1. Have an Interesting Snippet to Share : Click Here
    Dismiss Notice

Love Thy Enemy - 11

Discussion in 'Stories (Fiction)' started by ILoveTulips, Feb 27, 2011.

  1. ILoveTulips

    ILoveTulips IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    3,610
    Likes Received:
    5,354
    Trophy Points:
    408
    Gender:
    Female
    Dear Friends,

    I can't thank you all enough for the wonderful comments you have given. They really did lift my spirit. Sorry for the delay, I had been occupied in some other personal works.

    Thank You,
    ILT
    11


    [The Trap]


    20 months back.

    Cochin.

    "Shakthi!... ... ... Shakthi!... ... ... Shakthi!... ... ... ", the crowd was roaring as Shakthi just tricked the ball into her hands from the opponent. The sweat of the furious players and the hollering crowd depicted that the match has neared its final moments. The opponent girls surrounded Shakthi hoping that she would miss the chance and the rest tried to circumvent their attempts.

    The ball dribbled fast and Shakthi made quick left and right turns to confuse the opponents. Though she wasn't focusing on the ball and the basket, her well-trained mind instructed her what she has to do next. Her eyes seldom stayed idle. Finally when the moment was right she jumped higher to her best and shot the ball into the basket. Exactly 13 seconds after this the bell rung indicating the end of the match.

    Group of girls from the crowd rushed to the ground and the winning team hugged each other. The crowd howled and emotion intensified every minute. They all carried Shakthi and reached out of the play ground.

    After winning trophies were awarded the girls all ganged up for celebrating the success. Shakthi was packing her bag when the girls charged in.

    "Hey Girls... ", said Shakthi as she shouldered the bag.

    "That was one good game man.. You saved our college name. We showed who we are to those...", cried out Sreeja.

    "We Did... Didn't we? ", smiled Shakthi proudly.

    "Come on we should go out to celebrate", insisted another girl.

    "Go out? Girls, we just won an Inter-college competition. We have a National one in 6 months. Remember?", warned Shakthi.

    "Competitions are always there. There's nothing wrong in having small celebrations to encourage ourselves", demanded another girl.

    "Hey H.O.D asked us all to assemble in our class rooms", called out another girl in loud voice from behind them.

    "Oh shoot, we completely forgot about that. The resume thing", said another one in a disappointed tone.

    "We'll go out another day, for sure. Now let's finish this one. Come on", Shakthi cheered up other girls and moved to the class room.

    Shortly after they all seated in the class the H.O.D started to speak.

    "First of all, Congratulations for winning the trophy for this year's Inter-College Basket Ball competition", he had to pause as the whole class applauded. Then he continued after the room went silent again, "Good. Getting to the matter in hand, You all know we strive hard to place each and every student in good jobs every year. We also aim to look for the job that matches your skill set. Now, you all will be distributed a form where you will fill your details and interests. Proper training would be arranged in the field you are interested. We will have those details in our database and when an employer contacts us we will look from the dat---", H.O.D was going on and on about the placement training system.

    Shakthi, sitting in a last row mumbled to Sreeja sitting next to her. "Why he still bothering us? We know no employer comes to this college for recruitment. Our fate is to carry the certificates with us and roam around the offices. "

    "Exactly, its not like we are in Engineering colleges.
    Who's he kidding?", complained Sreeja.

    "We'll just fill the damn form and get out of here", instructed Shakthi as she took the form and a pen.

    Name : Ms. Shakthi Dharmaraj

    Qualification: B.A English Literature - Final year

    College : Cochin College, Cochin.

    Age: 19

    Job wishing to apply for: None for now. Aiming for Higher Studies. Masters in English Literature

    Career goals: I take immense pleasure in appreciating the shapes and sizes of language and how the immortal souls of previous centuries expressed them. I want to spend my life reading them and then teaching them.

    ... ... ...
    ... ... ...
    ... ... ...


    * * *


    Shakthi changed her sports wears and slipped into periwinkle colour salwar kameez. She left the class room and walked her way through the bus stop. She avoids the bus stop right infront of the college and prefers to walk to the previous nearest one. That way it's easy to find a place to sit and the best way to avoid the roadside romeos.

    She kept walking past the tea shops, other petty shops and then the Old Courtyard Hotel. Her heart beats doubled when she passed the hotel, and she kept instructing herself not to look towards the hotel entrance. She wanted to walk fast, but she couldn't. She felt someone is nearing her and she knew who that was. Her heart sank with excitement.

    He - who have been making her to feel on the top of the world for the past week.

    "Hey", he called out as he neared her.

    Shakthi stopped, turned and her lips twitched when she tried to smile.

    "How are you?", he asked in a very polite tone.

    She felt hard to speak and her stomach was flip flopping. Yet she tried to cover all of it and replied, "I'm fine".

    "So you still ---", he was interrupted by the mobile phone. He picked up the phone and attended the call.

    "Prakash here...", he said in an authoritative tone. Shakthi controlled herself not to look at him but she couldn't stop glancing at him every now and then casually. Oh God, he is so attractive. He was tall, super-muscular, fair, clean-cut and well-bred young man. His nature of work made him look slightly tanned. His masculine appearance and childlike charm in the face, definitely a big hit among the college girls.

    "Sorry I have to take some time off. I will be back in half an hour or so", he looked Shakthi as he said in the phone. She squeezed her fingers around the bag's strap, half an hour? What am I going to tell today?

    He pocketed the mobile phone and said to Shakthi, "I will walk with you till the bus stop".

    "Thats not really necessary", she said hastily.

    "Come on Shakthi. Don't make me do this. Can't you give this little happiness of walking with you?", she looked at his face. She wanted to hold his hands so badly.

    "Prakash, Don't do this. I told you clearly. Its not going to work. So please dont disturb me anymore", though the words were difficult for her, she forced them out.

    "Why? You won't tell me why? My project was over a week ago. I am fighting with my boss and trying to extend my stay as long as possible - for you", he said seeing her face and kept walking.

    "I didn't ask you to do all these? How long do we know each other? To be frank, what do you know about me? It hardly 10 days since I saw you. Now you are saying I have to give my life to you? Don't you think this is ridiculous? Stop harrassing me. Its better for both of us", words rushed out.

    "Would you tell me the reason for rejecting me at least?", demanded Prakash.

    "I don't have to tell you. I don't want any kind of relationship with you. That's it. If you are a well-educated decent man you will understand it and leave me alone", her voice was very firm now.

    Prakash bit his lips embarrassed and his face went pale. Shakthi immediately regretted what she said. He said "Ok... ... Sorry" meekly and turned to go. She couldn't accept the fact that she just hurt him. She became nervous and wanted to apologise immediately.

    "One minute", she called, he turned and looked at her.

    "Do you really want the reason?", she asked.

    "Of course".

    "If you come with me I will tell you", she said but deeply inside she scolded herself for doing that. But she couldn't control.

    "Where are we going?", he asked perplexed.

    "To my home", she said.

    "Hang on, I will take my car", he prepared to move but Shakthi stopped him. "Not necessary. We will go in bus", Prakash don't want to argue because that was the maximum progress he made in all those days with Shakthi.

    Without any reply, he walked with her. They got into the bus and 30 minutes later got down at a stop which was the most crowded street that Prakash had seen in Cochin. Shakthi walked in front guiding him the way. She then entered into a narrow path between 2 buildings and reached to a very posh residential area. The whole street was silent and surrounded with coconut trees. All the houses were huge and very tastefully designed. Each house was at least 50 feets apart from other. She opened one of the house's gate and went inside. Prakash followed her as he looked around the well maintained garden in front of the house. She opened the house with a key and they both went inside.

    "Is this your home?", Prakash asked skeptically.

    "Yes. Its relatively a new house in the entire area", she said.

    "The house is beautiful", he said looking the ceiling and the antique furnitures in the living room. There were pictures of Sakthi and a man, perhaps her father.

    She smiled and called out, "Appa (Dad)".

    There was a long silence and then Prakash heard a mild screeching noise from the nearest room. Shortly an old man emerged from the room on his wheelchair. His tongue was constantly hanging out of his mouth and his right hand was misshapen.

    Shakthi moved behind the wheel chair and pushed forward. She signalled Prakash to sit on the sofa and adjusted the position of the wheel chair.

    "Daddy, he is Mr. Prakash, my friend", she said in a low voice gently stroking his shoulders. Then she turned to Prakash and said, "This is my father Mr. Dharmaraj. He was the principal of the same college where I am studying now", she said proudly.

    Prakash didn't talk for few seconds and finally said, "Hello Sir, nice to meet you".

    Mr. Dharmaraj tried to smile. Then he moved his lips a bit and when he did it, a mild meaningless sound came out of his mouth. Shakthi said as she understood what he meant, "Yes Daddy, will be back". She moved to the kitchen and within few minutes she was back with a tray in her hands.

    "Some biscuits and sweets for you. Do you like to have coffee or tea?", she asked politely.

    "I don't want anything. I am fine. Thanks", he replied. He looked at her father. His face was always in the slanting position and his right hand wasn't functioning. But the left hand was all normal, with which he moved the wheels. Though his legs were fully covered with a lengthy sheet Prakash could say that his legs weren't functioning too.

    After he nodded and said something in meaningless noise, Shakthi turned to Prakash and said, "I think he wants to know about you" and turned to her father again. He nodded.

    "Sir, I am a Marine Engineer in Mumbai. I came to Cochin with my crew for a research I am currently doing. Its a busy job, most of the time I would be in the sea. My current project is in Telecommunication area.", he paused and looked at Dharmaraj.

    Shakthi's heart pricked what her father would think now. How a Marine Engineer could be a friend of mine?

    Few minutes passed. "Shakthi ma", Shakthi turned as she heard the voice from behind. Ravi, their help was standing there.

    Shakthi knew that he was waiting for reclothing her father. She stood and moved the wheel chair. Then Ravi took the control and moved the wheel chair towards bedroom. She then looked at Prakash. He heaved a long sigh and got up as he said, "I think I should leave now. They will be looking for me in the office". The office was actually the Old Courtyard hotel where the whole research crew staying and working.

    "Ok, I will walk you to the bus stop", said Shakthi and got ready with him.

    As they moved out, they walked slowly deliberately not wanting to end the moment any earlier. Shakthi cleared her throat and started to speak.

    "He was a very active and dynamic man. I never remember seeing my mother. She died when I was 2 years old. Since then he was everything to me. I never missed my mom, you know? I can discuss anything with him. Practically we have just each other in this whole wide world. No relatives or friends. There were few, but they all disappeared after Dad's fate put him on the wheelchair for the rest of his life", her throat choked and she paused.

    Prakash's face was engulfed with pity and sadness. He asked in a mild tone, "What happened?"

    "He had a stroke. Nobody knew the reason. Suddenly one day I got a call when I was in school. I was then taken to the hospital where my father - the most active man I seen in my entire life - was lying on the bed. He could use his left hand, but not the right one. He can hear and see, but not speak. His legs went total useless. His eyes were always filled with tears during the initial days of this trauma - may be thinking of me and my future. Then slowly he got used to it. We have enough money so he sent me to college. Its all a shock. We totally did not see this coming."

    "How long he has been like this?", he asked.

    "Nearly 5 years", she said without looking at him.

    He didnt reply anything. By then they have reached the bus stop. The bus stop was deserted. He stood there folding his hands and Shakthi stood near him. He looked at her whose eyes were misted. He forced himself to look elsewhere but her face.

    She continued, "So, here you go. You got the reason you've asked for. My dad is my life. Your life is in Mumbai. So it doesn't make any sense for us to continue this any further".

    He glanced at her and forced a smile. She looked at him and told, "So its best for both of us if we don't meet or talk --", she stopped in midsentence and thought, because your eyes will kill me, your smile spoils my concentration. And... ... I am afraid... ... I might fall in love with you.

    He snorted and didn't say anything but looked at her face not moving his eyes. She saw the eyes and immediately turned unable to stand the eyes going through her heart. The rattling noise snapped their thought and they turned back to look at the bus.

    He said, "Ok see you Shakthi!" and boarded the bus. She turned back and walked towards her home frantically. How evil are you God to have made me to meet him?


    * * *


    Prakash got down from the bus in the next stop. He went into the street near the bus stop and walked fast till he reached the same crowded street where he came with Shakthi an hour back. He walked along the street fast and entered the narrow way between the buildings. He went through the bushes, on the grass and through the dense coconut trees. Very soon he came to the parallel street behind Shakthi's home. He went towards a house, opened the gate. The house had 2 floors, he climbed the stairs to reach the top floor and came in front of the top portion's door. He fished his pocket for a key and opened the door.

    He went inside and locked the door immediately. He switched on the light. It was a big room and it was almost empty except for some papers and a binocular near the window. He came near the window and closed the curtain. Then he moved the curtain a little bit allowing a very narrow space for just the binocular. Shakthi's house was very well visible through the window. He then zoomed the binocular and he could see the living room clearly. Shakthi was feeding her father something from the bowl. Prakash could see that Shakthi was speaking and was laughing a lot. Perhaps she should be sharing the Basket ball game held that day, he thought.

    He moved the binocular towards her face and zoomed in. He froze there and minutes passed.

    Beside him there were bunch of papers. There were some old crumpled handwritten notes, some typed documents etc. The handwritten notes read,

    Shakthi, 19 years old
    Father : Dharmaraj, crippled, in poor health
    Relatives / Family Friends : None
    Cochin College - Final year
    People might look for her AFTER final year - Almost None.
    Days left till end of final year-

    5 months (striked out)

    4 months
    (striked out)

    2 months
    (striked out)

    2 weeks!

    Prakash talked aloud into his hands as he was holding the binocular, "Hang in there dear. I will soon save you from that pathetic life!"

    (To be continued...)







     
    Loading...

  2. happyperson

    happyperson Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    911
    Likes Received:
    557
    Trophy Points:
    190
    Gender:
    Female
    Good going.....waiting for the continuation....suspense is superb.....
     
    1 person likes this.
  3. Godschild

    Godschild Silver IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,306
    Likes Received:
    23
    Trophy Points:
    68
    Gender:
    Female
    Ooohh! Unexpected twists and turns.
    Don't delay the next part.
     
    1 person likes this.
  4. manoboda

    manoboda Bronze IL'ite

    Messages:
    56
    Likes Received:
    23
    Trophy Points:
    25
    Gender:
    Female
    wow*nice twist.. i really can't wait for next episode. ur story is really making me addicted to il.. :2thumbsup:
     
    1 person likes this.
  5. Malar2301

    Malar2301 Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,594
    Likes Received:
    173
    Trophy Points:
    135
    Gender:
    Female
    Very good narration...I read the whole in one stretch without moving my eyes....Waiting for the next one...great going!!! :thumbsup
     
    1 person likes this.
  6. swaran

    swaran IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    8,647
    Likes Received:
    4,962
    Trophy Points:
    345
    Gender:
    Female
    Wow,...very emotional....yet the thriller continues...excellent narration....
    you rock...please post the next episode soonnn....
     
    1 person likes this.
  7. iswaryadevi

    iswaryadevi Platinum IL'ite

    Messages:
    3,861
    Likes Received:
    926
    Trophy Points:
    240
    Gender:
    Female
    Wow...Too good suspense and excellent narration. Waiting eagerly for next episode. Post soon please...
     
    1 person likes this.
  8. iniyamalar

    iniyamalar Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,432
    Likes Received:
    130
    Trophy Points:
    135
    Gender:
    Female
    Great gripping narration dear. Keep going, we are waiting..:thumbsup
     
    1 person likes this.
  9. sampanna

    sampanna New IL'ite

    Messages:
    7
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Gender:
    Female
    Great Narration ILT.Waiting for your next episode.
     
    1 person likes this.
  10. raji2678

    raji2678 Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,636
    Likes Received:
    453
    Trophy Points:
    158
    Gender:
    Female
    Nice narration.
     
    1 person likes this.

Share This Page