Escape : When Love is Stronger Than War

Chapter 3 - Part 3 - When everything crashes

Two weeks passed, and the tension is the air seemed to have dissimulated. Nithiin was more himself, cheery and romantic, picking me up from work, taking me out on dinner dates and even bringing me to movies. We haven't heard anything about Pakistan and India, so we assumed that everything was back to normal.

We were heading for our big morning walk on Sunday, when Nithiin tried calling his parents. "They must be out," he said. "They're not picking up and it's 7 pm."

"Maybe they are having dinner," I told him.

"Probably, we usually ate at that time. I'll try again later."

We walked hand in hand for over an hour when he decided to try calling them once more. He would dial and then hang up, unable to reach his parents. He tried a second time, unsuccessfully.

Once we got to my home, Nithiin decided to try calling his best friend in India. "Nikhil," he said, sounding relieved. "Ugh, voicemail!" Then he would hang up again, all the tension back in his face.

"Is there a festival going on or something right now in India? Maybe that's why they all are busy."

"Not one that I remember of," he told me.

I went to stand behind him in the kitchen and hugged him tightly. I knew he was worried, I also was starting to be stressed, but I wouldn't let him see that.

After a few minutes, I heard him whisper, "Can you try calling Pavan?"

Shocked, I turned him around to look into his eyes. He was lost, confused, scared. I was trying to find a trace in his face that could mean that he was kidding, but I wasn't finding anything. "Nithiin, I can't call him. We haven't spoke in so many months... we aren't in good terms... He's my ex!" Taking a deep breath, mastering all my courage, I whispered, "I don't know if calling him will destroy me again..."

I could see that what I said hurt him more. I guess he always believed that I was completely healed from the breakup, but now he was noticing that I was not. He nodded, and went to sit in the living room, giving up.

I got us a plate of cookies and grapes and brought those to the living room to snack while he was watching tv. Usually, Nithiin would always go straight to Netflix and look for new movies, but today he didn't. He chose to watch the news channel.

We watched the news for half an hour in absolute silence.

I looked at Nithiin. He was still tensed, staring intensely at the news channel, as if searching for a hint that something was happening in India. When the news finished, I felt relieved that they haven't mentioned India at any moment.

Seeing that his mood was not coming back, I decided to master all my strength, and took out my phone.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm going to try calling Pavan," I told him. "If he answers, I'll just hang up. I can't see you like this, and if it confirms that everything is normal in India, we will just assume that your family and friends are busy with some function."

I dialed Pavan's number and waited nervously as it rang. Hanging up once I reached his voicemail, I decided to try a second time even though he was probably just ignoring me. Still after the second call, Pavan ignored my call.

Nithiin took my phone before I could protest and tried to call randomly a few of my friends in India. Not a single person picked up.

He rose up from the couch, and rushed to the door, putting his shoes on.

"Nithiin, wait..."

"I have to go." He handed my phone back.

"But why? Nithiin it's probably nothing, my friends have work and Pavan ignores me..."

"Stop, Lauren. I have a bad feeling about this."

In a matter of seconds, he was gone leaving me gaping at my front door.

I tried to call him that night, but he didn't pick up.