Dementia

 

My body was tearing apart. It felt like a million hammers hammered on my head. THUD THUD THUD. Hands and legs were aching. The spinal cord was completely snapped, I was lying on my bed, restless, motionless, but with the last ounce of energy I had, I slipped the eighteenth glass of whiskey. Fine, Scottish blender, without water. It was eternal. Each sip brought me to heaven for some seconds, and then again my body broke. But I liked it. After all, whiskey was the only thing I could live out for. The night was drizzly here in Glasgow, Scotland. I could see the light rain. And I remembered how and for whom, I ended up here.

One Year earlier…

“Man, just look at that lady, She’s as beautiful as Madhuri Dixit,” Said my friend, Ram.

“Hell yeah buddy. I think Sam should hit on her. You could get her man!” Said Rajesh.

“Guys, seriously, shut the fuck up,” I said, annoyed. We were working at world’s one of the most famous and effective technology firms, Radiant technos. Though beautiful women working here was normal, I have to admit, this lady looked so damn beautiful.

“She’s new here so please assholes, stop stalking,” Said Mad Malhotra, our boss. His name was Manas. But we called him Mad because he was mad. If he’s in a good mood, you’re up for a treat. But if he’s not, boy, you’re in trouble.

“Sam, come up with me, got some work to discuss,” Boss called me.

“Yeah sure!” I said.

I worked at the business department and Mad was our head. I was Vice. Not the second hand of Mad, though, but Mad trusted me and as I got used to his way, I didn’t have a problem with him either. Moreover, being in good books of the boss always helps.

“What the heck has happened to our shares, Sam? This low! 1,700 only! We used to be around 2k!” Exploded Mad. I didn’t have the answer. Damn it, if I Had known I would’ve cleaned this mess already. 

“Anyways Sam, I didn’t expect an answer from you either. The company is falling behind that google crap and that Steve Job’s workshop. We are even behind that stupid Windows phone. I got the technical department, but I think I need a new set of hands in business administration,” Said boss.

“Wait, so are you firing me from the post?” I asked.

“No, no Mr. Sam Ray. In this hour of crisis, firing a trusted friend and a fighter like you would be the last thing I want to do. By a new set of hands means I’m adding someone else to work with you, you know the saying, “more the hands, better the work.”

“Yes, sir I understand that but can’t you trust my abilities any more? I mean, it’s not the first time we’ve fallen in deep shit. We’ve handled the situations before, right?” I asked.

“Right. Right. And I’m not doubting you, Mr. Ray, I’m just saying this time the deep shit is the deepest we’ve fallen into. And so you need a partner,” Boss said.

“May I come in, sir?” Said a sweet voice.

Oh my fucking god. It was the new lady. She was just brilliant. I mean, literally, she was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen LIVE. She tied a pony, wore a suit and the usual office women dress, had wonderful light brown appealing eyes, fair skin and I could make out it was not makeup.

“Mr. Ray?” Called Mad, but I didn’t hear that time. She had a clean face, fair as hell, beautiful, I mean no words could be enough to describe her beauty and..”MR. RAY!!!” Shouted Mad.

“Yyes-yes sir!” I answered.

“Are you even listening?” Mad asked.

“Yeah..i mean no. I was just..confused about the..about the shares! Yeah. I was worried about the shares!” I said.

“Well don’t be now. Meet Neha, she’ll be working alongside you. Neha, this is Sam Ray. Sam, this is Neha Patel,” He said.

“Hi.” I said to Neha.

“Hi!” She replied.

“So, I’ve explained everything to Neha and Rajesh will shift to some other place and Neha will be with you so that the problem solves faster. Fair enough?” Mad asked.

Of fucking course, it’s fair enough.

“Yes sir, sure!” I replied.

“Good. Operation: get the shares. And if you both don’t succeed, I’m afraid with the company, many jobs will be going down too. Now get your ass to work,” Said Mad. Not sure whether he knew he used the A-word in front of a beautiful lady, but well, that was Mad. He’s what he is.

Neha and I went to the desk and she started the conversation.

“Are you an Indian? I mean your name..and the way you speak English..is not Indian,” Said Neha.

“Yeah, people get confused. No, I’m an Indian. And my name is ACTUALLY Sam. My dad’s a pretty cool dad and he liked this, you know, hi-fi stuff, so he named me that. And as far as my English is concerned, I trained myself to this level. I just love the language,” I said.

“Oh. That’s great,” Neha replied.

“So, you a Gujarati, right? Am to ahiya bau ocha gujju ave,” I said, smiling.

“What the hell?! How come you know Gujarati? Doesn’t your surname make you a Bengali?”

“Well, my whole family is Bengali. But 21 years in Ahmedabad, Brought up with gujjus since a toddler, and so the gujju thing has made a permanent stay than the Bengali one,” I said, she laughed.

“Weird. Your name and speaking style is like an Englishman, but you’re not English. Your surname makes you a Bengali, but you’re more of a Gujarati. Anything else weird I should know about you?” She asked.

“Why not. But later. If I tell you the weird things, Mr. Mad will really kick “A’s”.

She laughed merrily.

“Friends?” She asked.

“I don’t see why not,” I answered.

3..2..1..BLAST OFF! There started our friendship. Wonders happened after that. We solved the shares problem in just 3 months and the shares almost went double. Plus, Neha and I got a salary increase, plus, Neha was now permanently sitting beside me, which was awesome. And the best part was, even when almost every guy in the office tried to hit on her, it was I who got all her attention and time. She called me sweet. I always hated that word. Because every time I’ve been called sweet, boom! I’m in the zone. But not with Neha.

As time passed, we became closer to each other. We called each other every night and used to go for coffee or dates as such. Then one day, during our visit to Café Coffee Day, I told her, “Neha, I want to say you something and I’ll be straight. I have loved you, I love you, and I will always love you. Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Yes-yes? I mean, that’s it? I mean you just said ye..” she suddenly grabbed me and we kissed. We were in an official relationship. I had my first girlfriend and I was with the person who I loved the most in this universe. Things got much, much better in the office too. I got offered the President of business administration post as Mad was transferring to the New York branch of Radiant technos. But I refused it and stayed with my post with Neha with me. Mine and Neha’s pair and partnership was called the “two pigeons” and there was no reason for us not to accept that nickname. We loved each other so much that we can’t even separate for a minute. But as is the old saying, good things don’t last forever.

Neha loved fashion designing. She always wanted to be a fashion designer but somehow, that wasn’t possible. What I didn’t know was that she had sent many designs to one of the world’s famous fashion brands, Ellucio. I was very happy for her too until..

“Sam, there’s something more I need to tell you.”

“Go on, Neha. By the way, let’s have a grand dinner and..”

“Sam! Stop! I wanted to say I have to go to Scotland,” She said.

“Oh. So is it an interview or something?” I asked.

“No Sam, I’ve got the job. I’m going to Scotland. Permanently.”

I didn’t move. I was shocked.

“Sam, I don’t hate this job. Plus, you are there with me so I really like it. But I somehow don’t enjoy it Sam. I like fashion designing and you know I have a passion for that. I can’t miss this opportunity. Please,” She said.

“So. So, you will leave me, forever?” I asked.

“No sweetheart. I will always love you and be for you, it’s just..”

“There is no other option left in our relationship if you go to Scotland. And you know that Neha,” I said.

“Hmm” She answered.

“So you choose Fashion designing over me, right?” I asked.

“Sam, please try..”

Bam! I broke the window with a punch.

“Go away! There is no one in this fucking bullshit world who can be there for me!” I shouted.

“Sam..please..”

“Just Fuck Off! And fuck you and your bullshit fashion designers! Just fucking leave me alone!” I lost my cool. And Neha was in tears as she left me, forever. I had never been so shattered in my life. I cried, sobbed, I punched myself-only to find out Neha had blocked me everywhere-whatsapp, facebook, even from the phone book. I never drank in my life so I had not a single alcoholic beverage. But I needed one. I went to The Taj, where Neha and I were supposed to have dinner. I ordered the costliest whiskey and gulped it down. Then ordered another one, then another until I crashed out.

Days passed by and I became more and more miserable. I hated myself for behaving like that with Neha. I drank frequently. Then one day, I got a call from one of Neha’s friends.

“She’s in Glasgow. She called me and informed me not to tell you, but I can’t bear you seeing this way, so I had to tell,” She said.

“Thank you, Anita,” I answered.

I booked tickets for the next flight to Glasgow which was a month away as all other seats were filled up.

Finally, next month, I reached Glasgow. Scotland. It was the place where I always wanted to be, buy a mansion and spend the rest of my life in this wonderful country. But now, I hated it. I hated this goddamn country for taking Neha away. There were around 4-5 Outlets of Ellucio fashion. I got a room in a 3-star Hotel, got fresh in 20 minutes and set out in search of Neha. I searched in all Ellucio outlets, but none of them were allowed to give information about their employees, lest fashion designers. All I could get was that Neha DID join Ellucio and unlike me, who thought she was an employee, she was a fashion designer. But my bullshit luck finally helped me a bit. While I was at the mall, one of the employees at Ellucio called me.

“I know where she is. When she came, she told that she left her only love of her life for this job. When I saw you searching for her so eagerly, I figured out it was you. But whatever I say is the truth, and all that I know of,” She said.

“Please tell, that would do a good lot to me,” I said.

“I know. She was here a month ago. She’s a fashion designer and has suddenly risen up the ranks. She stayed here for a month and a week and she always remembered you. She told she can’t call you because she’s angry. And then, she got promoted and now she’s in the main city, the city where Ellucio was founded.”

“Paris?” I asked.

“Yes. Paris. The only problem is that I don’t know WHERE in Paris. Also, just to tell you, the Ellucio office in Paris won’t give you information about their fashion designers. They’re very secretive and if you force, you could land in trouble,” She said.

“That’s on me to look out for. But thank you very much. I don’t know how to pay you back,” I said.

“You don’t have to. I have seen lovers going to countries to get back their love only in movies, didn’t anticipate this happening for real. But still if you force, just do me a favor and tell none that I gave you information on Neha,” She said. I thanked her and left.

Present Day…

And then I got back up from the remembrance and found myself again holding the 19th glass of whisky, broken, looking at the rains, knowing little of where should I go to Paris to search for her. My brain was paining too much to even think about anything when suddenly the phone rang. I had a lot of trouble to pick myself up, but got the phone just on time.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Where in the fucking world are you?” Asked someone.

“Rajesh?”

“Oh yes. Rajesh. Where the fuck are you?” He asked.

“Glasgow. But why are you so pissed off?”

“Because I just saw the Madhuri Dixit of our company!” He said.

“Who?”

“Neha, Dumbass. We called her Madhuri Dixit, remember? I just came to a meet where Mad and I were to meet and you had taken a leave so I had been called. I’m in Paris. And when my car was just passing through Notre Dam, I saw Neha!”

“WHAT?!” I asked.

“YES! YES! YES! I found your girlfriend. I’m right now on the way to New York, but I yesterday followed her tail and found her office location. Though she went to two different houses, one of her friends' maybe, I could jolt down only the office and one of the addresses of the two locations. Write them down!” He screamed.

I quickly wrote down the addresses and Rajesh spoke again. “And stop drinking, book a fucking flight and get your Ass down to Paris ASAP!!” He shouted.

I quickly washed my face, slipped some painkillers and booked a flight for Paris Tomorrow.

I reached Paris. I’ve never seen a city like it. But I didn’t do the city tour and went straight to the given address. The door was locked. On the nameplate was written “Alicia Moyre”. This must be her friend’s name Rajesh was talking about, I thought. Then I went straight to Ellucio. They hesitated to accept they had someone called Neha, but as I forced and told my story, they finally told me that she had gone to judge a fashion week and will go home straight. I also got her home address. I reached at her home at 7 pm. And I was dumbstruck to see her nameplate. Instead of “Neha Patel” it was written, “Neha Ray”.

I couldn’t say or do anything so I just seated myself on the bench opposite. 8 pm, 9pm…it was 2am and no sign of Neha until I saw a taxi coming by. And out of the taxi stepped Neha. She looked more beautiful than she ever looked. I hid until she got to her door.

She was about to open the lock when I said, “I have known Neha Patel. But Neha Ray? I’ve never heard that name.”

She turned around and the bag she was holding fell. She gasped and covered her hands with her mouth and cried. Then she came running and hugged me for 5 seconds until she slapped me. Twice. No. Thrice. Fourth time.

“No. Why don’t you leave yourself alone now, huh? Why search all around the world for a stupid fashion designer?!” She shouted. I fell on my knees and said, “Neha. Sorry won’t be enough. I was just too shattered to believe that you were indeed leaving me. You don’t know what’s gone through me..”

“And me? Have you got any DAMN idea what went through me? Do you even know how much hurt I was that day?” She said.

“I know. I came here to correct that mistake Neha. I love you. And I want you back again. Please. I’m sorry. Just give me one more chance. Please.” I said, crying.

“Sam…I love you too. But how are we gonna work it out? You’ll be in Mumbai and me here..”

“No Neha. I will talk with Mad to transfer me to the New York branch of radiant technos. He’ll be more than happy to do that. And plus, he knows many people form the fashion industry, they will transfer you to New York too,” I said.

“What if It doesn’t work out?”

“It will Neha, it will. Trust me. If I can find you half the hemisphere away, anything can be possible for us. I’m just too sorry for that behavior. I love you, I need you and I know you need me too. I just don’t want only your home nameplate to change to Neha Ray. I want it official. Please Neha, just one chance,” I said.

She stood for two minutes and came near me.

“Promise there would be no rifts between us in the future.”

“Promise.”

“Promise you’ll always listen to me.”

“Promise.”

“Promise you’ll always love me no matter what may come.”

“Definite Promise.”

Then she grabbed me and we had the same first kiss, all over again.

I stayed in Paris with Neha for a week, roaming around and romancing. I asked her for marriage and she said yes. And my transfer to New York had been done and hers was near completion. Then Me, Neha, Rajesh, Ram, Mad, Anita all had a big get-together for the re-unite of the “two pigeons”-me and Neha.

And that was my story. I could never believe I would find Neha in such a vast world. I never believed in the power of love. Love, being just another human mistake for me until I met Neha. And now, me and Neha were just a fresh example of what love is actually about. I started all over again at Radiant Technos, from the lower point, but thanks to Mad, I soon got up. Neha, meanwhile is having a successful career at Ellucio, being in the cover of Forbes, twice. As for Dementia, I had it before, in a bad way, and I have it now, In a good way because I forgot and wiped all the bad memories. Now was only Neha and Sam.

FYI, Me and Neha are getting married. In Paris. 1st April. Yes, on April Fool’s day. Because we are two fools who fell in love. And yes,

YOU ARE INVITED :)