Second Love

By Rashmika

“Excuse me?”

Arjun turned and for once, the boring grocery errand became exciting.

Every Saturday, Arjun’s mother, a woman old and bent with age, would give her thirty-year old son the weekly ration list. She would also remind him that he was too old to be unmarried. He would then drive the short distance to the nearest supermarket that was on the verge of closing and question his life choices. What he regretted the most was his lack of courage. He knew he was meant for more; his lover had often told him that. But he had lost all nerve when the love of his life had rejected his proposal. If the fear of people’s judgement could overrule love, what hope did he have in winning at anything else?

“Excuse me?” the voice repeated, breaking Arjun’s reverie. “Have you seen a little boy roaming around here? He’s around two-three years old. He has messy dark hair that sticks at the back. He was wearing a red cardigan and jeans with chunky shoes.”

The speaker’s tone had become frantic. Worry lines creased his forehead.

“Nope, sorry,” Arjun replied.

The apple that he had been surveying previously fell from his hand back into the lot. The speaker murmured a quiet thank you and pushed his empty trolley.

“He was just here a moment ago,” the stranger said under his breath and walked away with the unsure gait of a person who is about to approach another stranger to seek assistance. The stranger craned his neck, his eyes surveying the crowd.

Arjun bit his lip in nervousness, considered for a moment and called out, “Do you need any help in finding the boy?”

Startled, the stranger responded, “Oh no, that’s quite alright. I don’t want to bother you.”

“It’s no bother, really. I would love to help.”

The stranger’s eyes changed. Arjun thought he saw relief flood his cheeks. His eyes teared in what could only be worry and the neck shook mildly in affirmation at Arjun’s reassuring tone.

“Thank you!”

Arjun trailed a step behind, then aligned his speed to the hasty pace of this stranger who had disrupted his dull labour. As he walked alongside, Arjun caught quick glances at this new person. He felt like a giddy schoolboy. He felt blood rushed to his cheeks as he caught glimpses of the brown hair, almond shaped eyes or the shapely neck. He saw the unaware stranger pushing the trolley aisle after aisle, saw him biting his lip, his pace going haywire the longer they walked. He kept noticing all the little details, the beauty spot over the lip, the shapely, furrowed brows. In short, he was completely enamoured.

“There you are!” the stranger cried out, startling Arjun back to reality. He had gotten so busy admiring this new person that he forgot why he was next to him in the first place.

They had found the boy in the dessert aisle, unaware of the trouble he had caused. The stranger sighed in relief, and abandoned his trolley with the recklessness of relief.

“Where were you? I was so worried!” the stranger said in hushed tones, crouching next to the child.

“Hi there!” Arjun exclaimed. He caught the child’s attention. The boy stared at him with large doe-shaped eyes. He looked from him to the stranger and then back at him. The child looked at the stranger with sullen admonition. He eventually decided to wave to Arjun, who waved back. He blew a raspberry at the boy, who responded in kind. Arjun sat on his knees and tickled the child, causing him to giggle.

“Would you like a chocolate?” Arjun asked, drawing a pack of chocolates from the shelf and handed them to the boy, who squealed.

“Your son?” Arjun asked the stranger, strangely comfortable now that the child had been found.

“What? No, he’s, uh, he’s, my nephew. My sister’s son,” the stranger said nervously, looking at the aisles around him rather than at Arjun.

“It was wonderful meeting you. Thank you so much!” the stranger said suddenly. He picked up the child and sat him firmly on his arm.

Arjun looked up at the stranger and saw his reflection mirrored in brown-colored irises. The thought of never seeing him saddened him. He sat on his haunches for a moment, before resolve came back to him. He got up and was about to call out after the stranger and the child, who had reached the door of the supermarket, when he heard a distressed female voice next to him.

“Excuse me!” she said. Without waiting for Arjun to respond, she thrust her phone at him. It showed him a picture of a black-haired boy, “Have you seen him wandering about? He’s around two-three years old. He’s wearing a red cardigan and jeans with chunky shoes.”

By Rashmika