Life is so unpredictable. That was the last thought that came to Ritu’s mind before she closed her eyes to sleep, clinging close to her soft pillow. And the dream that was to follow, she was not sure if it was to happen for real in the days to come. Ritu has not been the same ever since her visit from Delhi. There she had a chance meeting with one of her old school friend Rajdeep. He was a good looking shy guy who would open up with very few, while Ritu was an extrovert, full of life, and friendly. Though they lived in the same city of Hyderabad, they had not met each other in a very long time. In school they were good buddies, used to cycle down to school together, take tuitions together, and have shared good pally times chatting & gossiping. After school both went their own way, meeting few times & countable phone calls to catch up with each other. They had almost lost track of each other in last five years.
But one day in the five years something important had happened. One evening, when Ritu was busy with her computer, she got a surprise visit from Rajdeep and Nikhil, her another school friend. It was a casual meeting, where the old buddies walked down the memory lane & laughed their heart out at the escapades in schools. Ritu incidentally asked Rajdeep who had gone for higher studies in Sikkim, if he had a girl in her life. Rajdeep just shrugged while the two friends continued with their joke. The next evening, Rajdeep came to meet her again, this time he was alone. Ritu was dressed in a loose tee and slacks, her hair hanging loose on her shoulders, and she was gleaming just like the evening sun. Both went to enjoy the breeze in the terrace, when Rajdeep said something that Ritu had not expected to hear. Those three words ‘I Love You’ coming from him almost startled her. With mouth agape, her eyes fixed on his, the only thing that she could hear was her own heart beat. “Raj, you’re joking”, she ultimately got her senses back and spoke out. “We’ve been good friends but those things have never crossed my mind. Also we have just left school, and there is so much left to happen in our life. How can you be so sure about it? I don’t know about you, but I am not sure about myself. I don’t want to dishearten you, but I am not ready to get into anything such.” Rajdeep sensing that she was getting troubled with the thought, asked her to forget about it with a promise that they would be good friends and would say to each other honestly if they found anyone special. That was the last meeting between Rajdeep and Ritu before he left for Sikkim.
Both of them got busy with their studies and career. Rajdeep came out as a software engineer and got a job in Hyderabad. Ritu completed her MBA in Hyderabad and joined a corporate firm there. Life was going good for both of them. While Ritu had completely forgotten about Rajdeep, he had not. Often he would get in touch with their mutual friends and find her whereabouts, never to miss the question if she had got anyone special in her life. Every time the ‘no’ came he sighed with relief. Though his friends knew about his feelings towards Ritu, they never asked him why he didn’t speak directly to her, when he had loved her so deeply for all these years. What they didn’t know was that, Rajdeep didn’t want another ‘no’ from her, which would leave him shattered. He had not seen her in last four years, and didn’t even want to. May be he was not ready for it, maybe he feared something within. “You don’t have the courage to go up to her,” his friend’s said him. He knew they were true.
Rajdeep was walking down the corridor of Hotel Regal in Delhi, when something suddenly crossed his eyes. He saw someone sitting at the lobby of the hotel, with a bag beside her and few magazines in her hand. Rajdeep realized who the person was and as he turned to go, he heard a female call out “Excuse me.” Rajdeep felt the floor slipping beneath his feet as he gathered courage to turn at the voice behind him. He did but to see the graceful and petite receptionist at the counter looking and waving to him. He looked at the sofa where Ritu was sitting a while ago. She was not there. Rajdeep started looking for her all around but she was nowhere to be seen. He slowly started moving towards the receptionist, all the while looking for someone he desperately wanted to see again. The receptionist smiled and said him that they were organizing a terrace get together at the evening as it was first anniversary of the hotel & invited him to come. Rajdeep looked disinterested, but somehow he managed to smile. He didn’t wanted to, but he heard himself asking the receptionist, “Is the lady sitting there few minutes back put up in this hotel?”
To be continued...
