Paradise ~ A Devdutt Padikkal Story

30.

"Why is it raining all of a sudden?" Disha asked irritatedly to her colleague Neha.
"Disha, why are you on the edge today? Subha se you're agitated." Neha asked with concern.
Disha sighed as she watched the pitter patter through the huge glass window overlooking the green field infront of her. It was late evening. The sky had turned a dark blue with tints of pink and purple appearing here and there.
The floodlights of the NCA cricket field made the raindrops visible to her eyes.
Disha turned to face Neha, with her back facing the window.
"I've bad memories with the rain. They were good once upon a time but now they're painful." She answered.

Through the glass window, she saw him practicing in the rain, relentlessly facing the balls trying to get better day by day. Some person bowled to him in the rain and Disha was left mesmerized at the dedication these cricketers had for their game.
"Disha, it's already seven hence I'll be leaving. What about you? Are you staying back?" Neha asked while she locked her desk drawer.
"Yeah I have to revert back to the Finolex Pipes people regarding the new advertisement, I'll be done in half an hour." Disha said and then waved a bye to Neha.

An hour later, Disha winded up her work. Instead of waiting for the janitor to close the windows and turn off the lights, Disha decided to do that herself.
She grabbed her bag and phone and went to the window. Shutting the glass door with force, she was about to grab the chain to close the blinds when two of her fingers accidentally touched the mini cactus kept on the pane.
Hissing at the prick on her fingers, Disha rushed out of the office quarters, already feeling blood oozing out of the wound.

Too focused on finding a solution to this problem, Disha unknowingly bumped into a tall, masculine figure. She looked up in distress to see Dev looking down at her. Disha muttered a quick sorry and started walking ahead simultaneously jerking her fingers vigourously. His voice stopped her motion and she turned around to look at him.
"What happened?" Dev asked observing her distressed expression.
"Just a small prick of the cactus while closing the blinds. Not a big deal." She mumbled in a low voice, eager to escape from his eyesight after the altercation that took place a few days back.
"Do you have a bandaid?" He asked concernedly taking Disha by surprise. She shook her head in a no only for him to sigh.
"I have one in my kitbag. Come I'll give it to you." Dev said and gestured her to follow him to the locker room.

Disha was too stunned to absorb the reality. Did he really show concern for her? He actually talked normally to her for the first time in the last fifteen days.
Too engrossed in her thoughts, Disha almost tripped as she entered the locker room. Dev held her by the side in a quick reflex.
His eyebrows knit together as he reprimanded,"Did London not take away your clumsiness? Two years down the line and you're still the same."
"Like the way you had tripped badly in the college canteen, making the cold coffee splatter all over your white kurta. Still the same." Dev joked until he realized that he had recalled their old days. The days when they were good friends, had feelings and cherished each other. Both of them found it hard to believe how drastically seven hundred and thirty days had transformed their lives.
Disha looked at his face rapidly at the mention of an old college incident. She still remembers she actually cried over her spoilt white kurta.
Smiling, she retorted "Old habits die hard."

Disha sat down on the bench while Dev hunted for a bandaid in his kitbag. She observed him carefully, taking in the changes in his appearance and personality. His demeanour had taken a one eight degree turn since she left.
Dev still had the beard like before, only the hair was flatter unlike before. His hairstyle had changed from flamboyant to 'no effort needed'. He also wore a considerably thick silver chain around his neck than glimmered in the lights.
The muscles looked bulkier, making him appear strong.
"Found it!" Dev exclaimed. Disha was startled as his voice boomed through the hall, breaking her chain of thoughts.
Dev sat beside her and unwrapped the bandaid.

He carefully held her long fingers in his tender hands, wrapping the bandaid around it. Throughout the process, Disha was overcome with emotions and couldn't control the sob that escaped her lips. Dev looked at her softly for he hadn't expected this to happen.
"Why did this happen to us?" Disha asked in a painful voice that made him guilty. She brought up her palm to caress his cheek. Her skin was soft.
Dev looked at how emotionally vulnberable she was. She wiped her tears with her scarf only for fresh ones to fall down her eyes.
"I don't hate you Disha." Dev took her name for the first time since he had met her again. But I don't love you either, he wanted to say. He thought better than this. Dev didn't want to make her a crying mess than she already was.

The pain of the small thorn prick could never equal the pain her voice held. Dev hated seeing people cry and Disha was crying because of him.
"Please don't cry." He requested meekly.
Sobering up, she took deep breaths simultaneously wiping her tears with the scarf. Thin trails of tears could be seen on her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, so sorry. I didn't expect this emotional outburst. Maybe it's the dopamine dropping low." Disha said.
"It's fine, it happens. Feel cathartic?" He asked and she nodded smiling.

While driving home, Disha felt satisfied with the normal, humane conversation they had. Her heart still yearned for him to say the three words she craved to hear. Baby steps, she thought before pulling into the parking of her building.

_______________________________________

A conversation both of them needed desperately. Is it too soon for a closure?