Daisies Forever

Jenny was having a problem concentrating on the TV show in front of her. She and John had been married for the past 4 years and they had been leading a very

happy married life till recently . All of a sudden there seemed to be a change in John’s attitude towards her.He had been very evasive of late and seemed to have lost the art of communication. He was always thinking of something and trying to conceal some of his actions. Especially whenever his mobile rang at odd hours he would make sure he went out of her hearing range before he answered it.

Initially she had thought that it was due to work pressure as John was a very senior employee in his organization.

What made matters worse were his lies. Why, the other day she had actually found proof that he was lying. He had come home very late .When she had asked

him quite casually about it ,he told her that he had come across Mrs.Hopkins on the way and she had asked him to help with her car, which had taken him quite

a while. She had been stunned by the lie as she had met Mrs Hopkins’s sister

in the mall that morning and she mentioned that her sister and brother –in-law

had gone on a holiday to Mauritius. She felt that there was no point in calling his bluff as he might come out with another lie and she was unable to stand it anymore.

In fact John was a very honest person, very open and generally shared every little thing with her.

So what could be wrong?

The only thing that came into her mind was that he was having an affair .But what should she do ? Let it carry on like this or face him with facts ? she felt it was a good thing for the relationship if things were discussed. That was when she decided to get the evidence herself.She could not trust anyone to do the job .

It was after one such call on a Saturday evening ,John told her that he would be out for a short while but nevertheless asked her to have dinner as usual and not wait for him. He may be late also in which case he could open the door with his set of keys.

She nodded her head but as soon as he went out of the door she grabbed her coat and purse and hurried out after locking the door.By the time she came down

John had taken his car out of the parking lot and was out of the gate. She quickly took a taxi and asked him to follow the red car at a distance discreetly. The taxi driver was surprised but decided against asking questions when she told him that she would pay double the fare.

John drove till the Baker’s Corner and took the second right from there and her taxi followed too. He took another turn, slowed down his car and pulled up in front of a house.

Jenny asked the cab to stop at a distance so that she would not arouse suspicion .

The sun had sunk in the horizon and darkness was falling softly. John meanwhile had taken the five steps leading to the porsch and rung the bell.Jenny could see a lady ushering him in and closing the door after him.

Jenny was unsure of her next move. But having come so far she decided to go ahead.She paid the cabbie ,thanked him and approached the house. But she did not try to go in to the house immediately.she went to the garden surrounding it and hid behind some clumps of trees.

After ten to fifteen minutes she could see the lights coming on inside the house on the top floor as well as the ground floor. She could see the silhouette of a man moving about in the upstairs room supporting a lady on his hand .

Jenny could stand no more. This is it .She thought . I have got him.She went up the steps and rang the doorbell quite forcefully. An old woman opened the door and was for a moment surprised to see her. Jenny told her that she wanted to meet her husband John who had come here sometime back.

Without a word the old woman led her upstairs . Jenny was spell bound by the beautiful house richly decorated with paintings of masters. The painting on the staircase was oddly familiar. It was of a very beautiful woman probably of her

age.

The room where she was led to was equally warm and opulent.There was a huge bed and a lady was lying on it.She seemed to be very ill and weak. John was there too sitting next to her and trying to soothe her to sleep. When he saw Jenny he looked at her incredulously. But he immediately put his finger to his lips urging her to be quiet. He continued to talk to the lady on the bed in a low voice until she drifted to sleep.

He tiptoed out and taking Jenny by hand closed the door of the room and walked down stairs. He opened his mouth only after he seated her on the sofa.

“So” , he said .” You found out”.

Before Jenny could say anything he spoke again. “ I am sure you want to know what this is all about. Well , she is Sarah my sister.We were five brothers and two sisters. A big family .Sarah was the youngest of all. She was beautiful and equally ambitious too. She was a keen observer and was forever imitating the fashion divas on TV. she would create cheap imitations of whatever she saw and was always able to get admiring looks from her friends. She would often brag to her family that one day they would see her on TV modeling clothes and other goods. Their mother had warned her that it was not an easy occupation and people were almost never kind. It was very difficult to survive without powerful contacts. Sarah hardly seemed to hear.

It was destined to be. They realized on a Sunday morning that Sarah was nowhere to be seen in that small town . She had left a note saying that she was leaving on her own volition and had requested them not to search for her. John met her close friend a few days later in a church and she confided that Sarah was planning to go to Mumbai with a guy called Lawrence who had promised to get her modelling assignments.

A year later the family saw her on a TV commercial and after that she was almost a favourite model.The family had not tried to reach her and neither did she “.

Jenny suddenly remembered why the portrait was so familiar .It was the portrait of Sarah Coutinho who was the highest paid model for sometime.

John continued with his narrative “ After I settled in Mumbai and married you also there were no contacts .I often heard of rumours about her being a drug addict and how she was losing out on modeling contracts. Suddenly one fine day she called me home. Somehow i could not say no. When i met her she threw herself at me and cried . She was very highly strung . She seemed to be afraid to leave me . I told her that I would be visiting her often and gave her my number in case she wanted to talk to me .I met with her doctor who put her on a drug rehabilitation program.She has shown signs of improvement but my being at her side was more important than anything else.

But somehow I felt unsure about bringing her home in case you would mind. Also I felt that it would not help her cause if more people came to know of her addiction. I am sorry that I hid all this from you also.”

Jenny could see the pain in his eyes and for a moment wanted to hug and comfort him. She held his hand and put it to her cheek and apologised for having lost her trust .She promised that it would be a joint effort henceforth to nurse Sarah back to health .