Each night
He would sing to her.
The very songs she longed to hear.
And through day
It was jokes and fif faf
This covid lockdown proved rewarding
The online dating, a silver line
In the dark murky unsure haze
That the year was proving to be .
The workplace was a disaster
Yet manageable
Cause
All were behind screens and phones.
Nobody got yelled at for poor performance.
They just received a mail.
The Romeo was in a search
For a beloved
Who could provide him
The cushioning of monetary comfort.
All this work was very debilitating.
It broke his spirit .
He needed a woman
Who was loaded.
He looked younger than he was
And professed to be a warm loving man.
She looked older than she was .
Burdened with care of old folk
And a business
That employed far too many people.
Single now
At 54. She wondered
Where this would all go.
In her high mansion
Anxious for her health
And wary about the caregivers carelessness
Towards her Dad.
The business too lost people
In the first wave . The union demanded compensation.
Finances had to be juggled .
Thus began sleepless nights.
He seemed promising
With a management degree and years of experience.
Maybe if they could connect and set together
She would have a companion and a partner.
They met
On the first video chat at the site .
He made her smile
With his lopsided humour.
It was a beginning for a relationship.
She sang , painted and loved the mountains .
He sang and appreciated her sketches.
Then one day she realized
It was time to meet this guy.
Only he wasn’t ready
For his wife demanded more alimony
If she were to sign the papers.
He lied .
His father was unwell and daughter moving in.
His job gave him heartburn and the danger
Of her getting exposed and Ill.
I told her.
Beware !
She said He had problems
And she was helping him.
I once again asked her to check his antecedents.
She said “ chill, You are too suspicious”.
My friend wouldn’t listen.
Until one day she decided to surprise him.
Sending him money and gifts of appreciation
She had his address.
She booked a hotel and took a flight .
It was that small window of safety
So she took a chance .
I wasn’t aware of it . She kept me out .
Whilst this lovestory had begun
A small nagging doubt had begun to eat into me .
I asked myself
Why did I want to protect her?
She was grown up, with one marriage behind .
She would have developed a survival instinct
An intuition to guide her through all this
In all of our sharing
She had shared with me
His pictures, his video songs
And his city of belonging .
It did not take me long
To begin my own investigation.
To be honest , I watched his singing with a dispassionate mind .
It did tell me
This was all for a show . It was a snare .
Google tells us sufficient if we text a name .
I saw his presence on online sites,
his previous job of 10 months .
I also noted his college and degree.
He was just an average .
But he was a charming man
With a voice that made the listeners heart gooey.
He had a pleasant face and a fit body .
He worked out each day to keep the flab away .
I couldn’t tell her I had been checking
Or else she would say
I wasn’t happy she had found a mate.
So with baited breath I waited each day
To hear from her.
Each night we spoke
Or exchanged notes
I yet didn’t know
That she wasn’t home
A few days later I got a call
Loud sobs and so much wailing
It broke my heart.
The bastard was a cheat .
He wasn’t single
And did yet happily mingle
With older women vulnerable.
His wife was a part of this game .
He had no job and a place to his name .
That son of a bitch
Had been playing around
To make some bucks
When she turned up
It was an incorrect address.
She had been fooled by his charm
But still knew her way around .
She called him to tell she had sent another gift .
This was the one he had been hinting at.
A multi gym set with a treadmill for covid lockdowns.
The previous address was incorrect .
She had set the trap now .
Calling her brother
She made to a newer site
To find him living lavishly with his wife.
Gutsy woman finally reported
But her heart had broken the second time in two decades.
Alpana Issar
I do believe we can get through this thing called life smoothly if we reach out to each other earnestly . There is enough for all if we share. An artist by profession and have been a teacher by vocation. Life has been beautiful with all the challenges thrown at us . We just grow stronger.
Teacher, Painter, Photographer and an outreach activist. Presently living in Vishakapatnam on the eastern coast of India. I am grateful for the way of life which has given me many fine opportunities to hone and develop my skills as a person with many interests. I have also been very fortunate to travel through India and abroad, learn about different cultures and learn a foreign language while living in Chile Published poetry in two Anthologies by Dr Roopali Gaur Sircar & Dr Anita Nahal.
Diverse voices In all the spaces and Earth fire water wind .
A good exposure to understand that life is about narrations and expressions so we may know we are not alone in this world.
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