Eleven thirty on a Thursday evening, and the new year was almost upon the world. Tara was walking a lonely route home from the late shift at the library, lost in her own thoughts, her bag heavy with new books to read. A new year meant new books, and new books meant hours and hours of happiness. A few feet from the stairs to her apartment, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Whipping around and trying to cover up the inevitably high pitched yelp she let out when she realized she was not in fact alone, she pulled her pepper spray out of her bag and pointed it at the attacker.
"Don't move! I'll spray!" Tara had the spray out far in front of her in a strong stance.
The man in front of her threw up his arms and shrunk away as words started spilling out of his mouth. "Tara! Tara it's--it's me, you know me, I'm sorry for surprising you, I just-"
"Wait, Danny? What the hell?" She lowered the spray as a whirlwind of emotions spun through her brain.
"You remember me? I--I wasn't sure if you would." He smiled sheepishly.
Of course she remembered him. The year she had spent with him had once been the greatest year of her life. They had met around this time several years ago, when she must have only been barely in her twenties. She was just out of college with no job to show for the four years she had spent working on her degree, and he was wealthy and exotic and new and someone that they definitely didn't have in her small hometown.
They had spent the next year flying to new places in charter jets, getting up early, staying out late, and having, in every definition of the word, an adventure. Tara considered herself lucky to have experienced it. It only lasted for so long--after not much longer than a year together, Danny had a family matter to attend to, and then he was gone. He vanished just as quickly as he had come into her life.
That was a heartbreak for sure. Not a call, no texts, emails nothing. Plenty of social media posts to prove that he was still alive, but nothing to prove he knew anything about Tara. It had taken her months to recover from that, almost as long as the time they had had together.
And now, here he was, exactly as he had appeared all that time ago. Had he even aged? She doubted it. People that rich didn't age.
In spite of herself, she dropped her bags and hugged him, hard. After what seemed like ages, Danny broke the embrace.
"So are you ready to go?" Danny had a gleam in his eye, an easy smile that anyone would be forgiven for falling for.
"Go? Go where?" Tara blurted out, blushing. She had intended to give him a piece of her mind, but that never had been her style.
"Anywhere. Your choice. Name it and we'll be there tomorrow."
Tara hesitated. She had built herself a life while Danny had been gone. She had a great job, a tight knit group of friends, and a truly wonderful cat. She had taught herself to be happy on her own, and that was an accomplishment to be proud of. Standing in front of her was her past, and she had been given the option to decide her future.
"Danny... I can't. I've got a life here, and... You left that life a long time ago."
Danny looked shocked. Then, he started to laugh.
"Ahh, I get it, you always were funny--but really, where do you want to go?"
"What? No, I wasn't--" Tara sighed. "Look, it's been years since I last even heard from you. I can't go back to that time all of a sudden whenever you have a moment for me. My answer's no. Happy New Year." Tara turned to walk up the steps and got halfway before Danny's voice rang out in response.
"I figured you would have changed since I saw you last, but I didn't realize it would be this much. What happened to you?" He was on the attack now, hoping to engage her in her own defense.
She shrugged. Tears weren't coming, she didn't feel that emptiness that had plagued her long after he left, and truth be told, she was just tired. "I grew up. It looks like you didn't."
Tara walked up the stairs, through the door, locked the door, and slumped down on the ground. Her cat, Rama, crawled into her lap, content with Tara's choice of seating.
Tara smiled, scratched the cat behind the ears, and gently placed him back on the ground so she could get a cat treat for him. The clock rang out midnight, and Tara smiled. Closure in the dying year, opportunity in the new. She took an old ring off her finger, smiled, and tossed it in the trash. As things were meant to be.
*****
Author's Note: After being fairly fed up with how Indian women are treated in the Epics, I wanted to write a story where a woman in a position similar to Sakuntala's position has the final say and chooses to be on her own, because that's where she needs to be right now. I'm a firm believer in the idea that only you are responsible for your own happiness, and I wanted to convey that through a story. Tara is Sakuntala's analog, while Danny mirrors Dushmanta. Tara's got an unglamorous life, but Danny is a rich jetsetter who sweeps her off her feet. In the original story, Sakuntala takes Dushmanta back after he not only leaves her and forgets to send someone back for her (albeit because of a curse) but also refuses her while she's with child in his court. Sakuntala also has a ring that Dushmanta gave her, which is hinted at in the last paragraph where Tara gets rid of a ring. As far as the image, I wanted something to give that warm fuzzy feeling that comes with New Years, but nothing too specific.
Devee, Sunity. Nine Ideal Indian Women.
1919
