Ablaze
Vrinda gazed at the conflagration with dread-filled eyes. How had it started? Why was it taking so long to put out? The sirens of the fire engines had brought her to the veranda, where the smoke crept across insidiously, forcing her to cough.
People watched, curiosity writ in their eyes at this diversion from their humdrum lives. A lady pointed as she whispered to her daughter. Vrinda watched, her thoughts on the owners of the burning house. Shashi and Sudha were a couple who lived life as if it were a gala all the time. Not this time, unfortunately!
Vrinda’s cell phone rang. “Rohan?” she answered.
Rohan’s voice held a note of worry. “Did you hear about the fire in our area?” he asked.
“Yes, it is two houses from ours,” she replied, her voice hoarse from the smoke.
Rohan paused, and then he said, “You take care, OK? Don’t go anywhere near it.”
As she put her phone off, Vrinda was aware of a faint trace of irritation. Rohan meant well, but she wished he was not always so uptight. He wanted to know where she was all the time. Her friends were frankly envious… “Gosh, girl, that man loves you to distraction! Aren’t you lucky!”
She often shrugged their comments off. How could she explain that she often felt like a bird in a golden cage? Who was it who had quipped that a golden cage was still a cage?
Suddenly, her phone rang again. It was Gina, her friend from college, who lived in a villa in the next street.
“Hey, did you hear about the fire?”
This time the conversation was easier. At least she did not have to be guarded in what she said.
“Yes, Gina. I can see it from my veranda. Remember Shashi and Sudha, our friends?” She could hear the shock in Gina’s voice at the news.
Vrinda’s thoughts were churning, chaotic. The day had been horrendous, and the truth was that she had not allowed her mind to go into forbidden lanes. She could not let anyone in. Anyone, but Shashi! The man who had come into her life when she was almost on the verge of divorcing Rohan for his possessiveness. Shashi had calmed her down after a party where she had lost her temper because Rohan had accused her of wanting to attract attention with the way she dressed and spoke to other men.
“Vrinda, you’re beautiful. Rohan does not realise how lucky he is!” Words that had assuaged her hurt, pushing her closer to him, to the point when they began to see each other every time Rohan was out.
The smoke had died, but the house was a mere blackened shell.
They had finished dinner. “Off to bed!” said Rohan breezily.
Vrinda went to hang up Rohan’s coat when something fell out of the pocket with a clatter. To her horror, it was an unfamiliar cigarette lighter.
Her heart skipped a beat. Rohan was no smoker.
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