FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN

The Almot Break Up

Neel was running his hands through his hair in despair. It was Saturday. A week of no Manjari. No messages, no phone calls, no kisses, no late-night walks, nothing...He understood that she was busy with her daughter and helping her settle in, but did she not have time to send him one message? He had sent her countless messages over the week and today and she had not responded to any. He checked his phone for the thousandth time to see whether she had sent him any message. He had sent her a message this morning expressing his desire to meet Amaira and to spend time with both.

Imran, who was in the same room as him,  started laughing. He was the first one who had found out that they was something brewing between him and Manjari. He had found out about them by fluke. He was also near the lighthouse that fateful day when Manjari and kissed him. He had confronted Neel about it in his office days later. Neel cursed the day he had confided in him. He had to put up with constant ribbing though Imran never teased Manjari about him. Neel suspected he adored the ground Manjari walked on as she had been so nonchalant about his homosexuality!

"Dude, you have it bad. You are totally whipped", mocked Imran. Neel just glared at him and started fiddling with his mobile phone again.

Imran tsked tsked under his breath and said, "stop. Stop sending her so many messages . She will respond when she has time".

Neel just sent him a withering look. Imran could never understand his fear. It had taken months of battering on the door of her heart for it to even open a bit. It had taken all his force, a lot of pushing and shoving to open it enough for him to worm his way in. He was scared. If he let her be for a long period, she would just forget about him again.  He stood up, making up his mind. It was the weekend. She should be at home. He would visit her. Before he could second guess his options, he bounded down the stairs. He knocked at her door. There was no response. He circled the house and peeked in through the windows. There was no activity in the house. Were the mother-daughter still sleeping? He called her up on her mobile. No response. He tried again. No response. Where was she? Why was she not taking his calls?

Disappointed, he climbed the stairs and flopped on his bed. Was he losing her? Had she changed her mind about them? Was she deliberately ignoring him? Or did Samar say something to her? Warn her to stay away from him?  He had felt Samar's eyes on him during lunch that day and he had been extra-cautious in his interactions with Manjari. Neel turned on his side,getting angrier by the minute as various thoughts swirled in his head. He was getting more and more convinced that Manjari was deliberately avoiding him. If she wanted nothing to do with him, she should have at least told him and not left him hanging like this.

Manjari had woken up early to realize there was no milk in the household. She looked out of the kitchen window as she sipped her warm water. The day was sunny and warm. Soon it would snow, and it would be too cold to go out. She decided to make the most of the day. They would go out for breakfast, maybe a walk in the park, some ice cream and then grocery shopping.

She woke her up and the two showered and got ready for the day ahead. She grabbed her purse and her house keys and holding Amaira's hand went out of the house. In her rush to get started on the day, she forgot her phone which was charging on the kitchen counter. They had a leisurely breakfast at a café. Amaira had eggs and juice and she had coffee and a sandwich. After ice creams, they bought popcorn and water and headed to the nearest park where Amaira played on the swings and Manjari basked in the sun. The day was perfect! She felt a sense of peace pervade every cell of her body. She wished that Neel were also here. She decided to send him a message. Maybe he could jointhem, and she could introduce Amaira to him. She searched her bag for her phone. When she could not find it, she remembered that she had forgotten to put it in her bag. It was still on the kitchen counter. She would send him a message when she got back, she told herself and concentrated on enjoying her day with Amaira.