Last days

Chapter 12

"For me, Ananya seem to be the element, with her in my life. I felt I needed nothing else. I felt at equilibrium." I said. Her dark brown eyes looked at me with curiosity. "I met her five years ago, at my dad's friend's party. Her dad's party. She was beautiful, smart and kind. I was always a wallflower, but she came to talk to me. We exchanged facebook IDs. At first, we talked a little. Then we talked for hours, it became our routine. Then a week before my 13th birthday, we went to see a movie. She watched the movie, and I watched her. Almost every guy was checking her out. I think she kinda knew how pretty she was even back then. She taught me how to play chess, I never beat her at that. she was the district champion for two years straight, around the same time when I won the table tennis championship. She used to tell me 'we will be world champions one day, in our sports' but as years went on, she lost her interest in competitive chess, and me in table tennis. We would hang out every other weekend. With her I have sat here at marine drive, Ride countless locals, went to almost every theatre and graffitied a wall in our names. Hell, We even promised to go to the same college. I would go to her whenever she called, text whenever she texted, and wait for her at cafes and theatres. I was falling deeper and deeper into her ocean, and I never noticed that I was being taken for granted. Because I didn't mind it, even if I was."

"That's really sad," she said. "What will you do when you see her again?"

"I don't know. More than hurting me, I think she has somehow disappointed me. which is a really weird feeling."

"I know." She says and puts her head on my shoulder again. And we watch tall skyscrapers in the distance.

***

"Why are we here?" I ask as she leads me into a church. It is an old building, with creaky wooden floors and benches. It is empty, the candles are lit. We sit in front. "I used to come here when I was little, my dad used to bring me. He would say me to sit here. And talk to the padre in the confession box." she says. "This church was a happy memory for me until I realized one day, it was the origin of my destruction." she was not crying, she seemed angry, looking at the confession box. "Here it comes," she says looking at her phone. It was 11:59, and then 12:00. The bell rang. we laughed with joy. "wow, that's awesome." I said. "Yeah. It is, I always wanted to do this. This is the only church in Mumbai, that rings the bell at night." she said. "Why is that?" I asked. She didn't know, but whatever the reason it was. It was magical.

***

"This is it, I guess," I said, examining the house. A few years ago, on one Sunday evening. I and Ananya came to this abandoned two-storey house, in the middle of the city. It was full of graffiti. And there were sprays lying around. So she took one and gave me another.

Avani and I stood together, facing a massive wall filled with random spray writings. In the mess, there was, "Ana & Rish – 2014." "It's damn cool," she said. I nodded. Looking at "Ana & Rish" and "2014".

***

We stayed in that graffiti house for a few hours, It was empty and not haunted. From the roof, we could see Mumbai Police patrolling, "What do you prefer? Chandigarh or Mumbai?" I asked. She drank the last of her water and said, "Chandigarh is good, nice and chilled people. Time seems to slow down there compared to Mumbai. But there's something about it. This city, it's a mysterious trait I haven't figured out yet. But whatever it is, I like it here more."

It was 5 AM, and we walked almost 3 miles before we arrived at our familiar little park. We sat on our familiar bench, and let the silence of 5 AM sunk in. "It's funny how in movies when a couple roams around the city the whole night, they don't show how tired they are. Or when they look for water," she remarks. "Agreed." We laughed. She falls asleep after a few minutes on my shoulder.

***

"Thank you! It was a great night" She said giving me a parting hug.

"Pleasure's all mine," I said.

That rest of the day was terrible, I was tired from walking all night. And I was sleepy and Krish was having his fun. I could barely lift my eyelids at 2 AM when I hit the bed. I woke up at 9 PM. And continued my nighttime reading adventures.

The next morning I was at the park on time, but she was not. She did not come that day. Nor the day after. And the day after.

I was an idiot not to get her number, but It never crossed my mind. I was worried about her situation. But with no contact information, there was nothing I could do. So I kept coming to the park every day, in a hope that eventually she would turn up. Then this thought flashed in my head: She ghosted me.

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