Mauve Starfish and a Mirage

Team Wordoholics : Chapter 2

Read the previous part of the story, Chapter 1 here

What a day! Not one but three cancelled meetings and Tara was back home early today not remembering when was the last time she came back home while the Sun hadn’t still set. Sitting by the window and watching the unpredictable Mumbai rains, Tara was reflecting on her own life. She was the star of her parents’ eye, the cynosure of her class and the most sought after girl on the college campus. Not that life has been unkind to her; today was an unusually different day. She felt that time has just stood still. Today she was all alone, once again. Roohi was still at day care and the house felt as quiet as a graveyard. For once there was no pretense. Shekhar was not at home for a change and Tara did not want this moment to slip away and the same time, she wanted to let it pass.

When Shekhar and Tara fell in love, there was not a day when he would go to bed without having heard her sing. Tara was a trained classical singer and her Bengali accent, looks and style were unique to her. Even before they had met for the first time, Shekhar has once told her over a long phone call that he could just marry her voice. And when they met, there was no looking back. Shekhar proposed her the day they met and since then life took a beautiful turn. Tara was looking at the downpour and missing the good old days. It did not feel like 9 years had passed. Time just flew. But what they say is true. Marriage changes everything. When boyfriend becomes husband, it’s not always an upgrade.

Just five years back when she decided to take up this job, she knew she could do all that is required to make it to the top. Having a supportive husband at home made a lot of difference to her personality. She could see herself transitioning from good to great. She would see how her friends at work worried about groceries, laundry and a ton of household chores but Shekhar was a freelancer and he spent his time working in the study. So all that Tara had to manage was her work and he took care of the rest. She felt lucky and blessed.

Tara was fondly known as TD at work and her team knew it was her by just the click-clack of her Jimmy Choos. Her office at work flaunted some classiest decoratives gathered from all across the world, a LV black bag and even a little bonsai indicative of her taste and status. Likewise, she settled for nothing but the best performance. When it came to picking her team, she interviewed a little over hundred candidates for just five open positions and the entire organization was green with the talent she had on her team. She was a micro-manager, a perfectionist and always delivered the best.

When one deliberately stops and looks at the usual things around, a lot of things suddenly start conveying a different message. Tara was feeling her weak heels and she was wondering why today these pumps don’t seem to be as comfortable as always. Her demanding media job and its day-to-day responsibilities were starting to take a toll on her – mentally and physically. She was not able to understand why today? She always loved her job and knew she would be where she is but today the same responsibilities were like shackles and the only thought that Tara had on the mind was to not let life slip away like this. The tighter she wanted to hold, the harder it was to let go. It was this day today when 5 years back..

Suddenly the doorbell rang!

Read the next part of the story, Chapter 3 here

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