The Message

Before you all send me notes to say how unlucky I have been, let me assure you that this story is a work of fiction.

Now…

It rained… It rained heavily… I stood outside her apartment wondering if I should go inside. It was 1:58 AM. It was the darkest night of the month. Dark clouds covered the sky threatening never to fade. Morning seemed to be far away. And my mind was still at the airport, wishing that she would not leave. I was totally shattered. Watching her leave was indeed the hardest thing I had done in my not so successful life till now.

 

Few hours back…

With the airport for the backdrop, there stood two people - one madly in love with the other and the other who did not believe in love. One who was about to build a promising career and the other who failed again to convince the lady of his dreams that she was the one for him and it would be a horrible mistake if they did not give the relationship one chance.

Just when she was about to leave, she looked at me and said, "Listen to this very carefully." My heart fluttered. I was sure that it missed a beat. She looked straight at me and said, "We cannot get married… no way… it's not possible. I'm sure about it… 200%"

All my hopes were shattered. This was the truth. I knew it right from the beginning.

"We could be friends," she said.

"Yes." I said. "'Friends'… is all right" I smiled. I could not believe that she actually believed in what I said. I was being sarcastic.

"You know, we could show everyone that a boy and a girl can be good friends," she said.

"Hmm… Sure…" is all I could manage.

"All right then, I shall call you when I reach." She said. She turned to leave. No final good-bye. No hand- shake, no peck on the cheek. No brief hug…!

"Hey," I called back. She turned. "You know, a boy and a girl can be really good friends only if one of them is not head-over-heels in love with the other," saying that, I turned around and left. I desperately wanted to look back and see her for the last time… but I did not. I did not want this to be my last memory of her.

I discretely wiped off a tear which was about to cross the threshold of my eyes. She was leaving and I was pretty sure she was not coming back. I had asked her to marry me. She said that she could not. For reasons which seemed stupid to me. She said that her parents won't agree and that we are not a good match for each other (I still wonder what she meant by that).

I don't really know when I fell in love with her. Maybe it was during the first time that we shared a rickshaw or maybe it was the time someone commented on how pretty she was and I said that she was my girlfriend. Or maybe it was during a certain festival celebration when she stood before me and tried to mirror my moves. Or maybe just one of those numerous times we chatted for hours on end. I don't know for sure.

She knew about my feelings for her and she never once made fun of those. Although she never reciprocated, I was happy that she was still friends with me. Every day I looked forward to seeing her in the evening. No matter how tired she was, she always made it a point to wear a smile on her face. I could make out sometimes that the smiles were just a show-off to cover what was hidden inside. She never shared her feelings and her troubles with me… she said that she hated it when people gave her puppy eyed look.

So many thoughts were running simultaneously in my mind. My mind was numb and I could barely think. I looked back at all the times we fought and cried… and unlike what people say, it brought tears to my eyes.

 

Now…

I had the keys to her apartment. I wondered if I should go inside.
I was drenched. The rain chilled me to the bone. We did not live together, yet I felt the need to go to her place to absorb the last few moments of nothingness while she was gone. I turned on the switch. No electricity… damn..!!

I came inside the room; most of her stuff was still there. Crumpled sheets lay on her bed. The sweet smell of her perfume filled the room. The little posters saying, 'I love myself' adorned her walls. The green curtains which I always thought were amazing fluttered in the cool breeze.

I sat down on the window-still and reached for my cigarettes. As much as I wanted to smoke, I did not. I threw the pack on the sofa and kept on listening to the thunder outside. I looked at my watch; it was 3:09 AM.

Just then I heard footsteps. I heard the door knob clicking. As the door opened, the lights came on. It was her!!! "What the hell are you doing here?" I exclaimed. She smiled. She dropped her bags near the door and walked towards me. I was shocked and thrilled at the same time.

All she said before melting in my arms was, ""You know, a boy and a girl can be really good friends only if one of them is not head-over-heels in love with the other… but what if both of them are head-over-heels in love with each other?"

We stood besides the window and kissed. This was our first kiss. It was amazing. I could taste her tears on her lips. We kissed for what seemed like eternity. Finally we caught our breaths. She suggested that we needed to change else we could catch flu.

She went to the bathroom to get changed. Just then my phone beeped. It was a message. Who could be messaging me at this time I wondered. I removed the cell phone. It was a message from her. It said, "I have boarded the flight. Hope to talk to you soon!"

    ~The End~