Nancy slowly
got upset with Norman’s workaholic and controlling nature and frustrated with
her own life. She now wanted to resume
her career. Angel was now a 14 year old
bright-eyed, sweet teenager and Merci was a strapping lad of 10.
One fine day,
she just said quietly “Norman, I’m walking out!” Baffled, he looked at her
wondering whether his ears were playing tricks on him. “I beg your pardon?” he said.
Calmly, she
repeated her statement. Unable to
comprehend why she was acting so strangely, he took her hand in his and stroked
it lovingly. “May I ask why you’ve
suddenly come to this decision, dear?” He could see that her beautiful eyes
were troubled.
“Norman, I
haven’t ‘suddenly’ come to this decision.
It is a well-thought over decision.
I’ve realized that the marriage, our marriage has become a one-track
one. I’m almost like a single
mother. You are away most of the time
and very busy. You don’t have any time
for any one of us. I want to pursue my
career too. You’ve never ever suggested
that I continue it”, she said, barely concealing the sarcasm in her voice. “Do I even exist for you, apart from the
times that you need me in bed?”
“But I thought
that you were very happy being a mother and a wife. Did I ever stop you from doing anything that
you wanted?” he asked petulantly.
“But you never
showed any interest in my career, did you?
You have been just taking me for granted all these years. I want a divorce!”
Norman was
looking at her, in growing consternation, wondering what was wrong with his
sweet wife. As he rose to hug her, she
backed off and broke down, crying pathetically.
He held her firmly and soothed her, by stroking her soft hair that she
had trimmed to a blunt-cut to make it more manageable.
“Can’t we try
again, Nancy? I love you. I admit that I’ve not been a very good
husband or father, but I do care for all of you. I want us to be a family. I promise that I’ll try my best to make our
marriage work!”
She had given
in then. But a month later, there was no
improvement in the status quo. Try as he
would, Norman couldn’t manage to give them the requisite ‘family time’ that
they all yearned for. Hence when Nancy
coolly handed him the divorce papers for his signature, he mutely signed them
and sat down heavily on the sofa. “One
last hug?” he pleaded. Nancy hugged him
dispassionately. He knew then, that it
was really over. He let her have the flat
and a handsome alimony, bade a tearful good-bye to his matter-of-fact
adolescent children and left his ‘home’ to stay in a rented place. The fairy-tale wedding had come to a naught!
Then onwards,
he had immersed himself in his work. He
rarely came home. He hated going to that
empty flat where memories of his family haunted him mercilessly.
*************************
Now,
automatically, his thoughts drifted to his present. Martha! Yes, she was his present. A gift from heaven! He cursed himself that he hadn’t really
noticed her earlier. They had been
professionally associated since 10 years and he had never noticed her!
Never noticed her as a woman, that is!
Oh, what a woman she was! Kind,
strong and independent. Intelligent to
boot!
Now that Nancy
was fast asleep, he decided to hop across to the study and call his
beloved. His heart raced with excitement
even as he feverishly dialed her cell number.
His fingers quivered like an adolescent dialing his first crush’s
number. She didn’t respond
immediately. He kept dialing till he
heard her strong ‘Hello’ on the fifth ring.
“Hello darling!
This is Norman here. How are things with
you there? Do you miss me? I’m missing you a lot. Just waiting to be with you!”
“How’s
Nancy? I know that she must be having a
tough time, but with you around, she has at least some moral support. How are your children? Do they stay with Nancy or elsewhere?”
“Martha, please
hold your horses and ask one question at a time,” he laughed and told her, as
he savored the pleasant twang of her soft voice.
He couldn’t
have imagined how pleased Martha was, to be disturbed from her sleep at
midnight! The man in her dreams had
woken her up and was actually speaking with her. What more could she want? No wonder, her words tumbled out of her
mouth, hastily.
“Well, you’re
right. Go on, please,” she ordered in a
mock-strict tone.
Norman briefed her
about Nancy’s chemo-therapy sessions, hospital visits, her debility, her and depression.
He even told her that she stayed all alone as their daughter aged 27 had married
and stayed in New York and their son, aged 23 was pursuing his post-graduation
at Harvard.
“You’ll be
amazed to know that I’m a grand-father.
I didn’t even know that my daughter is mother to 5-year old twin boys,
Ben and Ken. You see, Nancy and I hadn’t
really kept in touch, more so, because Nancy wouldn’t ever respond to my phone
calls after our divorce and after 2-3 years, I gave up inquiring entirely. It was too emotionally exhausting for me! ”
“I understand,”
Martha said sympathetically. Norman was bowled over by her empathy. She was curious but not irritatingly inquisitive. He liked women who didn’t encroach on his
personal space; or breathe down his neck all the while.
“When will you
be back, Norman? I want to have a long
chat with you. By the way, I’d been to
your office. Looks like your secretary
fancies you! She wasn’t very forthcoming
about my queries and refused my help.
She’s independent and capable all right.
But methinks, a little too snobbish for me! What do you think?”
“Oh, Dorothy! She’s just being herself. It suits me if she fancies me! I can get all my work done in a jiffy. By the way, I’m not involved with her at
all. I share a strictly Boss-Employee
relationship with her!”
Phew! Martha
was relieved. His next words had her up
in arms. “Jealous?” ”Who, me? I couldn’t care less! Well …… Yes, a wee bit, and nervous
too!” She laughed into the receiver.
“Well, you can
relax, dear! I’m all yours! Just give me some time. Let Nancy heal and then we’ll decide about
our future. Martha, you are my
future. Please understand that. Please take care of your self and be a good
girl!” so saying, he hung up.
***************************
Martha was
ecstatic. She was wide awake and just
couldn’t sleep, thinking about their telephonic conversation. “Our future” he’d said. She was optimistic about having a fairy-tale
future!
She made
herself a cup of coffee. Then unable to
reign in her excitement, sat down to write.
To be continued....
The copyright of this novel is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
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