Mr. Black

Mr. Black

Mr. Black was an ordinary but sophisticated man, and he was lonely. I can't explain the exact cause or reason for his sophistication but i guess it originated from his trying to keep things straight and simple. In his world, how hard he tried but the shortest distance between two points was never straight line. Connecting two points for him was like going through a labyrinth, like going around in circles and circles until you reach a point within which you can't draw anymore circles.

But Mr. Black was a sophisticated and simple man. If you stood in his shoes you could see that the skies were blue, the tarred road is black and both meet at horizon with lush green trees shouldering each side of the endless road and Mr. Black on his cruiser riding carelessly but not without a helmet, for Mr. Black it was safety first.

He would lock a lock and then take out the key and then try to lock it again, then he will pull it two or three times, all to make sure it was properly locked. But this doesn’t mean that he was a neurotic or suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. It was just a habit he had acquired over the years because of living alone.

He will go to bathroom every time he had to and he will check the taps are closed or not because he hated water dripping. He’ll leave a small light bulb on because he wanted to feel someone lived in that deserted place.

And Mr. Black used to always take out 2 glasses of wine, just in case if a guest arrived or if he wanted some more, with happen more often than to be said to be coincidence. He has never had a guest for last 20 years of his life. He was not sure if it will happen in future.

Over the last 20 years Mr. Black developed a deep rooted love for colour black. His suits were black, his ties were black, his shoes were black, shirts black, his hairs well naturally black, like Mr. Black was stuck somewhere in time long back and his life didn’t seem to move. He even used to joke that his blood must be black. Mr. Black was a funny man in his own special way.

When Mr. Black was a young kid he lost his mother. The only people left in his life were his Dad and his Sister. Black’s Dad though loved his kids but could never get over the pain of losing his wife. Over time he became alcoholic and then later started to return home with unknown ladies.

Family friends of his father grew aware of the situation and suggested that the kids be sent to a boarding school, it would be best for them. His dad understood and arranged for the kids to be sent to one of the best schools.

Two years later his sister’s health kept deteriorating. From something as simple as viral fever to leukaemia was considered. But only after 6 months of intensive investigation she was diagnosed of a rare form of leukaemia. She didn’t have much time. Black suffered everything silently. He was devastated. She passed away about a year later. After that Black had completely withdrawn from society. He knew from here on he will be alone regardless of the fact that his Dad existed.

Mr. Black when graduated decided not to study further and his Dad didn’t ask why. He went on to join his Dad’s retain chain which was not making much profit since his mother passed.

With the amount of hard work that Mr. Black put in there he could have moved a mountain. Business was small thing. It reached new heights, profits increased many folds, new stores opened.

About five years later and because of his Dad’s drinking habits he was diagnosed of liver failure. Black didn’t want to lose him. He did everything he could. But it appeared like nothing could help is dad, and his dad said, he just needed a few more drinks and that will be all. Black took control of things, his dad didn’t live long, but it was long enough to make black realize that money was not the key to happiness. He had money but he was not happy. He had money but he was alone. Black decided he won’t do what others are doing.

While returning from trip when he was sitting in the lounge he saw a couple cuddling. He started thinking how he never understood the fascination of men about women. Black had been single all his life, he was 38 and he never cared about being in a relation. He had forgot what it is like to be loved, why be loved. Porn never made sense to him, all adult magazines to him was about girls who could make easy money just by taking off their clothes and posing for photographers. Mr. Black was free of temptations. But he was certainly not gay.

He remembered how he once had an encounter with a call girl when his batch mates had arranged for a party after their graduation from college. She was a nice young girl in her 20s. It was just supposed to be teasers but as night grew and after sessions of heavy drinking things turned wild and all other guys ended up in bed with someone or else except black was still on the couch sitting talking to a girl who was half undressed up to her waist. Black didn’t stare at her, didn’t touch her, he just talked.

After a while when the girl felt either he was acting stupid or just nervous and out of the obligation that she was being paid by bunch of guys to do stuff she took control of things in her hands. She pushed him on couch to lie down and got on top of him; she took his one hand put it on her bosom and started kissing him. Black was in shock, he couldn’t move, he was cold, his heart stopped, he couldn’t breathe. While she broke away from kissing and unbuttoned his shirt, Black’s hand was where she had placed it. She smiled and winked at him and said, you like it huh?

And before she got back to kissing again she whispered in his ear, I am Irene. Black was still not sure how to respond. They both slept on the couch whole night. And black didn’t even close his eyes for a second.

In morning after the girls left Black got to hear one thing from everyone of his batch mates, you lucky dog! Black was never kissed again, never slept with a woman again and never had the desire to do so.

While Black looked out of the lounge window he was happy that his business trip was a success. Black had decided to sell off his retail chain and he got a good bargain out of it. He had convinced the investors not to cut short the staff, and he be kept as an employee. No one understood why Black was doing it. When returned back to his town he put most of the he had earned except a small part into charity work. He started a school, a home for the old and poor people, and another for the orphans. He himself moved to a small apartment and sold their house. The only thing he kept of his dad’s was his car.

Everyday Mr. Black would get up spend 10 minutes in his bath tub. Drank black coffee and had a sandwich. He would go to work where everyone knew him. He had his lunch at a small coffee shop across the store. In the evening he would spend time with poor and the orphans he was supporting. Every month his salary would go into maintenance of the place. He was living his life out of the small share of money he had kept aside for himself.

Black had his dinner at any one of the places, either with orphans or the old guys. Finally his night would end with two glass of wine kept at the coffee table in his apartment and some blues or jazz playing on the radio. Mr. Black had finally figured out what was about men and wine but he never figured out what was it about women.

Though he was lonely he knew, or rather lots of people knew him. Though he was single and never wanted to marry he had enough love to live his life. Though he was not left with much money by the time he reached 50 he had earned a lot respect he was a satisfied man.

Mr. Black kept reminding himself that her name was Irene and money was not important for life but will to live.

But he could not understand, why can’t the shortest distance between two points be a straight line for him, and why did she ever tell him her name, though what if it was Irene.