When the home-delivery arrived,
he knocked on her door courteously and walked in. Martha sprang up from her bed
as if an intruder had walked in and then on realizing that it was him, said
sheepishly, “Oh, Benny. I’m sorry that I didn’t even thank you for bringing me
home. Shall I make lunch for us?” So saying, she glanced at the alarm clock and
was flabbergasted to see that it was way past lunch-time. It was 2 o’clock in
the afternoon.
As she looked at him utterly
confused, he smiled and said, “Lunch is waiting for you on the coffee-table in
the living-room. I ordered for pizzas and ice-cream. Come, let’s have it before
the pizzas become cold and the ice-cream becomes warm. Just joking! I have kept
the ice-cream tubs in the refrigerator.” She looked guiltily at the kind
Doctor. She had again slipped up. She surely couldn’t expect him to wait on her
day and night and do all the house-work too. She was bound to share the chores!
She walked to the couch in the
living-room and said, “Benny, let’s share the chores while I’m here. I don’t
want to burden you with all my work. I’ll be cooking for both of us from today
evening. I’m very thankful to you for all your kind help. I probably don’t even
deserve it. You are too good to be true.”
Feeling pleased, he good-humoredly
said, “In that case, please pinch me to see that you aren’t dreaming!” She
blushed and laughed heartily. Then they both tucked into the mouth-watering
pizzas. He watched her contentedly as she ate hungrily and unselfconsciously
with cheese and lettuce sliding off the corners of her pretty mouth. Again, he
had an irresistible urge to grab her and kiss her soundly. He had to however
appear prim and controlled so that he didn’t put her off. How he wished that he
was her lover and not only her shrink!
Out of the blue, she asked him
innocently, “Tell me, Benny, have you ever been married or have you always been
a confirmed bachelor? I don’t know anything about you apart from the fact that
you are the best psychiatrist in town!” He sighed as he thought about it. Then
he said carefully, “Frankly speaking, Martha, I never came across anyone as
beautiful, desirable and talented as you, otherwise I’d have married long, long
ago.”
As she gawked at him awkwardly, he
added, “Yes, I have always been a confirmed bachelor and even prided on my
self-discipline! You see, I’ve always been a nerd, so involved with my practice
that I’ve never had the time or inclination to pursue anything in a skirt. But
now I’m having second thoughts…” As he saw her alarmed look, he laughed and
said, “Relax Martha. I’m not going to rush you for an answer, but yes, I’d
definitely like to think that you could be my wife one day.”
Now she looked angrily at him.
“Doctor, I’m glad that you informed me about your feelings. But I’m sure that
you’re aware about my feelings for John. In fact, I’m here to finish my novel
and hoping that you’d help my union with John, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“Now, now, Martha, please don’t get
upset. I was only being honest with you. Let’s drop this talk if it offends you
so much. I apologize and promise you that I’ll never rake this issue again.
Happy?” She could fathom that he didn’t sincerely mean what he said. She
decided to not blow the issue out of proportion and rock the boat, though she
knew that their equations had irreversibly changed with his candid confession.
So he did fancy her!
She politely declined the
ice-cream, cleared away the dishes, washed them and placed them in the drying
rack, muttered a hurried “Thanks Doctor. See you later” and fled into the safe
sanctuary of her room. Oh why did he have to mess things up by confessing his
admiration and longing for her? Why couldn’t he have remained the same strict
and seemingly inaccessible Doctor? She cursed herself for making small talk
which had boomeranged on her. Why had she asked him such an obviously personal
question? She had asked for it and got an unpalatable answer in return. She was
very cross with herself.
She closed the door to her room,
latched it and then returned to her writing. She reviewed what she had written
earlier.
Myara had returned with Juan’s
mother and the soldiers to the palace that was shrouded in mourning. She felt
suffocated and wretched. The tears refused to come for the first few hours as
she stubbornly resisted them. When she saw how empty the palace seemed without
the lively presence of the beautiful and gregarious Princess Sara, her best
friend and then her grieving mother who appeared as if she was also about to
die, the enormity of the tragedy struck her like a bolt of lightning and
torrents of tears gushed down her cheeks. It was as if a storm had hit her
hard.
Her heart was filled with
unbearable sorrow for the death of a young girl who hadn’t even tasted the
nectar of happy and fulfilling marital bliss. She, Myara was the cause of her
death and hence she too didn’t deserve to live. Just as she was about to plunge
a scabbard into her chest, Juan pounced on her and begged her to change her
mind. His mother, the King and Queen implored her to save Regina.
“Please Myara, you must marry
Juan now. We can only trust you. You’ve proved yourself to be selfless, brave
and forthright. Though you blame yourself for Sara’s suicide, you must realize
that that was an act of cowardice. One must always face life’s trials and
tribulations head-on. One must not shy away from the truth, however painful it might
be! Sara couldn’t reconcile herself with Juan’s honesty when he told her that
he was impotent. She couldn’t be a good wife to Juan. Now only you can be his
wife as only you know his secret. We must keep this a secret at all costs.”
Helplessly, Myara looked at all
of them. They obviously set great store by her. She instinctively felt that she
couldn’t let them down. “But how will we get a successor to the throne of
Regina, Your Highness?”
To be continued...
The copyright of this novel is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
