Kavita sat at her office desk. She wanted to cry but there were too many people around. She was pretending to work. The nasty scenes of the morning quarrel with Karan were playing in her mind like a continuous movie.  “You are very selfish. You cannot make anyone happy. I hate the day I married you.” 

Kavita could not believe what she had heard.  Her long-time boyfriend and now husband, Karan, had never behaved like this before. True, of late he had been cold and silent with her. But then, she assumed it was because of work tensions.  Kavita’s mother had been suffering from cancer for a couple of months and as she was the only child, Kavita had to take care of her.  Her mother was refusing to come and live with Kavita, owing to the age old custom that suggested that a girl once married belongs to someone else.

This was putting a lot of strain on Kavita. She had kept an expensive aide for her mother and every evening she would go to her mother’s house to look after her. The aide had suddenly left and Kavita had no choice but to go and live with her mother till she found someone else.

The morning quarrel began because Karan wanted her to accompany him to an official function where he was being felicitated and she was torn between love for her mother and love for her husband.

Kavita walked down the road near her office. Karan was sitting in the café across the road. He looked at her blankly and gave her a set of papers. “What is this?” she asked. Her heart began to beat faster. What she dreaded seemed to have come true. “Divorce papers, let’s not fool each other.” he said without blinking an eye.  Was this the person she had chosen to be her life partner? The wedding vows … In happiness and in sorrow…. began to play in her mind. “The doctors have given my mother  a few days, a week at most, can this wait till then?” she asked with tears trickling down her eyes.  “The process will take time, I would prefer you sign it now.”  Kavita did not utter another word. She signed and left the café crying profusely.

Pranay was happy he had an afternoon flight back. The airport was sparsely occupied and there was soft music playing.  He opened his laptop and started to work.  Every now and then, he would look towards the screen to find out the status of his flight.  On one such occasion he noticed a lady who was engrossed in reading a book.  He felt her face looked familiar.  He saved his work and went and sat closer to where she was.  When she looked up, his heart beat increased. “By any chance are you Kavita Murthy?” he mustered the courage to ask a stranger.  “Yes…” she could barely say, but her look showed she had not recognized him.  “I am Pranay, Mechanical batch, remember?”  Kavita could not believe her eyes. “Of course, how are you? Where are you?”  Pranay said, “Come lets go for coffee, I have the lounge membership, but hardly use it.  Come” … he led her. 

Pranay and Kavita were college mates but not in the same branch of engineering.  Since very few girls opted for engineering, they were very popular.  Kavita was known as ‘beauty with brains’. When Pranay met Kavita for the first time at the college meeting, he was impressed with her looks and talent. It was almost love at first sight for Pranay.  They were both in the same Committee and in the process of arranging the inter-college event. Pranay seemed to have lost his heart.

 It was Holi, the festival of colours, a day of fun and frolic.  The entire college seemed to have come to the ground to play Holi.  Pranay applied red colour on Kavita’s forehead and led her aside, away from the crowd. There was an uncomfortable silence. Then he said, “I love you Kavita, I don’t know what you think of me, but I am madly in love with you.” He waited for a response. Kavita was looking down, and fidgeting a bit. “Pranay, I am already in a relationship. I am sorry if I have hurt you.”  Pranay felt his world come crumbling down.  He somehow gathered his emotions and said, “Friends for life? May be in some other life, promise me you will be mine?”  She patted him and smiled. “Get a nice girl for yourself”, and she walked away.

After that day, Pranay and Kavita were cordial friends.  On the last day of college, he came up to her and smiled.  She said, “So, when will I see you again?” He gently hugged her and said, “Hopefully soon. Till then take care.”

That was the last Kavita had seen of Pranay till this day. He had gone abroad for pursuing his master’s degree, was all that she knew. 

Kavita finished telling her story to Pranay. “I am so sorry to hear this,” Pranay held her hand gently.  Just then the flight attendant came to call him saying, “Sir, this is the last and final call…”

He handed his business card to Kavita and said, “Call me, I may have something of interest for you and take care!” he hugged her and left.

Kavita felt nice. It was the first time she had poured her heart out to someone and it felt light. She looked at his card and smiled.  It read, Pranay S, CEO.  She always knew he was very talented, and felt nice for him. She added his phone number to her mobile and left for her flight.

I should have at least taken her phone number, Pranay thought to himself.  It was a week since he had met Kavita.  There was no call from her.   He was speaking to his assistant, Mona, when she suggested, “Sir, why don’t you try to reach her through Facebook!” Pranay was amused. 

“Hello, is this Pranay?”, Pranay’s heart missed a beat. The sweet voice of Kavita. He was almost mesmerised.  “Yes please”, he said getting his emotions under control.

It was five years since Kavita had joined Pranay’s company. She had worked hard and was promoted to the post of Divisional Head for one of their most coveted businesses.  Today she was being given the award for the ‘Women of Influence’ at a very prestigious conference.  Far away Pranay stood clapping and smiling to himself. Wow, she looks so beautiful, he murmured to himself. He had proposed to her the evening before, and she had finally said ‘Yes.!’