He somehow gathered his senses and fastened his seat belt. The flight landed with a jerk, not the best of landings that Ritvesh had experienced before, definitely not pleasant in his present state. For a moment he felt that he is gonna die, the very next moment he felt as if he is gonna throw up. None happened though. After what seemed like ages the flight finally stopped. Somehow everybody wanted to get down at the very same time. Ritvesh decided otherwise because he coudn't have handled any pushing. He decided to wait for the crowd to clear and walk like a king.
"Why are you here?" asked the immigration officer. "I am here for work" snap came the reply. "Work? Your visa is only valid for discussions. You are not allowed to work here." Ritvesh knew that this was a point in time where his sense shouldnt fail him. Common sense prevailed and he said "I am here to meet some clients on a work related deal." Immigration officer looked scornfully and replied "Alright, please go ahead". Ritvesh knew he had one last hurdle to clear before getting out of the freaking airport: Customs. But even before that he had to pick up his luggage.
He was waiting near the conveyor belt. It wasn't moving suggesting that the luggage hasn't arrived yet implying it would take more time. His thoughts suddenly drifted to the time he was in India, just before coming to Sydney. He was sitting beside Raksha in a coffee shop. Ritvesh just cracked a joke and was making fun of Raksha. Raksha was angry but happy at the same time that she found a perfect guy, well close to perfect. She suddenly uttered "Ritu, lets get married." Ritvesh still was laughing from his last joke said "Don't you think I already asked you that question and you agreed?"
"Yes I did, but what I am saying is that I want to get married this year."
Suddenly all the laughter disappeared from Ritvesh's face. "Really? This year?"
"Well, you love me right?"
"I do"
"You wanna marry me right?"
"I do"
"So why wait?"
"Raksha, I am not ready for marriage yet. I am sure I wanna marry you but I don't think I want it to be this year. I want to spend this phase a little longer. I like this phase when I am a bachelor and do not have any responsibilities to take care of. I want to be like this a little longer. When I feel I can take up the responsibilties we can go ahead."
"Wait a minute. So you think I will be a burden for you and you are not ready for that right now? And what do you mean by bachelor life? You are a semi-bachelor because you are committed to me. Do you want to wait for longer so that you can ogle at other girls and I would not be able to say anything?"
"Raksha, why are you twisting each and every statement of mine? Do we really need to talk about this now. Can we not postpone it for later?"
"What do you mean Ritvesh? We can go for coffee, we can go for movies and we can do all the fun stuff. But when I want to discuss something serious, something that is related to our lives you want to postpone it. Get real Ritvesh."
"Oh come on Raksha, why are making such a big deal out of nothing?"
"This might be nothing for you, but its my life and my future Ritvesh. I am upset now. I ll go by an auto, you need not follow me. I need some space and time to think about my priorities."
"Raksha wait!"
"Ritvesh please, leave me aloneee!" she shouted and left.
Ritvesh did not follow and just sat there thinking about what just transpired. He took a few moments to realize that what just happened was not one of those silly fights they normally had. This was bigger. This was more serious. He picked up his phone to call Raksha but then decided against it. He thought that talking to her would only aggravate things. He decided to wait for the next meeting.
The conveyor belt started moving and Ritvesh came back to the real world. He picked up his luggage and headed for the customs check.
