The Flooded Basement And A Rush Of Memories!

Write Tribe

Either it didn’t rain at all for days, torturing everyone with the heat, or it rained in torrents, like today. She grumbled as she toiled in the basement of her row house. She had been in there since afternoon, trying to swipe off the water and save any items worth saving. It was a tedious job and she was at the end of her patience. She had had to throw away many cartons containing useless stuff.

“And now, what is this?” She muttered to herself as she came across an unopened carton which was already soaking wet. She tore the top open and peeked inside to see some more useless stuff – pens that were not working anymore and should have hit the recycle bin years ago, some bills whose print had faded away to nothing, some old newspapers and a zip-lock bag containing some –

“Greeting cards! Oh my God!” She whispered in awe as she threw away the carton and sat on a stool with the zip-lock bag in hand. She carefully opened it and saw her precious collection of greeting cards – all from her childhood friends and family. She eagerly opened every card and read the contents, feeling delightfully nostalgic.

She gasped when she came across one particular card. It was from him. He had given it to her on her birthday, just after their break-up. She ran a hand over the card, not sure about how to react. Years had passed by, and yet the card seemed to say that nothing really had changed.

They had been in the same college, though not friends.  But as long as she could remember, she always had had a crush on him, like almost every other girl in her college. His brooding personality seemed to attract everyone to him. She used to watch him from far as he would roam on the campus with his girlfriend (whom she hated with all her heart!). She had already accepted that he was out of bounds for her. So she took heart in just admiring him from a distance.

And then one day, she heard the breaking news that was circulating in the college. He and his girlfriend had broken up. The news filled her with hope. She decided to make her presence known to him and to come to his notice. She made it a point to come to his attention as much as possible. She deliberately passed in front of him again and again, ignoring him outwardly but feeling ridiculously hopeful from within. He did take notice of her, he did get attracted to her and within two months of his break-up, they both had become a couple. Her friends warned her again and again that it seemed too soon and may be this was just a rebound relationship for him but she argued with them and refused to see their point of view. He was the first person she had ever loved and would always love, she had decided resolutely.

It took just six months for their affair to end. It slowly started with him missing out on three dates consecutively. Her friends suggested to her that may be he had withdrawn from the relationship. She was devastated even to think about it. She refused to confront him about the relationship. In fact, for a month, they didn’t meet at all, each avoiding the other.

One day, he had finally taken pity on her and seeking her out, he blurted the truth to her that he didn’t want to be in the relationship. It had broken her heart, but she faced it like a matured person and even suggested that they maintain their friendship, for which he readily agreed.

They had broken up a month before her birthday, and on her birthday, she invited him for a dinner party alongwith her friends. He agreed and accepted her invitation.

To say that the dinner was awkward, would have been an understatement. Not only did her friends avoid him blatantly, some of them even passed rude remarks on him. He listened to everything stoically and stayed silent and subdued throughout the dinner.

After they all had food, they left the hotel and stood on the road, saying bye to each other. Her friends refused to leave them alone and resolutely stood beside her, urging her to ‘get rid of him’ quickly. 

Their remarks had hurt her too, for she was still madly in love with him. He hesitated for some time and finally took out a card from his bag.

“Happy birthday.”

She gulped down the lump that had suddenly appeared on her throat. She nodded and accepted the card. She opened it and read. It was simple, just a card that a friend would give to her. Still, it made her emotional and to her dismay, she broke down, right in front of him.

“Please don’t cry, it’s your birthday. I don’t want you to cry on your birthday. I am really sorry about everything.” He said miserably, not knowing how to comfort her.

She wiped her eyes and laughed nervously. “I am sorry for breaking down like this.”

He didn’t say anything, instead he looked at her in concern. “You said you are okay. You obviously lied.”

She replied in a defiant tone. “I am fine. I am allowed to get emotional every now and then.”

There had been a staring contest between the two. Her friends chose the exact moment to come near her and drag her away from him. He waved sadly to her and left.

An approaching car brought her back to the present day. She hastily put the cards inside the zip-lock bag and scrambled to get out of the basement. God help her if her husband saw it. She would never hear the end of it.

She got out exactly the same moment as he stepped out of the car. She had that naughty look on her face that he had learnt to read by now thoroughly.

“And what have you done now?” He asked, folding his hands and leaning on the edge of his car, an amused look on his face.

“Nothing. How come you are early today?” She asked.

“I am not early, sweetheart. I am late. I couldn’t reach office at all due to the heavy water-logging. I had to wait at the junction for hours and just returned with great difficulty. Tell me what are you hiding behind your back.” He said, approaching her with a mischievous look as she looked here and there for rescue.

Within seconds he had reached her and before she could protest, the zip-lock bag was in his hands. 

He opened the bag and whistled, looking at the cards.

“That’s quite a collection.” He said with raised eye-brows. She didn’t reply, silently praying ‘Let him not find the card, please!’.

Unfortunately, the card was the first one inside the bag. As he opened it, the expression on his face changed to something really smug.

“You still have it, even though we had broken up at that time.” He said smirking in amusement.

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself! I have the habit of accumulating all kinds of garbage!” She shot back. Now that he had found his card, he would tease her mercilessly, she knew.

For few seconds, there was a familiar staring contest between the two. And then they started laughing. He had had a bad day, struck in the worst kind of water-logging situation, she had been inside the basement for hours, but nothing mattered now, in the presence of precious memories and never-ending love.