A Young Love Story...

Part 6 - The Aftermath

Vishesh knew that his proposal was neither timed well, nor planned well. But he could not imagine losing Ananya, and cursed himself for this silly mistake. 

He called Ananya's landline number. A lady picked up the phone and asked, who was calling. He said, "Rahul. I am Ananya's classmate. I had a small doubt in Accounts, and she always clears my doubts." Ananya's mom was obviously happy and proud, and Vishesh was also happy as he played the card well. 

Ananya's mother asked her to take the call from her room, and hung up from the main line. 

"Hello?" Ananya was a little puzzled, because she could not place any Rahul, in her mind, and Accounts doubts....she was sure the person had a wrong Ananya and had dialed by mistake. 

"Anu, Vishesh here. Please don't hang up..." Vishesh was pleading. 

"Vishu... why all the drama? Rahul...Accounts..?"

"Two reasons... One, may be if you were angry, you would not have come on line.. Second reason, The name Vishesh should be as away from your parents as possible, for our own good..." he reasoned. 

"Ohh... smart thinking... Tell me now... what made you call me?"she came straight to the point. 

"Anu, are you mad at me? Will you never talk to me?" he was hurt even by the thought of it.

"Vishu.. I like you a lot. I don't know if it is love. But this is all too quick. I want time.. And even distance. I want to know if I genuinely miss you in your absence. So...can we be away for a few days and see?" she suggested. 

"Anu, you are talking of distance, but we have hardly spent any time together... We should get to know each other..."

She cut him midway, "if we do get into a relationship, we will be together for ever..That is when we can use the time together to know each other better. For now, I guess, let me test if I really miss you. If I do, I will come back to you and confess my feelings. If not, it only means, I like you around but would be able to manage even without you... So, let me have some space.. We can talk about this, after a few days... Today is March 30th, 2005. I will revert on or before 15th April. Okay?" she was more or less decided on it. 

"But Anu, tomorrow is Saturday, our last day of Celebration Week - The Confession day. Also, you were going to go for lunch with me, remember?" he asked with a faint hope. 

"No Vishu. Not possible. And Celebration week went well anyways. From friendship rose to chocolate to card - you did everything possible to impress and win my heart. You even confessed your love. There is nothing left to confess now. So, it is okay! Let us leave this for now."

"Okay Anu. But our college last working day is 10th April. Will you not spend time with me at all?"he was really depressed. 

"No, Vishu. And it is not like we have always been together. So, just like the days passed before this week, we will still be in same class, with our set of friends. Please, don't act like smitten and madly-in-love." she was too straightforward about it, and her words cut through Vishesh's heart and wounded him badly. 

Ananya genuinely wanted this time to reflect. Plus she wanted to also get to know Rishi better. There was another reason for her consideration for Rishi. He was not just a classmate but also a family friend, and she had many people to vouch for him. With Vishesh, she was unsure because his proposal today suddenly made her feel, all this friendship and rose and all was a farce and he merely wanted to come close to her. She was truly disappointed in him today!

She slept rather peacefully, because her mind was made up, that perhaps Vishesh was admirable, but not trustworthy. She decided to wait and watch, if he complies to her statement or tries to cross his limits. This was his test.