Wind Beneath My Wings - III

Read part - 1 here
Read part  - II  here.


It was exactly four years ago that Gerald her fiance, had broken her heart. He had drunk one too many, and met with a fatal accident in spite of her repeated pleas to not drive rashly. The strong breeze and helmet muffled the pillion riders voice from behind as Gerald sped on his Yezdi motorcycle completely ignoring of the oncoming car on his right. She had miraculously escaped death herself, but Gerald couldn’t make it.

 At his funeral, she stood still, emotionless, without a tear. Being the sensitive and an intense type of a girl, she had got into depression over the next few months. She didn’t eat ,sleep or do anything. The scene haunted her over and over again. But life had other roads planned for her.

Their difficult financial situation played a perfect conduit for her to get back to normalcy. There was no choice but to work ,to keep her family running. That’s how she took up a lowly paid ,but secure job, in a computer-training institute as an executive assistant to the MD of the company. Not that she had multiple job offers, just that she had to get out of her depression and move on in life.

So, that day, Rosalyn reached office quite late – late by almost an hour. Which meant, her exit from office would get delayed as well. Mr. Boss quietly gave her a stern look, careful not to  overdo it, yet get the message across. His expectations from her had grown over the years and he often cited her example to the other late comers at work. Today was not to be that day.

Rosalyn sulked and slumped into her chair feeling miserable.Realising that she felt miserable, her colleague sitting close by, sent a funny chat message to her …

‘Its better to be Miss Late, than Late Miss…,so chill.’

It was the first time since today morning that she smiled.

Her perfect set of teeth, their impeccable setting, smooth texture, the faint stain of lipstick and a breath of fresh air from her mouth greeted the first customer with a warm and charming energy.

She wore a black top under a grey suit, quite unlike the flower her name closely resembled. The hint of fashion came in the form of a pair of pearl earrings. She did look breath-taking.

Which is what caught my imagination and attention that day because it was a similar combination dress she was wearing four years ago.

As the slant morning sun reached the middle of the sky, things began to pile up, and suddenly she had more work on her table than usual. So much that she missed her evening cup of tea as well. As the busy late afternoon rolled into a loaded late evening, her work seemed to have a never-ending tag to it.

She glanced at the watch and it read 9:30PM –and the last train from Park Street to Kalighat station left at 9.45PM.  She had no choice but to rush, leaving her computer on a standby mode instead of waiting for it to shut down. Rosalyn dashed out of her office to catch the last train in time.

The metro station was not crowded that night. Rosalyn Gonsalves briskly walked into the station just in time and glided past the ticketing machine swiping the, now renewed ,monthly pass.

The train was entering platform number one, sharp at 9:44pm.The sliding doors opened and she hopped on to the train. She would need to alight from the last compartment, since it was the closest to the escalators at the Kalighat station, which would bring her to an exit closest to her home.

She held on to the handlebars & moved back three compartments through the interconnected tube, as the train picked up speed to move forward. She found a seat easily as the last compartment was rather empty as compared to the morning rush hour jam. Rosalyn took a moment to gather herself, her bag and sat down comfortably.

The train left the Park Street station and plunged into the dark tunnel with the occasional tube light rebelling against the darkness. A cold breeze gushed through the compartment and Rosalyn’s face turned sideways to let the breeze caress her hair.

That was also the first time their eyes met actually.

He looked at her beautiful doe shaped eyes and realized that his four year long wait was finally about to get over. Today was the day he would declare his love for her. After all it was the day for love  - February the 14^th and what better way to celebrate Valentines day than to propose a life together to someone he had so intensely loved for the last four years !

However as the popular saying goes, man proposes and God disposes! 











Gyanban Thoughts - In part IV get to know Gerald.