A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE Suparna

Sandra and Danny were childhood sweethearts. Sandra was the ‘lead singer’ of the school choir while Danny was a drummer They would steal glances in the school corridors The cupid struck them early in life. After being admonished by the Principal their meeting in the school premises was curbed. The desire of the two hearts to meet brought them together to the church every Sunday morning

Soon, Sandra joined a prestigious hospital as a nurse but Danny dropped out from school after failing in class twelfth exams His passion for music had made him quite popular in hotels and night clubs and by then Sandra had saved enough and bought a flat for herself. Sandra, looked beautiful and many eligible bachelors were waiting to propose to her On the Valentine’s Day 2019, Danny proposed Sandra for marriage but Sandra declined the offer as he did not have a proper job in hand. One day they had a nasty fight, casting aspersions on each other and they broke up

Danny continued to stalk Sandra for a couple of months, with the worm of suspicion recoiling in his mind On a cold winter night of 2020, Sandra got late in returning home after a double shift of duty in the Covid ward. Her scooter had broken down on that cold wintery night. Suddenly she could see three tall shadows hovering over her when ,that’s when she saw a motorcycle revving that gave her a sigh of relief. To her surprise it was Danny standing before her. Danny shielded her and gave a bloody nose to the rogues who fled away

All drenched and shivering, Sandra broke down as Danny wrapped his arms around her. Danny offered her coffee and led her to his studio apartment. After drying herself, Sandra sipped the strong coffee and immediately passed out on the couch and slumped The coffee was laced with a drug ‘Mephedrone’, which had knocked her off her senses. She woke up the next morning all dishevelled It was Danny who had planted those goons and staged the roadside crime. The devil in him was aroused when she was alone with him and he outraged her modesty and even shot a video for blackmailing her

Soon she realized to her horror that she was pregnant with Danny’s child. Danny wanted termination of the fetus but Sandra decided to bring up the child as a single parent. Though she was compelled to marry him due to societal pressures they did not live as husband and wife Sandra was a woman of substance who did not yield to Danny’s whims .She waited for him to return from jail as a changed man

Danny was put behind the bars and returned a changed man after five years.