Short story

Sickened by the taste of what he ate a couple of hours ago, he was desperate to be outdoors. But, the rain which was pouring, left him only with the option of sitting near the window, watching the rain. He wanted to call her. But from what she had spoken that morning, he promised himself, he would never call her until she apologized. But then, promises between one’s ego and oneself are always at the verge of being broken, only that they are not shown to others. He would take his mobile and press a button randomly, only to read, "Press Unlock and then *."

This process was repeated once every 30 seconds on an average. It was 2 PM already and if there is no relent from the rain gods, he should be expecting a call from her that day, at least to get picked from her office. He did not want to behave as if nothing had happened, but at the same time he did not want to be the first one to give up. He thought, "Let me wait for her call till evening, if the rain doesn’t stop."

The next two hours moved by simply preparing a presentation for the meeting he had the next day. He was a silent creature in his office. If there had been any award for being silent in office, he would have won it five years in a row. The only sounds he made voluntarily in his life were, honking and honking again. When people see him speak even from a close proximity, they would be forced to wonder, if they would find a volume control, which was always turned to "near-zero" somewhere under his collar.

It was 4.30 PM and he came out for a coffee. The rain had stopped. He knew he wouldn’t get a call and only thought, "I am just an umbrella in her life." But then, he had a strange feeling on his thigh. It was her. He was very happy that she had called. He had read somewhere, "only the anxiety of the wait would increase the strength of the bond." He thought, "If she really wanted to apologize, she would call again". So, he decided against answering it. He moved back to his place, expecting a call from her. In the meanwhile, he was recapping what happened earlier that day.

He realized, it was also his mistake to have forgotten the knife in the garage. He just gave a helpless look wondering as to why she was shouting when he had washed it. He knew, she would have not gone this wild if he had replaced it on the breakfast table. Even, it being found in the garage shouldn’t have raged her. But the reason he gave did make her go wild.

"You know, I wanted some sharp object to scrub off the tires."
She shouted, "Knife would be the last thing for any sane person to use as a scrubber on tires. Do you expect me to use it on the breakfast table? How did you manage to get a job in the first place?"
He was now a little raged (only little), "Wash it again if you want. Don’t ever comment on my profession."

He thought, "she must have felt really sorry for what she spoke today. Was it too grave a mistake to use a knife as a scrubber? That’s what my dad used to do and the best part was, mom never used to ask about the knife when she found it in the garage." He called his dad and asked,
"Dad, had mom ever asked about the knife in the garage?"
"No. Actually, she hadn’t asked anything about it in the past fifteen years."
"Ok." He hung up.

He didn’t want to speak much as he wanted to attend her call and didn’t want to miss it again in the process of inquiring about his dad’s asthma. He thought," ok. I would say this. You know even my mom hadn’t asked anything for the past fifteen years, about the knife that my dad used in the garage."

He was not prepared to answer her if she said, "Dumbo! Your mom is dead for fifteen years to ask your dad. And also, that knife would have been there permanently without being used on the breakfast table."

It was 6.30 PM. He once again had that strange feeling on his thighs. It was her. He knew for sure that it wasn’t raining outside. He answered. "I know you would call. I am not angry with you dear."

She asked bluntly, "Isn’t it raining there?"
He hung up after a series of pendulum like movements and searched for his car keys.