Practical Love #4

Indian Bloggers

This is the finale of a tale I started sometime back, a tale I never thought to extend beyond a single blog post. But then, it was not meant to be and here I am, giving the story an ending, after three installments, only to lead it  to another beautiful start. I hope you will enjoy reading the tale, just as much I did imagining the duo and writing about them!

You can read the first, second and the third part here.


They walked silently towards the escalator leading to the food lounge, while their minds raced albeit confusion and fear, fear of what was about to come and confusion over how they would deal with it. He had rehearsed the upcoming moment a dozen times in his head and he wanted the evening to go perfectly, while she had made up her mind to leave- as soon as he was done discussing whatever  he had to , or, if it was something meant to change her decision of keeping this just  to a friendship. There could be only two possibilities and she was preparing herself best for any outcome.

The food lounge on the third floor  was buzzing with activity, with eateries presenting an array of cuisines lined one after the other. There was a pleasant aroma of various cuisines wafting through the air.

“Which one should we to go?”, he asked.

She thought for a minute, unsure. She had more doubts in mind than choosing  an eatery.

‘This should get over before he does something which would make me stay..’ , She thought looking around and in the next moment said ,”Let’s try that Chinese restro, it’s the only one I haven’t tried here before.”,  all in a hurry. She wanted to spend least possible time, or at least a part of her did.

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Practical Love #3

Read the previous part here


She entered the mall, trying to assure herself that it would be alright and she would stick to her resolve. ‘There’s no reason to take this forward. It would hurt us both’, she thought as she stepped on the escalator.

He was standing outside the store waiting for her, leaned against the railing of the second floor, facing the large floor beneath. He had been waiting for whole five minutes now and nervousness had started seeping in. ‘She will come’ he assured himself. In all these years, it was the first time he had felt this way at the prospect of meeting a girl. What had happened to him, he could not fathom. He had been on innumerable dates before but this was different. This girl was different.

And then he saw her coming up. She was clad in a white suit, her long hair flowing down to her back. ‘She is beautiful’ , He thought, his heart beat getting faster with each passing moment. Was that simply on seeing a girl approach? ‘I must be going mad’ he thought. He could not take the eyes off her until she joined him outside the store and waived a ‘Hi’.

“Hi!”, he said. She came and stood beside him against the railing, watching the crowd in silence, until he remarked, “Salwar Kameez suits you more than those western dresses”.

She smiled, still looking down at the crowd pouring in. “Thanks”, she replied. She was conscientiously trying to keep the conversation to the minimum, for she had seen in his eyes what was about to come, and a part of her wanted to avoid that altogether.

“So, what would you like to do? Head to the store or maybe chill at the food court first?”, he asked.

“I’m sorry, but I’m in a bit of a hurry. Could we head to the store straightaway?” she said smiling in a sorry way.

And that did the trick. “As you say, Madame”, and they started towards the store. Though his heart was sinking, he was tongue tied before that smile, a smile which could bewitch. It was getting increasingly difficult not to fall for her. ‘This girl has some magic’, he thought. He felt surprised to think what he had been doing all those years, as they went over to the Men’s Clothes section. All that looked simply a waste of precious years now, as she stood beside him, going through the shirts.

It was a new and weird feeling and he almost felt as if everything would turn out to be alright. He was feeling at home, with her standing beside him, doing something for him. He was unmindfully looking at the shirts, his mind tangled in his chain of thoughts when her voice brought him out of his sweet reverie.

“How about this one?”, She asked. He took one glance at her choice and smiled.

“Not bad at all”, he said taking the shirt from her hand and keeping it aside. Then he took out another from the rack saying, “I’ll go and try these on” and started towards the changing rooms, while she went over to the women’s clothing section.

‘She has a knack of finding the best stuff out of that ‘, He thought, looking at his refection in the mirror, smiling. He went out to show her the final look, and there she was, her back facing him as she browsed. He was about to call her and ask how that was looking, when a sudden memory flashed his mind. It was a random question, but somehow it seemed linked to this moment. “Would you pay her bill?”, The words resonated in his head. He tired to think but he could not pin point what could it possibly relate to, until he saw where she was standing. It was the women’s clothing section; He had replied he would not pay her bill! Yes, that was it and he had said it right in front of her but she had never seemed to mind. At that point, it had seemed to be the obvious choice because it would not have been worth that effort, She was just another friend. A friend who had gone to become the one with whom he had shared every tiny detail of his world. This close connect had lasted a few months hence, until a silly rumor doubting their growing friendship, had made them part ways for the better.

He silently walked back to the changing room, aiming to correct something he had said long ago.

She had gone through some great stuff, selected a handbag for herself and was now waiting for him to come. ‘He has taken more than fifteen minutes.. ..What in the world is this guy doing?’, she thought, keeping her purchase the payment counter.

She had already paid, when he came into view. He had a sheepish expression on his face which said , ‘Sorry to keep you waiting’. She nodded and gestured him to join behind her in the queue. She gave him the way and then waited patiently. She noticed he had kept both the shirts and along with another flowery one. She had not expected a guy with a fashion sense as him to wear that, except at a beach. It has small printed flowers all over . ‘Wait, Is that a women’s Shirt?’, A possibilty crept her mind as she got a close look at it, when the salesperson opened the otherwise crumbled shirt kept in the basket, to remove its sensors and fold it neatly.

Surprised, she looked at him as he was engrossed in clearing the bill. ‘None of my business’, she reasoned herself. ‘He has no sister, didn’t he?’ again a thought crept her mind before she fought it away.

Finally, they stepped outside the store. “Lunch ?”, he asked expectedly, meeting her eye.

“I’m sorry, but it has been over a hour already. Maybe next time..”, she seemed to be in a hurry.

“I have something urgent to talk about. Could you please stay, just for the old times sake?”, he said with a serious expression.

‘Old times sake?’ she thought. “What is it? Something happened?”, she replied, concerned, like she always was, for everyone, sadly.

“Yes..” he said, his eyes cast on the cream tiled floor beneath. And they walked silently towards the Food court. An awkward silence ensued between them. Only, if they could remove those eight years from in between..

Catch on the finale here!

The image used here has been sourced from the internet.

Practical Love #2

Indian Bloggers


Read the first part here. This is for everyone who motivated me to bring out the second part.Happy reading!

Memories of yesteryears flooded back as if they had been ducked into a farthest corner of her mind, waiting for their release as she pondered over their last meeting, sitting in her room. He was one of those guys she tended to avoid, but her heart would not listen to any of the reasoning she gave it. It was getting difficult to argue with her heart and make it see the sides of him which made him highly unsuitable.

‘He may possess every other quality I idealize but I can’t say the same for his character’, she remembered how girls were nothing more than a number for him. He could never be  a ‘one woman man’. Now she was getting double minded at the prospect of going out with a guy like that altogether, but the wait of years to find the ‘perfect one’ got the better of her when she got a call from him. He was already on his way. And she could not help but say she would be leaving in a minute too.

“Love is blind, personified!”,  She exclaimed, stuffing her cell phone in her purse.

“He must have had a dozens of affairs by now….Stop it!” She reprimanded herself. Why would a girl preserving her love for the ‘one’ go for a guy like him…it wasn’t practical …and right!

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Practical Love


Back in middle school:

“If she was stranded in a shopping mall, short on money, would you pay her bill?” he was asked, quite cunningly at that age, just to know his feelings for a girl he chatted all day long with.

He thought for a fraction of a second and said “No” quite plainly, in a matter of factly voice. She sat on the opposite bench, listening to the conversation. It hurt obviously, but she was too naive to understand the real intent behind this question or the complexities of Love, but other surely did. This guy was open for grabs!

After eight years:

He sat in front of her, as the little conversation replayed in her mind. She was seeing him after a long time and today, she understood what that plain “No” meant and what this meeting meant too.

They were at Coffee Klutch, both qualified professionals and had changed for the better over the years. It was high time they exploited their own options at finding a partner before being plunged into the ‘’ frenzy by their family.
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#3. They found her

Go to AWESOME part one

Go to TROUBLED part two

A barefoot woman was breathlessly running on a deserted street in wee hours of the night. With sweat dripping from her forehead and her hair all disheveled, it looked as if she was running away from something gruesome, away from her death..

“Julia, do you believe in true love?”

His  words were ringing in her ears, torturing her.

“I love you Julia ,from the core of my heart. Would you marry me?”

She couldn’t bear to hear them. They were tearing her apart.

Panting and puffing, she kept running, despite her bleeding foot. But it was becoming difficult with each passing  second , still she couldn’t stop, lest they came after her again.

Suddenly, a blinding light from ahead filmed her eyes. She could hear a jeep coming her way. Was that Toby’s?  Without a second thought, She quickly hid behind the tree alongside the road. She couldn’t afford to caught by his men.

As the jeep passed by her, she got a glimpse of the person driving the jeep. Astonishingly, It was Billy! She felt elated at the newfound ray of hope. She came out from the hiding and  called out with all her might, frantically waving hands and signaling the driver to stop.

As Billy looked back from the the rear mirror, he got a shock of his life.

“Miss Julia?!”

He pulled the breaks in the muddle if the deserted road and jumped out of the jeep. He rushed towards her with a dozen questions in his mind.

“Are you all right? What are you doing here ?”

But before, he could get any answers, Julia fainted. She had already exhausted her last bit of energy on calling him out. Billy caught the falling maiden and put her safely into the jeep. Then he rushed straight to the hospital.

Zyed flied to the hospital as soon he got to know about Julia’s condition. He ran straight to the doctor to enquire about Julia but he didn’t get anything hopeful to hear. Her condition was stated  to be serious. She had already lost lot of blood and her body was not responding to the treatment.

She is still in a state of trauma. Whatever she had gone through has had a profound impact on her. She’s still unconscious. Let’s Hope for the best”  the doctor informed .

Dejected, Her father went in to her room. He saw her lying on the hospital bed unconscious. His heart bled to see her in such a state.
“Julia! My darling what have you done to yourself. My beautiful daughter doesn’t look good this way. Get up dear, daddy’s gonna take you home..” Zyed was crying. His only child-his lifeline was in danger. He could no longer bear to see  dearest part of his heart in pain. He wanted some answers. He wanted to grab that wretched person by the neck who tried to harm Julia and he knew precisely where to go.

“Keep a check on Julia until I come back, understood?” he instructed Billy.

“Yes sir, I will, but where are you going?” 

That’s none of your business. And I won’t tolerate any mistake, get it?” He gave him a menacing look and left.

Billy entered Julia’s room and sat on the sofa alongside the bed and picked up a newspaper lying nearby. He gave one look to Julia, who was still in her deep slumber. Satisfied, he buried Hus head into the newspaper.

Little did he know that everything was not the way it seemed. Julia was not well mentally. She was still in trauma and the flashbacks from the horrifying night were still torturing her in her sleep.

Toby was coming towards her, he was inching nearer with the bloodstained knife..he would kill her too..

“HELP! HELP!!” she started shouting .Billy was taken aback by the sudden screams and rushed towards her. “Miss Julia what is it? What happened?”

But there was no response. All he could do was to see her toss and turn in fright ,Horror marked on her brow. Immediately, he called for the doctor.

She saw him stained in blood approaching her. The knife, it was right there in his hand, and evil grin on his devilish face…

She screamed again,  ” Toby! No ! You love can you..

Billy was shocked. Toby??!

In the mean time, The doctors came in and gave Julia an injection to calm her down. Consequently, She went back to sleep.

But this episode put Billy in an uneasy state. He sat down bewildered and sank into deep thoughts.

“If it isn’t Hector..then all my plans are fowled! I CAN’T LET THIS HAPPEN.. I will have to do something!”

Meanwhile, Zyed had reached his hideout. This was the same place where they had kept Hector. On seeing Zyed arrive, everyone was put on guard and the lock to Hector’s room was swiftly opened.

Hector was lying on the floor, stained in blood.

“What have you done with my daughter? Where did you keep her?” Zyed bellowed as he entered the room.He desperately wanted to know the truth.

There was no reply. Zyed repeated his question. Still there was no answer. Irritated, He picked up the water jug lying nearhand emptied it on Hector’s face.

Hector woke up with a start but was even more startled to see Zyed in front of him. He tried to get up and face him but he could not sit upright. Zyed pushed him up by the neck and roared again, “What have you done with her?”

Hector struggled to get some words out “I ..I did not do anything to her. Sh..e went with him…she told me she was going out with him..look out for that sinister..” Hector uttered with great difficulty, his wounds hurt as he spoke each word.

“Who? What are you talking about?”

“Toby..he..….He’s using her..savee  her from him…”

Zyed was shocked to hear this . “Tobias? Are you telling  the truth?!”

But Hector couldn’t say anything else. He had already fainted. Zyed ordered his men to give him some first aid so that at least he could come in a state of saying something.

But what Hector had disclosed put Zyed into a state of shock and concern. As farsighted and clever he was, he could understand what Tobias would want from Julia or indirectly from him. Tobias’ father was Zyed’s old enemy. Both of them were constantly at loggerheads and after the death of his father, Tibias had to handle the whole political game by himself. Zyed had a hint that Tobias’ party was downsizing. He needed funds to support himself in the upcoming elections.
Toby, on the other hand knew Zyed would never support him or his party. Hence, a big businessman’s gullible daughter would prove to be a perfect bait to get his hunt. All his property was ultimately Julia’s..

Zyed’s blood boiled to think of Toby using his daughter. He rushed back to the hospital. He had to solve this puzzle before it got out of hand. Julia had to speak up before it was too late.

To be continued..
Stay tuned for the next installment!