She cracked her knuckles
nervously, while tapping left foot unconsciously on the tiles beneath with her brown
boots, her breath was punctuated by a long sigh of agitation, she looked around
scanning the faces of a by passer. Her temper at that moment was way away from
sweet unlike she is usually being referred. White linen coat barely prevented
the chill from getting into her bones. She crossed her arms, occasionally rubbed
her palms and blew warm air, puffed red nose and rosy cheeks didn’t hide a
slightest fact that she had been out for a long time. Waiting was tedious in
cold evening of a harsh winter.
“Fifteen more minutes then
I will be gone.” It was the fifth time she said to herself. Who was she
fooling? A second stretched to a minute, a minute to an hour and it almost felt
like a millennium. Her head scolded her to stand up and walk away but heart begged
to stay little more with ‘What if he turns up? He might have a reasonable
excuse for being unreasonably late.’ Yet again, a head was in a lost battle
with a heart.
She took out phone and
dialed a number; she was flatly disconnected time and again. She stood up and
walked straight to Memorial Chorten, her favorite place to seek solace. On the
way, she dropped him a message stating she is on the way to home. Her feet did
walking while her mind was so blankly engrossed in nothing specific. The beep
indicated that she got a text. She didn’t bother to check, she was disappointed
and disgusted.
Her temptation won as she
read the text
Him: I am really sorry.
Something urgent came up. Where did you
reach?
Her: In a taxi. (She lied)
Him: Ok. Travel safe. Can
we meet tomorrow?
Her: I don’t think so,
tight schedule. (She lied again).
Him: Ok. I am really sorry
for today.
Her: It’s ok. I didn’t
wait much. (She tried to figure out how
much is ‘much’ in her perception, more than an hour was definitely not
qualified in ‘much’)
Him: Reached?
Her: Almost. (The beautifully illuminated Chorten greeted
her with countable head making rounds and she joined them trying to clear her
minds off the shits of her life.)
Him: Ok then. Cya.
Her: Yaya. Btw where are
you?
Him: Right besides you.
She instinctively turned back;
saw him grinning like a fool, waving hand with a cell and closing the gap
between then.
“Pretty little liar.” He pinched
her nose in a playful manner.
“This is not funny.” she brushed
off his hand, least hiding she was miffed with him.
“It was fun watching you
all the way.” He was goddamn prankster, she usually found it cute but not at
that moment.
“Were you stalking me all
the way from park?” her anger rose to the level to match the explosion of volcano.
“I didn’t plan to, mean
it. I was there on time. You were sitting on the bench, so engrossed in
thoughts. I wanted to see more of your ‘lost in thought’ avatar.”
She made a face of ‘hardly
convinced’ one.
“What was going on in your
head while waiting for an hour sitting on that particular bench? When you took
out the phone and dialed, I had to turn it in a flight mode, else you might have
caught me there. ”
“Nothing.” She looked at
him curiously, doubting whether he is the one she fought with just yesterday
and swore to never see his face just few minutes ago before he appeared behind
her like a superman.
“Pretty little liar.” He again
pinched her nose, this time she smiled with the subsiding anger.
“What were you thinking
when you were watching me from behind?”She asked making rounds.
“I was wondering what were
going on your pretty little head.” He smiled and brushed off her head with his
gloved hand; she could say that he was in the best mood.
He fetched Cadbury Diary
Milk Silk from his jacket pocket and handed over to her. He has a habit of pampering
her with chocolate knowing she couldn’t resist the sight of it. They walked in
silence knowing that they have things to sort which wouldn’t be best if it was
acted on impulse and rashly.
“It is getting late. I
gotta go.” She said without looking at him.
“I will walk you home.” He
said holding her hand “God! You are freezing.”
“Thanks to you.” She laughed
this time.
He took out his left
glove, coerced her to wear it, entwined her left with his right and put it in
his jacket. Her hand brushed with note in his pocket.
“It is yours. You get to
read it when you get back home.”
She looked at him, falling in love all over
again and silently thanking god for this wonderful gift in midst of a chaotic society.
“Your abode my dear. Cya,
tomorrow. ” He hugged her tight and placed a light peck on her temple and walks
off to his home, whistling with a beaming soul.
“Mom! I am home.” She cheerfully
shouted unlike a girl in the morning, which walked out of a house like a
zombie.
“Chunu, ajjo ta saro dillo
bayo ni.” Her mother said looking at digital wall clock which reads 9:18 pm.
“I had some work at
office.” She lied feeling guiltier than ever for having had lie many times in a
day.
She sneaked into her room,
opened a chit which reads;
Dear Chunu,
The journey is gonna be
rough but I guarantee you a happy ending. Stay strong till then. Remember we
are gonna fight till end, no giving up in between because I won’t give up and
won’t let you to.
Love
Tashi
N.B: Excuse my Nepali sentence
in the story; I ain’t good with the language. The story turned out too cheesy. ROFL
