The Parallel Track

She turned around to see if it was what she thought it was...but no, he wasn’t there, nobody was. She returned to folding the clothes neatly and piling them up in a stack on the bed again.Smiling to herself again, yet again…this was one of the umpteenth number of times that she found herself smiling at his thought.

It had become a routine. She looked for solitude to let her mind drift to her golden reveries. His was a thought that consumed all her conscience and sub-conscience.It was a perfect world with him, her and their love; his love included. The perfection of that world surpassed the reality of the real world. She was loved passionately, acknowledged and celebrated for sharing their togetherness; his share of togetherness included. She was accepted unconditionally with all her imperfections, showered with unrestricted affection, secured with unwavering attention; his affection and his attention.

She looked at the clock. 6:15 pm. About time, she thought. After putting the stack of folded clothes in the cupboard, she went for a shower. Sprayed the cypress body mist (his favorite) on her bare body post shower and then slipped into a white cotton tunic and a pair of ice blue slacks. She could sense the smell of woods and wild flowers from her body. Hair still damp with water made her curls go all the more curly. She walked upto the dressing table and picked up the moisturizer. Rubbing it over her face and arms she smiled again. As always, it felt good to make that extra effort for making him smile and lifting up his spirits after a hard day’s work. Moistening her lips with a fruit scented lip balm, she looked herself in the mirror. Perfect, she thought. Just the way he likes to see her.

6:30 pm. The doorbell rang. With one final glance in the mirror, she went to open the door smiling. Her husband stood there busy looking at his cell phone in his hand. She looked at him and chirped ‘hi!’ ..’hey’ he said, looking at her half smiling and back to his phone while moving inside the home. She closed the door behind him and went upto the kitchen to get his glass of juice and her cup of tea. Placing the glass on the living room’s center table, she switched on the television and tuned it to the particular sports channel that was to telecast the soccer finale today. She knew her husband awaited it eagerly.

She picked up her cup of tea and walked out of the living room to sit on the low cane chair in the balcony. Looking at the red-orange sky slowly changing to an ink blue shade, she smiled again at his words -- ‘Had no idea I’ll be received by a dove today, you look gorgeous in that new white tunic!’

And with the warmth of his kiss still lingering around her mouth, she sipped on the tea...smiling.