Clock hit 12 and it was time to bring out the cake. Victor and Natalie were well into the first year of their relationship and were a happy couple. They seemed to have found in each other everything they ever wanted from a companion. They played sports, watched movies, went for long drives, took dance classes, shared jokes and even after a full year, the spark between them seemed undiminished. To this day, they look forward to every evening so they could be together. They could spend hours in silence without having a single awkward moment. It seemed surreal. Their happiness was infectious.
Having cleared the decks at their houses for their marriage, there were not many obstacles in their way. They had a lifetime to look forward to and hoped that their love continues to grow and beat the contempt which familiarity is said to breed. Their parents supported their union and they were soon to be engaged.
Uma, Natalie’s room-mate was home too and was sick. Her boyfriend, who was their good friend as well, had dropped in to take care of her. But unlike Victor and Natalie, they didn’t have everything cut out for them. Uma’s family showed no respect to Nathan and had long ago advised her to get him off her mind. But they loved each other dearly and were prepared to face the consequence. Uma’s elder sister Emma especially, despised Nathan. Well into her thirties and still single, it was of the opinion that her jealousy could be the reason behind her hatred. The hatred was not towards Nathan in particular, but about relationships and men in general. Any sight of love made her flinch. And she had decided to make it tougher for Uma.
The cake was brought out and cut. Party poppers covered the whole floor. Victor then unveiled his gift. A hand crafted box filled with gifts. Chocolates, a necklace in sterling silver, tiny stuff toys, key chains and most prized of all, a photo frame containing an image, which had 25 insets of him from every year he was alive. The image had a centre inset which had the word Love written in a 100 different languages. It was nothing like what Natalie had expected and was more than what she could ask for. She loved it.
For the next three hours , Victor and Natalie spent time video conferencing with Natalie’s brother. They spent the rest of the time until day break talking about child hood, their work lives, friends and the like. Time passed in a jiffy and it was soon day break. With only a few hours left for the day which Victor had planned out, they decided to catch some sleep. In the next room, Nathan was still awake, tending to Uma’s fever and after an hour of cold water wipes, her fever was in control. Nathan slipped into a slumber by her side within the next few minutes.
7 AM in the morning, Victor gets a call on his cell phone. It was Nathan on the other end.
“We have a problem. Uma’s sister is in the house.”
“In the house now?! Where?!.”
“In the Hall. She came in a few minutes ago.”
Still groggy and tired from the long night, Victor tried to get his bearings. He continued to speak in sullen tones to ensure he wasn’t heard outside the room. Victor sits straight up paying more attention.
“Where are you now?!”
“Not in the house. I jumped off the balcony.”
“What?! We are two floors up! Shit. Are you hurt?”
“I climbed down until the first floor and then decided to drop. I’ve hurt my ankle. The fence cut into my thigh. I am bleeding.”
“Shit. Shit. How bad?”
“I am a little bloody. But no one has seen me yet. I think I can drive back. But that’s not what I called you for. You know how Emma is about couples and if she sees you in the house, its trouble. I am not sure how you want to handle it. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”
“Ok great. Thanks! You take care. I’ll try to see you soon. I am not sure how, but I will.”
“Good luck buddy.”
Natalie is awake already and has heard the conversation. Victor fills her in again. They are both in shock and worried about Nathan.
“Let’s just stay put in the room until Uma and Emma leave. There’s water in the room and we have the chocolates from yesterday. We’ll stay here until two PM and Emma will just assume you are sleeping. You sleep that much on weekends anyway. We’ve gotta make Uma take Emma out of the house. “ says Victor.
“What if she never leaves?”
“Then I’ll jump off the balcony.” says Victor.
In the next few minutes, Victor and Natalie break into a pit of silent laughter. Their good friend had just jumped off a balcony and it was something they were sure to laugh about for years to come. This kind of stuff only happened in movies. They never knew Nathan was capable of jumping of balconies. After taking the laughs out of their system, they decide to solve the problem at hand.
“This is ridiculous. It won’t work. Mine and Nathan’s shoes are outside. My wallet is outside. How will Uma explain those?.
“I think its better you and I take the hit than they both do. Knowing Emma, she will make a mountain out of this issue and I don’t think they need more trouble than they already have.” says Natalie.
“You are right. Let’s do this. Emma must have seen the party poppers and the cake in the hall, so she knows there must have been a birthday celebration here. Plus, we were speaking to your brother until late. That could help explain why I stayed back. We have to mention your brother so Emma knows that your family had no problems with me being around. “Also mention that the reason I stayed back was because Uma wasn’t keeping well and my being around meant I could take her to the hospital if it ever became necessary.” continued Victor.
“All you have to do is get out and explain her this. That way, I can own up to the shoes and the wallet. We have my washing machine here. So, if Emma asks Uma about the men’s clothes hanging in the balcony, she could always say I do my washing here. That takes Nathan completely out the picture. And you mentioning that we were talking to your brother until 4 in the morning will let her know about the family’s approval. ”
“Sounds good. I’ll just go out, say Hi and be cool like I always am.” Says Natalie with a smile.
“You do that. Don’t forget the words birthday, your brother, Uma’s fever.”
“Alright. I’ll be right back.”
As Natalie leaves the room, locking the door behind her, Victor calls Nathan to check on him. He gets to know how all of it unfolded.
Emma and her friend show up at the apartment and call Uma from the door around 6:30 AM. Emma’s friend tells Uma that she had some bags to be passed to Uma and that she has come to deliver them.” With Nathan still asleep inside, Uma answers the door and to her complete horror, sees Emma and Emma’s friend. Emma has luggage in her hands. She travelled 400 miles overnight, without giving a call as much. And here she was at the door, as Nathan slept inside.
Emma’s friend retorted “She’s in total shock. Look at her. She doesn’t even seem to be happy to see you!”
Emma coming down with her friend became a boon. As Emma was busy talking to her friend, Uma slipped casually into the bedroom, woke Nathan up and says “My sister is here.”
Nathan, wide eyed and all shocked says “Should I jump off the balcony?”
Without as much as a thought, Uma says “Yes.”
After dangling on the balcony sill for a while, Nathan drops. Uma throws out his jeans, his jacket, a pair of slippers and his keys. Nathan picks them up and is now walking in the apartment garage in a pair of bloodied shorts and a pair of jeans on his shoulders. He changes in the pool’s restrooms and drives back home.
After executing as planned, Natalie returns to the room and says the situation was in control and Uma doesn’t even seem to have had a problem with the fact that Victor stayed over. She did well.
Victor and Natalie washed up and get dressed for the day while still having Nathan on the back of their minds. They are worried.
After exchanging pleasantries with Emma, Victor asks her about Uma about her health and Uma replies that she felt much better. Victor flawlessly picks up Nathan’s wallet, his shoes, wears his own and bays good bye.
After getting into the car, Victor and Natalie wonder how close cut the whole situation was. They rush to see Nathan.
They see Nathan seated on his bed, unable to move his left leg. There seemed to be a reasonable swelling in his ankle. His bloody T-shirt was lying beside him. Nathan wails with pain but within a minute breaks into a laughter himself. Victor and Natalie join in.
“This day will go down in history. Nathan will one day be telling his grand kids how he jumped off a balcony and got him hurt while trying to be with their grand mom. And I’ll be telling my kids how crazy their Uncle Nathan was.”
It was 10 already and Victor had picked up some eggs and bread so he could make breakfast. They catch a few bites of French omelets, get Nathan to drink some milk and get going to a hospital. Nathan starts wailing more from his pain and is screaming in the back of the car.
As the three head towards the hospital, an SUV travelling 90 on a 60 zone, overtakes Victor’s car from the left and rams itself straight into a two wheeler ahead. The bang is loud and the couple is seen being thrown off their vehicles. It all happens within seconds but what the three see next leaves them in further shock. The seemingly newlywed couple is lying a few meters apart from each other. The husband is in a pool of blood while the wife is screaming holding her chest. Victor is torn between aiding the bleeding couple and rushing his bleeding friend. Within minutes, an armada of well-wishers gathers around to help the couple. They have been made to stand up and the though badly wounded, they seemed conscious and responsive. Victor decided to concentrate on Nathan and moves on. But the vehicle ahead has slowed down to look at the accident as well. Natalie is shocked to see all the blood again.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the road, more drivers park their two wheelers to help and to look. They cross the road onto Victor’s side and are looking at the accident scene as well.
And then it happens. Another SUV, coming from the opposite lane manages to nudge a fast moving biker off the road and the biker and his bike are now on a free roll. The bike, with the biker still on, skids straight towards the four two wheelers parked, and knocks them down like a bowl knocks down pins in a bowling lane. All four bikes are damaged. Shreds of glass and metal are flying everywhere. The biker and his bike eventually stop after sliding on the asphalt road for a full 25 metres. To everyone’s syrprise, the biker stands upright immediately. The friction has eaten into his legs and thighs, blood is dripping off his abdomen and his face looks like it was mauled by a rodent. He yells out a loud scream towards the speeding SUV and starts running behind it.
All of it happens within seconds and Victor and Natalie are left struck motionless. Victor sees an ambulance heading towards the scene. Probably called for the first accident, it now has to deal with two. Victor decides to move on. The city was notorious for its mob mentality. A few weeks ago, when another biker had died in an accident, the mob decided to torch 3 cars around the scene after asking the occupants to get out of it. The only crime the cars and their occupants had done was being close to the accident site.
Natalie had a good, happy life. Part of nuclear family, she grew up in love. Unlike many who had lost their loved ones or had some grieving experiences in their lives, Natalie ‘s life in those terms was untarnished. Love and compassion was all she new. Everyone has a story. Hers only involved happy times. But that day seemed to have given her a glimpse of how dirty life could be. Victor realizes how much all of this must have had an impression on Natalie.
After numerous consultations, X-rays, painkillers and drugs, they get Nathan fixed and get him back to his house. They get some food into Nathan and they ask him to take some rest. The painkiller injection seemed to help. Nathan slips into a dream. They fall asleep in the hall a few minutes later. Its half past seven in the evening.
Nine PM in the night, Nathan wakes the couple up and says.
“I can see Natalie’s birthday couldn’t have gone any worse. I feel so sorry. “
“Its alright Nathan. We were together and it counts. I am happy as long as he is around. Besides, what are friends for? ”
“But still, I feel sorry for you guys. Victor, why don’t you guys take a break? You’ve been running around all day for me. I’ll be fine at home. Why don’t you guys go out while there is still time?”
Victor feels just as bad for Natalie and manages to eventually convince her for some food and some ice-cream. They haven’t eater anything since breakfast.
They sit down in a coffee joint and the menu arrives. Natalie decides to check what is up with Uma. More importantly, to check if Emma had left.
Natalie drops the menu. Victor can see the look in her eyes and knows immediately the day isn’t over. Natalie drops the call.
“Victor, Uma and Emma had an accident.”
“What?!!”
“Apparently, Uma decided to drop Emma off to the station and they were travelling in an auto. They don’t really remember what exactly happened since they were engrossed in talking, but the auto hit something and leaned sideways. Uma was thrown out of the auto and onto the road and Emma hit the roof and the meter. She has bruises on her head. “
“Where are they now?”
“They just got back to the apartment. Emma has to leave today. She has a flight to catch tomorrow.”
“Are they fine?”
“She says its just bruises. I really don’t know. She seems shaken.”
Just when they had thought that the day is over, another accident decides to sprung up on them. Victor is badly hoping Uma and Emma are unhurt. Natalie has probably seem more blood that one day than she had seen in her entire life. Victor wasn;t sure if she could take anymore without breaking down.
Victor and Natalie speed towards Uma’s apartment. Before heading, Victor says ‘Buckle Up! I don’t want us to be next.”
Uma and Emma are well. They have bruises and a few cuts here and there, but nothing they needed to get a twist about. Emma leaves in a Taxi shortly and Victor and Natalie tend to Uma with aftershave for her cuts and some anti-biotic.
As Victor stood looking out of his balcony, Natalie joined him. It had started to rain.
“I loved the gifts. I loved the roses. You are all I could ask for. Forget about the day now. Everyone’s fine. We did well. ”
“ I suppose so. I still cant one hell figure out how the hell he jumped off this balcony.”
Having cleared the decks at their houses for their marriage, there were not many obstacles in their way. They had a lifetime to look forward to and hoped that their love continues to grow and beat the contempt which familiarity is said to breed. Their parents supported their union and they were soon to be engaged.
Uma, Natalie’s room-mate was home too and was sick. Her boyfriend, who was their good friend as well, had dropped in to take care of her. But unlike Victor and Natalie, they didn’t have everything cut out for them. Uma’s family showed no respect to Nathan and had long ago advised her to get him off her mind. But they loved each other dearly and were prepared to face the consequence. Uma’s elder sister Emma especially, despised Nathan. Well into her thirties and still single, it was of the opinion that her jealousy could be the reason behind her hatred. The hatred was not towards Nathan in particular, but about relationships and men in general. Any sight of love made her flinch. And she had decided to make it tougher for Uma.
The cake was brought out and cut. Party poppers covered the whole floor. Victor then unveiled his gift. A hand crafted box filled with gifts. Chocolates, a necklace in sterling silver, tiny stuff toys, key chains and most prized of all, a photo frame containing an image, which had 25 insets of him from every year he was alive. The image had a centre inset which had the word Love written in a 100 different languages. It was nothing like what Natalie had expected and was more than what she could ask for. She loved it.
For the next three hours , Victor and Natalie spent time video conferencing with Natalie’s brother. They spent the rest of the time until day break talking about child hood, their work lives, friends and the like. Time passed in a jiffy and it was soon day break. With only a few hours left for the day which Victor had planned out, they decided to catch some sleep. In the next room, Nathan was still awake, tending to Uma’s fever and after an hour of cold water wipes, her fever was in control. Nathan slipped into a slumber by her side within the next few minutes.
7 AM in the morning, Victor gets a call on his cell phone. It was Nathan on the other end.
“We have a problem. Uma’s sister is in the house.”
“In the house now?! Where?!.”
“In the Hall. She came in a few minutes ago.”
Still groggy and tired from the long night, Victor tried to get his bearings. He continued to speak in sullen tones to ensure he wasn’t heard outside the room. Victor sits straight up paying more attention.
“Where are you now?!”
“Not in the house. I jumped off the balcony.”
“What?! We are two floors up! Shit. Are you hurt?”
“I climbed down until the first floor and then decided to drop. I’ve hurt my ankle. The fence cut into my thigh. I am bleeding.”
“Shit. Shit. How bad?”
“I am a little bloody. But no one has seen me yet. I think I can drive back. But that’s not what I called you for. You know how Emma is about couples and if she sees you in the house, its trouble. I am not sure how you want to handle it. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”
“Ok great. Thanks! You take care. I’ll try to see you soon. I am not sure how, but I will.”
“Good luck buddy.”
Natalie is awake already and has heard the conversation. Victor fills her in again. They are both in shock and worried about Nathan.
“Let’s just stay put in the room until Uma and Emma leave. There’s water in the room and we have the chocolates from yesterday. We’ll stay here until two PM and Emma will just assume you are sleeping. You sleep that much on weekends anyway. We’ve gotta make Uma take Emma out of the house. “ says Victor.
“What if she never leaves?”
“Then I’ll jump off the balcony.” says Victor.
In the next few minutes, Victor and Natalie break into a pit of silent laughter. Their good friend had just jumped off a balcony and it was something they were sure to laugh about for years to come. This kind of stuff only happened in movies. They never knew Nathan was capable of jumping of balconies. After taking the laughs out of their system, they decide to solve the problem at hand.
“This is ridiculous. It won’t work. Mine and Nathan’s shoes are outside. My wallet is outside. How will Uma explain those?.
“I think its better you and I take the hit than they both do. Knowing Emma, she will make a mountain out of this issue and I don’t think they need more trouble than they already have.” says Natalie.
“You are right. Let’s do this. Emma must have seen the party poppers and the cake in the hall, so she knows there must have been a birthday celebration here. Plus, we were speaking to your brother until late. That could help explain why I stayed back. We have to mention your brother so Emma knows that your family had no problems with me being around. “Also mention that the reason I stayed back was because Uma wasn’t keeping well and my being around meant I could take her to the hospital if it ever became necessary.” continued Victor.
“All you have to do is get out and explain her this. That way, I can own up to the shoes and the wallet. We have my washing machine here. So, if Emma asks Uma about the men’s clothes hanging in the balcony, she could always say I do my washing here. That takes Nathan completely out the picture. And you mentioning that we were talking to your brother until 4 in the morning will let her know about the family’s approval. ”
“Sounds good. I’ll just go out, say Hi and be cool like I always am.” Says Natalie with a smile.
“You do that. Don’t forget the words birthday, your brother, Uma’s fever.”
“Alright. I’ll be right back.”
As Natalie leaves the room, locking the door behind her, Victor calls Nathan to check on him. He gets to know how all of it unfolded.
Emma and her friend show up at the apartment and call Uma from the door around 6:30 AM. Emma’s friend tells Uma that she had some bags to be passed to Uma and that she has come to deliver them.” With Nathan still asleep inside, Uma answers the door and to her complete horror, sees Emma and Emma’s friend. Emma has luggage in her hands. She travelled 400 miles overnight, without giving a call as much. And here she was at the door, as Nathan slept inside.
Emma’s friend retorted “She’s in total shock. Look at her. She doesn’t even seem to be happy to see you!”
Emma coming down with her friend became a boon. As Emma was busy talking to her friend, Uma slipped casually into the bedroom, woke Nathan up and says “My sister is here.”
Nathan, wide eyed and all shocked says “Should I jump off the balcony?”
Without as much as a thought, Uma says “Yes.”
After dangling on the balcony sill for a while, Nathan drops. Uma throws out his jeans, his jacket, a pair of slippers and his keys. Nathan picks them up and is now walking in the apartment garage in a pair of bloodied shorts and a pair of jeans on his shoulders. He changes in the pool’s restrooms and drives back home.
After executing as planned, Natalie returns to the room and says the situation was in control and Uma doesn’t even seem to have had a problem with the fact that Victor stayed over. She did well.
Victor and Natalie washed up and get dressed for the day while still having Nathan on the back of their minds. They are worried.
After exchanging pleasantries with Emma, Victor asks her about Uma about her health and Uma replies that she felt much better. Victor flawlessly picks up Nathan’s wallet, his shoes, wears his own and bays good bye.
After getting into the car, Victor and Natalie wonder how close cut the whole situation was. They rush to see Nathan.
They see Nathan seated on his bed, unable to move his left leg. There seemed to be a reasonable swelling in his ankle. His bloody T-shirt was lying beside him. Nathan wails with pain but within a minute breaks into a laughter himself. Victor and Natalie join in.
“This day will go down in history. Nathan will one day be telling his grand kids how he jumped off a balcony and got him hurt while trying to be with their grand mom. And I’ll be telling my kids how crazy their Uncle Nathan was.”
It was 10 already and Victor had picked up some eggs and bread so he could make breakfast. They catch a few bites of French omelets, get Nathan to drink some milk and get going to a hospital. Nathan starts wailing more from his pain and is screaming in the back of the car.
As the three head towards the hospital, an SUV travelling 90 on a 60 zone, overtakes Victor’s car from the left and rams itself straight into a two wheeler ahead. The bang is loud and the couple is seen being thrown off their vehicles. It all happens within seconds but what the three see next leaves them in further shock. The seemingly newlywed couple is lying a few meters apart from each other. The husband is in a pool of blood while the wife is screaming holding her chest. Victor is torn between aiding the bleeding couple and rushing his bleeding friend. Within minutes, an armada of well-wishers gathers around to help the couple. They have been made to stand up and the though badly wounded, they seemed conscious and responsive. Victor decided to concentrate on Nathan and moves on. But the vehicle ahead has slowed down to look at the accident as well. Natalie is shocked to see all the blood again.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the road, more drivers park their two wheelers to help and to look. They cross the road onto Victor’s side and are looking at the accident scene as well.
And then it happens. Another SUV, coming from the opposite lane manages to nudge a fast moving biker off the road and the biker and his bike are now on a free roll. The bike, with the biker still on, skids straight towards the four two wheelers parked, and knocks them down like a bowl knocks down pins in a bowling lane. All four bikes are damaged. Shreds of glass and metal are flying everywhere. The biker and his bike eventually stop after sliding on the asphalt road for a full 25 metres. To everyone’s syrprise, the biker stands upright immediately. The friction has eaten into his legs and thighs, blood is dripping off his abdomen and his face looks like it was mauled by a rodent. He yells out a loud scream towards the speeding SUV and starts running behind it.
All of it happens within seconds and Victor and Natalie are left struck motionless. Victor sees an ambulance heading towards the scene. Probably called for the first accident, it now has to deal with two. Victor decides to move on. The city was notorious for its mob mentality. A few weeks ago, when another biker had died in an accident, the mob decided to torch 3 cars around the scene after asking the occupants to get out of it. The only crime the cars and their occupants had done was being close to the accident site.
Natalie had a good, happy life. Part of nuclear family, she grew up in love. Unlike many who had lost their loved ones or had some grieving experiences in their lives, Natalie ‘s life in those terms was untarnished. Love and compassion was all she new. Everyone has a story. Hers only involved happy times. But that day seemed to have given her a glimpse of how dirty life could be. Victor realizes how much all of this must have had an impression on Natalie.
After numerous consultations, X-rays, painkillers and drugs, they get Nathan fixed and get him back to his house. They get some food into Nathan and they ask him to take some rest. The painkiller injection seemed to help. Nathan slips into a dream. They fall asleep in the hall a few minutes later. Its half past seven in the evening.
Nine PM in the night, Nathan wakes the couple up and says.
“I can see Natalie’s birthday couldn’t have gone any worse. I feel so sorry. “
“Its alright Nathan. We were together and it counts. I am happy as long as he is around. Besides, what are friends for? ”
“But still, I feel sorry for you guys. Victor, why don’t you guys take a break? You’ve been running around all day for me. I’ll be fine at home. Why don’t you guys go out while there is still time?”
Victor feels just as bad for Natalie and manages to eventually convince her for some food and some ice-cream. They haven’t eater anything since breakfast.
They sit down in a coffee joint and the menu arrives. Natalie decides to check what is up with Uma. More importantly, to check if Emma had left.
Natalie drops the menu. Victor can see the look in her eyes and knows immediately the day isn’t over. Natalie drops the call.
“Victor, Uma and Emma had an accident.”
“What?!!”
“Apparently, Uma decided to drop Emma off to the station and they were travelling in an auto. They don’t really remember what exactly happened since they were engrossed in talking, but the auto hit something and leaned sideways. Uma was thrown out of the auto and onto the road and Emma hit the roof and the meter. She has bruises on her head. “
“Where are they now?”
“They just got back to the apartment. Emma has to leave today. She has a flight to catch tomorrow.”
“Are they fine?”
“She says its just bruises. I really don’t know. She seems shaken.”
Just when they had thought that the day is over, another accident decides to sprung up on them. Victor is badly hoping Uma and Emma are unhurt. Natalie has probably seem more blood that one day than she had seen in her entire life. Victor wasn;t sure if she could take anymore without breaking down.
Victor and Natalie speed towards Uma’s apartment. Before heading, Victor says ‘Buckle Up! I don’t want us to be next.”
Uma and Emma are well. They have bruises and a few cuts here and there, but nothing they needed to get a twist about. Emma leaves in a Taxi shortly and Victor and Natalie tend to Uma with aftershave for her cuts and some anti-biotic.
As Victor stood looking out of his balcony, Natalie joined him. It had started to rain.
“I loved the gifts. I loved the roses. You are all I could ask for. Forget about the day now. Everyone’s fine. We did well. ”
“ I suppose so. I still cant one hell figure out how the hell he jumped off this balcony.”
