Shrisha looked at her watch as the phone began to ring. It was
five-thirty in the evening. She was surprised to see the caller's name
as she was not expecting any call at that hour of the day let alone from
the person who was calling her.
She noticed that her hand was shaking, but she ignored it and swept
across the green circle on the phone's surface to answer the call. She
put the phone to her ear, clutching it so hard that she felt that it
might snap and said 'hello' in a tight voice that barely sounded like
hers.
'hey shrisha.. Its me Suraj' he spoke immediately. Fearing that she
would hang up on hearing his name he said 'I need to talk. Please don't
drop the call' to which she replied 'hmmm.. Go on. Am listening'.
'how are you?'
'I'm fine. How about you?'
'okay, doing okay. Are you in Bangalore on work?'
'yup. Would be leaving in a week. Are you still with cubed?'
'ya.'
Before she could say something, 'Can we get together Shrisha? Will you
have time?' He muttered the courage to finally say the words which he
had been holding onto since a long time.
She felt herself going weak on hearing these words. 'Yes. I'd like to see you. When?'
'Are you available this weekend? How about lunch tomorrow?'
'I can't. I have a meeting at 2 and cant afford to miss it so I can't really change it'
' thats okay. What about tomorrow evening? Are you free?'
'yes'
'shall we have dinner?'
'am afraid I cant go for dinner as it would be late to go home Suraj. How about coffee?'
'Okay. where shall I pick you from?'
'Come over to coffee lounge near Indiranagar. I'll be there'
'I'l come around six-thirty. Is that all right with you?'
'Its fine. See you then.'
'Great' he said and hung up.
She still couldn't believe that he had called up after three long years and he couldn't believe that she had agreed to meet him.
Next day he was there at the coffee shop at six-fifteen with a anxious look
on his face. He kept looking at his watch every few seconds waiting
eagerly to see her. Did she look the same or had she changed? Would she
talk to him with the same intensity that they would speak? As he sat
immersed in his thoughts, his cell phone began to ring bringing him back
to reality.
It was Shrisha's call and he thought she was calling at the last minute
to cancel the coffee-meet.,but he was relieved when she asked him where
he was seated.
He saw her immediately, the moment she steeped in. She had worn a
pink chiffon dress that suited her immaculately well. He just couldn't
take his eyes off her. He swallowed, trying to get a grip on himself and
then stared in surprise as she suddenly turned her head abruptly and
saw him.
He saw her approaching him with a gait full of confidence and
then she smiled. At that moment he realized how much he had missed her
and his love for her. By then she had neared the table and he motioned
her to sit down.
She saw that he had chosen a small table near a window in a corner where
they could talk without being interrupted often. A waiter was with them
in an instant.
Suraj looked at her and raised a brow. 'the usual?'
She nodded.
'A Choco frappe and iced eskimo'
As the waiter disappeared, he looked at her intently and said 'You
haven't changed. You look exactly the same as I saw you last time'
She nodded in approval and smiled at him weakly, wishing her heart would
stop impounding the way it was. It took all of her self-control to cut
his gaze and look elsewhere.
The waiter was back at the table to serve them their order and asked if
they needed anything else. On getting an affirmative answer, the waiter
walked away.
Once they were alone, Suraj smiled at her as he remembered the times they had spent together.
She took a bite of her choco frappe and asked curiously, 'have you visited Bangalore in the past three years?'
'yes, quite a few times.'
'why dint you phone me?'
He reached out, put his hand over hers. 'i didn't feel I had the right. I
was the one who brought an end to our relationship . I was
positive you had probably met someone else by then, fallen in love, made
a new life. Moved on.'
Shrisha gaped at him as she thought: fallen in love, moved on. How can
he think that? Doesn't he know how much I loved him, with all my heart
and soul. She sat right in her chair as her eyes welled with tears. She
dint want to cry at-least not in-front of him. She looked away, blinked back
her tears.
Having noticed the changed expression on her face he said 'I've upset you. What's wrong?'
'I'm surprised, that's all.. That you think I could move on. So quickly..'
'its been a long time.. Three years.'
' you haven't moved on. Our have you?'
He didn't answer at first and then he admitted, 'no, I haven't.'
Shrisha heaved a sigh of relief and said ' I may be crazy for telling
you this and feeding your ego, in a way, I guess.' She paused, took a
deep breath and finished softly. 'I love you. I always have and suppose I
always will.'
He nodded, held her hand tightly in his. His gaze fixed on hers.
'Shrisha I love you too and cant imagine my life with someone else.'
She stared hard at him, her eyes narrowing. ' why dint you call me earlier? Weren't you ever tempted?
'Of course I was! I must have dialed your number innumerous times only
to disconnect before it rang. But just as I told you, I thought I dint
have the right for it was me who had ended our relationship. I also knew
I had many problems to work out in my head.'
After a moment of silence he continued 'yesterday I realized that if I let go of you then you would be gone off forever'
Finally she said in a low voice, 'I've waited a long time for your call.
I could hardly believe it was you. And ever since, I have been anxious
until I saw you standing here waiting for me.'
He smiled, his eyes sparkled as he spoke, 'will you marry me?'
Suddenly she couldn't believe her ears as she heard the very words she had desperately waited to hear since a long time.
The time had finally come.. :)
