The harsh rays of the sun had always caused her to give in to her temptations, at least that was what was said about her. Her endless flowing streaks resembled the soot on the face of a coal mine worker, her eyes all too soft for her sharp jawline. Sunaina was revered by the residents of the town and wherever she went, she radiated a sense of warmth and love to all those around her.

Without any sort of hesitation, she treated herself to the divulgent pleasures of an ice-cream, with a sense of conquest over humanity who seemed to suffer at that particular moment in time. Ever since she was young, her inquisitiveness saw no bounds- she wanted to know EVERYTHING. Through the years, it gradually metamorphosed into that of being a woman who wanted to control every outcome, every relationship and if she could have had things her way, she would have even controlled the behavior of all those around her. As a supplementary addition, she even became over-protective of all the people she considered important in her life; all of which was well known to one and all.

Having devoured the ice-cream, she returned to work with a sense of renewed enthusiasm; at this point, one is bound to wonder about her age. Her fitness regime and strict control on her diet meant that based on physical appearance, she looked in her twenties whereas if one bothered to deduce her age from the number of years she had spent on the planet, he would be in for quite a rude surprise- her late thirties. Being the workaholic that she was, relationships were a thing of the past for her, however, over the years, she had been through a rough relationship which, as was last heard, didn’t end too well. Some even said that she had to undergo therapy for the traumatizing effect that it left upon her while others speculated that it was all a sham. Being close to her, I can assure you that her pain was all was too real. Days turned into weeks and all that she did to relieve her of the pain was to distract herself by engaging in various activities, work ethic being her latest muse. Although she didn’t change much as a person after that incident, the one thing that surely changed was her ability to trust people, so much so that even after her marriage, she chose to stay in her own, even with her spouse.  Perhaps some scars that humans inflict upon themselves can never be healed and are meant to be adorned like a soldier on the warfront.

Ever since she had the ice-cream, Sunaina felt a weird tingling sensation in one of her molars. Through the first few hours after lunch break, the pain was bearable- she had endured a whole lot more, emotionally that is. As was typical of her nature, she battled her way through the pain and tried to concentrate on work, however, she reached her threshold after minutes that felt like years. Without any other thought, she scheduled for an appointment with her doctor and set off immediately, without further delay.

A peculiar feature of her past relationship was her attachment to her partner. For those who don’t know Sunaina, she comes across as an introverted person who is content with her own circle of friends; nothing could deter her sense of superiority. However, ever since that unfaithful relationship, she could not afford to be trodden upon. Thus, as a result, it was the husband who faced the consequences. On the flip side, he was a more mature and understanding spouse and knew the trauma his wife had faced. Never had he tried to push her out of comfort zone nor had he tried to confront her on her past, all he ever did was to nurture her as a young sapling, hoping that one day she blossomed into the grandest tree in all of the landscape. Doesn’t it seem strange that a human could be so perfect? Only if one developed the ability to read between the lines could one decipher the tension developing in the dormant brain. All it needed was a trigger, something that would release the tremendous pressure that was spewing inside and fortunately, that trigger had not been let loose until then.

Devoid of the pain but a little numb from all the anesthetics, she returned home with a sense of relief. It was only then when she regretted having surrendered so easily to her temptations; it wasn’t the pain that caused the musing, it was her having to reschedule her work. Exhausted with her unproductive idleness, something that only a workaholic can relate to, she retreated into her room where her cat lay, in all its glory. Everything seemed to be a daze but she managed to get a glimpse of her husband in the living room, reading the newspaper, all by himself. He seemed a little indifferent at that particular point in time but there was anything else she could observe. The darkness converged in her pupils and with a last ditch effort to regain control of her being, she gasped to get some oxygen into her system- a futile effort as she soon lost consciousness…

She opened her bleary eyes when the cat, all seven pounds of squirming flesh, climbed onto her belly. Squinting into the sunlight streaming in from the open window, she discovered that she was now the weary possessor of a pounding headache, and at some point, had managed to lose both a tooth and a spouse. Recovering from the profound weakness that she was subjected to, the reality suddenly seemed to sink in; her husband wasn’t there! He wasn’t at the table at which he sat reading the newspaper only moments ago. Anxiety started to kick in and her fight-or-flight mechanism started to operate, mainly the former. Desperate screaming soon turned into futile screaming which then grew into a deep sob, filled with sorrow and regret. She somehow held herself responsible for all that had happened and felt weakness when she fell back into the phase of her traumatized self. Her worst fears were soon realized and somehow she realized that there was no way out of this emotionally draining trench- all the things that she kept from her husband, all the moments of intimacy which they could have shared, all the things that could have been. Deep anguish had set in and she resented herself for allowing her past relationship to affect her current one so profoundly. She cursed herself in the hope that it would subside the pain and remorsed at how she possibly drove her husband out of her life. She could have traded anything only to turn back the wheels of time so that she could tell her husband, how much she loved him for one last time! She sank to the ground, with any spark of hope that maybe kindling in her, diminishing.

Having seen enough, the husband decided that it was time to call off the entire scheme. Oddly enough, it was him who had conjured the entire setting in an attempt to make his wife realise the importance of living in the present and not worrying too much about the past or the future. The family dentist had been informed of the enterprising scheme, with instructions to provide a higher dosage of anaesthetics; he knew his wife all too well and knew that the summers would see her succumb to her temptations and thereby would indulge in the consumption of food items that would provide respite from the harsh sun. However, he had not predicted that the incident would occur in such an unexpected manner and would catch him off guard. When he heard his wife enter the house, he thought that it would be the monotony that their life had to offer; the food, the television and the going to bed. Only later did he realise what had transpired and was pleased to see his scheme being executed without any hiccups. When Sunaina lost consciousness, he calmly got up and walked out of the house, leaving the cat by her side in order to build a believable scenario.At no point did he let her out of her sight and knew that he would have had to act swiftly if things took a turn for the worse. The tooth had been conjured up from the dentist who added to the scheme by implementing the tooth loss scenario, indicating an occurrence of a physical struggle. The anaesthetic that had been provided to her had side effects of a sense of confusion and anxiety, the very traits that he wanted to exploit and the very traits that became his accomplices to make the scheme seem believable. Almost feeling guilty at how much he had made his wife endure in order to overcome her foible, he rushed to her aid, comforting her and calming her down. He explained the entire situation and how it was all staged, at which she did not react. It was maybe because she was angry at how naive she had been in reacting to the entire situation and partly because she was ecstatic with the fact that her husband actually understood her mannerisms and accurately predicted her every action.

Thus was resolved the lives of the couple whose lives were so greatly affected by their past and how susceptible they had been to any level of strain that their relationship would have to encounter. The greatest gifts that can be offered to another is not determined by the materialistic value it possesses, rather, it depends on the intention with which it is gifted. The most precious and priceless thing that I could gift myself and my wife was the everlasting prosperity, love, and peace in our relationship to uphold which I am ready to sacrifice anything should the need arise. Love isn’t a feeling that you have to be in, it is a feeling that you can’t live without.