The once-in-a-week trip to the beach turned out to be a respite. It was only the time when she could let her hair lose, feel the wind in her hair and the soothing sun rays of the setting sun on her skin.  Endless shorelines were tempting to walk along on and very often she wandered off from one beach to another eventually tiring out and sitting against the shoreline admiring the sun against the horizon. The waves sang a song of their own. The sounds of them crashing against the sand and receding slowly leaving behind a trail of froth with bubbles. She remembered how she would make an attempt to squish those bubbles with her feet as a child and spatter the salty water as she walked along. The rule was simple. She had to follow her parents and not stop anywhere for long during their walk. She occasionally flouted this rule to bend and pick up shells, some starfishes or gaze at the clusters of coloured pebbles in awe. Her mom was well aware of this and she turned to look out at varied...

It was raining heavily since 5 pm this evening. However he insisted on carrying on with our prior plans of an evening at my favourite Japanese restaurant - Shiro’s. I never understood the reason for his insistence. After all, we could have just ordered in. It wasn’t a special occasion either. I tried to recollect. Nope - not our first date/meet/move-in anniversary. Neither his nor my birthday. I have been jobless for 8 months now and i do not think he has received a promotion or bonus of-late. At least i would like to believe so as i don’t think his manager would have a heart so succulent to give him a worthy raise in these turbulent pandemic times.  Since he insisted, i dressed up in the best of my attires! A soft velvety red bodycon dress with flamboyant black heels and a red pout to complete the look. He chose to stick to his crisp black tuxedo paired with freshly polished leather shoes and a scent of musk sprayed on his cufflinks. Since this was the first time in eight months t...