To Love Or Not To Love| A FEATURED STORY

Chapter 14

It was two weeks since Anya completely severed her ties with Ajay. Of course, he made way in every wakeful minute and sometimes on lonely nights. It was absolutely insane. She often wondered why Ajay barged into her thoughts more than Karthik ever did. She could claim she almost forgot about Karthik in these nine months in all.

After a long time, she made plans to meet Sanjay, her close friend and genius hacker who helped her dig about Ajay during her initial obsession phase. The meeting was long overdue.

Sanjay was a tall, pale and a lanky guy with close to zero social skills, awkward laugh but compassionate eyes and a tired smile. He was the perfect example for the saying, "appearances could be deceptive".

Though he was just an average everyday guy, he was very talkative with friends, had a good sense of humour and was trustworthy. The unknown matter was that he had a decent bank balance with all the underground ethical hacking jobs that he always took up. Despite that, he could never openly discuss his wealth with anyone.

He still lived in a single-bedroom apartment with his ailing father, mother and little brother. He knew he could move them to a larger location but decided to keep his profession a secret from his folks, just for the peace of mind.

Anya never felt out of place with him and somehow poured out all her feelings in his presence. He somehow made her do it.

He was her senior, by three years, in college. She met him at a student mentoring program for internships, during her second semester—computer science engineering. Their friendship was instantaneous, and many were shocked to find him give the time of the day for her. He was a nervous, blubbering mess of a chap who was a computer wizard and spared no time for girls. His classmates either ignored him or were in awe of him but never befriended him.

He needed Anya's optimistic presence for his otherwise dreary life. They often met outside campus, and the bond quickly developed to close friendship and trust. They were friends in a real sense. There was no sibling bond connecting them.

Though many speculated something more between them, she was happy in a steady relationship to think of anybody else, and Sanjay was too tied up conquering the hacking world to think of relationships. His ever dependent parents did not give him any spare time at all. He was her go-to person for all her academic problems. He knew Karthik and had warned her a few times of Karthik's roving eyes, but she was quick to defend his actions.

"So how are things at your end?" Anya asked Sanjay without much preamble as soon as they placed their order and sat down at a very convenient spot. Their friendship was just that, no formalities and no barriers and most importantly, no lies.

They were at Dyu Art Café at Koramangala, Bangalore. It served European style breakfast options and was jam-packed. But by lunch, it was relatively empty. The crowd again picked up at dinner. It was impossible to locate decent chairs during weekends. Since they knew in-and-around this place, they made plans to meet just after lunch and before dinner on a Thursday when Anya had a morning shift.

"It's the same. After much persuasion, dad is trying out chemo. But he is drained out. You've heard of how chemo works right. It's been difficult, and this is like the final stage of his prostate cancer. Either way, Amma and I have accepted that he is not going to stay with us for long. We are looking for a ray of hope. The side effects are brutal," he finished matter-of-factly that reminded Anya of how practical and sensible Sanjay was.

His father's cancer and subsequent responsibilities of the family have matured him beyond his age. It was close to eight years now since their battle with cancer began. She held Sanjay in the highest regard for his perseverance and patience to keep the family together.