Two years had passed. This divorce might have been one of the fastest in the history of India. Two years of trying to make it on her own. A deep insecurity was birthed inside her by her ex-husband claiming despite her masters in Administration, she wouldn't be able to survive without any support. Plus, the drama of relatives after the divorce cemented her wish to make it on her own. So, without any help, Nalini at the age of 38, shifted to Bangalore. Although she had good savings left, her career was reaching nowhere. Unfortunately, her career was still better than her personal life.
Depression made her unhealthy, obese, weak & lonely. Her once smiling face envied by many, was expressionless most of the time. No matter, how hard she tried, it was difficult to make it on her own. She needed a push. A base support. A motivation to keep going.
Today, she was sitting on her bed in her studio apartment with blood flowing from her arm from tripping over her own bag which she had left in the middle while leaving for office. Her electricity was disconnected by the Electric discom as she had forgotten to make the payment. Moreover, the news of mass layoff bundled with the news of her ex-husband marriage date been fixed, broke every shred of positivity inside her. Tears kept rolling off her cheek and she had no intention to stop them.
Nimish, aged 35, had met Nalini's father on his trip to Kedarnath last year. Nimish had been divorced for 4 years by then. He also was a good childhood friend of Nalini. Nimish had actually vanished from the society and reported dead multiple times within the community. There were many more baseless rumors about him. However, his parents knew how happy and complete he was now. Nalini's father felt that Nimish could understand and maybe support her daughter with a good job. He thought, once Nalini secured a stable job, rest everything will fall in place. He asked Nimish to look after her, if possible. Nothing much else was spoken between them as her father felt a ghost stood in front of him because of the rumors.
Today, Nalini's father had to call Nimish again as he feared something might be wrong with Nalini. He too knew about their ex-son in law's new marriage. Nimish had met Nalini twice in last one-year, post-midnight at her apartment. They spoke little and he assured her that everything will be fine soon. He asked her to believe that this was just a phase and soon will be over.
Nalini's door bell rang. It was 1am. Through her peep-hole, she saw Nimish and let him in. A candle was lit to see each other. Nimish had realized by now that Nalini was completely broken today. He heard her. He heard how average she felt at the job. He heard how lonely she felt and how much it pains within her. He heard how much she tried to give all of herself multiple times and still not find a stable partner. She kept crying. Nimish sat on his knees in front of her holding her hands while she sat on her chair. He recalled something from his teenage and spoke very specific.
"It is difficult and I've never said that it wasn't going to be difficult." Nalini's cheeks had turned pink from all the crying. She had a very fair skin. "I just pity on you that you hadn't found even a good friend to be with you, to keep you going."
"I don't know anything about how to get my life together. I don't what should I do and where should I start. Everything has fallen apart. It's been months and even one night of good sleep seems unachievable now."
"I met a girl in my college days who was less broken but at that young age, even a small heartbreak felt much bigger."
"So, what did you do?" Nalini knew Nimish had multiple relations before his marriage and he was a good human being.
