Red Roses

I resisted calling her. It was too early – she was a late riser. I hired a taxi and picked some red roses on the way home. She liked roses and the red were her favorite. I decided to catch her leaving for work; her carpoll used to come around 10 A.M.

Their was a spring in my step. I was excited about my decision... I felt free of the guilt that I had carried around - it was a redemption day. I had Elton John crooning 'can you feel the love tonight' on my music system; I hummed along. It was 9 A.M. I had an hour to shave, shower and eat. Then the phone rang - it was Vijay. "The case information has leaked to the media. They are all outside. I do not know what to do", he sounded nervous and scared.

The news of 'tiger killing' was over all. The media had found their breaking news and the opposition party a chance to get back at the ruling government. It besmirch the image of the ruling government, they ran for cover and in haste disassociated themselves from Sh. Lal Chand.

"Avoid saying anything. If you can't, tell them 'the crime' is under investigation and it’s too early to make any comment. Tell them as and when we would have more information they would be briefed", I offered him the simplest of the advice from my experience facing the media. I also asked him to stay calm and look good for the camera. "Oh! shup up", he snapped, he didn’t take the ‘look good for the camera’ advise kindly.

“And get out of there as soon as you can", I asked him changing my tone.

The 'tiger killing case' was played over and over again on almost all the news channels. Most of them presented it tastelessly; I felt pity for the poor viewers and the dead tiger.

I called up the Boss to apprise him of the situation. “What is Vijay doing there? Why did you let him stay?...” He was concerned and asked me more questions than I expected. I assured him that I have spoken to Vijay and briefed him and he would be out of Junna soon. Boss was more concerned about how he would handle the journalists. I got caught up in the whirlwind of the case. I lost sense of time.

It was 12 P.M. The roses had lost their shine and looked limp. Kavita would not have liked them - I flung the bunch in the trash can sitting next to my writing table. By that time the excitement to meet her had turned into anger and helplessness.

I tried her number and was greeted by the message, “The phone is out of coverage area…” I tried again and then again and again and felt frustrated. I had to tell her what she was to me. It felt heavy and I wanted to get it out of my chest. I rushed to her house only to find it locked. I turned home and slept off; I was exhausted by the day’s events.

Loud knocking on the door jolted me out of my deep sleep. I checked my watch, it was 8 P.M. I opened the door to find Vijay and Kavita. Vijay looked shaken and tired - he had a long day. He handed me the files said goodbye to Kavita and left. She walked in quietly.

We didn’t exchange a word for the next 30 minutes and then she broke the silence. "I had to rush to Junna to cover the story... Vijay told me everything”, I could feel the warmth and admiration in her words. She walked over to the trash can and picked up the bunch of limply dead roses. She looked at me and said,"they are beautiful". I looked into her eyes, she still loved me and was ready for a new start. I took her hand and pressed it tightly.