Ramya sat in her room browsing through the restaurants that offered late night food delivery. It was around 1 am and she had the sudden craving for some briyani. Given that she hadn’t eaten anything since brunch didn’t help her much.
Opening one such restaurant’s site she quickly looked through the menu. They had briyani within the money she had at hand. Cursing her PMS that didn’t let her go out all week she dialled the number.
“Hello, Take out box.” She heard the male voice on her phone.
“Hi, I would like to place an order for delivery at Nobo nagar.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Yeah… I want one chicken briyani.”
“And?”
“That’s it.” she was hoping he would just take in that for an order.
“Ma’am it would be nice if there was a minimum order.”
She felt bad. It was rather late. The next ATM was a good kilometer away from her place.
“Ma’am?”
“I don’t have any more money to order another dish. I have just enough for one.”
“We can’t order without minimum order ma’am.”
“Oh. Then alright. Please cancel the order.” she spoke and hung up quickly.
Looking at the maggi pack that was nearing expiry date she sighed. “Looks like briyani will have to wait till tomorrow.”
She was startled when her phone started ringing. It was from the restaurant.
“Hello?”
“We are calling from Take out box.” this time it was a different guy.
“Yes?”
“We will deliver it ma’am. Please give us your address.”
She felt like she had just won the lottery.
“Its No.10, 1st main road, Nobo nagar.”
“Alright ma’am. Our delivery person will call you in a while.”
The line went dead.
What better can she ask for? She was happy.
When she heard the door bell she took out the last two hundred rupee notes left in her purse and skipped to the living room.
The moment she opened the door colour drained from her face. She just stood there gaping at the person who was holding her food package.
“Vishnu?” she uttered.
“Aren’t you gonna let me in?” he looked behind her to see that almost the whole house was dark.
“What are you doing here?” she managed to ask.
She was not about to let her ex-fiance inside her place late at night that easily.
“Ah… I came to deliver your briyani?” he pointed to the bag in his hand.
“But… You are not a delivery guy.”
“I can explain if you do let me in…” he spoke with pleading eyes.
“You must be hungry. First eat rams…”
Although she didn’t want to eat in front of him, her grumbling tummy did not seem to agree with her pride. Opening the package she devoured the spicy rice.
“Take out box is one of my ventures. I run it with a friend.” Vishnu started speaking. “I heard your voice in speaker while he was taking your order. I knew how you get these midnight cravings. So I made them accept your order. Even offered to deliver it myself.”
When she gave him the is-that-all look he added “Plus I wanted to meet you.”
Within minutes she had finished eating and discarded the box.
“Here” she handed him a bottle of water.
“That still doesn’t answer my question.”
“I just told you…”
“No… You said how you came here. Not why you came…”
“I… I just thought I’ll…”
“You will what? See how pathetic I am? What sort of miserable life I am leading? Is that it?”
“No…”
“Then what Vishnu?” she felt all her emotions surfacing. She was struggling to keep them under check. She did not want him to see her vulnerable.
“I just missed you. And wanted to see…” he couldn’t continue.
He knew he was at fault. His parents were the ones who broke the engagement. That too right after Ramya lost her parents in a freak accident. They saw it as a bad omen and did not want an unfortunate girl as their daughter-in-law.
Vishnu didn’t do much to fight. And that hurt her more. He did not defend her.
“Well now that you have seen me, I suggest that you leave.”
“Please let me explain…”
“What was there to explain? I understand your situation. Your parents were the ones who chose me for you. And when they decided that I was not fit for the role, they broke it off. After one year of courting I shouldn’t have thought that maybe you did fall in love with me like I did with you. You were just following your mother’s instructions right? No need to explain Vishnu…” Tears threatened to escape. She was shaking by then. The very memories she was trying to forget were flashing in her head.
“Just… Please Ramya…”
“Please leave…”
He did not want to create a scene. He walked towards the door.
“One minute!”
He almost smiled while turning around. His smile faltered when she thrust the money in his hand.
“Thanks for the food.”
And a door slammed in front of him. He didn’t stand there for long to listen the loud sobs that echoed through the doorway.
***
Few months later
Ramya was looking at the menu.
“Okay I will have the blueberry cheesecake…”
“How many pieces?”
“The whole thing!”
“That would be 8 pieces in total. Will that be it?”
“Umm… yeah… I think!” She said in a doubtful manner. “When can you bring it here?”
“I will be right home with your order ma’am.”
“Ma’am ah?” she giggled.
“Yeah apparently my pregnant wife is craving for an entire cheese cake at 3 in the morning. So I have to rush.” Vishnu spoke with a smirk on his face.
“Just come home soon Vish!” she lovingly caressed the baby bump which had begun to show off.
That one night her craving was what brought him back into her life. Why is she going to complain about her cravings ever again?
Category: Story Corner