Clinch of Fate

This is the story of a man who knew when he would fall in love.

“Oh! So this is how it will happen?? ” Jim blurted.

The old lady looked up and nodded. She put away the tarot cards. Jim pushed back the chair and stood up, the wind still knocked out. He reluctantly put down 40 cents on the table (after much haggling) and trotted out. He had always believed in Cartomancy but had never anticipated such providence.

Jim had been through junior school & high school but had never goggled at a single lass. After all he knew what was in stock for him.

5 years had passed since and the fateful day was approaching.

It was Sunday and after church service Jim drove to a local departmental store to pick up some groceries for home. Pushing the cart half full, he expertly steered into aisle 4. As he reached out for a carton of wheat flakes his eyes fell on a specimen of nature. This lady was peering at the rows of victuals (probably searching for a low carb one). She was a brunette. She wasn’t an hour-glass figurine but not a sit on me and I die type either.

Jim scrutinized her closely.

She could be the one. The blue eyes and the almond face seemed to hold a promise for him. He had waited long. No more tarrying. Wheat flakes could wait. He smoothened out his tee, pushed back the ruffled hair and sauntered up to her.

“Uh! Hello there” he asked clearing his throat.

“Hi!” she said twirling around and after a second thought added “do I know you?”

“Well … No but I wondered whether I could buy you a pizza”

Rolling her eyes she said “Hey listen mister! Don’t you get cute with me…..cut the crap and just get out of here”

This would have been enough to pour bucketfuls on anyone’s spirit but out bloke wasn’t a giver up.

“Well Ma’am it may seem inappropriate of me to march up and ask you but after five years I’ve lost hold of all mannerisms in this department” She raised an eyebrow at this.

He continued “Solitude can act in weird ways. I can explain that to you………..So would that be over a slice of pizza or a mug of coffee???”

She smirked. Jim wasn’t as bad at wooing as he thought he was. Standing at 6’2’’, dark hair, hazel eyes he presented an agreeable persona.

Duke’s is a quiet place at the intersection of Laurel Avenue and Madison Street. Ideal for first meetings. Lisa and Jim sat at a table chatting over cups of coffee. She had been intrigued by his five years solitude. Was he a con-man on parole?? Doesn’t seem like it. Jim narrated his story leaving out bits which he felt would be difficult for anyone to apprehend. She was a good listener.

“So you came after me because you thought I might be the one for whom you waited so long” It wasn’t actually a question but a passing thought.

“Not ‘I thought’ but rather ‘I knew’”. Jim said it all and that was it. The chemistry sparked off.

They met once and they met again.

Lisa worked as a legal consultant with Leeds & Morrelli while Jim was a Freelancer with New York Times.

It was a sunny morning. Jim’s watch said 08:05. They had not met since a week and Lisa cell was not responding so he decided to pay her a visit. Thinking that she must’ve left for work Jim drove down to lower Manhattan.

The Twin Towers of World Trade Center have always been an awe inspiring sight, rising in effortless insolence heedless of the smaller ones clumped at its base. Leeds & Morrelli was on the 52^nd floor of tower one. Jim took the express elevator and then a service one.

Lisa hadn’t reported for work as yet. He decided to wait. But why wait here?? He had heard a lot of the Windows on the World but had never been there. He ascended 54 more floors and was there. Across the Perspex glass the view was spectacular. He had never believed that Manhattan skyline was so beautiful. For a moment he forgot why he was here. She must’ve come by now. He turned away to leave.

This was the fateful day. September 11, 2001, 08:46 hrs. A deafening roar and Jim never got a chance to leave. A Boeing 767 slammed into the tower. The impact of being hit on between 93^rd and 98^th floor was so severe that he never got those 102 minutes of life which the others mortals probably got. The will to survive can push a man to extremes and Jim jumped for his life. He never got it.

But the tarot cards had proclaimed correctly. Jim “fell” in love.

Living yesterday, today

“How do u spell phenolphthalein?” She asked turning around. I raised my hand.

“Yes you”.

“P-h-e-n-o-l-p-t-h-a-l-e-i-n”.

“Good. Sit down. What’s your name?” I told her.

A few heads turned around to glace at my direction.

“What color does it assume on being added to an alkali?” It was me who answered it once again.

A few whispers this time around.

Half n hour later as I turned around to stow away the copies in the bag I found a lanky fellow standing over me. I stared at him stoically. He was extremely gangly with a long neck protruding from his torso.

“Hi! I’ am Nitin”

“Hi!”

“So you are new to this class. Where from?”

“My dad got transferred to this place a week back; as I result I had to switch schools. Previously I was in ______________”. I told him.

“Glad to meet you”

“Same here”. I lied.

He took me around the class introducing other students who stared at me apprehensively.

I had walked into a cordoned area it seemed. I smiled sheepishly at them to avoid being tagged rude.

During recess I scoured the campus with Nitin leading the way. I stole occasional side-glances at him. He seemed a snooty guy. The way he walked suggested this fact. But he was fun.

Recess had a lot to offer. There was this girl in the class whom I had not noticed initially.

And now I more than noticed her. Reticent as I was, stared at her blankly.

Trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

The bell sounded and I trooped back to the class. Gosh! She was good.

I nudged Nitin and asked her name. He told me.

“She’s a booby trap buddy. Don’t fall for her.”

I decided to disregard the warning.

Later that day many incarnations of devil walked into the class. Chemistry was palatable but math and physics weren’t my cup of tea.

14:20 and the final bell went off.

I packed my bag and walked down the corridor. There were several questions ricocheting in my mind.

Will I get to like this school? How good a friend will Nitin turn out to be? What about this girl? How will I get back home if dad does not turn up?

That’s it for the day folks. Chao!

I let out a sigh and closed the diary. Slowly I shoved it in the gap on the shelf. I ran my hand along the row and pulled out a blue leather bound one. Ten down the line.

I flipped through it. Time indeed flies. It seemed only yesterday that all this had happened.

Nitin is in IIM now. Sophomore year. Our bond had sustained the ordeal of time. I am graduating this year. Job secure and rest assured. That girl is somewhere out there still lassoing guys maybe. I sighed once again but did not close the diary. I flipped on …………………………………