Sheetal

A cool breeze was flowing from the seaside. A little kid was running along the beach with a dog. A man was walking towards the beach houses.

A young woman was watching them from the porch of her beach house. Everything from her white summer dress to the large almond eyes to the long straight hair radiated beauty and richness.

He sighed when he looked at her and smiled to himself. "What would I have done without her"

The man often bragged that his wife, for that was the woman he was looking at, had a face that launched a thousand ships. He never tired of looking at her or pampering her with lavish gifts. Indeed, he could afford to do so. Tushar Vaid owned a chain of restaurants around the country. The business was very succesful and Tushar was touted as one of the richest men in his city. A sprawling house in the heart of the city, a cute beach house, a few swanky cars, were a few of his assets.

Tushar first met Sheetal at one of his restaurants, a whirlwind courtship was followed by a lavish wedding.

Sheetal soon became the life of his lonely house. She was not only stunningly beautiful but also very intelligent. She was very shrewd when it came to business, always full of new ideas. And the business flourished even more after she became partner. Tushar, Sheetal and six year old Aryan, were a very happy family.

Presently, Tushar followed Aryan and their little pug into the house. He walked towards the porch and noticed his wife seemed to be in a pensive mood. As Sheetal saw him approach, she crumpled and threw away the note she held in her hand.

"What's the matter sweetheart? Is anything wrong?" enquired Tushar.

"Nothing" replied Sheetal with a well practiced fake smile "I have to leave for Bangalore tomorrow. And I was thinking how much I will miss you and Arry"

"And we will miss you too. But why are you travelling so suddenly"

"A friend of mine is getting married. And she wrote to me to come over a couple of days earlier."

Tushar sensed that this was not true but refrained from saying anything as he had done over the years whenever there was mention of any of her 'secrets'. Tushar had learnt not to ask her too many questions about her past. This was sort of an unspoken agreement between them.

Sheetal stood up suddenly and walked into her room saying "I have to pack. Early flight tomorrow"

Meanwhile Tushar's eye fell upon the crumpled piece of paper Sheetal threw away earlier. It was a very old piece of paper and he unfolded it carefully lest it tore in his hands.

On it were written the numbers

10/10/10