Helpline

Helpline

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Drama

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The noodles are too oily and spicy today, he thought to himself as he took a forkful of noodles. He frequently ordered food from this restaurant and yet each time the noodles tasted different. Ordering dinner and having it while watching a good mystery on OTT was his favorite daily routine. He picked up the remote and put on the Scandinavian mystery he had recently started watching. He had barely watched for fifteen minutes when the light on his mobile flickered and an unknown number flashed on the screen.

He paused the show and thought to himself, "Perhaps it is a distressed caller." He slid the AirPods in his ears and answered the phone.

“Hi…”The voice from the other end was feminine and laced with skepticism and hesitation.

“Hello…,” He said in a polite and courteous tone trying to assuage her frayed nerves.

“ I got your number from a post on facebook….umm,  is this the helpline for distressed callers?”

“Yes, it is,” He replied assuring her. “What is bothering you?”

“Yes, it is,” He replied assuring her. “What is bothering you?”

"It is my husband. He is constantly cheating on me.” She said painfully.

“Oh! I am sorry to hear that.”

“I gave up my career, my friends, my entire life for him,” she said in a shaky voice as the words tumbled out of her.

He remained silent allowing her to vent. Some callers preferred indulging in small talk before talking about their problems and some dived headlong into their worries.

“It is almost nine and he is still not home, I am sure he is out screwing his junior at work. I called him a while ago as it was getting late for dinner and he asked me not to wait for him as he might come home well past midnight.”

"Hmm..." he grunted. "Cant you leave him?" He asked half expecting a familiar answer.

"Leave him and go where? I have kids and I am touching forty. It is just so frustrating," she replied helplessly.

"Have you spoken to him about it?"

"Yes, an infinite number of times. He mends his ways for a while and then he is back to being a dog, the bastard," she fumed.

"Have you both visited a marriage counselor?"

She exhaled audibly. "We have tried that too... he is simply not willing to work on the marriage. I feel so unwanted and so undesired."

He could feel the anguish in her voice. "I understand. It is not an easy situation. Perhaps, you need to do something drastic. As they say, desperate times desperate measures. If you cannot divorce him then leave separately. He has to feel your absence, miss having you around, miss what he takes for granted."

"I know, I know. But it is just so goddamn difficult. All these years my life revolved around him and now I simply cannot imagine living my life without him in the picture."

There was a long pause as he considered what to say next.

She broke the pause. "I hope I am not taking too much of your time. Just that I feel so lonely at times and this is not something that I want people around me to know. Only a couple of my friends know and I guess they too are tired of listening to the same shit over and again.”

“No, No, it is perfectly all right. I am here to listen and besides, it does give me a certain satisfaction to be of some help to people in need.”

“That is very kind of you.”

“So, I suppose your family has no clue about it?" He asked filling in the awkward pause.

“No, they don't. As I said, except for a couple of my very very close friends, to the rest of the world, I am this blissfully married woman with a wonderful husband. The facade of a successful marriage gets too much."

"I understand,” he said taking in a deep breath. “Don’t take it otherwise, I don’t intend to make light of what you are going through but your situation is not unique. There are many out there who are in the same boat as you are.”

“I am sure.” She said softly. “So, do you often get calls from women with cheating husbands?”

“Yes, it’s not only cheating husbands but there are cheating wives too,” he said trying to lighten up the mood.

"Hahaha," she laughed out loud. “So, how often do you get people calling in to tell their sordid saga?"

“Well, pretty often. But, during festivals, holidays and on special occasions the frequency is more. The feeling of hopelessness and the need for company is acute during such days."

"What kind of calls do you normally get?" She asked feeling a bit intrigued and glad to talk about something else.

"Mostly it is about heart matters followed by work and family issues,” he said thoughtfully as he got up from the couch and moved to the bedroom.

“And, are you able to help them all, give them solutions to their problems?”

He laughed as he made himself comfortable in the bed. “No. I don’t think I can even if I wanted to. I think people just want someone to talk to and listen to them.”

“I must admit it is quite a noble thing that you do, being there for people in their times of distress.”

“I don’t think it is that great,” he said trying to lighten the burden of responsibility.

“If you don’t mind can I ask what made you start the helpline?”

The question caught him unawares. He pondered a bit before replying, "I don't know. Initially, my friends used to call in with their troubles and they said that they felt better after talking to me. It then occurred to me that there are many people out there who need a listening ear, so, I put my number out and gradually the calls started increasing."

"Wow!" She exclaimed and asked, "so, doesn’t this disturb your personal life? What if you are not in the mood to talk?"

“Well, mostly I do answer the calls but if Im really not in the mood then I will tell them to call back later.”

“That is nice of you. May I ask something personal?” She inquired politely.

"Yeah, Sure."

"Are you married?"

"No," he said tensing up a bit."

"Girlfriend?"

"Nah...I stay alone. He replied feeling a bit queasy and wondering if being single was a crime.

"Oh. So, who do you stay with?"

"I stay alone." He kept the answer short not wanting to dwell on it further.

"I see. It must be nice to have your own space."

"As long as I enjoy my company, I guess."

"Do you do this full time or..?" She left the rest unsaid.

"No, I work in IT, do coding and stuff. But I work from home so I can manage both."

"Ah, that explains." She said and then asked, "So, don't you get mentally exhausted listening to the ranting and whining, and talking to different people?"

He took a deep breath before answering. "Well, not really, I don't mind it. In fact, I look forward to it.

"Oh! that's interesting." She said smilingly.

Though not in her presence, he could sense her reaction. "What is it?"

"Nothing...Just." She held back her thoughts. "I think my husband is home. I will hang up now. Thank you for listening. You take care of yourself." She said winding up the call.

"You too...." Before he could get the words out of his mouth the line had gone dead. He looked at the time, it was almost ten PM. Sleep was far too distant. He lay there wondering.

*********** The End **********

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