The Ring
P.K.Ghatak, MD
No 2.
On a Saturday Henry came home early. As he entered the foyer through the garage, he heard the telephone ringing in the living room. He picked up the phone, and answered, “hello”.
“Hello” a female voice replied from the other end.
Henry said, “this is the doctor…, whom am I speaking with”.
“Hello” a female voice replied from the other end.
Henry said, “this is the doctor…, whom am I speaking with”.
The other voice replied, “don’t you recognize my voice, I am Sarah, I called you two weeks ago, did you not get my message”?
Henry said, “are you Sarah from Toronto.”
She answered, “yes, who else you know as Sarah”.
Henry replied, “I thought it was a salesperson, trying to sell me something. Why did you not give your last name”.
Sarah replied, “never mind my last name”.
Henry questioned, “where is your husband, does he know you are calling me.”
She replied, “that is what I am calling you about. I am separated.”
Henry asked, “what! What went wrong”?
She replied, “I will tell you all when you come to see me.”
He asked, “are you inviting me to come to Toronto; are you sure?”
She said, “I am still your friend, am I not? You are not married, will you not come? I need you.”
Henry agreed.
Henry agreed.
Two weeks later, Henry took a flight to Toronto.
On the flight Henry was thinking: It seems so long ago - he just started his medical practice. He bought a single family home in a new development in the River Forest. He was looking for things to hang on the wall in his study, when he came across a beautiful Batik painting of the famous Esala Perahera Festival Parade of Kandy, a gift from Sarah when they were in London. The painting was done on a deep red background, elephants were in black, and men were in orange color with a white dress on them. He loved the scene- the spirit and the vibrant colors. He hung the painting on the wall opposite his writing desk. He sat on the chair and tilted his head back as far as it could go and kept admiring the painting. He wished Sarah were here to see it. He wrote her a letter described his new situation and invited her to come and visit him. He included his new telephone number and asked her to call him. Several weeks went by but he did not hear from her. Now, he wished he had not written the letter; it must have made things difficult for her; and felt sorry for himself.
One day he picked up his mail from the mailbox, and then put them down on his desk; made a cup of coffee and proceeded to separate real mail from junk. Here, he saw her letter. He opened the letter with nervous shaky hands. “Dear Henry: We just returned from our honeymoon and found your redirected mail. We have moved to a larger and better..........” He put the letter face down on the table and closed his eyes in disbelief. He gathered his thoughts and concluded it must be an illusion. He read the letter again – “returned from our honeymoon”.
He was devastated, to say the least. He did not go off the bend because of his love for medical practice. The hurt of that difficult day was still with him, but the sharp edges had smoothed over with the passage of several thousand days and nights.
Sarah was waiting for him at the arrival gate. From a distance, she saw him and waved at him. Henry was stunned. Sarah went from a petite to a large size. Only her shoulder length beautiful hair remained unchanged. He stretched his arms to greet her.
She said, “don’t tell me anything about my weight; I know I am overweight. I am going to lose weight; you will see”.
They took the airport shuttle to the car rental office and got into a car. Sarah said, “take Highway 403 West, we are going to Hamilton”.
They continued their conversation as he drove. With the ease with which they inquired about each other's family members by name or relation, one would think there was not a 10 year hiatus at all. Only when Henry took his eyes off the road and looked at her, he could not find that beautiful celestial nymph as she used to be. Sarah could see Henry had a moderate size bald spot on his head and graying sideburns and lost that wondrous inquisitive luster of his eyes, replaced with the mundane look of a bank manager.
Sarah told him, “Take the exit for Plain Road.”
He followed her instruction and asked, “where are we going.”
She replied, “we are going to a beautiful rock garden. Turn left on York Road.”
The way Sarah was giving him driving directions, Henry knew she had been at this place many times before. He was smitten with jealousy.
They walked around the flower beds, came to a fishpond and then to a beautiful small English Tea shop. They got an outside table in the shade and ordered tea and snacks.
Henry asked her, “why did you leave your husband”?
She replied, “he had some behavioral problems. You know, he was my client from London. I thought I could handle him with firmness and straighten him out. But on the way, I lost the handle. He was persistent what he wanted”.
He asked, “where were you married; in Australia or Toronto?”
Sarah replied, “that was another sign I missed. As soon as I said “yes” when he proposed; he wanted to get married right away. He wanted a small wedding. No one from my side of the family came or could have come in that short time. Only my friend Rose and her husband attended; David’s mother, sister with her husband came and a few friends were invited, - altogether we were only 10 people at the wedding”.
Henry said, “why did you agree to such arrangements; after all, it was your wedding too?”
She replied, “he was always short of cash, did not learn the value of money. Anyway, it is over and done with”. Sarah continued, “my cousin from Baltimore came to visit me when we were dating. He sensed David had a problem and wrote to my brother. He advised me to be careful, but I ignored him, he was not a psychiatrist.”
“What kind of problem he had” Henry enquired.
“He was compulsive: he would read all the articles published in Sunday magazine in NY Times. Then cut the articles and stack them in different piles on the bare floor of the spare room. If I ever touched those papers, while cleaning the room, he would have a fit; he would rant all day long. When he had a tantrum, I had to shut myself in my bedroom or get out”.
Henry said, “you said you were afraid of him; do you mean he threatened you with violence?”
She replied, “that was initially”.
He asked, “will it be a messy divorce?”
She replied. “You can imagine what happens when lawyers are involved, nothing remains simple. Moreover, he is not currently employed. I may end up paying alimony to him, but that is okay.”
The waitress bought tea and placed the tray on the table. Sarah reached for the sweet snacks. Henry cracked half a smile and knew why she was unable to lose weight. He reclined back in the chair and watched her closely. Then he looked in her direction but his sight was fixed on a distant flower bed.
Sarah asked, “what are you smiling about.”
He replied, “I was reminded of our days in London.”
She said, “do not lie to me, you can never lie and get away with it, I can read your mind through your eyes.” She continued, “you don’t tell me things you think, you never show your emotions in public, at times I wonder if you really like me or not. He was quite the opposite, you know, I mean my ex. He always held on to me in public, gave me big kisses whenever he had a chance, took me to all the theaters, movies and plays. He knew all my weaknesses, used them effectively and gained my trust. I did not suspect he had an opposite side”.
Henry said, “you must have known he had bipolar disorder or similar such conditions. He must have acted out violently before.”
She looked at him then lowered her eyes and was about to say more. He reached over and put his right hand over her hands resting on the table and said, “no, don’t tell me anymore please, it is painful.”
He held on to her hands for a while and remained silent. Sarah took a ring off her finger and put it on the pinkie of his right hand and said, “this is my mother’s ring, don’t lose it. This is for you.”
He looked at the ring closely and held up his hand in the air and asked her, “how does it look on me”. Sarah replied, “it is a bit tight for you, but you can get it stretched, any good jeweler can do that. You look very distinguished with this ring”. He held his hand in front of his eyes and looked at the ring again and said, “thank you. I promise I will not lose it.”
Sarah looked happy and took a sip of tea from the cup then kept looking into Henry’s eyes.
Henry said, “you said you could read my mind through my eyes. Tell me what they say”.
Sarah looked deeply into his eyes, and then lowered her eyes and looking at the teacup, she said, “I am not telling you what I read.”
A month went by since they last met. Henry’s mind was occupied with her thoughts. He searched for that fire of passion once he knew so well. At this time, it simply was not there. He took the ring off his finger and placed that in a small jewelry box, wrote a short note and mailed it to Sarah by special delivery.
Sarah returned late in the evening from an office dinner meeting. She went to pick up her mail; the attendant at the front desk gave her a parcel. She hurried back to her apartment and opened it. She saw her mother’s ring. She took the ring out and put it back on her finger. She rubbed the ring against her dress till it sparkled. She looked at it for a few minutes, looked at the box and saw the note resting at the bottom of the box but ignored it and pushed the box away. Since her separation from David, she kept the radio on continuously. The radio was playing a popular song:
“My love is warmer than the warmest sunshine, softer than a sigh.
My love is deeper than the deepest ocean, wider than the sky. ”
She slammed the radio and shut it off and murmured. “Stop that, you fool!”
She turned around and saw fresh flowers in that beautiful Waterford crystal vase, a gift from Henry at their meeting in the rock garden; she took the flowers from the vase, placed them on the kitchen top, dumped the water in the kitchen sink and dropped the vase in a trashcan. She walked over to her liqueur chest, poured a small glass of Drambuie. She sat on her favorite chair, lifted her feet up on the coffee table, took a sip of Drambuie and mocked the radio song and sang in the same tune:
My love is wider than widest ocean
and has more fish than all the pebbles on shores.
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