The Last Love Letter

Chapter 40

When Akash returned to his room, the first thing he did was call his mother. He had spoken to her from the gallery as well, but Sara had still been at school then.

‘How’s Sara, Mom?’

‘She is fine, beta. How’s Subah?’

‘She’s doing okay. Can I speak to Sara?’

He spoke to Sara for a while before hanging up. The voice of his daughter in his ears made him feel a little better.

Akash was tired. But more than that, he was worried. Subah had tried to hold his hand at the Gateway of India. It might have been unintentional, but somewhere at a deeper level, he knew it wasn’t. When the photographer had approached the two of them, Akash had been angry but chose to keep his emotions in check.

Now he raised his hand absent-mindedly to examine it and recalled how Subah had described one of her paintings.
Love is not an anchor, it is propulsion, the courage to stem the tide, cut through ocean currents and face the storm together.

Nisha had been his partner to cut through the storms, but she was no longer by his side. Could he fight this battle alone? The answer was yes. Because he was not alone; his memories of Nisha helped him fight life’s battles every day.

Akash had brought Nisha’s final letter with him to Mumbai, and he took it out now to read it.
His wife had wanted him to move on. But he knew that wasn’t an option he would ever consider. For him, she was still alive; he could feel her presence in the room even now. With the letter still in his hands, he stretched out on the bed, closed his eyes and exhaled loudly, his thoughts on Nisha.

Akash woke to the ringing of his phone. ‘Hello?’

‘Akash, Rohit here. I’m calling from Subah’s house. Bala is fine, but she wants to speak to Subah.’

'What time is it?’

‘What? You sound groggy. Were you sleeping? I’m sorry to have woken you!’

‘No, that’s okay. I might have dozed off. Yeah, Subah is well, but she’s in her room. I’ll go ask her to call home. Give me a few minutes.’

‘Sure.’

He hung up and looked at the time on his phone. It was 10. He dashed into the bathroom, splashed some cold water on his face and was better oriented when he got back. Next he reached for the intercom.

‘Subah, how are you feeling?’

‘I’m fine, thank you.’

‘Did you take your medicine?’

‘Yes, I did, thank you.’

‘Why are you thanking me after every answer?’

‘What do you mean? It’s common courtesy, isn’t it?’

‘Okay. Can you please call Bala? She’s at home now, and Rohit is there too. He went to check on her. She’s fine; she just wants to hear your voice.’

‘I’ll do that, thank you.’

He heard the click in his ear and stared at the phone with a frown before putting it down. What had changed in the last three hours?
Akash turned the kettle on to make some tea, and as the water started to heat, he switched on his laptop. As he waited, he thought more about the day and what lay immediately ahead.

There was a knock. He got up to open the door. It was Subah.

‘Hi!’ Akash said, surprised.

‘Are you all right?’