“Take me home” she said softly in a voice that was hardly above a whisper, she did not look at him. Craig Obliged. Unarguably, it was going to be their longest journey yet. With each person lost in thoughts, both were oblivious to whatever was going on in the world around them –neither the movements of other commuters, nor the fact that it had begun to shower lightly, none of that seemed to matter now. The sounds in the car had been masked by an oppressive silence, silence that was deafening.
As the showers graduated into something short of a rainstorm, they soon got caught up in traffic. Pregnant clouds began a detour in the skies and in the near distance thunders clapped frightfully. Craig shivered, they were both now stuck with each other longer than they had anticipated, longer than they could afford.
Craig muttered something under his breath. This was more than he bargained for. The atmosphere between them was volatile, like a mine field waiting to be detonated. Didi had said nothing to him so far and her silence was tampering with his sanity. Why in the world was she not getting mad at him? “Take me home” so devoid of emotion. It was so strange. And to think that Didi had been in car all the while he was crying! She was still, unruffled as the waters. So much so that he hadn’t even noticed her presence. The Didi he knew would crack up if she knew he was unhappy. She could hardly stand him being hurt. . . Craig shook his head semi-consciously, something was not right.
“Oh God, Oh God” Didi cried in ‘Hannah-like’ fashion –lips moving, no sound. This was not Craig. They had navigated rougher terrains before, “this will be one of those” she consoled. But something insisted otherwise, this time was different. Images danced in her head and memories of happier times taunted her, yet tears were a mirage long in coming. Countless times she had felt her own cheeks. “Why am I not crying” Didi was puzzled. Tears came easy for her every other day. In fact, she had being rightly nicknamed ‘town crier’ by her friends for bursting into tears over everything.
It didn’t matter if she was insulted or received a glowing recommendation, if she lost a property or got a gift, if she heard a story or watched a movie, it was tears anyway. Definitely, something was amiss. “We are not getting married, not next month, not ever …” Craig’s words came back to her. “But Why?” she wondered aloud. It was not a question, but it was loud for him to hear anyway.
“Didi” Craig began but stopped short. It was no use. What explanation could there be that would justify this? A wedding that was only eight weeks away? Craig chewed on his lower lip, to keep him from spilling his guts. Or how was he supposed to tell her that . . . "I'm sorry" he ended.
After a moment of silence, Didi spoke up. "Let me out of the car, I can get home from here". "Baby, you'd get drenched" Craig said, very much concerned. "See if I care!!!" she hissed and opened the door. A gust of icy cool winds blanketed them both with some accompanying rain. "Baby please --". "Don't call me that" Didi snapped back. The emotions had begun to thaw.
Damning the consequences, she stepped out of the car. Who the hell did he think he was? Messing with her mind like that, Didi indulged a long hiss. Now the anger was arriving in bits and the torrential downpour could do nothing to hinder its steady advancement.