Part Two

The group of girls returned from their shopping spree which might’ve qualified to be the quickest one in history! He looked for her among them, but she wasn’t there! Where was she? What was going on? His thoughts took off once again and he got desperate. Equally puzzled as he was, his friend inquired about the girl. They got to know she wasn’t feeling too well and had retired to the hotel. Surprisingly, he couldn’t hold back his concern. “Is she fine? Does she need medicines? Shouldn’t we take her to a Doctor?” The girls giggled again, like the last time. 

“Relax, she’s fine. Just tired I guess”, one of the girls replied. Phew, he was relieved. But, he couldn’t see her and he badly wanted to. In his mind, he already started making plans. The girls said goodbye and started walking back to their hotel. He immediately offered to walk with them, under the pretence of “protecting them”. His friend looked at him, and he knew she was thinking about his actions. Her eyes were full of questions and confusions. He was shocked by his behaviour himself. But, he had to see her.

They reached the hotel and good nights were exchanged. He looked up at the windows of the building; some dark, some lit up and wondered which one of them was hers. He walked back to his apartment and his phone started vibrating. Wi-Fi in the house, no data pack on the phone does this to you. He saw his mobile - 124 messages from 14 conversations on his WhatsApp, 6 unread emails on Gmail, 2 friend requests and 5 notifications on Facebook. Facebook! How can he forget it? He quickly started his laptop and went to his friend’s profile. Like he had guessed, the girls had put up pictures from the trip so far. There, he spotted her! And a beautiful smile replaced the wrinkles created by the concern. 

He easily found her and spent the next 15 minutes completely stalking her public profile. His cursor kept hovering over ‘send a friend request’. He was about to send her a request when his phone beeped playing “1 thing 2 do 3 words 4 you...” Of course, right timing! It was his girl friend. “Hey”, he said in a low voice. “Where have you been all this while? Koi aur toh nahi mil gayi na?” She asked the most cliched questions. “I am not feeling well, let me sleep. I’ll call you later.” “Oh my God, kya hua? You want me to come over? You never take care of yourself!” He could imagine the face she was making on the other side of the phone. He smiled and said, “It’s alright. I’m just tired. Goodnight.” “Goodnight, love you” she replied.

 He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and shut his laptop. Sleep wasn’t going to come so soon, he knew. He looked out of the window at the dark sky and the beautiful moon and stars. “What harm could one time do? Just spend some time with her, get to know her. She’ll leave soon and you can return to your normal life.” The night was really provoking some bold thoughts. “Am I insane? I have a girlfriend! It is this mere attraction and would go away with the night”, his sane mind said.  He chose sleep over everything else and closed his eyes. For a moment, everything was under control. Suddenly, he could see her coming out of the cluster, shaking hands, smiling, walking away. He got up, more wrinkles on his forehead than before. 

Walking towards his laptop, he slowly opened her profile. Staring at the screen for a few seconds, he changed ‘Add Friend’ to ‘Friend Request Sent’. Enough for a day, he realised and went back to his bed, hoping to catch some sleep.

Part One

He looked at the beautifully dressed bride walking towards the mandap. All eyes were set on her as she made her way towards the to-be husband. He just stood speechless, admiring how perfect she looked. He could hear people behind him commenting just how lucky the guy was to have such a perfect wife. 6 years back, this gorgeous woman was his, even if only for a moment, all his. And today, she was getting married to the man she loved.

Watching her walk, he went down the memory lane.. 6 years back, he met her for the first time. He had been keyed up to meet his childhood friend after quite some years and she said she was bringing some friends. They had all come to his part of the state to spend some time with nature and enjoy the beach. It was an all-girls trip, so he knew he was going to be the only male around them. Not that he was nervous or excited; he was in a relationship with a wonderful girl since two years, a happy relationship for that matter. His train of thoughts was broken by a very familiar voice as he turned around to face his friend. She looked the same after all these years he noticed. Geeky glasses, chubby cheeks and the ever-so-cute smile. He returned her cute smile with a broader one. 

She turned to introduce her friends one by one. And as she called out the last name, a slim figure came forward from the cluster of girls to shake hands with him. She had a smile that could melt any heart and little brown eyes that sparkled with excitement. She was so tiny that he probably looked like The Hulk in front of her. He tried to imagine how it would be like to hold her in his arms. He was dazed and couldn’t take his eyes off her and could’ve imagined more if it wasn’t for his friend who coughed to interrupt his day dreaming. He looked up with a smile that said I-know-you-caught-me. “She looks like one of my friends”, he managed between his urge to look back at that girl and hide his embarrassment. “Control dude. She probably thinks you’re an idiot. And oh, how can you forget? You have a girl friend!” he soliloquized. Luckily, his friend rescued him and told everyone she’ll see them later. The girls exchanged goodbyes and turned to walk the other way. He waited to see if she turned around or if he could catch a glimpse of her face again but snap, he was caught again. 

“Stop trying to do that, you have a girl friend and that’s where you must concentrate,” his friend said as she pulled him inside CCD. They sat there for about an hour talking about life and everything that had changed since they last met. He constantly kept praying she would talk about the girl whose smile had not left his mind all this while. He lost his patience and finally asked her, “So who are all these friends you’ve come with?” Who was he kidding? This girl in front of him, who was now grinning, knew him inside out. “She’s my junior. We share an apartment, all of us in fact. She is single, if that helps”, at which he smiled like a little kid eating his favourite candy. “But, you have a girlfriend and she would eat you up alive if this reaches her”, making a face at him, she finished the sentence. He knew it all along, but there was something that kept pulling him towards her. He had to be with her, even if for a few hours. He just had to.