Once Upon An Anniversary!!

The clock struck 12, it was midnight. She realized she had lost track of time. There was so much work pending and too less time left. Her eyes were tired from focusing constantly on the laptop screen. Suddenly her eyes fell on the date stamp at the bottom right corner of the laptop screen. The date had changed to 10th November at midnight. She felt anxious. She saved her work and shut down the laptop. She reached out to her bag which was lying closeby, pulled out the cigarette packet, got up and walked out of the study.

She walked straight into the living room and reached out to the lighter lying on the side table. She sat down on the sofa and lighted the cigarette. As she took her first drag,her mind drifted away into her past.

Exactly five years ago,she had gotten married on this very day - 10th November. She had just completed her master's in law and was in two minds whether to practice or go for a corporate job which is what women generally preferred in those days.

Her parents, both lawyers, had always been supportive, they were fine with her choosing any of the two options. However, there was a caveat, she should get married first and then she can follow her heart. For her parents, marriage provided a woman the stability that she needed to take risks in her life. They had already found a suitable match for her in Ajay Grewal, the son a former High Court judge. Ajay had completed his master's in journalism from Cambridge, had worked for a couple of leading news channels in the UK for five years , come back to India and joined one of India's leading news channels and had risen to the rank of assistant editor within a year,he was respected by his colleagues and loved by his viewers. He was sharp in his analysis and never shied away from calling a spade a spade.

She had been in awe of his work too. Their meeting was fixed by their respective families. She was curious to know how someone who had such worldly views had agreed to an arranged match.

After the initial exchange of pleasantaries, they finally got a chance to be alone on the terrace. He lighted a cigarette. He offered her one but she politely refused. In her head, she detested smoking. She blurted out the same without her knowing and Ajay started laughing.

Realising her blunder, she quickly added that she was ok with him smoking, it's his choice but she personally doesn't see anything good in it. Ajay retorted saying he agreed but he really enjoyed it, smoking helped him cope up with anxiety.

Little did she know at that point that smoking would eventually become something that even she would enjoy the most years later.

Ajay was open about his past relationships stating that he has had his share of flings which had left him emotionally drained but he was hopeful of finding love again. He wanted to make a fresh start and move ahead.

Before she realised,they were engaged. The courtship period was of three months during which they met every weekend. Ajay always encouraged her to be independent and take her own decisions. He would advise her to fly as high as possible.

There was a bond of friendship that had developed and it was getting stronger and stronger by the day. Egged on by Ajay, she decided to practice. Her thoughts of getting into a cushy corporate job was laid to rest, let the comfort zone go to hell.

Finally the wedding day arrived. Everything was picture perfect. They were married. The first month after marriage was bliss,they travelled to New York as Ajay was invited to speak at a conference on evolution of media and its impact on society.

Once back from New York, things started moving back to normalcy, Ajay was a workaholic, he would leave early and come back post midnight. She understood that this was part of his job and never complained even once. She appreciated his dedication towards his work. They would meet for 15 minutes everyday during breakfast.

Overtime she started feeling a bit neglected, but then she would think such negative thoughts were a result of her being idle. She started feeling anxious over time.

She decided to work but didn't know where to start. She was hesitant to talk to Ajay as he already had a lot of things going. Nevertheless, she decided to talk to him.

It was a bright Sunday morning, Ajay had promised that he would spend the entire day with her. The plan was to stay at home,have a sumptuous lunch, watch the latest film from his favourite superhero franchise on the blue ray player that he had recently acquired while on a trip to Singapore and then go on a long drive in the evening.

She was lost in thoughts at the breakfast table. He called her name loud and she snapped out of the reverie. She apologized, told him what was bothering her. He listened to her patiently. He picked up his phone and dialled a number. He asked the person on the other side to note down a number. It was her number, she was wondering what he was up to. He asked the person on the line to come and meet her the other day and hung up.

He looked at her, smiled a bit and told her that she had got her first case. She had no clue what he was talking about. He said she would know everything when the person comes to meet her the next day.

The person who met her was a middle aged upper middle class man who had invested his life savings to buy a plot in an elite neighbourhood of the city. The local politician from the ruling party was keen on getting the very same plot to build his swanky office and was using all his clout to get this man to sell him the plot. Since a bigwig was involved, no lawyer was willing to take up the case. He had reached out to Ajay but he couldn't do much as news channels couldn't ever afford to be too free spirited in this country.

She was unsure she could do anything for the man. She didn't want to disappoint him. The man had all the paperwork in place. He had evidence that he was being forced to sell the plot. It was an open and shut case. All he wanted was someone who could present the facts in court without being intimidated.

She took all the required documents and assured him that things would be good. The man left, she walked into Ajay's study. She felt very panicky.

Suddenly she noticed Ajay's cigarette packet on the table. She took one cigarette out and lit it and brought it closer to her lips and took the first drag. She felt a sharp pain in her throat and felt sick and threw the cigarette away. However, she realized the pain had indeed managed to divert her attention and made her feel less nervous.

That night, she couldn't sleep. Ajay came back around 1am. He was surprised to see her awake. The moment she saw him, she ran towards him and hugged him tight. Tears welled up in her eyes. Ajay hugged her tight. She felt so secure. She said she will take up the case.

The case was done in two hearings. She had won the first case of her career. The fact that she was Mrs. Ajay Grewal earned her extra praise from the media. Also what made it more special was that it was their first anniversary.

He had sent her a bouquet of roses with a note saying "You make me a proud husband each day of our lives. "

She sent him a text "Couldn't have done this without you" followed by a heart emoji.

The next year zapped through with her winning a couple of high profile cases. She had become one of the most sought after criminal lawyers in the country. She was happy, had started smoking occasionally much to his dislike.

He would chide her, call her a hypocrite, give her angry looks. She would agree but add that she had started enjoying smoking.

It was their second anniversary, they had managed to steal sometime out of their busy schedules for a quiet dinner. Ajay challenged her that he would have quit smoking by the time of their third anniversary. If he does it,she too would have to quit. She laughed it off.

Ajay had become the editor in chief. It was time to rejoice. He would confess often during free time how difficult this field of work was and how much grind one had to go through to reach the top. Thankfully, he had her by his side.

By the time they completed three years of marital bliss, he had kept his promise. He had quit smoking and wanted her to quit as decided but she was adamant.

The next year brought in a bit of displacement. Ajay got an offer to set up a channel from scratch and knowing him, he would take it up happily. What would it mean? Longer working hours, prolonged absence from India as the promoters of the channel were London based. They, infact, wanted Ajay to shift base to London for a year until the channel became fully functional. He politely refused knowing very well she would not be comfortable.

She was forthcoming, it was fine if he had to stay away, she knew he would be there for her. He didn't agree. He proposed to visit India every month for a week which his clients happily agreed to. Time flew by. She had taken another case which was perceived tricky by the media as it involved the drug mafia.

Ajay was not someone who would interfere with her work, but he could sense distress. He knew this case would take a toll on her. The fact that he was away from her constantly did not help in any way possible.

He was in India for their fourth anniversary. He had broached the topic of letting go of the case but she laughed it off as usual. He gave her the wings to fly, now he can't stop her from touching the sky, was her lame argument. Ajay took her hand in his and kissed it.

They met only thrice in the next one year as Ajay was caught up with the channel launch. The case proceedings began. She was fearless.

He would call her everyday to check if she was fine. He even suggested that she move to her parents' home for some time. It was just a matter of time before he would be back in India. He promised that he would be back in time for their fifth anniversary. She would mock his newly found guilt which she loved to the core.

The clock stuck 3. She snapped out of her thoughts. It was indeed their fifth anniversary and he had kept his promise. He was on a flight back home and would reach anytime soon. He had last spoken to her six hours before boarding the connecting flight from Dubai.

She picked up her phone and dialled his number, it was not reachable. She hoped he was fine. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. She was overjoyed. She would be seeing him after six months.

She opened the door. She froze. Her entire life flashed before her eyes as she fell to the ground. She was shot at point blank range. She was not bothered. She wanted to see him one last time.

She was struggling to stay alive. Just then he arrived. She saw him one last time, everything started to fade and eventually became black. The end had befell.

There was pandemonium everywhere. People had poured in to offer their condolences. He was calm in that hour of grief.

It was not of her death that he was thinking about, it was of the beautiful 23 year old who walked into his life five years ago and made it her own, who gave him the precious treasure of love and respect and went away.