Just another Love Story

-Chapter 3-

Hey there! In case you didn't notice, I did some really minor changes in the previous chapter (which I mentioned in the beginning of that: the time frame thing). So if you haven't, please check it out!

***

2017

'Jheel! Here!' I heard Raj shout. I looked around and spotted him...there, at the corner table. But he was alone again....

'She did come back, right?' I asked him as I sat down.

He puffed up his cheeks,'No! And this isn't the first time she had to cancel her flight! Goddamn her job!'

Yes, this wasn't. In fact, this was the third time in front of me alone, the first being two weeks ago. Each week she promises to arrive by the weekend, but she has to change her plans all the time.

'What exactly is this job of hers...you know..like?'
'I don't wanna talk about it! AT ALL,' Raj narrowed his eyes.
Okay. If I remember correctly, that's my CHANGE-THE-TOPIC-RIGHT-NOW signal.

'So, watcha gonna eat?' I asked.
'Hmm....I have heard they make pretty good sandwiches...' he laughed at me.

'Ha-ha. Very funny. ROFL.' I shot back a bored look.
'Hehe.....so, you order. Anything with paneer in it!' He handed me the menu.

God! Not even a bit about this man has changed.

'Okay then. By the way, you did not tell me what's up with you, I mean, what are you doing, exactly, now a days?'

'I sit at home bro, jobless.'

Wow. Funny. Or, should have been. But he seemed serious by his tone.

'What, you? No kidding bro!' My eyes grew wide.

'No kidding bro. I used to work in this firm...but, I don't know....they suddenly fired me! They won't even tell me why! I tried to contact them, but I couldn't. I just couldn't! And now, Sim says I don't need to work, for a while at least. That is, until she comes back. Which she had to, quite a while back...'

CHANGE THE TOPIC!
I was thinking how to do that, when a waiter approached us, 'May I take your order, sir?'

'Yes please,' replied Raj, 'what dishes do you have, with lots of paneer in it?'

***

2008

God! Simran hated packing. At least, at this particular moment, she hated it, without a doubt, from the depths of her heart.

First of all, she had to pack everything. But then again,she wasn't allowed to pack Mr. Dino.

'Grow up Sim! How long do you plan on to stick to that stuffed thing at night? You are going in the eleventh grade now, for god's sakes!'

Then again, she was packing because she was leaving this place...her home for the last seven years!

But then, her eyes came to a rest...all her frustration seemed to vanish. She was looking at some old photographs of her as a kid.
She dropped everything and picked them up, carefully looking at each picture. There she was, one year old, perhaps, wearing almost nothing but an underwear, and that too on her head. Oh, what a hearty laugh that gave her!
And then there she was, almost four years old now, playing in the park, with some other child she did not quite remember.
And then there she was again, cutting her sixth birthday cake, surrounded by her mom, dad, and there stood Mrs. Soni....their neighbour from back then. And just beside her, cutting the cake with her was the same kid from the previous picture.... Raj...

'Mom!' She cried out.
'Yes dear?' Mrs. Dua replied from the kitchen.

'Does Soni aunty still live there?'
'Yes sweety. In fact, you are enrolled in the same school in which their son goes.....Rahul, was it?'
'Raj, mom.'
'Yes, yes. Raj.'

Simran sighed.

You better be hot buddy. But would you even remember me?

She resumed packing.

***

Raj looked at the old photographs he had just found. Here he was, playing in the park with some child. And here again, on his fifth birthday. The same child stood beside him, but he couldn't recall who it was....

Will ask mom once she returns. He thought.

But as usual, by the time she did, he had forgetten all about the photograph.

***

2009

Wasn't it wrong, what I did, Oh dear Lord?
Shattering the glass to pieces,
Then running away from the blame!
Oh dear Lord,
How can I ever thinking of talking to him again?
I don't deserve someone like him.
Help me, Oh dear Lord!
Give me strength to control myself.
Help me ignore him, for the earlier I leave his life,
The better for him.
Help me get over him, for his own sake.

Simran opened her eyes and put one hand on her forehead while the pandit, the priest of the temple, applied a red tika, a hindu-religious mark, on her forehead.

'Are you alright dear? You look grim,' Mrs. Dua asked.
'Yes mom. I am fine! You are just imagining stuff!'

***

'But how, buddy? How could you guys break up!' Jheel asked Raj, for the third time. He couldn't believe his ears, much because Raj and Simran was that couple which he looked up to, and could set as 'relationship goals.'

'I......' Raj struggled to say something, but the words just won't come out.
'I.....messed up, real bad.'

'Huh? How? What! When?'

'It was a teribble thing that I did, bro. I....I won't be able to tell you, sorry...' his voice broke off.

He knew Jheel won't go to ask Simran about his, so his bluff would pay off. How could he tell him the truth? How could he tell him? He didn't fully understand it himself! He still hadn't been able to accept the reality that Simran suddenly decided to end it...much less trying to find a reason for it. Maybe, he was ashamed of the facts, of the present...of the reality...

***

Liked it? Vote please (tap/ click the star icon at the bottom or top right so it turns orange).
Don't like it? ? By all means, criticise your heart out!

Thank you, so much.
Keep reading!