Sweven

I felt a pat on my back as I sipped my espresso. I turned around to see a woman, probably as old as a college student staring at me. She had hazel-brown eyes that looked tense. “Excuse me, Sir, I think our tickets got interchanged at the counter. This is probably yours. I was just behind you in the line at the ticket counter,” she said, pointing toward a ticket in her right hand, which had my name printed on it in caps.

“You can have the seat,” I said. She looked at me as if I was Amitabh Bacchan from KBC giving her 7 crore rupees. “You want me to take your front seat? That’s ridiculous!” “It’s not. Please, I insist,” I said. She looked at me, wide-eyed, then looked back at her feet. “Okay,” she said, unable to hide the happiness, yet feeling guilty for me.

The concert night went by, and my friend, who was also there at the concert dropped me home. I rang the doorbell. I was a little too excited to get back home, so I cared a little too less about the concert I paid 8000 bucks for. Rose came and answered the door. “My God! How can she look so gorgeous?” Rose, my wife, is a gorgeous woman. She looks even more stunning in red. Today she was wearing a red gown, the one I gifted her on her birthday. I was too stunned to speak, so she held my hand and took me inside the house in our dining area.

The place was decorated with candles. I looked at Rose and she giggled softly. “You told me that you had something special to say. I can do this much, can’t I,” she said. God, I love this woman. She poured me wine into a glass and then poured it into her glass as well. She pointed towards the glass, nudging me to have the wine. “What is it?” she asked. “Amelia read my mail. She has approved of my 2-year apprenticeship under her. It starts next month,” I said excitedly. She said, “But how can we move to the States? And if only you go, how would we maintain long distance? Babe, drop this, you are a good lawyer. You will have growth here.” I felt my heart stop beating. What is she saying? This has been my dream. She knows about this, she knew when we were getting married that I have always dreamt of this. She continued speaking and said, “I love you, but we are happy here and I have my past in the States that I don’t want to be reminded of.”

I was already crying. “Rose, we had talked about this earlier. You said you were okay with it!” “People change Mike! What’s the big deal in it? WHY CAN’T YOU, FOR ONCE, JUST THINK ABOUT ME? WHY DOES EVERYTHING ALWAYS HAVE TO BE ABOUT YOU?” I felt dejected, and her shouting was making me feel dizzy. I said weakly, “Please. I have always wanted this.” There was absolute silence for the next few moments. She then slowly started speaking, “I had gone for a doc’s appointment today. You know what the doc said? He said that if we don’t plan a child in the next year and half, we might have some serious complications. Tell me what do you want to choose? Your child or your stupid dream. TELL ME!”

As soon as she stopped talking, she threw her wine glass on the floor, with rage. She also looked a little tipsy. With all the dizziness and the wine working its way to the head, she couldn’t stand straight and fell down. A big piece of glass got inserted into her palm. I rushed to help her but she waved me off. She got up, walked towards me and held my hand tightly. The other end of the glass that was inserted into her palm struck me. She kept tightening her grip. Tears were rolling down from both of our eyes. I felt helpless and my world felt shattered. She looked at me and said, “I love you. Promise me, you won’t go?” Blood was gushing out of my palm as well. I nodded my head silently. She smiled at me and left the room. I looked at my hand. It was bleeding and yet, all I could think about was her pain. My dreams had shattered in a matter of few moments. I don’t know what I experienced in the last few moments, but something felt off. This can’t be the person I have always loved. This can’t be her. I fought back my tears, but they kept flowing.

My wedding ring was bloodied, so I decided to keep it in my wallet. I searched for my wallet and kept the ring inside it. A ticket fell out of my wallet. It was that girl’s concert ticket. I smiled. She looked and resembled Rose so much. She resembled a time and a version of a person whom maybe I had lost forever.