A Young Love Story...

Part 12 - Trust...

Ananya and Vishesh, after having confessed their love, and after having promised to live in present, were in a happy state of mind. Vishesh dropped Anu home, by an auto. He asked her to call him whenever possible. He assured her all will be happy and great henceforth. He wanted to hug her, but he did not, because he did not want to do anything without Anu's consent. 

Ananya reached home. She wanted some time by herself. She went to her room, and sat by the window. She was happy. Her mother interrupted her feeling of happiness... "Anu, how come you got so late?You did not even tell me in morning, nor did you call... I was worried." 

Ananya checked the time, it was almost 4 pm. She did not know what to say. "Ma, sorry. Actually, college is closing next week. So we have some special classes, for revision. Sorry you got worried."

Her mother was convinced. Ananya had hardly ever given them a chance to doubt her. Her mother asked her to have something, but she refused. She said she would have later. 

Her mother left her to study. Ananya also decided to sit and study, because she was now much sorted in her mind. 

Just when she opened her book, the phone rang. She picked it up.

"Ananya... I need to meet you, please meet me now!" It was Rishi.

"Rishi...now? Impossible. I just got back home. I can't come out now.. What happened?"she asked out of concern. 

"You got back home now? How come?"he was surprised. 

"Rishi actually ..." she stopped because she just realized she had never ever mentioned Vishu to Rishi. With Vishu she never had to hide anything. 

"Okay forget it, looks like you don't want to meet now. That's okay. I had called to ask you to meet, because I don't know when we can meet again. My father is getting admitted to the hospital tomorrow. His health is deteriorating. I thought you being my friend will stand by me, when I am feeling weak. But, it is fine, you seem busy!" he was sounding hurt. 

Suddenly, Ananya's heart went out to him. She quickly said, "Okay I will try.. Can I call back and confirm in a few minutes?" 

Rishi agreed. Ananya started thinking of reasons to give her mom. Suddenly, she also felt bad about agreeing to meet Rishi. What will Vishu think? Instead of speaking to mom, she first dialed Vishu's number. His parents were cool, so she did not have to lie when she called his place. Vishu's mom received the call but mentioned Vishu was not home, he would be back in an hour. 

She knew waiting for one hour would be very late. She told her mother, she had to collect some notes from her friend. She went inside her room, and called Rishi. She told him she can meet him only for a short duration. She asked him to meet her near the college as it was a safe place. They agreed to meet by 5. Ananya left, and reached near the college. Rishi came in a few minutes too. 

"Good you came. I will be too busy now on. Just thought I will meet you, and also wish you luck for exams. I don't know if I will give the exams, or not." Ananya was surprised. "Are you mad? What will you do in life, if you don't even have a degree, Rishi?" she asked, as she was genuinely concerned. 

Rishi just dismissed it with the wave of his hand. He asked Ananya to join him for a juice or ice-cream. Ananya was in no mood for it. She even wanted to tell Rishi that she would like to maintain a platonic relationship with him, and remain friends. But she was not able to. They went to the juice parlor, and Rishi made arrangement for them to sit. Small cane stools were kept as seating. Rishi asked Ananya what she wanted, and quickly went to order. Ananya was sitting idly, when suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to look, it was Vishesh. They were both surprised to see each other.