Bidding Adieu…..

 By Anuj:

My alarm rang at its usual 8 am time but I just couldn’t wake up. Somehow I dragged myself out of sleep and when I saw Sita sleeping next to me I smiled. She looked gorgeous even when she slept. She rubbed her eyes when strands of hair fell on her face. I slowly removed the hair that fell on her face and she just woke up. “Good Morning” she said. “You know something Sitoo. You look gorgeous” I said. “I know Anuj….u need not tell me” and she winked. I knew deep down that I liked her a lot and she is the best girl I can ever get in my life. I just had to tell her what I felt for her. But I couldn’t. Something always stopped me. I had to go to office and Sita had a train to catch at 1 pm. I told her I’ll be back from office by 11 and then we could go to the station after having lunch. I reached office at around 9:30 am and as usual had loads of work to do. The documentation work was enormous and the umpteen number of KTs I had to attend just kept me on my toes always. But today I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I wanted to be with Sita. This was the only time I could spend with her. I had no idea what the future held in store for me. All I knew was I would not get this day back in my life again. I was in a totally different state of mind altogether. There was something that I was not doing correct. I had to see Sita right away. I left all the work I had and went back home. Sita was getting ready to leave. she had packed all her stuff and there was a little packet kept on the bed. She saw me and said “You came early? Why what happened? Done with you’re work?” “No I’ll complete it later. If I’m caught up in work I won’t be able to leave hence I pushed all the work for yesterday and came back. What’s in that packet?” I enquired. “Oh. Its something I brought for you. You are leaving so I wanted to gift you something. Something you could keep with yourself for long. May be you’ll remember me seeing it.” And she handed me the packet. I opened the wrapping and found a small idol of Lord Ganesha. “It’s beautiful. Thank you”, I said. “He’ll keep you away from all troubles. I am placing you under his supervision. He’ll take care of you when there is no one to look after you in London. Pray to him everyday and you’ll always be protected”, she smiled. And gave me a big hug. “take good care of yourself and don’t over work as you always do. Work hard but at the same time enjoy yourself as much as you can. And most important don’t miss me much. If possible try to forget me.” All the while when she said this I could feel her heart beat. We embraced each other like we would never let go. And when we tried to move away from each other we ended up kissing each other.

By Sita:

I felt so much pain in my heart that I was about to faint when I hugged Anuj. I could hear his heartbeat when I clung to him. I don’t know what I was talking about. I just kept saying something or the other and held onto him tightly. I just wished I could hold him like this forever. I wanted the clock to stop ticking and the time to freeze. I didn’t want this moment to end. I didn’t want to leave him no matter what. Surprisingly it was not just me who was having a tight grip. Anuj too held me so tight like he would never let me go. We tried to loosen our grip a bit only to kiss each other. The goodbye kiss. A kiss that lasted for eternity. Both of us were not ready to stop. I pulled myself back for a split second and said “I LOVE U Anuj. Not just for today but for every day of my life till I am alive” I looked into his eyes and before he could say anything I kissed him again. I knew he loved me. I could see it in his eyes. He just had to say it. Say it just once. I didn’t know what was there in his mind. If he didn’t love me why was he so unwilling to leave me? What stopped him from expressing his feelings towards me was just an inhibition he had to shun. We kept on kissing each other for a very long time. And we stopped when his cell phone rang. He was being called back in office. Some major issue had come up and it was important for him to be there. I told him to go back to office and that I would go the station on my own. He was unwilling but somehow I coaxed him. Soon it was time for me to leave. I picked up my luggage and headed towards the door when he stopped me. “Sitoo…. You take care of yourself and keep in touch. Don’t think of all the bad things that happened. Concentrate on work and be happy always.” I stood listening to all that talk and just waited to hear what I wanted to since so long. But he didn’t. He didn’t say it. And I just smiled. I don’t know why I smiled. Was I sympathizing with myself for being a fool and loving Anuj selflessly or was I smiling because I felt sorry for Anuj. Sorry because he was not able to say what he felt. May be he didn’t love me. May be he couldn’t ever. I planted a kiss on his cheek and said my goodbye. I headed for the station. I wanted to cry but I couldn’t I don’t know why. May be it was an indication that I take this as a lesson for my entire lifetime. This was the hard way life taught me how not to fall in love.

I reached Mumbai and within a week Anuj left for London. I had not given him my cell no so there was no way he could call me. He emailed me when he reached London describing all about his journey. But not even once did he ask about my well being. How was I? Was I fine? How was my life going? Nothing at all. He mailed me once or twice after that and I did not reply to any of his emails. I missed him. I cried alone at night when everyone slept. But slowly I pulled myself together. I immersed myself in work. Went out with friends on weekends and visited temples almost every weekend to calm myself. Slowly but steadily I gained back normalcy. And my life moved on.