The purpose of this blog is to bring you good fiction stories.
FIDELITY OR INFIDELITY
1
“When Justice Isn’t Enough”
A big car
arrived at the Mumbai court. Journalists thronged the car. Sameer got down,
followed by Mr. and Mrs. Colonel. The press was having a field day, with one of
their biggest industrial names involved in controversy. They pushed and shoved
and threw their questions at him. He ignored them all and stepped in the court,
where his lawyer Nandani was waiting for him, with a reassuring smile. Sameer
tried to feel as calm as her, but for him, his entire life was at stake.
Sameer
stood in the witness box - nervous, waiting for the verdict that would change
his life. Murder. Bail. His life seemed to revolve around those words these
days: waking up, at the temple, on the way to the court. Murder. Bail. Murder.
Bail.
Presently, the judge came
in and the whole court stood up. He stood there, embarrassed, sweating, looking
for his handkerchief and thinking about the verdict that was to come. What would
it be – life imprisonment, death penalty, or would he, by any chance, mercy? He had
the best lawyer money could buy, and the evidence of his innocence had been
submitted. Despite his lawyer’s assurances, his mind was clouded in fear. His throat was dry with anxiety, and he asked for some water to ease this
The judge began his final
verdict,
“After
examining all the witnesses and the arguments regarding the case, and looking
at the evidence, the court has come to the conclusion that this was not a
planned murder but an accident. Thus, the court drops its charges against Mr.
Sameer and releases him.”
As he heard
the final judgement, his happiness knew no bounds. The tears that came were
filled with an overwhelming emotion. He wiped them away and secretly thanked
the lord for this chance to start over.
Just as
everyone was making their exit, Mr. Colonel came to meet Sameer and took him in
a warm embrace. “I knew it. My belief in you has been strengthened.”
“Thank you, uncle. For being there by my side throughout. I don’t know how I would’ve gone
past this without this faith.”
Just then, Mrs. Colonel
too came to meet him. “Sameer, let’s go find Anjali soon. It’s time to go
home.”
*************
Sameer
stood in front of Anjali’s photo. A beautiful painting, it had been his gift on
their first anniversary. He missed his wife terribly, her calming presence,
her loving touch. He stood in silence for a while, lost in thought. And then,
he said the words he had held inside for so long.
“I’m sorry
Anjali. I’m sorry for everything. Sorry for what I have said and done. Please
forgive me for not trusting you, for not understanding you.” He hung his head because he knew of no other way to reach her. The tears came now, and with them,
the last strand of restraint let loose. The words came pouring out now,
uninhibited.
“Why did
you give up on us? Why did you go away? I miss you, my love. Life is not the
same without your soothing voice, without your words. Please come back. I
promise to learn from my mistakes and be a better man, one more deserving of
you. I hope my voice reaches you. You remain constantly in my thoughts, in my
heart. There is such a long life we have promised together, don’t cut it short.
I understand everything now – your love, your sacrifice. Please forget those
moments of anger. Please come back. ” His voice was hoarse, but he continued.
“I cannot undo anything. But I want to lessen your pain and share it with you
so that we can get past it together. I miss your willingness to listen, your
patience in understanding, the strength of your support, and the pure love. All the things
I took for granted. Please give me one more chance.”
His tears
flowed incessantly, his eyes were red and sore, and the night seemed to be going slower than ever. Tired, exhausted from the battles of the last year, he
slumped onto the couch, free, finally, of all the charges. But what was the
point of this? Anjali was nowhere, and he needed her.
*************
He woke up fatigued as ever,
having not slept properly. His mind, constantly with the love of his life,
would not go to rest. The morning after, Sameer had his first breakfast at home
after a long. The breakfast, alone, went just as terribly. Without any of his
family, it seemed that the worst fight was yet to come.
One of his staff walked in.
“Sir, here’s the mail from when you were not here.” He took the bunch. There was one large one
which stood out, and he opened it first. It contained one notebook. A brown
leather cover and a lace that went around it. He started to read.
“If you are reading this
book, I am dead. You may read this as my life story, or a suicide note. It
doesn’t matter anymore.”
He didn’t want to read
further. He sat, the book in his hand, his mind shocked, his body numb. And
then, very slowly, very softly, the words left his lips, “Anjali .. no…no…Anjali… ” The book fell out
of his hand, and the tears started again. This time, they were stronger, and he
cried like a baby. The servant got him a glass of water.
“How could you do this Anjali?
How?”
The tears flowed for a
long time, and when they dried, the body took over, laying his mind to rest.
They were best friends,
lovers, and soul mates, destined to be together, everyone thought, but as it
happened. Anjali was gone, and she would never be back. That was the reality he
had to live with.
2
“A Voice Through the Silence”
Many days
after he first received the notebook, Sameer couldn’t get out of his home. But a
business cannot run on personal grief, and he needed a distraction. Eventually,
he got to work. Every evening, he would come home, have his dinner, and lie
down on his bed, trying to read her book. And every day, he got stuck on the
first page. Today, however, he was determined to read more.
“Life is
not the station, life is a train, always running towards one eventual destination.
I may not be with you, but your train, after that one halt, is back on track.
So must you be.
“Yes, it is hard to imagine not being in your life, to not have your hands in my hair, never share your
secrets, never cry and laugh with you. No feeding the pigeons, no more jogs, no
more races, and no more wins. No more dances with you, no more parties, no more
kisses…
These, our moments of
happiness, are but brief memories, and we must now be content to live with them
only.
He stopped again and
thought that he could read no further. But he gathered the courage to do so and
went on, the tears still unstoppable, so that every few minutes he had to wipe
his eyes to see clearly.
“It is funny how we will
forget all the good and remember that one bad thing of a person and stick to
judgment. You are one of them. It hurts me to say it. Will you understand my
perspective? Will you call it fidelity or infidelity? “I know that it is with
great difficulty that you read this. But I had to share my thoughts and my
pain, my feelings and my reasons, and you refused to hear me. That’s why I had
to write it all down here. It isn’t all good, I promise. You’re going to read a
lot of the good, the bad, and the ugly. But I hope somewhere along the way, you
can understand me better through this. So I start from where we began.”
Click the link for chapters
https://mubistories.blogspot.com/2025/06/story-fidelity-or-infidelity-chapter-3-4.html
To be continued ......................
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