A Suitor for the Princess - Chapter 44

                      Martha was furious and despondent. She had started liking John and had looked forward to seeing him everyday in the office and talking with him. She now remembered one particular conversation of theirs. It had been raining heavily outside. After a tiring session of providing the finishing touches to a manuscript, John and she were unwinding for a while, during the tea-break, with mugs of steaming tea in their hands.

                       She had inquired about his background. “John, where do you hail from? Your name appears to be Anglo-Indian. Your features too look Asian, rather than European. I must say that they are very sharp and impressive,” she had laughed as she had said that. “Yes, you’re right. I am from India. My fore-fathers had worked for the British when they governed India. We stayed in the Cantonment at Kolkata, which was Calcutta in those days. I studied in a Convent school there.”

                       “When my father, who worked for a Central Government organization, was transferred to Delhi, I studied at a college in Delhi. I studied the Arts as I was particularly fond of Literature. I did a course in Journalism from the Jawaharlal Nehru University there. Then I worked  in some magazines and later decided to shift base here, when a friend of mine told me about a vacancy in this publishing house and have been here ever since, rising up the ranks to become a Senior Editor; and here I am!”

                     “But don’t you miss India? I’ve read that it’s extremely beautiful and has a very impressive culture. How I wish I could go there sometime in my life!” she said wistfully.

                      “Oh you bet, I do! But herein lies my bread and butter. I’ll definitely be going to settle down in India after my retirement. But I’ll be very lonely there.”

                       Astonished, she asked him, ”Why? I’m sure that you have family back there who’ll be certainly pleased to have you back.”

                     “I’m all alone in this world, Martha.” He said with a pained look in his eyes. My parents died a long while ago. I have no siblings. I have lost track of my other relatives. No one has kept in touch with me all these years. It has been “Out of sight, out of mind!” for them probably. To be honest, I have also been negligent and avoided getting in touch with any of them. Here, after I fell in love with Sarah, life was bliss till we were engaged. Then she went on that fateful skiing expedition and left me alone all over again. Guess I am destined to stay alone!”

                       Even as she saw the half-smile that pulled at his lips, she saw the deep anguish in his eyes and felt his despondence in his drooping shoulders. She felt a strange sensation tugging at her heart. She was confused. Was it sympathy? Empathy? Or some deeper, as yet unacknowledged emotion? She sprang upright as it suddenly struck her like a bolt from the blue. It was love. She loved him, from the bottom of her heart, but had kept pushing it from her memory. Her life was quite complicated, as it was. She didn’t want to push the envelope any further. She wouldn’t be able to bear it if he was hurt all over again.

                       He had continued their conversation, unaware of her inner turmoil at the revelation that she had just experienced. “And mind if I ask you about your family background?”

                      She responded, “Well, I am also all alone in this world. My parents died in an air-crash, several years ago. I am a spinster as you know. I didn’t have any siblings and I remember pestering my Mom for a sister or a brother. But my parents had decided to have only one child so that they could give her the best opportunities in the world. I was the apple of their eyes. Though I was spoiled rotten by them, I was very level-headed even as a little girl. I was studious and hoped to make my parents proud of me some day and I did. When I got a job as a local correspondent in Surrey, where we lived, they were in the seventh Heaven.“

                        “They were people of very modest means so my job meant the world to them. It was a proper job as compared to the seasonal jobs that they both did, for a living and to make my life. As our financial condition improved we bought a modest apartment there. Life was hunky-dory till I sponsored a trip abroad for them. It was what they had wished for throughout their lives. They were to spend a week in France in a chateau. I still remember how they had jabbered excitedly about their forthcoming trip to all their friends and acquaintances, not forgetting to mention the fact that their beloved daughter had sponsored it for them and made their dream come true. I still curse that fateful day when that trip turned fatal as the plane crashed due to bad weather. There were no survivors. My world was shattered.”

                        As she sobbed on recounting that nightmare, John’s heart went out to her and he placed a warm palm on her hand on the table. They shared a silent look of understanding. He remained silent till she felt better and then brought her another cup of tea.

                        From then onwards the bond between them had strengthened. It was as if two lonely souls had united for company. John had been very drawn towards her, but had maintained a polite distance. After all, she was his Boss’ fiancee, though he wished that she was his! He had realized that she was capable of becoming his soul-mate.

                       He found comfort in her company and was very attracted to her physically. Whether this feeling could be termed love, he didn’t know. He had always felt that true love grew over the years, as good wine matured with age. With Sarah, he had just about reached that stage over seven long years. Martha’s association was still fairly new but he had an intuition that if watered, this sapling of love could mature into a solid oak tree. ‘If,’ he winced. Norman, his Boss was to be considered! 

To be continued....

The copyright of this novel is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.