sonu kumar
Posted On: 09-04-2019
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Half Girlfriend

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Forty Five

I plonked my elbows on the ushers desk outside. I tried to speak.
Snow fell out of my mouth.
‘M,’ I gasped. ‘I booked a place for Mr M.’
I bent to cough. As my body shook, bits of snow fell off me.
‘Easy there, M. Are you all right?’
I nodded.
‘Your lips are purple.They may fall off, buddy,’ the usher said.
I rubbed my hands and placed them on my mouth. Cold hands did
little to warm up an even colder face.
The usher went through his register.
‘Mr M, yes. But the show is almost ending. It’s midnight. Last song
probably.’
Time: 12.01 a.m.
‘The singer is still there, right?’ I said, still huffing and puffing as I
spoke.
‘Hull? Yeah, maybe just doing a bonus song or something. Entry is
eight dollars, two drinks minimum. You sure?’
I slapped a twenty-dollar bill on his desk and walked in. I reached
the bar area.
‘Your two drinks, sir?’ said a female bartender.
'Water and water.’
She gave me two bottles of water. I chugged them down in a flash.
‘Where is the performance?’ I said.
‘Straight left to the concert area. Follow the music.’
I limped ahead. My legs had given way. I held on to bar stools and
i hairs to keep myself from falling.
The concert area was a dimly lit room filled with people. The
crowd in front of me prevented me from seeing the stage.
I elbowed my way through the hordes of people to get ahead.
I heard a female voice.
'You’re beautiful. You're beautiful.You're beautiful, it's true.'
The bright spotlight on the stage contrasted with the dark room. It
took a few seconds to spot the singer.
It was her.
Riya.
The water bottle fell from my hand.
She sang with her eyes closed, completely engrossed in the song.
In a full-length, sequined black gown she looked more beautiful than
what even God would define as beautiful.
Yes, Riya Somani, I found you.
She held an acoustic guitar in her hand. A male American pianist
accompanied her on stage. She continued to sing.
'I saw your face in a crowded place, And I don’t know what to do,
’Cause I’ll never be with you.’
My tiredness evaporated. No more aches and pain. Blood flowed
through my body again. My face felt flushed and hot compared to the
freezing cold a minute ago.
She sang from her heart. The crowd loved her and cheered. She
opened her eyes between lines and smiled at the crowd's reaction. She
had not seen me yet.
I removed my jacket and put it on a table. I walked right up ahead
to the stage and stood before her.
‘You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful, it’s... ’
Her voice vanished as her eyes met mine. The pianist looked at her
surprised, wondering why she had missed her lines.
Riya stood up.The guitar looked unsteady in her hand.
The pianist filled the gaps with an instrumental interlude.
Riya put her guitar aside slowly. I continued to look at her.
We stood before each other, silent and frozen. The crowd began to
murmur, wondering what was happening.
The pianist figured something was amiss. He took the rnic and
continued the song.‘You're beautiful, it’s true.'
I just kept looking at her.
What all you made me go through, Riya Somani, my eyes said.
I’m sorry, her eyes said to me. A tear ran down her cheek. Mine
too.
I thought I would have so much to say to her when I finally met
her. I had mentally rehearsed it many times. I would be angry at first.
I would shout, tell her how much she had put me through. I would
then tell her what she meant to me. How I was not that jerk, Rohan. Or
that others may have let her down, but I wouldn’t. And that my mother
could only be happy if I was. I had my speech all planned.
However, neither of us said a word.
We just looked at each other and cried, and cried. After some time
she stepped forward. That is all Riya Somani does. She gives you a
little clue she is ready. You just need to be alert enough to pick it up. I
opened my arms. They shook as she came closer. I took her in my
arms.
‘I... I’m sorry...’ she said.
‘Shh,’ I said. ‘Remember you placed a condition last time? No
questions asked twice. I have one now.’
‘What?’ she said in the softest whisper.
'No questions at all. In fact, if possible, no words.’
She buried her face in my chest. I lifted her chin.
‘Riya Somani, I love you. Always have. Always will. Please, never,
ever leave me.’
She shook her head and said,‘l won’t...I can’t...’
I continued,‘Shh... Because next time I will find you again and kill
you.’
She smiled and cried at the same time Some of the crowd cheered,
even though they were confused about what was going on. The pianist
ended the song. The restaurant staff switched on the concert room
lights. People began to make their way out.
I continued to hold her.‘Sorry, I left because I got scared... ’ she said.
‘I know.’
‘But how did you...?’ she said.
‘I said, no questions.’
‘Just one last one.’
‘What?’
‘Why is your shirt so wet and cold?’ she said. I laughed.
‘What?’ she said.
‘Nothing.’

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