Lovelorn - A short story - Part 2
Sheetal Gupta, was always a shy
girl with intelligent brown eyes and a beautiful face with classical features.
Though she did not consider herself good looking, she was oblivious of the
striking picture she made as she passed the corridors of West High University.
Her eyes though would always be searching to find the one face she had
imprinted in her mind and heart. Aditya, the college Romeo was her secret
fantasy. She had his routine byheart and orchestrated her presence around him
with no difficulty. Thanks to her technical genius and her friend The Internet,
she soaked in every detail about Aditya. His likes, dislikes, favourite colour,
food etc. Making him hers was her only
anthem and with careful manipulation she accomplished her mission.
A lonely childhood with little or no love had Sheetal craving for it the most. She felt she had so much love to give and was she not entitled to happiness as well. However, having brought up the hard way in a cold, cynical world, a jaded Sheetal knew, Life is never Roses and Candy. Due to Fate, I was alone and never loved. But now, I make my own destiny. Aditya is my destiny and I will not leave anything to chance or fate.
In her quest for love, Sheetal fixated on the handsome, affable and kind hearted Aditya. Though he was popular, yet he was no snob and he greeted everyone with warmth and a smile. He on the other hand was particularly amused by the pretty and shy girl who always seemed to hang around him, her eyes speaking volumes of unfinished poetry with her eyes. He was definitely hooked. Nobody was surprised when they became an item and got soon after got married. While in courtship, her obsession for Aditya increased when he reciprocated her feelings. Her story – she mused, had a happy end after all. The end was just the beginning.
Aditya’s work involved being around a lot of beautiful and glamorous women. He was a successful photographer whose work was evident in all the fashion magazines. His career was definitely looking up. As work started pouring in, his erratic work hours started bothering Sheetal. She would be pacing up and down their apartment, imagining the worst. Aditya would lovingly coax her and assure her that he had eyes only for her and that she had to stop being paranoid. As time passed, Sheetal’s bouts of jealousy too increased. Their frequent arguments turned into full blown fights which put a strain on their marriage. Sheetal was now desperate to keep Aditya chained to him and on a relative’s, suggestion decided to plan a child with him. Although Aditya was not sure if this was a good idea, he nonetheless approved of it, thinking maybe their child will give her joy and a purpose other than him in life. Besides he loved children, so it would be perfect.
It was bliss for a while, before Aditya’s outstation shoots had her agonizing over his absence. She would fear he would leave her and not return. Her needy behaviour bordered on neurotic and Aditya got frustrated as days passed. Rishi was the only silver lining that he looked forward to.
Nalini had entered Aditya’s life at such a juncture. Her boisterous nature, funny one-liners and attractive personality brought a whiff of sunshine in his otherwise sad life. Nalini was drawn to the brooding photographer with the intense eyes. She encouraged him to open up with her as friends would. They became each other’s confidantes but it was inevitable that this friendship would blossom into something more. Aditya would look forward to being at the studio to meet Nalini. He knew that he was living dangerously and that he should not get involved with Nalini. But he fell victim to his own desire. Desire to love a woman who was so full of life and passion. She reminded him of all the things he was before….
Nalini could see the internal conflict that Aditya was having with himself. She knew he was a married man and obviously there were some issues there. But she was beyond caring. One evening after an ad shoot, while packing up, Nalini asked Aditya to stay back as she thought, ‘this is it! I have to tell him how I feel.’
“Aditya, I need to say this out loud about how I feel.” said Nalini softly
Aditya’s heart skipped a beat before he said, “Nalini, I ...
“Please, don’t say anything, just hear me out,” pleaded Nalini. “I think I have fallen in love with you. No, it’s not your fault this is completely me. I just thought I should tell you this and ask you for a gigantic favour.”
“Please let me be a part of your life. A tiny place in your heart. I do not ask anything else but your presence in my life. Let me love you please! Do not shut me out. Let me in Baby!”
Aditya’s eyes shone with emotion as a wave of unexplained feelings gushed forth. He held Nalini close and looked into her eyes. He said, “Nalini, I am a troubled soul. What happiness can I give you? You deserve to be with someone better. You will have no future with me.”
“I want to be in your present, I do not care about anyone but you. I love you!” Cried Nalini as she lifted her face to kiss him. There was no looking back after that. They spent most of their time together at Nalini’s house or his studio. Their passion knew no bounds.
The more time Aditya spent with Nalini the more his relation with Sheetal suffered. While Nalini made him happy and unconditionally loved him, Sheetal’s agitation made him guilty. He tried to makeup by showering Sheetal with gifts and flowers and taking his wife and son for outings and dinners. The scam worked for a while.
A woman’s intuition especially a wife’s is always attuned to her husband’s behaviour and body language. Sheetal was getting all the attention that she wanted from Aditya. But her instincts told her something was off. While she didn’t doubt Aditya’s love and commitment to his family, lately he had been distracted, she observed.
A surprise trip to Aditya’s studio on a shopping spree revealed that Aditya had not been to his studio and his whereabouts were unknown. The final straw was Aditya’s lie on being casually asked how his day was at the studio by Sheetal. Accusations flew back and forth of how Aditya was cheating on her and Aditya on his part accusing Sheetal of driving him to suffocation with her paranoia and jealousy.
Aditya was cooling his heels at the Bandra police station, he swept a hand over his tired face. He looked at the impassive faces of the people around him. Some were local pickpockets brought for an identity check. Then there were the bored looking constables who were chit chatting amongst themselves oblivious to the mess around them. Inspector Deshpande called out to the constable who sprang into attention to bring in Aditya Shroff. Aditya’s fingerprints were taken and details of his cell phone were being tracked. The FIR report required his statement and Aditya decided he had nothing to hide and being truthful was the need of the hour. So, he narrated his entire story of how he met Nalini and that their professional relationship turned soon into an affair. He recounted the details of his last meeting with Nalini at her apartment.
After having a huge fight with his wife over Nalini and he had to rethink as to where his life was headed. He was in turmoil but he knew in his heart what he was supposed to do. So, on that fateful day he had gone over to Nalini with a heavy heart to break it off. After he left her house, he had walked over to a park near his house to compose himself. Sat there for an hour or so before heading off home to his wife and kid.
Inspector Deshpande on doing a through scrutiny of Nalini’s house had noted that there no forced entry so the attacker had actually been led in by the victim. Nalini had received calls from a magazine editor and a designer. She herself had only called Aditya and secondly her sister based in Dubai. He also noticed that there was a missing photo in the photo frame at Nalini’s bedroom dresser. Was it removed by the killer or had Nalini herself removed it after her breakup with Aditya?
It did not make sense. What did make sense was this was no robbery. Aditya was going to have to get a strong alibi to prove his innocence. Something else struck him odd and suddenly he knew what had to be done.
Sheetal nervously clutched Rishi as she sat in Inspector Deshpande’s cabin. There were dark circles under her eyes and her face was pale. Inspector Deshpande cam in with another officer and asked her if she needed water. He explained that she had been called in for questioning regarding Nalini Sharma’s murder. He proceeded to question her.
“Mam, did you know Nalini Sharma personally?”
Sheetal replied, “Only through my husband. She is a model, was ...”
“Have you ever met her?”
“Why would I?” replied Sheetal, “I hardly knew her”
“Your husband sure did know her well, though?”
“They worked together. And my Aditya is not a murderer!” sobbed Sheetal, now losing her cool.
“Would you mind telling us where were you on the day of the murder? Deshpande continued to ask.
“Home” said Sheetal uneasily.
“We made enquiries in your building and your friendly neighbour Mrs. Kaur told us that you had left Rishi with her between 5 to 8pm. So, let me ask you again, where did you go? “
“Officer what nonsense is this? what are you trying to say?”
At this point Aditya was brought in by a constable. Aditya was surprised to see Sheetal and asked “What’s going on officer? Why is my wife here?
Inspector Deshpande hated times like these, but somebody had to do the ugly job.
Mr. Aditya, we have strong evidence that your wife was at the crime scene. CCTV footage shows her walking in and out of Ms Nalini’s flat. Also, a photo which was missing from Ms Nalini’s bedroom was found torn into pieces in the vicinity of the house. We also found a detective’s card in the trashcan of your house. Seems, Mrs Shroff has been quite busy while you were busy elsewhere. She had you followed. Kept track of the two of you meeting. After you left, yesterday Mrs Shroff paid a visit to Ms. Nalini. However, it was not with the intention to speak, before Ms. Nalini could say anything, your wife stabbed her viciously to death. She ransacked the apartment and stole the cash, jewellery and mobile phone to make it look like a burglary. Of course, we are still searching for the murder weapon but –
“Enough!” Aditya slammed his hands on the table. “This is preposterous! My wife has nothing to do with this. Sheetal, you did not go to Nalini’s place, did you? You cannot accuse her.”
Mr. Shroff, did you know that Mrs Sheetal has had a history of mental illness. That she underwent 2 years of intensive treatment for Bipolar and Obsessive love disorder at Pune’s Yeravda Asylum. She has been obsessed with you and this obsession has taken its toll on her.
Aditya’s face had been carved in stone, only a tear trickled down his cheek as he called out in a pained voice “Sheetal…?”
Sheetal was mumbling to herself, “Bad girl, papa doesn’t love me…. Mamma got angry with me and went to God. They laughed at me … and secretly whispered that I was weird in school. Why wasn’t I anybody’s favourite? I think they wished to see me die but you know. Adi wanted me to live. He used to smile at me. Only me. He was my Prince who would rescue me. He is the reason I gave myself a chance to live. Tears were rolling down her cheek but she was talking as if in a trance. “Adi, you love me, right? And you know I only did it to protect our love… Now we are together, you safe Adi. I will protect you my love.”
“Why are you looking at me like that? Why is everyone so silent? Adi tell them about how we met and our love story.”
“Did you know the bouquet of red roses sent to you on valentines’ day were from me?”
“And your bike helmet, that went missing during Annual day was taken by me.”
“And the letter written in blood…”
“Adi …. Adi?”
The End
A lonely childhood with little or no love had Sheetal craving for it the most. She felt she had so much love to give and was she not entitled to happiness as well. However, having brought up the hard way in a cold, cynical world, a jaded Sheetal knew, Life is never Roses and Candy. Due to Fate, I was alone and never loved. But now, I make my own destiny. Aditya is my destiny and I will not leave anything to chance or fate.
In her quest for love, Sheetal fixated on the handsome, affable and kind hearted Aditya. Though he was popular, yet he was no snob and he greeted everyone with warmth and a smile. He on the other hand was particularly amused by the pretty and shy girl who always seemed to hang around him, her eyes speaking volumes of unfinished poetry with her eyes. He was definitely hooked. Nobody was surprised when they became an item and got soon after got married. While in courtship, her obsession for Aditya increased when he reciprocated her feelings. Her story – she mused, had a happy end after all. The end was just the beginning.
Aditya’s work involved being around a lot of beautiful and glamorous women. He was a successful photographer whose work was evident in all the fashion magazines. His career was definitely looking up. As work started pouring in, his erratic work hours started bothering Sheetal. She would be pacing up and down their apartment, imagining the worst. Aditya would lovingly coax her and assure her that he had eyes only for her and that she had to stop being paranoid. As time passed, Sheetal’s bouts of jealousy too increased. Their frequent arguments turned into full blown fights which put a strain on their marriage. Sheetal was now desperate to keep Aditya chained to him and on a relative’s, suggestion decided to plan a child with him. Although Aditya was not sure if this was a good idea, he nonetheless approved of it, thinking maybe their child will give her joy and a purpose other than him in life. Besides he loved children, so it would be perfect.
It was bliss for a while, before Aditya’s outstation shoots had her agonizing over his absence. She would fear he would leave her and not return. Her needy behaviour bordered on neurotic and Aditya got frustrated as days passed. Rishi was the only silver lining that he looked forward to.
Nalini had entered Aditya’s life at such a juncture. Her boisterous nature, funny one-liners and attractive personality brought a whiff of sunshine in his otherwise sad life. Nalini was drawn to the brooding photographer with the intense eyes. She encouraged him to open up with her as friends would. They became each other’s confidantes but it was inevitable that this friendship would blossom into something more. Aditya would look forward to being at the studio to meet Nalini. He knew that he was living dangerously and that he should not get involved with Nalini. But he fell victim to his own desire. Desire to love a woman who was so full of life and passion. She reminded him of all the things he was before….
Nalini could see the internal conflict that Aditya was having with himself. She knew he was a married man and obviously there were some issues there. But she was beyond caring. One evening after an ad shoot, while packing up, Nalini asked Aditya to stay back as she thought, ‘this is it! I have to tell him how I feel.’
“Aditya, I need to say this out loud about how I feel.” said Nalini softly
Aditya’s heart skipped a beat before he said, “Nalini, I ...
“Please, don’t say anything, just hear me out,” pleaded Nalini. “I think I have fallen in love with you. No, it’s not your fault this is completely me. I just thought I should tell you this and ask you for a gigantic favour.”
“Please let me be a part of your life. A tiny place in your heart. I do not ask anything else but your presence in my life. Let me love you please! Do not shut me out. Let me in Baby!”
Aditya’s eyes shone with emotion as a wave of unexplained feelings gushed forth. He held Nalini close and looked into her eyes. He said, “Nalini, I am a troubled soul. What happiness can I give you? You deserve to be with someone better. You will have no future with me.”
“I want to be in your present, I do not care about anyone but you. I love you!” Cried Nalini as she lifted her face to kiss him. There was no looking back after that. They spent most of their time together at Nalini’s house or his studio. Their passion knew no bounds.
The more time Aditya spent with Nalini the more his relation with Sheetal suffered. While Nalini made him happy and unconditionally loved him, Sheetal’s agitation made him guilty. He tried to makeup by showering Sheetal with gifts and flowers and taking his wife and son for outings and dinners. The scam worked for a while.
A woman’s intuition especially a wife’s is always attuned to her husband’s behaviour and body language. Sheetal was getting all the attention that she wanted from Aditya. But her instincts told her something was off. While she didn’t doubt Aditya’s love and commitment to his family, lately he had been distracted, she observed.
A surprise trip to Aditya’s studio on a shopping spree revealed that Aditya had not been to his studio and his whereabouts were unknown. The final straw was Aditya’s lie on being casually asked how his day was at the studio by Sheetal. Accusations flew back and forth of how Aditya was cheating on her and Aditya on his part accusing Sheetal of driving him to suffocation with her paranoia and jealousy.
Aditya was cooling his heels at the Bandra police station, he swept a hand over his tired face. He looked at the impassive faces of the people around him. Some were local pickpockets brought for an identity check. Then there were the bored looking constables who were chit chatting amongst themselves oblivious to the mess around them. Inspector Deshpande called out to the constable who sprang into attention to bring in Aditya Shroff. Aditya’s fingerprints were taken and details of his cell phone were being tracked. The FIR report required his statement and Aditya decided he had nothing to hide and being truthful was the need of the hour. So, he narrated his entire story of how he met Nalini and that their professional relationship turned soon into an affair. He recounted the details of his last meeting with Nalini at her apartment.
After having a huge fight with his wife over Nalini and he had to rethink as to where his life was headed. He was in turmoil but he knew in his heart what he was supposed to do. So, on that fateful day he had gone over to Nalini with a heavy heart to break it off. After he left her house, he had walked over to a park near his house to compose himself. Sat there for an hour or so before heading off home to his wife and kid.
Inspector Deshpande on doing a through scrutiny of Nalini’s house had noted that there no forced entry so the attacker had actually been led in by the victim. Nalini had received calls from a magazine editor and a designer. She herself had only called Aditya and secondly her sister based in Dubai. He also noticed that there was a missing photo in the photo frame at Nalini’s bedroom dresser. Was it removed by the killer or had Nalini herself removed it after her breakup with Aditya?
It did not make sense. What did make sense was this was no robbery. Aditya was going to have to get a strong alibi to prove his innocence. Something else struck him odd and suddenly he knew what had to be done.
Sheetal nervously clutched Rishi as she sat in Inspector Deshpande’s cabin. There were dark circles under her eyes and her face was pale. Inspector Deshpande cam in with another officer and asked her if she needed water. He explained that she had been called in for questioning regarding Nalini Sharma’s murder. He proceeded to question her.
“Mam, did you know Nalini Sharma personally?”
Sheetal replied, “Only through my husband. She is a model, was ...”
“Have you ever met her?”
“Why would I?” replied Sheetal, “I hardly knew her”
“Your husband sure did know her well, though?”
“They worked together. And my Aditya is not a murderer!” sobbed Sheetal, now losing her cool.
“Would you mind telling us where were you on the day of the murder? Deshpande continued to ask.
“Home” said Sheetal uneasily.
“We made enquiries in your building and your friendly neighbour Mrs. Kaur told us that you had left Rishi with her between 5 to 8pm. So, let me ask you again, where did you go? “
“Officer what nonsense is this? what are you trying to say?”
At this point Aditya was brought in by a constable. Aditya was surprised to see Sheetal and asked “What’s going on officer? Why is my wife here?
Inspector Deshpande hated times like these, but somebody had to do the ugly job.
Mr. Aditya, we have strong evidence that your wife was at the crime scene. CCTV footage shows her walking in and out of Ms Nalini’s flat. Also, a photo which was missing from Ms Nalini’s bedroom was found torn into pieces in the vicinity of the house. We also found a detective’s card in the trashcan of your house. Seems, Mrs Shroff has been quite busy while you were busy elsewhere. She had you followed. Kept track of the two of you meeting. After you left, yesterday Mrs Shroff paid a visit to Ms. Nalini. However, it was not with the intention to speak, before Ms. Nalini could say anything, your wife stabbed her viciously to death. She ransacked the apartment and stole the cash, jewellery and mobile phone to make it look like a burglary. Of course, we are still searching for the murder weapon but –
“Enough!” Aditya slammed his hands on the table. “This is preposterous! My wife has nothing to do with this. Sheetal, you did not go to Nalini’s place, did you? You cannot accuse her.”
Mr. Shroff, did you know that Mrs Sheetal has had a history of mental illness. That she underwent 2 years of intensive treatment for Bipolar and Obsessive love disorder at Pune’s Yeravda Asylum. She has been obsessed with you and this obsession has taken its toll on her.
Aditya’s face had been carved in stone, only a tear trickled down his cheek as he called out in a pained voice “Sheetal…?”
Sheetal was mumbling to herself, “Bad girl, papa doesn’t love me…. Mamma got angry with me and went to God. They laughed at me … and secretly whispered that I was weird in school. Why wasn’t I anybody’s favourite? I think they wished to see me die but you know. Adi wanted me to live. He used to smile at me. Only me. He was my Prince who would rescue me. He is the reason I gave myself a chance to live. Tears were rolling down her cheek but she was talking as if in a trance. “Adi, you love me, right? And you know I only did it to protect our love… Now we are together, you safe Adi. I will protect you my love.”
“Why are you looking at me like that? Why is everyone so silent? Adi tell them about how we met and our love story.”
“Did you know the bouquet of red roses sent to you on valentines’ day were from me?”
“And your bike helmet, that went missing during Annual day was taken by me.”
“And the letter written in blood…”
“Adi …. Adi?”
The End
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