The Grapes are Sour - A Short Story
July 14th
She was nervous. She was going to meet him. The noise and the constant chattering of the people standing on the platform waiting to get onto the next train only added to her uneasiness. She was going to confess her love for him. But what if he rejected her? After all, she wasn’t that beautiful. She had seen a lot of girls who were generously gifted in the physical coordinates and she was jealous of them. But, I’ve never seen him with another girl. Forget being with another girl. I don’t even remember him talking about someone else. Who knows, I might be the only one. The last thought filled her with hope but for she knew she was only trying to convince herself.
The train was approaching and the idiot still didn’t show up. Where the hell is he?! And then through the crowd, came the young man she had been waiting for. She wanted to punch him in the face for being so late but all that vanished once his signature smile was on display.
“As always, you’re looking beautiful”, he said.
“As always, you’re lying”, she said.
He smiled. “If you could see yourself through my eyes, you would believe me.”
“Oh please, not that crap again.”
He shrugged his shoulders. He’s cute. She laughed.
“So?” he asked.
“So what?” she said.
“We aren’t here to watch these people, right?”
“Err…Actually…you know…” she found herself searching for the right words. He loved eloquence. And she was good at it. But strangely, the words coming out of her mouth turned into a vague mumbling which was inaudible to him.
“If you are not going to say
anything, I’d better leave.” He said.
She knew he meant it. That was how he always was. One day he would shower her with all the care she needs and all of a sudden, he would disappear for quite some time. But he would always return. And he was the same old guy. Yet, she couldn’t understand him. What if he never returned? That was the reason for all of her restlessness. They got onto the train.
“Can I ask you something?” she said.
“I thought you were going to say something. Anyway, go ahead”, he said.
“Do you trust me?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Just answer!”
“I don’t know why you are asking me that but here’s your answer. Yes.”
“Thank you. Do you know why I asked you that?”
“I’m waiting.”
She paused to see all the other passengers glancing at them with weird looks on their faces. Why don’t they mind their own business? She decided she wouldn’t say anything until they got off the train.
****
July 8th
“I think something’s wrong with Alice”, said Daisy.
She had been observing Alice for over a month and she had a hunch that not everything was right with her. She tried talking to Alice but she seemed normal. In fact, she was surprised that Daisy thought that something was wrong with her. She assured her that all was well and there was nothing to worry. But that was quite some time ago. Of late, she found Alice acting stranger than ever. For reasons she didn’t know, she would find Alice constantly worrying about something or someone. She decided she would talk to Sam, who was Alice’s cousin cum best friend.
“And why do you think so?”, said Sam.
“I don’t know, Sam. But she’s not been herself lately. She’s acting all weird.”
“You must be overthinking.”
“Why’d you say so?”
“Don’t you know Alice’s mother died in an accident 3 months ago? Her mother was her life. I agree she’s a bit off but that’s only natural given her situation.”
“I understand what you are saying. But I don’t think what’s going on with her is normal.”
“Daisy, you should probably go catch some sleep.”
“No, I think she needs our help.”
“She needs our support, I agree. But she has told me that she needs some time on her own. She doesn’t like anyone taking pity on her.”
“Let me explain what happened.”
****
Alice remembered the first time they met. It had been close to a month that her mother had died and she was unable to get over it. Ever since her mother’s funeral, she constantly had visitors at her place and they offered all the help they could. She refused. I don’t need your help. I need some time alone. She would say. As if those haunting memories of her mother weren’t enough, these conceited friends had advices aplenty for her.
“You need to move on.”
“She’s in a better place.”
“She’s watching you. She won’t be happy if you aren’t happy.”
“These things happen. You can’t stop living because of that.”
She despised that. It was easy for them to say all that. It wasn’t their mother. It wasn’t their loss. She was the one who lost her mother. And her mother was her world. She never had a father. She didn’t know if he abandoned them or if he died and her mother wouldn’t tell her anything about him. But that didn’t really affect her. Her mother never let her feel his absence. She was always around her. They were more of best friends than mother-daughter. It was her mother’s smile which helped her overcome all the odds in her life. Now that vibrant smile was nowhere to be seen.
She drove away those preachy visitors. She wasn’t in denial but she didn’t go out and confined herself to the four walls of her room. Every day she would look at all the pictures of her mother and cry herself to sleep. She just couldn’t come out of it, no matter how much she tried. A month had passed when she decided to go out and have some beer. That was the first time she was having any. She used to gift her mother a beer ever so often but she never had any.
She went to a bar not far from her place and for a change, the bar was full of people and she found it comforting. She ordered a Carlsberg, her mother’s favorite. She gulped down a bit and put the bottle aside in disgust. This tastes so bitter.
“First time, I guess.” She heard a husky voice and looked up to see a man grinning at her.
“So?” She was visibly irritated by the sudden intrusion of her privacy.
“I just thought you could use some company. I am feeling lonely myself.”
“Well, I’m not lonely.”
“True that.”
“Why don’t you stop bothering me and just leave?”
“Okay. I’m sorry.”
He left. She didn’t care. She was happy to be alone again. She finished her beer and ordered another. She had almost finished her third one when the nosy stranger reappeared.
“These roses are just as beautiful as you are. So I thought I’d get you some. You can throw them away if you don’t like them.”
He put the roses on the table and waited for her reply. She didn’t acknowledge him. “Au revoir.” He gave her a warm smile and left. She ordered one more beer which, she decided, would be her last one. She was mildly high. She lifted her eyes and saw the roses. There were five of them. She stared at them for some time. They were beautiful. She barely managed to smile.
She flinched. She cursed herself for shooing him away. He had been so polite all the while and hadn’t really irritated her. Besides, he also brought her roses. Red roses. Her mother loved them. So did she. She sighed. She asked for the bill when the bartender told her someone had already paid for her. When she asked him who it was, he pointed at the man standing a few feet away from her. It was him.
She smiled at him. He waved at her and she waved back. They talked. Since then, they had been in touch and met every now and then.
****
July 9th
Sam was perplexed. She had just listened to Daisy’s account of what Alice was doing the past few days and couldn’t make any sense of it.
“Daisy, what are you saying?” she said.
“Nothing’s wrong with me. Trust me, everything I’ve said so far is true and this doesn’t look good for her.”
“How do you know all that?”
“I’ve been trailing her for the past two weeks. I thought she would at least say ‘Thank you’ after what happened that evening but she didn’t. That evening too, she acted like I didn’t even exist. When I talked to her regarding that, she seemed surprised. In fact, she freaked out when I confronted her. So I told her I mistook her for someone and I apologized. But I couldn’t shrug off the feeling that something was amiss. It was then that I decided that I would go after her and now, I know for sure that something’s wrong with her. I don’t know what to do and that’s why I’m here.”
“If what you’ve been saying is true, then we have to tell her.”
“Not when she’s on her romantic trips.”
“Okay, but…”
“There she is.”
And then she saw Alice. She watched everything for almost an hour until Alice left. Who’s the one talking to her?
“Daisy, who is she talking to? Is that….” she was interrupted by Daisy. “Just watch.”
She couldn’t believe what she saw. It was too good to be true but then, she realized that Daisy was indeed speaking the truth. She had to talk to Alice. How is she going to react to that? Would she even believe me? This isn’t looking good for her. But she needs to know about him.
****
July 14th
They got off the train and he told her he would walk her home. Except that, no words were exchanged. She finally broke the silence.
“I love you”, she said finally.
“What?!” he said.
“Yes, I love you and I’m not kidding!”
“Whoa! That’s a surprise.”
“I thought you always knew.”
“No. Not even the faintest idea. I don’t know. I didn’t expect this.”
She remained silent and looked at him expectantly. He was getting uneasy and she could see it on his face. He was fidgeting and blabbering something that she wasn’t able to hear. He didn’t make any eye contact with her. “I don’t know”, he said and turned around. He didn’t wait for her response. He just left.
It hurt her to see him leave like that. What if he never returned? That thought shattered her. She couldn’t control her tears. She stood there sobbing for a long time until she couldn’t cry anymore. She felt like she was thrown again into the abyss she had once been in after her mother died.
She needed to talk to someone. Someone who would hear her out without judging her. She needed a friend. She took out her phone.
“Sam, are you free now?”
“Alice! Where are you? I’ve been trying to reach you for the past thirty minutes.”
“If you are free, I’ll be there at your place in ten minutes.”
“Sure. I have all the time in the world.”
“See you in ten.”
She had no idea that her bubble was about to be burst.
****
Sam was more than happy to have her at her place. She wanted to confront Alice about Daisy’s suspicions but she knew better than that. Alice was clearly in some sort of pain and the eyes were proof of that. She waited for Alice to blurt it out.
“Shall I get you some coffee?” Sam asked.
“Please do away with all the pleasantries. I’m not in the mood for any of that”, Alice said.
“Fine. What happened?”
Right from the first time she met him at the bar to all that happened until an hour ago, Alice told her everything. However, Sam’s expression felt strange.
“Sam, what’s wrong?” Alice said.
“I don’t know how to tell you this. I don’t even know if I should tell you this.”
“What can possibly be worse than this?”
“That’s the problem.”
“What is the problem?”
“Alice, I don’t want to….”
“Sam, stop beating around the bush.”
“It’s about the same guy you’re talking about”
“What is it?”
“Alice, err..I can’t say….”
“What?”
“He..err…”
“Just say it already!”
“He does not exist. You are hallucinating.”
“What?! Just because you are a psychiatrist, you cannot run your mouth like that.”
“Everything you’ve said corroborates with Daisy’s and my observation of you. Daisy had been trailing you for three weeks and I did that myself for the past one week. We saw you talking to someone. But there was no one. It was as if you were talking to a ghost.”
Alice couldn’t believe what she was hearing. They were following me all this while and I didn’t know that. And what the hell does she mean by ‘You’re hallucinating’? No, she’s lying. Sam thinks I’m mad. No, she’s lying. This has got to be a prank. Yes, that’s what it is. A stupid prank.
“Sam, this isn’t the time for pranks. And this is making me sick.”
“Alice, I know your situation. I wouldn’t be joking with you.”
“No! You are lying.”
“Alice, I am….”
“Fuck off! I thought if I talked to you I’d feel better but here you are making blatant accusations.”
“No, I am not. It’s just….”
“I am not crazy! I’m very much sane. As sane as you are.”
“Please listen to me….”
“Sam, don’t ever show your face to me again.”
“Alice, even I didn’t believe Daisy at first but then, I saw it myself.”
“Fuck that bitch! And fuck you!”
She got up and left the house. She couldn’t comprehend what was happening. The guy she loves vanishes just like that. Her two friends were following her. They say she’s crazy. I’m not crazy! She was losing her mind.
Suddenly, she remembered all the strange expressions people gave her every time she was with him. They were staring at me as if I were talking to a ghost. She heard Sam’s voice inside her head. It seemed like you were talking to a ghost.
I have to prove to them that I’m not crazy. But how? He always told her he didn’t have any friends. She had never touched him nor did he ever touch her. Is it true, then? No, he did talk to her and so did she. He was real. What about all the people who saw us together? Someone must definitely have seen him. The more she thought about it, the more she doubted her sanity. Is Sam speaking the truth? A thought occurred to her which gave her an iota of hope. She called Sam.
“Alice, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“Sam, I can prove that I’m not hallucinating.”
“What?”
“Remember the first time I met him at Boomerang? The bartender there saw him. He’ll tell you.”
“Bartender?”
“Yes. He saw the guy you think I’m imagining. That guy paid my bill that day. You can ask the bartender.”
“Oh my God!”
“What?”
“The one who paid your bill that day was Daisy. She found you at Boomerang that day and she tried talking to you. But you asked her to leave. She knew what you were going through. So she thought she would leave you alone but she was there until you left. She told me that she thought it was your first time. You were too high to even stand properly and so she paid for you and dropped you home in her car. Later, when she met you, you acted as if you didn’t even see her in the first place. That was when she felt something was wrong with you and then…”
Alice cut the call. She had heard enough. Gone was her ray of hope. That’s it. I’ve lost it. I’m a crazy bitch! She couldn’t even bring herself to weep. Her whole world was ruined. I have nothing left. She just stood there like she was lost in between reality and imagination.
Just then, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and she screamed in surprise.
“You….you are….not….real….you are not….”
“I’m sorry for leaving you like that. I just couldn’t take it.”
“No….you….this can’t be….I can’t…..Sam….”
“I know you are angry with me. You know I’ve been thinking about confessing my love the whole time but I was really scared. I thought you’d reject me and that was why I freaked out when you told me you love me.”
“But….Daisy….Sam….I’m crazy…..insane….”
“Come here. Allow me to apologize.”
“Sam….I’m…..seeing….again….real….”
He put his hand around her waist and pulled her closer to him until he could feel her breath on his face. Even before she could react, he kissed her on the lips. It felt real but she was too shocked to respond to anything and just gave in.
He was all that mattered to her at that moment. She would do anything he asked of her. Why wouldn’t she? She was in love, after all. I don’t know if I’m crazy but I love him and that’s all that matters.
She knowingly sacrificed her sanity for a little paradise she would never get.
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