Fried Eye

The Perfect Plan

Posted on 15. Jan, 2010 by Mani Padma in Fiction, Issue 2, Issues, Random Take, Sections, Vol. I

Monica stared at the computer screen for a long time. Finally she shook herself from her reverie and rose from her bed. The laptop was still plugged in the socketand the open programs continued to run like her wandering mind.

So thats it. The end finally. What was she feeling? Grief? hatred? Relief ? Happiness? Numb? Numb! Yes that was the word. But why should she feel that way? After all she knew it was bound to happen. She had ,in a twisted way, wished for it to happen. Well, at least she would get a substantial amount of alimony .The thought brought out a humorless laughter from the depth of her throat. When will he be calling to hit the final nail into the coffin – their marriage? Going by the mail she had just read, it shouldn’t be long.,

Sunita! She sighed. The love of Arnav’s life. Arnav- her husband. The person whom she thought she knew. What a mess it all was ! She – Arnav- Sunita …The day she called up Sunita flashed before her eyes.The phone number was extracted with a lot of difficulty. She had introduced herself as Arnav’s wife. There was no awkwardness. No anger. No hysterics. Only…

It seemed not long ago when Arnav’s and Monika’s parents decided to cement their old friendship with the marriage of their children. Monica, young and naive, was still trapped in the childhood games of playing house. Arnav, however had long grown up. It was at Dalhousie where he went for his studies that Arnav met Sunita. Love bloomed. It was all so dreamlike, that phase of being outside home in an alien surrounding. Uh Huh! A correction. A beautiful alien surrounding. Their romance continued through out their studies in Kanpur and then onto Bangalore where they became ready for proceeding on to the next level, to a greater commitment . Everything between them were perfect except for a small hitch. His family did not encourage this relationship as she was from a different state, a different culture. Instead they managed to marry him off to Monika amidst lot of pressure. Of course he had said something to Monica about postponing the marriage. she vaguely remembered that but not the reason. She remembered her demure reply asking him to speak to the elders about the matter. For her, he had come across as an anxious bridegroom to be. How could she know otherwise? If only he had shown his rebellious side before marriage ! Things would have been lot different…

Naive she was but Monica was not a fool. She sensed something different in Arnav after marriage. Something sinister, something just not right, something cold, something dead! And then she started finding evidences of Arnav’s debauchery- in his phone, shirts, laptop… Debauchery not because of Sunita but because the rebel in him did not want to conform with his marital duties, his parents and the societal expectations. Money- he had aplenty and women swarmed around him like bees to flowers. She was shocked! She wanted to know why- but Arnav had clamped up. He simply refused to discuss matters with her. She raved, ranted, threatened, cried, begged but it was of no use. Arnav, her childhood friend, had completely vanished. The new Arnav was civil and generous but as far as emotions were concerned, it seemed to disappear from his life totally. She knew that the marriage was over.

Her ego did not permit her to speak to his parents nor hers. At least not before she and Arnav had talked it out. She wanted her way out of this farce, but in a sudden twist of fate Arnav refused to divorce her when she asked for it. “Why? Why should we? We are doing fine. At least it suits me.” He had told her tonelessly. Every time she broached the topic of a divorce, she used to hit a negative. The reasons different but it was always nought. “We will see.” “Parents will be devastated.” “I am working on a deal at the moment”. Maybe he lacked the courage to deal with hassles that come as baggage with a divorce. But today … it should be different...

She was perplexed at his behavior initially. A little bit of sneaking (scourging) of his belongings helped her find the cause. Sunita, his ex flame , his lost love– for whom he still carried a torch within his soul was back in his life…She had to come….

Her cell phone beeped. It was Arnav.

Without any preamble,he said, “ We need to talk. Pick me up from Madhuban chowk at 6.30 pm sharp. Don’t say anything to Mama papa now. We need to discuss things first. ” She assented. So he had assumed that she will understand about what.

She started getting dressed for her rendezvous. Should she tell her mother? She decided against it. But she was confused about something. Why did she have to pick him up? Where was his car? Of course they couldn’t travel in separate cars. But again Arnav was hardly himself these days. She thought sarcastically as she drove from the driveway. She reached Madhuban chowk well in time. Now where was he? She tried his number. But it was switched off. She was still trying his number when he walked up to her and knocked at the window. It was already dark and she could just see his silhouette. She opened the door, a puzzled expression playing on her face. Arnav got in with an overnight case and gelled hair. And Specs! What happened to his contact lenses? And why was he smiling so cheerfully?

“What’s going on? Where is your car? ”

“Its in the garage getting serviced … I wanted to surprise you! We are going on a trip…”. On seeing her alarmed face he hurriedly exclaimed, ” Hey! Just for a night. You and me alone. With no one to disturb us.This should have been done earlier but … Please its important …”. She was totally confused now. Were things going the other way? What was he getting at? She was sure that he was going to ask for a separation but this looks like a romantic tryst. Surely her informant couldn’t be wrong?

“I don’t understand. You didn’t say anything about a trip. I am not prepared and you said you had something to discuss… And what happened to your contact lenses?”

“Ah! It was irritating my eyes. So took them off … Don’t worry. I have already packed your things this morning…” He felt embarrassed. “I know I am acting weird but please bear with me for a while.”

She looked grim, “ So where to?” Maybe he was really embarrassed and feeling guilty. Maybe that is why he was trying to do “it” in a sensitive way. She decided to play along. “Take the highway to Ambala”, he replied.

She said nothing and drove. There was a long moment of silence. Finally, he asked, “you are not hungry I hope?”

Why hope? She wondered. “No” she replied curtly. Another long pause followed. Fine! He isn’t going to say anything in the car. What was his plan exactly? Was he planning to defer talking about it until they were in bed? Not that they had a great sex life. Her lips curled with distaste at the thought. The expression was not lost on him. “I know you are angry with me and maybe your anger is justified. Just be patient please. Everything will turn out fine”, he muttered.

They drove on in silence. Monika was not habituated to driving long distances. After a while she started feeling sleepy. Not even the tense atmosphere in the car could curb her desire to sleep. She yawned a couple of times. “Let me drive”, he suddenly said. “Take a nap”. She slowed down the car and asked, “where exactly are we going? I haven’t even informed Ma” . “Shimla” he said simply. She stopped the car, changed seats and settling herself comfortably. Her last memory, as she drifted into a sleep was of a scarf peeking out of his jacket pocket. She had brought that from Kufri … Why was he carrying it along?

As Arnav drove cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He avoided looking at her. God! What was he doing? It was insane. But everything he had , it belonged to Suni- his Sunita. Providence had brought them together again and he was going to make it up to her for the hurt he had caused in the past. This time he won’t go wrong. If only last time she had waited for one more day after his outburst. In his desperation he had driven her away with harsh words only to realize his folly soonafter. But it was too late. She was gone and her friends simply refused to help. He never forgave his parents for what they made him do. He never forgave Monika for not cooperating in delaying their wedding. He was filled with a desire to punish her. Punish everybody.

The sleeping woman by him wasn’t going to get a single penny now.Arnav drove the car to a previously marked secluded spot near a hillock with a thick clump of trees, a little farther away from the bifurcating road leading from Kurushetra to Paonta. The road was a bit uneven, but she had slept on. Slowly and stealthily he moved in the darkness to the back of her seat and took out the scarf.He tightened it, paused for a fraction of a second and with one swift movement, jerked it around.She didn’t provide much resistance. It was quick, neat , silent. He sat there panting watching her lifeless form…

That he had really done it after days of planning stunned him for a while. Then abruptly he set out to destroy all evidence. There was none. He took out the number plate of the car. A quick check on her cellphone showed nothing much and no she hadn’t called her mom after him. But there was an unknown number. Well leave it,. It wasn’t familiar. Having checked n rechecked to ensure there were no tell-a-tale signs he moved towards a thicket of bushes and extracted a run down bike. The only thing left was to set the car ablaze . He was about to burn down 5 lakhs rupees . If only the alimony had been about 5 lakhs but she had filed for much much more…

He rode away at a break neck speed into the night.Early next morning he dismantled the bike and disposed off its parts . After cleaning up he left for home. He arrived at the empty house with a heavy heart . It wouldn’t be long now for her to be missed and the repercussions to start. Would they trace her disappearance to him? He tried calling Sunita. He hadn’t talked to her after proposing to her recently. But her phone was switched off.

A bit disappointed he climbed the stairs to Monika’s room. She must have left in a hurry. Her room was in disarray. The laptop lay on her bed still running. Just like her. Careless. He moved it towards him and scrolled. The screensaver changed to … What was this?–Her Inbox ? What a piece of luck. Suddenly he froze to see a sender’s name. Sunita Nayak ! He clicked on it, praying that the id was still logged on. The mail opened easily…

Dear Monika.

Arnav had proposed marriage and as per your plans I said yes. I think this time he is going to grant you the divorce coz he seems to be in a hurry to marry me. Said he will talk to you today and settle everything this week itself. Now that you are getting what you want , I am going off too. I shall simply send him a mail stating I am off to Bangalore to consult my parents and will be back next week. I am disappearing today itself as this is causing a lot of stress . Hope you handle everything quickly. And Best of Luck! I never imagined Arnav would turn out to be such an irresponsible and insensitive monster… Glad to be of your help. Bye. Take care.

Sunita Nayak

Tags: Bangalore, Culture, Emotions, Love, money, Travel, women