to blur in the background.

Hiding behind an iron pillar, she stuck the phone to her ear and prayed for Mukund to pick the call. Luckily, he did after sixth ring. "Hello!"

"Hello! Mukund? Where the fuck are you? And why were you not picking my calls? I was so scared. Do you have any idea how everyone is looking at me here? When are you coming?" She bombarded him with the questions, making sure her voice was as low as possible.

"Anahita, baby, where are you?" Mukund's voice sounded guarded and she didn't like it. "What do you mean? I'm on platform 3. Where are you?" She ran her eyes around to spot him, "I'm standing near the second escalator. Can you see me?"

"Uh, baby... Look, I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay?" Anahita waited with bated breath before he spoke. "I can't come right now."

"What?" She felt her heart thudding in her throat and found hard to say anything. "I... What does... that mean?"

"I can't make it, Anahita. I'm really, really very sorry. Something urgent came up and I had to come to Chennai. I'm sorry I didn't see your calls. My phone was on charging. I was about to..." Her phone fell from her hands and landed near her feet. Her hands were shaking.

Except for the pounding of her heart, she couldn't hear anything. The people around her moved in a haze and she stood there, supporting herself against the pillar until she finally understood what happened. Her sob broke through her clenched jaw as she fought with the urge to run to the tracks and jump in front of the rushing train.

"Hello? Hello! Anahita!" She could still hear Mukund's panicked voice through the noise but she didn't have the courage to pick the phone and talk to him. How stupid of her to trust his promise! How stupid to think that he would show up! How stupid to turn up and how very stupid to bring the same upon her family!

She inhaled a long breath, feeling the blood rushing to her head and getting dizzy. She pressed a hand on her mouth to push back the bile. Sitting on haunches, she stared at the phone, unwilling to pick. Calls vibrated the device violently. Broken screen showed broken numbers from the same caller ID.

When minutes turned into hours, her head cleared up. She threw up twice, catching a worried glance from the vendor when she bought a Bisleri. Nothing was left within her except for anger. So much anger that could burn the entire world. So much that might burn her in the process, as well.