Hope Bound

Chapter 10: Finale

Hope is still blank. After a while she shifts her position on the bed. She can feel a streak of tear rolling down her cheek. She gets up from the bed and stands in front of the mirror. Looking at her pale face and messy hair,she wipes off the tear. After staring blankly into the mirror for sometime, suddenly she lifts her hand and touches her dull pink lips. She can see flashes of her kiss with Ronny, which gives her goosebumps all over her body. Her heart starts beating wildly as if it is going to pop out of her chest. Remembering the kiss turns her cheeks into pink from pale white. She can feel heat rushing through her. Suddenly the thought of Ronny leaving New York comes to her mind and makes her nervous and restless. She can feel anxiety hitting her and fear crushing her, as if something is slipping out of her hand, something valuable, not knowing what it is or may be she knows but doesn't want to accept it.

Hope definitely knew that Ronny has applied to colleges abroad. After all it was Hope's suggestion. But she didn't know that Ronny was actually leaving New York, that too tomorrow morning. No matter how much she wanted to run away from Ronny, deep inside she always wished that she was close to her.

It's 2 AM now. Hope can hear her stomach growl and then she realizes that she didn't even have dinner. Her mom, once knocked at the door and called her for dinner but she refused saying that her stomach was upset. She is extremely tired and sleepy now, yet she doesn't want to sleep as she is scared thinking that if she fell asleep that 'valuable thing' would just slip out of her hand. She takes out her phone and scrolls through her and Ronny's pictures. She stops at one of Ronny's pictures and after staring at it for sometime, she wildly starts kissing the picture. On realizing her loss, she starts sobbing and unknowingly falls asleep after a while.

Hope suddenly wakes up all startled and looks at her watch. It's 6:30 AM. She jumps out of her bed, picks up her purse and sandals in hand, without wasting any time by wearing them. Then she rushes out of her room, frantically running down the stairs. She bumps into her mom while she is about to open the main door to leave. Her mom, shocked to see her in this disheveled state asks her, "Where are you going so early? And in this state !"

Hope vulnerably replies, "I am in a hurry mom, please ..umm.. later okay? Bye" and rushes out.

Hope waits for a cab, but to her dismay she doesn't get any. So she wears her sandals and starts running nervously to reach the main road. Finally she spots a cab and calls for it and asks the cab driver to take her to the airport. In nervousness she takes out her phone to call Ronny but instead, she calls Theo not knowing what to say and waits for him to pick up. But most probably he is asleep and doesn't answer the call. Hope can feel that she is cold out of nervousness now, she is literally mumbling Ronny's name inside her mouth. She checks her watch. It's 6:50 AM. Hope literally screams, "Oh SHIT!!" to which the Indian driver with a turban turns around and throws a dirty gaze at her. She just mumbles "please-fast-fast" Without acknowledging her request, the driver continues to drive at the same speed to which Hope gets irritated but chooses to keep quiet. She is scared that she would never see Ronny again, but then realizes that she is just being stupid to think like that, as Ronny's dad is still in New York. Her home is here. It's not like she is going forever. Still Hope wants to tell her what she means for her, she wants to tell her that she is the most valuable thing for her which she is scared will slip out of her hand, she wants to tell Ronny that she is not sorry for the kiss, she wants to tell her that she is not afraid anymore and she finally wants to tell her that she LOVES her.

Hope is lost in her thoughts. She gets startled when the driver announces that they reached the airport.

She pays him in a hurry and gets out of the cab. She checks her watch. It's 7 AM. She gets inside the airport and checks the schedule board nervously. The plane that Ronny is travelling by has already been boarded!

Tears roll down her cheeks. She doesn't even bother to wipe them. She feels as if her heart has been ripped off. Her stomach growls again, she feels like throwing up. She sits on one of the stairs outside, tired and guilty. She feels guilty that she tried to run away from Ronny, she feels guilty of suggesting Ronny to go abroad, she feels guilty of being the one to break their friendship, she feels guilty of being guilty for kissing Ronny and lastly, she feels guilty of being late for everthing- late in realizing and accepting her love for Ronny, late in waking up today and late in reaching the airport. She finally decides something and takes out her phone.

Ronny has boarded the plane and sits by the window, looking outside and expecting a miracle or something movie-like to happen, like Hope running towards her with the security letting her run past the aerodrome, breaking all rules just for love. On hearing the beep from her phone she breaks out of her thoughts and checks her phone. Her heart skips a beat when she sees there is a message from HOPE. With all hope she opens it and reads the message without any expression. She rereads it after a pause and her face finally breaks into a grin, with a drop of tear rolling down her cheek. Just when she is reading the message again for the third time, the air hostess taps on her shoulder and politely asks her to switch off the phone. She simply obeys her with a big smile. Ronny can't stop smiling.
The end