ONE MORE CHANCE - Chapter 6

She stood in front of his door, hesitating to knock. She kept on looking at the shut door, her courage falling short to knock on it. His voice came from inside, may be he had noticed.

“Who is at the door?”

She felt a sudden tremor and she turned back reflexively. He would be at the door the next moment, and she wasn’t sure she could take it. She heard him open the door behind her. She closed her eyes and felt numb. He gently touched her shoulder and turned her to face him. She turned alright, but her bent head remained bent, and her closed eyes remained closed.

“Come on in!!” he held her hand, gently pulled her in and shut the door.

He seemed to be normal, or so he pretended. He knew that she had met his mother, and she now knew the truth behind his dishonesty. “I’ll get us some coffee.” He said casually.

“I- uh…..” that was all she could say, to stop him from going to the kitchen, for now. He stopped and turned.

Now!! It was time. It was time to look at him!! Eye-to-eye! This was the toughest part!

She took a deep breath, collected all her courage and looked up. He was looking at her expectantly, but he waited. He waited patiently, because he knew she had something to say, and she needed time to say it.

“I’m sorry!” she said, finally, again bending her head. She tried hard to fight back her tears, but could not. She covered her mouth to suppress the sound of her sob, and he saw those teardrops dropping down. He came to her and wrapped his arms around her, gently pulling her head to his shoulder, “Come here, come here…..”

She sobbed, like a child and cuddled to him. She kept on whispering under her breath; “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”, her sobs eventually becoming audible.

He hugged her tightly, comforting her and responding, “It’s okay, it’s okay……”

They kept saying that to each other, and stayed in each other’s arms for a long time. He held her shoulders and subtly released her from his embrace. He wiped her tears off his thumbs, holding her pretty face in his palms, and kissed her on her forehead.

She spoke with a shaky voice, “I should have trusted you, and should have been there for you. I should have heard you, and I should have-“

“Shhh…” he silenced her with his finger on her lips. “I should be the one saying sorry. I should have told you about all this before. I’m sorry….”

“I have a bad feeling that I don’t deserve you. Please don’t hate me. I’ll never do this ever again. I promise.”

“Oh! Don’t say that, don’t say that. You deserve so much more.  I love you, do you hear me? I love you!!”

“I love you too. So much!” she hugged him tightly again, never wanting to let him go. He held her and waited. It took some time, but he waited, comforting her, holding her, giving her confidence, belief and strength. She came out of his arms and looked at him again. He was the same man, the same subtle man with love like the sky, patience like an ocean, and heart like the gold.

“I have something to show you.” he said and brought her a frame, wrapped with golden paper.

“What’s this?” she asked, curiously.

“Open it!”

She gently slid the paper off, careful not to tear it.

“Wow..!! This is so beautiful!!” she could not believe her own eyes. It was her portrait!! And it was inexplicably beautiful.

“But how did you do it? I didn’t even pose for you. I’ve not even seen you in so many days…”

“Well, you were here!” he placed his hand on his chest.

“This is amazing!! You didn’t have me even sit in front of you to do this.”

“I just imagined you here.” He walked towards the window and showed a small sitting space. “This is your favorite spot. I know you love to sit here and look out of the window. And that’s exactly what you are doing in the portrait.” He smiled lovingly.

“You are so amazing!!”

 “Yeah, I know!” he chuckled.

She rushed towards him and hugged him so hard that they fell on the couch.

“Oh god, behave!! This is a decent place!” he teased.

“Oh really!!” she said and kissed him on both his cheeks, “Not anymore!!”

                                               

ONE MORE CHANCE - Chapter 4

 “She went to art school with him. She was a very best friend of his since he was seventeen. They had a great rapport, and were very fond of each other. Her brother took off to the city to become rich, and he came back to us with a wonderful life-changing offer. Her brother was in contact with the biggest business magnets in the city, and he wanted them to feed his greedy mouth. He wanted his sister and my son to work together and make the duplicates of the masterpieces, so that they could be black-marketed at a high price. More perfection, more money.

“My son refused. She tried to convince him, but he was stubborn. He valued his ethics more than anything, as an artist. They tried to pull each other towards them. And when they failed, they had to part ways.  She did not start until she got a good practice of mimicking. And that took her several months. He did not leave his trials of stopping her, in the meantime. He had always admired her, and he was sad more than angry, when she chose otherwise. The offer had intrigued her, and she found excitement in it. He found only danger and dishonesty, and nothing else.

“As days passed by, she started missing him. She wanted him back; because she knew she was in love with him. I could make that out too. One fine morning, she came to him and confessed that she could not take their being apart any longer. She promised to leave whatever she was about to do and she wanted him back like how he was before. He was truly happy, and he received her wholeheartedly. She suggested him to make her portrait as a good luck for their new start. He happily agreed to start off with it the next morning.

“That night, he suddenly sat up with perspiration! He had dreamt. He had dreamt of himself, making a portrait of her. I still remember his words. He said it was a sunny morning, and they were sitting on the cliff, her face posing for the portrait. He said there was nature, there was the waterfall, and there were sounds of the birds chirping. There was her beautiful face and there was his paintbrush, dancing on the cardboard in harmony with the colors.  And suddenly, she slipped off the cliff! She screamed. She called out for him, but it was too late. She had fallen far enough to slip away forever. She was falling, stretching her hands for help. He stood there helplessly, watching her fading away……. This was his dream!

“It was the most disturbing dream of his life, and it still is. The night was unforgettable. I still can see his eyes, with fear, with helplessness. He had lost himself for a moment. It took him much more than quite a while to come out of it. It became one of the many sleepless nights for him.

“He told about his dream to her, the next morning. She laughed lightly, and told him to let go. She continued insisting him to make her portrait. He finally said yes to it and he painted her that day. This is it! This is the one. He was overjoyed about its beauty, and that made him come out of his dream.

“That evening was the last evening we saw her alive!! She drove with her brother to the city that evening, to make a deal!! She had lied about leaving the dirty business! Her brother stayed there when she drove back alone in the night. She met with an accident on her way back. It seems the deal was done, and she was paid in advance with hard cash. The cash was in a bag, with her. The accident threw her into the river, and she died of drowning. The bag of cash went with her, down into the waters!

“Just a few months after this, people who brokered this business caught hold of my son’s back. He was attacked once, and was threatened for life, for the duplicate she had agreed upon. They knew he was an artist, and they knew he was good. They needed the duplicates, and they wanted him to do it. They said he would be paid accordingly. They said it was the last time they would ever ask for it. One last time!!

“I told him to do it. He is innocent. My son is innocent. He is, he is!!”