A Forgotten Affair

"How was life without me, Anshu?"

Anshul, a famous fashion photographer, who was busy admiring the photographs he had clicked, was surprised when he heard a familiar voice.

"Sid!" Anshul sprang up from his chair and hugged him exuberantly. "I am so happy to have you back."

Anshul bubbled with joy on meeting his friend who was on a vacation for the last two weeks.

"So, how was Manali?" Anshul asked as they settled down on the sofa of the apartment they shared.

"Oh! It was the best vacation of my life." Sid waved his hands in the air. "I fell in love with the beauty of Manali and also with a beautiful girl who works in the resort where I had stayed."

"What?" Anshu smiled exultantly. "I'm so happy for you, buddy."

"So," Sid's gaze turned to the picture of the models on Anshu's laptop, "I guess, you are busy with your photoshoots."

"Yes," Anshu put a hand on Sid's shoulder and said, "come have a look at the photographs I've clicked."

"They are marvelous," Sid was amazed, "you are a genius!"

Suddenly, the laptop shut down on its own.

"Just a minute," Anshu said as he switched it on again, "I'll fix it."

As the laptop became active again, a picture of a lady abruptly appeared on its screen.

"Hey, she's Vani," Sid said and his astonished eyes turned to look at Anshu. "The girl I met at Manali."

"No!" Anshu turned pale at once, "no...it can't be!"

"Do you know her?" The intense look on Anshu's face gave chills to Sid.

"No, actually, " Anshu gulped down heavily and composed himself, "I never met her. Her picture was sent to me by a modeling agency when I was looking for a model for my new project. And, when I contacted her on the phone, she declined my offer."

"Oh, I see," Sid smiled. "Vani never told me that she is a model too."

Anshu shivered as he stole a glance at Vani's picture. He briskly switched the laptop off and pushed it aside.

"Anyway," Sid shrugged. "She gave me a lovely gift as I was about to leave. She said that it was the token of our love."

"What gift?" Anshu clasped his hands that were trembling badly.

"See," Sid held out a small clay statue of a bride and groom. "Isn't it cute?"

A chill ran down Anshu's spine as his eyes froze on the statue. Numerous little beads of sweat glistened from his forehead.

"I am not well," Anshu sprang to his feet and almost ran to his bedroom. "I need some rest."

Anshul took to bed early that night. Sid was still at his office. Around midnight, Anshu woke up as he heard his phone ringing.

"Hello," Anshu murmured into the phone.

"Anshu," Sid yawned, "I won't come home tonight. I have a lot of work to do at the office."

"Okay," Anshu said as he hung up.

As Anshu was about to go to bed again, something caught his eyes and his heart raced vigorously. The statue of the bride and groom, that Sid had brought, stood right on his bedside table. Anshu gasped and slipped to the farthest corner on the bed.

"It can't be here," Anshu said to himself as his terrified eyes stared at the statue. "It was placed in Sid's bedroom, then who brought it here?"

All of a sudden, the statue transformed itself into a beautiful girl who glared brutally at Anshu.

"Y..you?" Anshu stammered out of horror, as he recognized the girl as Vani. "You can't be here. You are dead!"

"I'm back, Anshu," Vani jumped on the bed. "I am going to make you pay for your sins."

"What sins?" Anshu got down the bed and staggered as he moved slowly towards the window.

"You made me a thousand false promises of love only to use me as your model. And when your project was over, you dumped me with yet another fake promise." Vani shouted furiously as she took a few more steps towards him.

Anshu stepped backward in the direction of the open window of his bedroom as he saw her approaching.

"Do you recognize that statue?" Vani pointed a finger towards the statue of the bride and groom. "You had gifted it to me the day you left Manali as a promise of marriage."

"Forgive me, Vani." Anshu stood glued to the wall by the side of the window.

"Do you have any idea how shattered I was when I realized that you had deceived me?" Tears rained down Vani's cheeks, "and when I lost all hopes of sharing a life with you, I jumped down from the window of the room where you had stayed and ended my life."

A moment of silence gripped the air in the room as Vani wiped her tears.

"Now you are going to do the same." Vengence made her roar.

"I am really sorry, Vani." Anshu folded his hands and begged her.

Vani raised a hand and Anshu was pushed down the open window behind him. He fell down from the fifteenth floor and died instantly. The statue of the bride and groom feel on the floor simultaneously and broke into pieces. Vani's restless soul finally found salvation.