A Warm Winter

By Priyam Kumar

This is a story about two people: Abhay and Anamika, who are different, yet similar to each other. They meet in the beautiful city of Chandigarh, and fall in love. But even as they do, they have their own secrets, and pasts that they do not want to share with each other. However, as the bond of love cannot be formed with the thread of lies, they do reveal their secrets, which bring back memories that they would rather lock in a dungeon. While Anamika reveals of her dowry hungry ex-husband, Abhay talks about his former love, and his true identity comes into picture. While it seems that they have come closer to each other, the cruel hand of destiny plays a game with them, so much so that their lives are wrecked and transformed completely. While Abhay realises after a year that his love is gone, Anamika becomes famous, in the world of fashion and movies. Her life looks pretty, but is hollow, until she meets Abhay again, and their worlds collide. This is a tale of highs and lows, love, friendship, trust and patience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Apr 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482820898

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Copyright © 2014 by Priyam Kumar.

ISBN:                  Softcover                  978-1-4828-2090-4

                            Ebook                       978-1-4828-2089-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Epilogue

Dedication

To Dadiji—my grandma

Acknowledgement

I am indebted to my parents, not only for their encouragement and support, but for understanding my passion, for the written word.

I feel elated by the affection my brother, my sisters and my cousins have showered upon me.

I am deeply touched, by my entire family, for their warmth and acceptance of me as a writer.

I appreciate all my friends, for being great and positive influences in my life, and in the lives of my characters.

I am grateful to my publisher, Partridge Publishing, for bringing this story, out to the world.

Lastly, I would like to thank the readers, for their trust in me, which makes me want to write on and on.

Thank you.

Prologue

‘I have something to tell you,’ ventured Anamika.

‘Okay,’ responded Abhay.

‘It is related to my past.’

Abhay did not know what to say. He did not react to Anamika’s words. All was going well between them. They were in love. They were really happy. He could not want more. He chose to ignore what she said, especially if something bad was about to pop up.

‘It’s about to rain outside. I can see the dark clouds hovering above.’

‘You know, I got married once, and then divorced,’ blurted Anamika.

Abhay looked at her, surprised.

‘It is not the only secret I have to share,’ whispered Anamika.

Abhay forgot about the rain that poured and quenched the parched earth’s thirst. He was too numb even to hear the shrilling cry of a baby a few seats away. As the train rambled to its destination, a number of questions erupted in Abhay’s mind. The first one being—why was she unfolding her secrets to him after such a long time?

‘Why are you telling all this to me now, Anamika? It has been more than six months since we met each other.’

‘I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I cannot keep you in the dark. Every relationship is based on trust and honesty. I am sorry that I did not tell you earlier. I love you, but I was not sure if I could trust you.’

Abhay was overcome with a sense of guilt. He too had not been entirely honest with Anamika.

‘What is it Abhay?’ queried Anamika.

‘I too have something to tell you.’

Both lovers looked at each other for some time, as they did not know what to say. And then, Anamika spoke.

‘Let me begin first.’

Chapter 1

A Warm December

O n a typical freezing December morning, Abhay rushed to his Chandigarh office like a mad man. It was 6:12 am and he had to reach his office by 6:15. He only had three minutes left. Otherwise, he would have to miss the 250 rupees he got for working in the morning shift. It was then that he saw the girl who would make him reach his office late, forever.

With a shawl draped around her long neck and face, a slim, long haired girl, was kicking the pedal of her scootie pretty hard, but it simply refused to start.

Abhay was in a moral dilemma. On one hand, he would lose money, if he did stop to help this damsel in distress. On the other side, he might not see her ever again.

The girl gave Abhay a fleeting glance, and then went back to kicking the arrogant pedal. Abhay pulled hard on the emergency brake of his motorbike and almost fell over to one side. He controlled the bike and stopped.

He looked behind and saw the girl adamantly trying to kick her scootie back to life.

Abhay hurried to the spot and approached the girl.

‘Need help?’

The girl looked up at Abhay and didn’t know what to say. She was in a hurry but didn’t know whether to trust a stranger or not.

‘I am sorry. I am Abhay. I was heading for my office and I saw you in a fix. We don’t know each other, but please do let me help.’

The girl had no choice but to take the young man’s help.

‘I was rushing to the railway station. It was then that my scootie broke down.’

‘What time is your train?’

‘It departs at 6:53.’

‘But, there is still a lot of time.’

‘Sure, except for the fact that I forgot my train ticket at my room.’

‘Don’t you have the ticket’s message on your cell phone?’

‘I accidentally deleted it last night and forgot the printout at home.’

‘How far is it?’

‘I stay in Panchkula, Sector-10.’

Abhay rapidly calculated the total time it would take. Going to and fro would take 20 minutes. But then she had to search for the ticket too. That may take another ten minutes. It was already 6:17. They had to hurry up.

‘I’ll take you to your place,’ Abhay offered.

‘What?’ asked the girl, surprised at Abhay’s act of benevolence.

‘Please don’t think otherwise, I am just trying to help you.’

‘What about my scootie?’

‘There is a free vehicle parking just across the road. We’ll quickly park it there and I’ll take you to your place. You can pick it up later.’

‘But…’

‘Your vehicle won’t start. You’ll miss your train.’

Those words did the magic. The girl agreed and they dragged the scootie to the parking lot. Abhay started the engine of his motorbike and the girl sat behind him. They rushed to Sector-10 in Panchkula. Being a cold morning, the roads were naturally empty. They reached the place in no time. It was a swank bungalow, and she was obviously a tenant. They flung open the gates and she hurried to her room. She unlocked the door and looked around the room.

Abhay observed the room. It was neat and clean—just like a nice girl’s room is supposed to be. The girl was in such a hurry that she didn’t bother to remove her shawl even for a second. And, she definitely didn’t have a clue as to where her ticket was.

‘Do you have any idea where your ticket may be?’ asked Abhay.

‘I must have kept it somewhere on the bed yesterday. I couldn’t find it in my purse.’

Abhay noticed a piece of paper fluttering below the bed. He had hit the jackpot.

He went under the bed and took it out.

‘I got it. Let’s hurry,’ Abhay said as he waved the ticket to her.

It was 6:50 and they were about to reach the railway station. The extra time wasted was due to a mad dog that started chasing them the moment they reached the bungalow. Abhay pelted the crazy animal with a stone to stop the beast in its tracks.

As they reached the railway station, the girl finally heaved a sigh of relief. Abhay was impressed with himself. He had done a pretty good job.

When the girl got down the bike, she thanked Abhay.

‘Thanks.’

‘Don’t mention it. You are still on time,’ said Abhay and started the engine of his motorbike.

‘Anamika.’

‘Pardon?’

‘My name,’ said the girl and shook his hand.

‘Oh, I am Abhay.’ introduced Abhay cheerily.

‘I got to go, bye,’ uttered Anamika and rushed to the platform.

Abhay had lost 250 rupees. But, he had helped a girl in trouble. It was a good feeling. It would have been better if he could see her face properly.

Abhay had no idea that he would witness her again, so soon. It all happened just a week after the railway station incident. It was on a Friday night, when Abhay’s friends Samar and Ruchi dragged him to a discotheque called Voodoos in Sector-26.

It was the first time that Abhay entered a discotheque. He had no clue as to what was in store for him. The man outside took the cell phone numbers of everyone entering the disco. As Abhay was about to enter the door, the bouncer pressed an ink stamp on the back of his palm. Abhay had no clue why he did that, but he obediently entered the disco as the bouncer directed him to go ahead.

The moment Abhay entered the disco, his ears were subjected to blaring music and his eyes to a sea of darkness. Everything was dark except for some shimmering lights that zig-zagged on the dance floor, the bar and the huge flat screen that displayed music videos. Most of the area except the dance floor was kept in dark to provide privacy to the crowd that had come to enjoy.

Samar found a friend of his and started chatting with him.

‘I am really lost Ruchi. I don’t know what I am doing here,’ said Abhay as he noticed people gyrating excitedly to the pulsating beat.

‘Don’t worry. I want you to meet somebody,’ said Ruchi to Abhay and pulled him to the bar. There were two girls standing next to the bar who had just ordered their drinks. One girl was facing the bar, and the other had her back to Abhay as she was looking at the dance floor.

‘Abhay, this is Sana; Sana, meet Abhay’ said Ruchi as she introduced Abhay to the girl who was facing the bar. Sana shook hands with Abhay, and Abhay suspected that this might be one of Ruchi’s attempts at match-making, which was her favourite hobby. If she had her way, then the whole world would be full of couples and no one would remain single. She too had a boyfriend, who was really obsessed with her. Abhay and Samar wondered how Ruchi didn’t notice it, but her boyfriend was too much of a pain in the butt. He sent messages on her phone every half an hour. And, he expected her to answer him too. Ruchi was a very nice, sweet, lovable person and had many friends. But, she was simply naïve in matters of love. She didn’t feel irritated at the battery of messages that kept popping up every half an hour on her mobile and obediently replied back.

But when Sana was talking to Abhay, the jerk-of-a-boyfriend again felt the need to call Ruchi, when he knew that she would not be able to respond at that time. But as Ruchi was too much in love with the guy, she excused herself from Abhay and Sana’s conversation and dashed off to a corner to talk to her man.

‘I know what she has on her mind,’ said Sana, as if she had read Abhay’s thoughts of matchmaking.

Abhay laughed and noticed all this while that Sana’s friend hadn’t faced them and was still looking at the dance floor.

Sana too noticed that and nudged her friend.

‘Hey, I want you to meet someone,’ shouted Sana to her and her friend turned slowly to face Abhay.

Abhay could not recognise the face, as he had never seen it before. But, he did recognise the eyes, the very same pretty brown eyes that had haunted his dreams for two weeks.

‘Anamika,’ said Abhay in a low voice, without realising the impact of his words.

‘Excuse me?’ said Sana who couldn’t hear Abhay’s words above the din of the blaring music.

‘Hi,’ said Anamika and shook Abhay’s hand. She didn’t call him by his name. He had told her his name when she was rushing to catch her train. And, since she was in a real hurry, she must have forgotten his name, Abhay presumed.

At that precise moment, Sana got a call. But, it didn’t seem to be her boyfriend. It must have been her boss, because for a moment Sana said ‘Sir.’ She too excused herself and left the bar. Abhay and Anamika were left alone at the bar, with the two drinks that the bartender had served for Sana and Anamika.

Abhay felt a little nervous standing next to Anamika, with her pretty face and cut sleeve red dress that could make most of the Bollywood actresses turn green with envy.

‘I think Sana’s going to take a while. Why don’t you have her drink?’ Anamika asked Abhay.

Abhay looked from Anamika to the drink and back at Anamika. He didn’t know what to say.

‘Why, what happened?’ asked Anamika.

‘Uh, I don’t drink. I never had one before,’ said Abhay.

He expected Anamika to laugh or giggle but she simply uttered:

‘That’s okay. It’s fine to be a teetotaller. But, I am here to get drunk,’ and laughed. It was a throaty, full hearted, heavenly laughter that took his breath away.

Sana did come back to the bar, but some handsome boy came up to her and invited her to dance. Sana, who knew how to defend herself in case the boy acted funny, agreed to dance and joined him on the dance floor.

In a few moments, his friend also came up to the bar and asked Anamika to dance. He expected the same result as his friend had with Sana, but he didn’t get a positive response.

‘Sorry, not in the mood. But thanks for asking,’ Anamika said to the boy.

The boy looked at Abhay for a second, as if judging mentally as to how come he deserved her. The guy was as handsome and muscular as his friend and he expected Anamika to be impressed with his bulging biceps. She wasn’t. He left disappointed and joined his other friends on the dance floor.

‘He seems like he spends his entire day in the gym,’ uttered Anamika absent-mindedly.

Abhay wondered if she had any second thoughts of joining the guy on the dance floor, but she coolly kept sipping her drink.

‘Maybe,’ said Abhay, a little too late.

Anamika looked at Abhay and smiled. He didn’t know what it meant.

Anamika had finished her drink as well as Sana’s. The bartender brought her another one.

Abhay didn’t know what she was ordering and didn’t bother to ask.

Judging by Abhay’s expressions, Anamika answered his question.

‘It’s Vodka,’ she blurted, and continued drinking.

She had three more glasses before she got bored of standing at the bar.

‘Come, let’s sit somewhere,’ she said and she pulled Abhay by the hand. She chose one of the far dark corners where a lone couch rested between two other couches. It seemed that everyone was in the mood to dance and party, apart from Anamika and Abhay. The couches were now mostly empty.

So Abhay and Anamika sat on a couch, while Sana came up to them and asked them to dance.

‘No. No. No Dance’ blurted Anamika and asked Sana to get her another drink.

‘No more drinks, come, let’s dance. You also join us Abhay,’ insisted Sana.

‘No. I don’t know how to. Where’s Ruchi? She can join you,’ retorted Abhay.

‘Yes. Ask Ruchi. Abhay is staying here with me,’ said Anamika and grabbed Abhay’s hand.

Abhay immediately withdrew his hand from her grasp. Sana was staring at them.

‘I’ll call Ruchi,’ muttered Abhay, who didn’t know what else to do in such an awkward situation.

‘No. No. Be with her. Don’t let her out of your sight,’screamed Sana as she left them and went across the dance floor.

Abhay looked at Anamika. She had lost her senses completely. She got what she wanted. She seemed totally drunk and Abhay wondered if she could even stand up on her own.

‘Thanks Abhay,’ sing-songed Anamika abruptly, with her eyes closed.

‘You remember my name?’

‘Of course, I do. You helped me reach the station that day. How could I forget? Thanks for that. Thanks for being such a nice guy.’

‘You’re welcome.’

‘I feel better sitting with you, here. I don’t know why. I just get that kind of vibe.’

Anamika’s eyes were closed as she was rambling on and on. Abhay had no inkling whether she was speaking to him or someone else. He assumed she was addressing him.

‘Wouldn’t it be great to be rich and party every day, Abhay?’

‘No.’

Anamika opened her half-shut eyelids and sat up. She looked deep into Abhay’s eyes.

‘But, why not? Everyone likes money to have everything in the world,’ said Anamika.

As Anamika was drunk, Abhay chose not to answer. He kept silent.

‘You aren’t a millionaire or something, are you Abhay? Cause then you would be a real catch,’chided Anamika.

Abhay laughed. Anamika radiated a goden smile.

Then, she straightened up.

‘What happened?’ Abhay asked, wondering what was next.

‘Let’s dance,’ offered Anamika.

‘But, you said ‘No’ to that guy and Sana. You weren’t in the mood.’

‘Well, I simply didn’t want to dance with either of them. In fact, I want to dance with you,’ insisted Anamika.

Abhay looked at Sana for escape, but she was looking in some other direction. Ruchi was lost in the darkness. Abhay knew that it would be like taking advantage of Anamika, if he did go and dance with her. She wasn’t able to either stand up straight or even walk properly. She had lost all control over her body. She might even slap him the next day if anything untoward happened.

Anamika sat on the floor and held on to Abhay’s hand.

‘Dance with me. Otherwise, I’ll sit on the floor the whole night, even if they do close the disco.’

‘Okay, okay,’ surrendered Abhay and held her hand. He got her up and went to the dance floor. Sana followed them all along with her eyes. Abhay stopped looking at Sana and focused on Anamika. Since Anamika could not walk properly, Abhay knew she just couldn’t dance. But she was pretty adamant and they ventured a sort of slow dance, like couples do on a romantic song. Everyone was dancing madly, gyrating to the fast beats of the pulsating music, whereas they simply moved at one spot, in slow motion, oblivious to the whole world.

A few days later, as Abhay was working at his office, he got a call from his company manager.

‘We have a new member in our project, Abhay. Help her out and explain her everything regarding the project,’ he hammered on the phone. The manager was howling from Bangalore whereas the new project member was joining Abhay in Chandigarh.

‘Sure,’ said Abhay as he hung up. Few minutes later, he raised his head and was surprised to find Anamika talking to his Team Lead a few cubicles away. The Lead was introducing Anamika to the team members one by one as he went to their cubicles. Abhay didn’t know how to react to the situation. Everything would have been hunky-dory except that Anamika was drunk the other night they met at the disco when they danced together. He didn’t know how she would react if she discovered that she was his team member.

For a moment