Martha was very
old-fashioned and was a person who espoused the institution of marriage. It was sacrosanct! She couldn’t imagine violating it even in her
dreams. Yes, she wasn’t a
home-breaker. She vowed to bury all
romantic notions about the genial Arnold and maintain a friendly but formal
distance from him.
The next day
when Arnold didn’t turn up at 7 a.m., Martha instinctively knew that something
was seriously amiss. Arnold was a
punctual person hence she racked her brains for him not arriving on time. As the word ‘accident’ flashed before her mind's
eye she chided herself for being so fatalistic.
Of course there would be a mundane reason. She would soon know when he’d meet her, which
would be any time soon!
But when the
clock’s hands pointed towards 9 p.m., she was very, very worried. She debated going over to his place. She was also anxious that she couldn’t phone
the psychiatrist and apologize for being late (as they surely would be), as she
didn’t have his phone number.
She tried
Arnold’s phone number several times. It kept
ringing each time. When she could no
longer sit twiddling her thumbs she locked the house, jumped into her car and
raced to Arnold’s house in the town. All
through the ride, the thought that his behavior was uncharacteristic, hammered
at her. Surely he would’ve at least
phoned her and explained about the inordinate delay! When she reached his finely constructed
bungalow, she saw a lock welcoming her and was thoroughly disappointed. She felt very cross with Arnold for letting
her down, just when she needed him the most.
When she turned
around, she came face to face with Arnold and his pretty wife Anne. He was looking dapper in a brown suit with a cream shirt and a red tie and Anne looked elegant in a black business suit of
trousers and top with white ruffles at the collar. She was a brunette and her hair shone with
good health from under her pink woolen scarf.
She looked
coolly at Martha with what Martha felt was a slightly condescending, mocking
expression. Arnold looked sheepish as he
tried to hide his embarrassment at finding her there; unsuccessfully. He hadn’t expected her to land up at his
doorstep, though he knew that he had blundered by not calling her up. How could he have told her that his wife had
called him up from the airport and asked him to pick her up at 7 a.m. that
morning, leaving him harried and with no time to even call up Martha and
explain his delay? He had felt guilty in
doing so before his wife, as he hadn’t informed Anne before about his
appointment with the psychiatrist for Martha.
She’d have blown her top! That she
was possessive, would’ve been an understatement, to say the least!
Quickly Arnold
tried to break the awkward silence with a “Hello Martha! What a pleasant surprise?” Though taken aback,
Martha realized his predicament and decided to play along. She said politely, “Good morning Arnold, Good
morning Anne. I had come to town for breakfast.
I have a few errands that I’ve been putting off since many days. Just decided to drop in and take you both
along. Would you like to come
along? The treat is on me. But if you’re tired, as I can see, just have
rest. Bye then, folks!”
With that
exaggerated brightness, she hurriedly went away, leaving Arnold and Anne
looking at each other with an amused expression on their faces. Inwardly, Arnold felt like a cad for having
let down Martha. He had to find a way to
meet her alone and speak to her.
After entering
their home and putting away the luggage, he told Anne that he’d just hop across
to the supermarket and get some essential items that they needed. Being tired
Anne agreed. She had been flying all night
long and just wished to hit the bed. She
kissed Arnold, said “Bye” and went off to sleep.
Relieved,
Arnold hurried to the café where he knew he would find Martha. She had often mentioned that she loved the
items on the menu and the ambience of that place. He spotted her sitting morosely at a corner
table with a plate of toast and eggs and coffee. On seeing him enter, she visibly brightened
and greeted him. “Hi there, come and
join me.”
He sat down on
a chair and called for the waiter. “One
omelette and coffee for me please!” Then turning towards her, he said “Sorry
Martha. You were wonderful today. Thanks for being so gracious and
understanding. You know, Anne is a sweet
girl but jealously makes her vicious and unmanageable. I hadn’t told her about our trip to the
psychiatrist; thinking that she was due to be back only tomorrow. But her meeting for tomorrow was cancelled
and she decided to be home a day earlier.”
“Relax
Arnold. I think that you should give me
the phone number and address of that psychiatrist. I’ll go there on my own.”
“Nothing doing
Martha! After our breakfast, I’ll be
fixing an appointment for tomorrow. I’ll
take an off from work and pick you up.
We’ll fix an afternoon appointment so that Anne won’t become suspicious
if I start out early in the morning.”
After breakfast
he called up the psychiatrist’s clinic, apologized for his inability to go
there that day and fixed an appointment for next day.
“Thanks Arnold,
for being such a dear!” she said sincerely as tears sprang up in her eyes.
“Hush
Martha! Everything will soon be all
right. Trust me!” he said putting his
arm around her to comfort her. Then he
went to the supermarket. She went to the
bank. When she reached home it was 4
p.m. She had had lunch at a charming
restaurant near the bank, strolled along the lake side and enjoyed the pleasant
weather and sunshine. She was in good
spirits when she returned, all charged up for another writing session.
To be continued....
The copyright of this novel is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
