A Young Love Story...

Part 20 - Hurdles along the way...

Ananya hugged both her parents and apologized. She was crying too. She was sorry for causing them hurt and pain, and she was sad that she had broken their pride and faith in her. She spoke slowly and softly, "Ma, Papa, I really love you people. But I wanted you to understand the pain of losing a loved one. Right now I am in that phase too. You don't understand my pain. I am also in love and hope you people can accept it." She was crying, yet again. 

Her father spoke gently. "Ananya, you are young. You don't seem to get the practical issues you will face. In any case, I am not going to force my choice on you. You take time and think. Until then, stay home, help your mother. Study further if you want. Work if you wish. But keep thinking on what I have advised." 

Ananya was grateful for her father's understanding. Despite all this, he was not curbing her independence one bit. He was encouraging her to do as she wished. She fell at her dad's feet and then hugged him. "Thank you for understanding me Papa."

Her mother was not sure it was the best decision, but she did not offer her opinion either. 

Time passed, and within a month's time, Ananya had a job on hand. She worked as an Accounts Executive in a small company, with about 80 employees. The job kept her happy and occupied. It was a decent job, paid enough for a graduate, and the timings were 10 a.m to 7 p.m, which was just fine for her and her parents too. She got the weekends off, where she tried to help her mother. She could not find much time to speak with Vishesh. They spoke once in a week, or twice. They had not met for over a month again. 

She got her first salary, and she was more than happy. She told her father, about how happy she felt. Her father said, "Now, I suggest you buy yourself a handy mobile phone, my dear, so that we can be informed of where you are, at times even if you get late. Plus, all youngsters are using it these days, and I suggest you buy with your own hard-earned money, so you will treasure it and value it."

Ananya was elated at her father's thoughtfulness and understanding. Her mother was highly disapproving of all the freedom her father gave Ananya. But she said nothing, because she knew her opinion just did not matter. On the other hand, Ananya's father believed, liberty should be given in such a way that kids learn to trust their parents and make friends with them, and also helps the kids realize that the liberty is a kind of trust that they should not break. 

With a mobile phone in hand, now she kept in touch with Vishesh through SMS and calls quite regularly. Vishesh was more than happy for her. He kept messaging her crazily, and always expressed his feelings for her. Ananya reciprocated just as well. Their love blossomed much more with the help of mobile technology. Vishesh loved her sincerely, he never crossed his line of decency. Even when Ananya got a little carried away, he would always help her retract her steps saying they were young and this was not right either. 

Rishi also tried and stayed in touch with Ananya, through the same technology. However, Ananya was not keen on reciprocating to him. Yet, she did, purely because she did not want to hurt him. He had proved to be a good friend, but Ananya was always worried he may still have emotional attachment with her. She replied as plainly as possible. Rishi also understood Ananya's predicament, and had made peace with the fact that she did not belong to him. 

Vishesh and Ananya met up once in a while, and Rishi joined them a few times too. This went well, for almost a year. One fine day, Ananya again started thinking on the lines of settling down. She called Vishesh on a Saturday morning, at about 11 a.m and asked him to meet her. He was occupied that day with an important client meeting. So he refused. Ananya got very worked up because of that. Vishesh requested her to stay calm, and went inside the meeting room with his father. He last messaged that he would call her once he gets free. But impatiently, Ananya sent as many as 20 messages. She accused Vishesh of not being serious enough. She accused him of lacking commitment and dedication. She reminded him of old times when he had promised to always stand by her. The emotional blackmail went on for few minutes. She realized this one-sided communication was of no use. She finally sent a last message saying if he could not take a step further, it was better to call off the relationship.