A to Z Series Post # 16 - Puzzles !!

On one side was Mahita , who’d turned down my love for her ; on the other side was Kamini, puzzling me with her new , calm demeanor.

I was pretty sure of Mahita’s love for me.  

I’d called her a widow, that was indeed a mistake; I hadn’t been able to stop the inadvertent flow of words then.

But I’d never let that status of hers affect my love.

What if her husband had passed away ? I still loved her, lover her as a simple woman.

But she didn’t seem to understand.

Or, was she pretending that she hadn’t understood the essence of my love for her ?

Couldn’t she see that she was offering me the greatest strength of my life by loving me ?

Why couldn’t she accept me ?

Was she being weighed down by what the society would think?

So many puzzling thoughts.

Kamini’s nonchalance was beginning to get on to my nerves.

Every time I looked at her, I could see that she wanted to something ; it was always as if some thoughts were brewing up in her vocal chord and dying on her lips.

There were times when I tried to make some sane conversation with her, but she would answer me to the point, may be smile a little and move away.

She opted for night shifts more, so that we hardly got to meet each other.

For every two days of night shifts , she got two days off.

But she wouldn’t remain at home even in the evenings.

She would return just before dinner, and we would dine in silence.

Once or twice, I heard her hum a tune, when she washed the utensils or ironed the clothes. A tune which I was sure I’d heard somewhere , but couldn’t recognise. That was so unusual of Kamini, anyway.

This was another puzzle troubling me, Kamini’s withdrawal.

In my relentless pursuit of love, I talked to Mahita again.

“ What’s it that makes you say No to me, Mahita?”, I asked her for the umpteenth time.

“ You shouldn’t even be asking me this, Vinod. I can’t believe you’re still talking this to me. When I say, No, it means exactly that,” she replied, without crumbling before me.

“ Mahita, I know you like me. Is it Kamini, now ? Is it the thought of what she’ll do that’s holding you back?”, I asked.

“ Vinod, Kamini is your wife. She’s there to support you, for all that you want. You shouldn’t even think of me in her place,” she said, sounding tired.

“ She doesn’t love me, Mahita. She doesn’t”, I  groaned in exasperation.

“ Then I  think I must tell you this, Vinod”,  she said,  “that I’m sorry, you don’t know her enough”.

I stared at her, astonished at what I thought was her sheer impudence, as she walked out of my room, her footsteps echoing across the empty hall.

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Linking this to A toZ 2014 and the Ultimate Blogging Challenge.