Page 37 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

Her lips curved. “Thank you.” She tossed her glossy hair and wiggled curvaceous hips back to her bamboo
basket. She carried the basket and schlepped up the path, smelling the rose.
“Wow,” I said. “She’s terrific.”
Darjay glanced at me, curling up his lips. “She is.”
I gaped at her audacity of walking over to me to take the rose. “She is not a countryside girl,” I said. “Village girls
are timid. This girl is far advanced and her dress is fanciful.”
Darjay nodded.
A few days later, I waited for her on her way to the stone quarry. I smiled and waved. “Hi, what’s your name?”
A secret smile crossed her beautiful face. “Yethrolma.”
“As beautiful as your beautiful face.”
She giggled, hiding away her face.
“You study here?”
“No,” she said.
A huff of a pleasant breath of HAPPYDENT filled the air. And her hair smelled of Clinic shampoo.
“Where”
“Thimphu.”
“Really?” I said. “How come you’re here?”
“My mom lives here,” she said.
“Oh, really?” I said. “Let’s chat next time. You’re getting late.”
She flashed me a coquettish smile and scurried away.
Darjay showed no interest in whatever I did. He just stared into the distance with a worried face.
“What’s the matter, buddy?” I said.
“It’s time we returned home,” he said.
“Why?” I said. “It’s not even a week.”
“We must go.”
“I won’t.”
“What? Don’t even think of staying back.”
“I am staying here.”
“Your granny would bark at me.”
“Tell her I would come next week.”
He sighed. “Fine, will you escort me till Wamrong?”
“I will.”
Yethrolma would come to work every day. Sometimes, I would carry her basket. Her friends would gossip in
envy, but it didn’t bother me. Soon, I followed her to her house.
“What’s going on?” said her mom. “You will be in trouble if your brother knows about this.”
“Nothing, Aunty,” I said. “We’re just friends.”
No wonder her mom flushed her anger at me, I followed Yethrolma to her place almost every day. Despite
gossip and her mom’s stern objection, Yethrolma and I never stopped seeing each other.
With each passing day, our attachment burgeoned, but I had not expected parting would be the hardest. The day
before we parted, I arranged our last meeting place, but she didn’t turn up. I tapped the ground with my feet,
glancing in the direction she was supposed to come. “Why isn’t she coming? Did her mom stop her?” I held my
chest as the pain ripped my heart. “Never mind, I would write her a letter.”
Crestfallen, I got up to leave. Yethrolma stood right before me. Her faint smile that concealed sorrow said it was
almost too much for her to bear.
“I almost left,” I said. “What took you so long?”
“I was kind of a bit busy.” Sadness flowed with her soothing voice. “Sorry for being late.”
“Never mind. I am glad you turned up. So?”
She blinked her teary eyes. “So what?”
“You’re crying, aren’t you?” I said, jokingly.
“Why should I?”
Her voice trailed off. Her eyes were obvious, but whatever happened inside—from the auditory sensation of her
tumbling voice—I could tell her heart cried as much as mine.
“I am glad you are not,” I said, lowering my eyes. “I thought you wouldn’t come.” I slipped my arms around her
shoulders. “Thanks for coming.”
“Really?” she said, fiddling my fingers. “You’re welcome. I am gonna miss you.”
“I am gonna miss you too.”
She then snuggled into my arms and said, “You won’t forget me, will you?”

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