Hm… (Short Story)

I waited for long at the coffee shop. She had said she’d reach by five and it was 10 past six.

We had been in a relationship for the past seven years and finally convinced our parents about our marriage. Our engagement is just one month down the line and my friends had been bugging me for a bachelors’ party ever since it was fixed. And yesterday was a most memorable day in my life. All my friends came over to my flat in Bangalore and we partied all through the night. I not only forgot to attend her calls but even my mobile. The Airtel bird chirrped about 23 times all through the night when I and my friends were having a gala time at the balcony and I was too drunk and tired to return her call once I got into my room by about five in the morning. And I slept like a log till 12 in the afternoon the next day. By the time I woke up, I found another 16 missed calls from her. I rang her back.

“When somebody loves you/It’s easy to get through…” I listened to her caller tune. It’s a song by a Western country musician called Allen Jackson.

The ring went on till the first two stanza of the song before she answered my call.

“Hello,” I said.

“Hm…” she answered.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t attend your call yesterday. I was giving a bachelors’ party to my friends. I had mentioned to you about it yesterday evening, remember?”

“Hm…”

Then there was total silence for a few fleeting seconds. I knew she was completely pissed at me because she had warned me against getting drunk and had said that she’d call up in between to check.

“Come on Vidya. Please understand. It was a bachelors’ party and I’d never get a chance to enjoy like this with my friends anytime here after.”

“Hm…”

“Vidya… Please…”

There was no answer.

“Ok. Let me make up for this. Meet me at our favourite hangout by five. I’ll give you a nice surprise.”

“Hm…”

“What ‘Hm… hm…’ say something na?”

“I’m quite busy Kiran. I’ll meet you at CCD by five. Bye” and she cut the call.

I felt terrible at her response. But yes, in my mind I too felt a little guilty that I avoided her just like that last night. I cursed all my friends for dragging me into that party.

I got up, took a shower, ate my lunch and waited painfully for the clock on the wall to tick past four. I missed her continues messages telling me about what she’s doing and where she is but I never dared call her up and check. I knew she was angry at me and I desperately wanted to make up for my misgiving.

I slept again for about an hour in between and got dressed and ready to go by four. It’s a half hour drive to the Café Coffee Day near her apartment. I got down at a gift shop on the way and brought her an elegant looking wrist watch. She had a fancy for designer watches and I knew a good looking watch would be the best gift to cool her nerves.

I found an empty seat in the coffee shop and I settled myself, waiting for her to arrive. I had already drained down two mugs of coffee and yet she had not reached. The usual evening crowd of happy boys and girls were milling up and I grew impatient waiting for her for so long. It’s not very usual of her to be so late. I tried calling her up in her mobile but she never answered. I know she was angry at me but still…

I ordered my third Cappuccino when I saw her walking towards me. She had about three to four shopping bags clutched tightly in both her hands and she was in white sleeveless top and blue denim. She had done something to her hair and it looked smooth and it cascaded down one of her fair shoulders. I was awe-struck looking at her. I’m amused how I never got tired of her beauty in the past seven years. She had a great sense of dressing and the Khadi sandals and the blue pendant in a silver chain around her neck and matching silver ear danglers with blue stones just added to my eyes’ ecstasy. Only that familiar smile was missing.

She sat opposite to me and never gave me even a passing glance.

“What would you like to have?” I asked and she didn’t answer.

“Your all-time favourite Mocha?”

“Hm…”

I called for the attendee-boy and ordered for a Mocha.”

The silence between us grew and I began to get very restless. I was almost losing my temper but I knew it was not a good idea to get angry at her at this moment. After all, I’m the reason why she’s annoyed.

So after a few seconds of emptiness, I said: “I’m sorry Vidya. I really didn’t mean it to be like this. It just happened so. Won’t you forgive me?”

“Hm…”

I suddenly got down on my knees and produced the gift I had for her.

Now, she was taken aback at my gesture and she immediately became conscious of her surroundings. She looked around to see if anyone was watching us and caught a gang of girls and boys staring at us with a smile. She turned her glance at me and I couldn’t say whether she was still angry or happy. She didn’t move for a while and I had to thrust the watch box into her hands. She smiled a half-smile at me and I settled back in my chair.

The Mocha arrived and she started sipping at it in silence. She placed my gift by a side and never looked at it. It was disappointing.

“Did you like it?” I asked.

“Hm…”

“Now, you still don’t seem very happy. Do you know what trouble I took to find this watch for you and I bet you’d love it.”

“Hm…”

What “’Hm…’?” my voice said the annoyance I felt.

She kept her coffee mug on the table, took the watch out of the box and examined it for a few seconds and looked at me and smiled.

Oh my God! All my anger got washed away, just like that. Just one smile and that’s it…

“You liked it right?”

“Hm…”

I was too flattered by her smile that I never noticed she didn’t utter a word other than “Hm…” after that. I kept talking about how yesterday’s party went and how John started singing in his gory voice after he got drunk and we all made fun of him, and how Sidharth started blabbering about his girlfriend that he just broke up with and how we had a tough time pacifying him and all that.

We rode back, a happy couple, and I kissed her goodbye at the gates of her apartment. She smiled again.

Oh! Oh! That was the cherry topping of the whole day. After all, all that moments of painful waiting didn’t go waste!

I returned home the happiest person in the world and as soon as I reached my flat, I logged into Facebook and waited for her to come online. She came and…

I typed: “Oh Vidya! I love you.”

She replied: “Hm…”

And for whatever I said after that, all I got in response was “Hm…”

I never realized it then. I was too happy to be chatting up with her but once the whole excitement was over and when I lay stretched on my day reminiscing the moments I had with her that day, it struck me.

“Hm…”

I mean, how many meanings can that one sound possess?