She forgot her cousin’s b’day…she didn’t realize that it was Saturday and hence no school work…she didn’t understand a word on television even though it was airing her fav series…& she didn’t realize that it was almost 6 in the evening and she was still sitting idly on the couch, watching television since morning 11…
Where was she???
What the hell was wrong with her..??? Was she slowly turning into a big jumbo nerd or bozo..???? Or was it that, she was simply not in herself..??? But why??? Maybe because, he was returning back after almost 3 months!!! What crappy reason is this, she thought. Crappy - to the extent that it scared the hell outta her…Was he the reason?
Why then sitting in front of TV, all she could think of was him??? And about the whole lot of things and conversations that had happened between them...she must be super jerk for sure, she concluded.
She quickly got up and went for the shower with the hope that, it will clear out the clutter that’s on in her mind. Changing into her evening gear, she thought of having some fun time with her dogs but seemed nobody was interested, what with her dogs already tired and not in mood to play around.
Deep down inside she was not at ease… something inside was hurting, pulling her down. She was all worried for him and his safe travel. She desperately hoped that everything goes perfectly fine with him, that he remains untouched from any worries and problems. She was even secretly praying to Lord that “let him be fine, let him be in good shape, let him have all the joys in life”. For once, she was eagerly waiting for the night to come - when he was supposed to come to her place.
His presence had some magnetic aura that simply pulled her towards him every time. She loved talking to him, loved listening to him. She liked the twinkle in his eye when he said anything funny and smiled like a million bucks!!! She loved a slight wrinkle that would appear every time he would frown at her. She always thought that there was something in her that was so much like him…and she could also find traces of her in him… For an orphan like Gracie, Albert was all she had!!!
The very thought of his comeback was so pleasing her that she got far removed from reality and lost in her past life that they had together. For Albert, she was his source of light, which would enlighten his path towards happiness and survival; she was the only reason why he was still alive after massive accident in his 4o’s. While for her, Albert meant Family, Belonging, and her only Relation! Roger tried hard to pacify her and make her concentrate on pleasant things but nothing seemed to work on her troubled psyche.
Work had brought her to Milan 3 months back but their parting was painful for both. She was worried for him, since it was his first ever trip from far away land to Milan. She never meant to desert him this way, but he convinced her that they shall remain in touch and would visit each other. With a heavy heart she had moved out of his house and settled in Milan. But, now the day had come she was eagerly waiting for, 2 days later there was wedding!!!
She was thrilled and worried both at the same time. He was to travel 18 hours by flight to reach her. The very thought of flight journey made her uncomfortable. All ill thoughts about his flight journey would clog her mind and she would fight hard to unclog it and concentrate on her daily chores. This kept happening the whole day!!!
Finally clock struck 10 in the night and there stood Albert at the doorstep waiting eagerly to hug her. Seeing Albert, Gracie ran at once and hugged him tight… his fragile body warmed with her love!! Roger too joined them and Gracie at once announced …. “Now my family is complete!!! With my grandpa by my side, Roger, now you can ask me out officially!!!”
(you can view this on : http://verne10.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/short-story-the-home-coming/)
