FOR MY NAINA - #WRITEAPAGEADAY #BLOGCHATTER
Naina could not sleep at night thinking of that horrific day
when she had lost her entire family – her parents and her brother, the day when
she had been orphaned. The memory would assail her mind every time she closed
her eyes, the flames licking insidiously at the walls of her tiny home,
devouring everything in sight, including her loved ones. She shuddered at the
memory even as she thrashed around on her bed, waking up covered in
perspiration.
She had been shell-shocked and she covered herself in a
mantle of silence, speaking to no one after the incident. She had no one close
enough to speak to anyway. Hence, she locked it all within her, unwilling to
speak about her past which only erupted within her overwrought mind at night.
One day, things changed. She met Naveen, a software
engineer, who was working in the same building as she did. The pizza place
where she was a cashier was a popular joint where all the employees of the
dozen firms in the vicinity congregated during lunch break.
Naveen stood out. He was tall and good looking. But more
than that, he was chivalrous and cheerful. Naina noticed him first when he
smiled at her while ordering the ‘special pizza of the day’. His smile dazzled
her with its display of ‘whiter than white’ teeth, which was rather a
distraction. By the time he had picked up his takeaway pizza, she was half in
love with him already.
Naveen was a kind-hearted soul with a good word for
everyone. Naina loved that about him, and she kept stealing glances at him. One
day he caught her staring at him, and he smiled at her. As he picked up his
order, he moved closer to her and whispered, “Would you like to go out for
coffee with me some time?”
That was how it began. By then, Naina knew that he was the
one for her. Naveen, on his part, also cherished the shy young woman with the
large, melancholy eyes. She wound herself around his heart and soon, he too
began to have feelings for her. Their unlikely relationship had people
wondering what he saw in her, but they did not realise that he had seen below
the façade that she kept up before the whole world.
A year and a half into the relationship, Naveen knew that he
wanted to marry her. He wanted to make his proposal special and so he asked her
out to a posh restaurant which served the most exotic of dishes. He would
propose to her at the end of the grand meal.
Naina looked ethereal in a sky-blue outfit which accentuated
her fragility. She smiled at Naveen who was dapper in a suit. He had never
looked so handsome, and her heart swelled with joy. She felt she was the
luckiest girl in the world. They ordered their meal, and savoured every morsel,
washing it down with champagne. Naveen had planned his surprise at the very end
when the waiters would bring in a cake in which he had hidden a ring specially
crafted for Naina. In fact, the words ‘For my Naina’ were engraved on it.
It seemed like the perfect moment when the lights were
suddenly dimmed, and Naveen made a sign. Naina glanced at him and then turned
around, as the doors from the kitchen opened. A waiter stood there for a
moment, framed in the doorway, a magnificent cake on a tray held before him. As
he marched to their table, Naina hugged Naveen in excitement. She loved the way
he planned surprises for her.
The cake was placed before her, and she saw the words on it.
‘For My Naina’…
She turned towards Naveen to thank him, but he shushed her,
placing a finger on her lips.
“There’s more, Naina.” He gestured to the waiter, who took
out a lighter from his pocket. He flicked it open, and held the flame to the
special whiskey flambe cake, which immediately caught fire and began blazing as
Naveen held Naina’s hand tenderly. He glanced at her, smiling.
Naina stood up, pushing her chair away with a loud clatter.
Her eyes were ablaze with fright, and she held her hands out convulsively.
“No, no, no… put out the fire… no, no, no…!” she cried out
shrilly. “Put it out!”
She covered her face as Naveen swiftly signed to the waiter
to remove the cake immediately. He gathered Naina to himself, trying to still
her shaking hands which were as cold as ice. But Naina was beyond him at the
moment. She kept whispering, “No, no no…!” repeatedly, till she finally
collapsed into his arms.
“Poor girl. That incident pushed her over the edge,” the
doctor remarked gravely, glancing at Naveen, sympathy in his eyes. The young man had had no inkling of Naina’s past because she had never confided in
him, thinking that the past had no place in her present. The death by fire of
her family in the past had been firmly ensconced under all the other issues
that had resided in her troubled mind.
As Naveen peeped into the room in which Naina was kept, he
could only hear the anguish in her voice as she continually repeated, “No, no,
no… put it out!” A litany that would remain embedded in his mind till Naina
came back to her normal state!
907 words
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