Twice in a blue moon

PART 1

I walked towards the bench on the riverfront and sat down. The evening is as beautiful as it has always been except for one thing- she is not here with me now. Like a necklace with one of its jewels missing, the evening tries to hide what's missing by trying to woo me with its beauty. I bought two sandwiches from the food truck nearby just like I always did when we met here after our tuition classes ended. Those were the days weren't they? I'll leave that up to you to decide.

The story that I'm going to narrate is spread over the last four months. Let's go back in time for a while, shall we? Let's start with me. I was a 17 year old guy living the ordinary life of a teenager who aspired to be an engineer. I really liked machines and technology and all the new stuff. At the starting of the year, there was a lot of 'new stuff' including the new students and the one who caught my eye was Samaira Khan.

She was a headstrong and focused girl when it came to studies. Otherwise, she could be detached or emotional or whatever she wished to be. The fact that she was the person that she wanted to be was extremely attractive. She wasn't the most beautiful or lean girl but she made me realize that if she felt beautiful in her skin and body then there was no question about what others thought.

We became friends soon for we were both dedicated when it came to studies. But before I could realize, we started loving each other in a way that cannot be explained. We loved each other for the extraordinary beauty that we saw in each other despite the fact that we were ordinary people. Saying 'I love you' was not a common thing between us; we showed it in our gestures instead. There was no unnecessary drama – just the way we liked it.

We were perfect, weren't we? The only way by which we could be any more perfect was if she was here with me now.

It was an ordinary day of our ordinary lives. We had gone on a date to a cafe near her house. She was drinking a brownie shake while I treated myself with a black espresso. Our dates were always unusual- no gifts or formality, splitting the bill always, no special dressing-up or anything of that sort. We were talking about the new science-fiction movie which was going to be released that week when my phone rang.

It was an unknown number. I excused myself and walked out of the café to pick up the call. "Mikhail, is it you?" the voice said. I was too startled to say anything because I recognized the voice which gave me all the more reason not to answer. "Hello? Mikhail?" the voice asked again. "Yes, Mikhail here." I replied. It was Mihika. She is another long story entirely but I'll have to tell you why I was bothered by her.

Mihika Sharma was the most carefree being; so carefree that she didn't care about the ones that cared for her. She was the childhood sweetheart of my life who shaped my childhood to have unforgettable moments and unimaginable events. They all were unforgettable but all of them weren't pleasant.

She had been my best friend till we were 14. If I had to be more specific, we were best friends until that one night that changed it all. We were riding our bicycles to the nearest ice-cream store and all that I cared about was her because the fact remained that I adored her. We were waiting at a barren crossroad as I watched her hair flow with the cool breeze. It was all so beautiful but wait till I tell you.

The silence was broken by the noise of bikes just as our friendship would be broken by those bikers later. They stopped beside her and her boyfriend, a 17 year old manipulative idiot named Varun got down, trying hard not to fall. He was drunk. He started laughing at her face, sarcastically, abusing her verbally and describing how other hot girls were way better than her. I raised my voice to make him stop but that never works, does it?

So basically, he and his friends hit me on my forehead with a steel bottle and threatened me not to speak in their matter ever again. And guess what? All this time, she stood there, not trying to stop him or his friends. I was hurt in every way humanly possible. Even when the incident was reported, she tried to save him from being imprisoned by never telling the entire truth. I do not know what to say about those guys, but she should have felt guilty if not pronounced guilty.

But they soon shifted to some other metropolitan city thereafter because of her dad's transfer. She had gone for good and I had no idea why she was calling me now.

"Mikhail? Are you there? I know you're listening. If you don't want to answer, then it's fine. Just listen, okay? I want to meet you. I can't tell you why. I'll wait for you at cafe Hot brew at 5:30 tomorrow. Please come. I'll be waiting." And then there was silence. I didn't know if I would go there or not but I surely knew that I couldn't tell Samaira about this. I had told her all about Mihika and me and Samaira had never had a good opinion of Mihika ever since. But I can't blame her for that.

I didn't know if I wanted to go but something dragged me to that cafe that evening. I remembered how she had apologized over and over again for that night and for not telling the truth to save that idiotic boyfriend of hers who was no longer her boyfriend after that night. I didn't really understand why she cared so much about saving him. What she did could not be justified but I couldn't blame her for not apologizing or trying to make amends. For all that I knew, she may have invited me that evening to make amends.

When I reached the cafe, I saw her sitting on one of the tables, as skinny as ever with her curly brown hair which only reached her shoulders now. I didn't know how to approach her; she was a bright human who had turned into a dark memory for me. I walked up to the table and said "Hi".

Her face lit up and she unraveled her warm smile. But what topped the smile was an oxygen pipe that was connected to her oxygen cylinder which I had not noticed earlier. She replied with a "Hi" as well. I sat down across the table, right in front of her observant eyes. Although I understood what she had called me for, I never wished to hear it.