Page 121 - Till the Last Breath . . .

The autorickshaw drive to Varun’s place was shorter than she would have

liked. Don’t go, a voice inside her screamed as she paid the auto driver and
then climbed up the stairs to the lobby of the fifty-storeyed apartment
building in Connaught Place where Varun lived alone. His apartment was

on the thirty-eighth floor from where one could enjoy a brightly lit view of
Delhi at night. She had lost count of the nights she had spent staring

aimlessly into space while Varun prepared for his next big meeting.
‘What took you so long?’ Varun asked as he opened the door. He was still

in his office clothes. A finely striped shirt, now hanging over his crisp,
ironed trousers. Varun was ageing faster than normal and looked more like

thirty-two. He was ageing gracefully, though; the greys in his hair were
patterned and looked good on him.
‘I stopped by at the hospital. I wanted to see how Dushyant was doing,’

she said. She searched for any change in the expression on his face.
Disappointed, she looked away.

‘Want a drink?’ he asked.
‘I don’t drink.’

‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Yes.’
Kajal was annoyed. He had known her for ever. How could he overlook

such details? It wasn’t the only thing, though. Time and again, she had
chosen to forgive him, blaming it on the age difference, on the difference in
the kind of lives they led and the kind of people they inherently were. They

were both born into money, but while Varun had grown up to appreciate the
luxuries of life, Kajal still loved her novels, her music and the dirty spice of

street food more.
‘Won’t you ask how he was? How things went?’ she said, trying to incite

him, to elicit a reaction of any sort from him. His calm demeanour, his
uncaring self and absolute lack of possessiveness irritated her. Sometimes,

she wished he would shout at her, scold her and threaten to leave her. Do
something that would make her feel important, loved. Anything that would
make her feel more than a useless piece of furniture you turn to when tired.

A few months back, she had even posted pictures of her with a guy Varun
didn’t like, on Facebook. Still no response. Just a shrug and he moved on.