Broken Strings

UNABLE TO RESOLVE THE SERVER’S DNA ADDRESS.

The web browser displayed the sign which required some software knowledge to decipher it. Regardless of my inability to decipher the exact meaning I knew what it meant- I had to find another way to divert my mind.

Closing the browser and shutting down the computer with a sigh I looked out of my window and surveyed the outside scene. The sun was still hidden behind some fluffy cloud. Continuous showers had forced everybody to retreat to their homes. Even Mr. Gupta’s naughty son and his friends, who earlier had jumped to grab the wet opportunity and played “pirates of tilak nagar”, had gone home. Feeling sad I grabbed Sidney Sheldon’s Naked Face and settled on the big couch to read it. But only after reading a couple of pages I found that even the book could not hold my attention. So I just settled to look out of the window melancholically.

It was all so fresh in my mind. The aroma of coffee and my favourite chicken grilled sandwich hung in the air. My favourite coffee shop was located around the huge but depressed looking public library. It was a place which Abhimanyu and I had frequented often. It was the same coffee shop in which he had proposed me and from then it became our favourite meeting place.

We were the perfect couple, and so much in love. We would just sit at the coffee shop for hours whiling away time, sometimes just talking or settling with the same book borrowed from the library. I vividly remember that time as my best. Holding hands and sharing the coffee seemed to have become our favourite habit. Even after going home, which we both hated, we would constantly be in touch via smses or calls.

So naturally he was taken aback when 18 months into the relationship I suddenly told him that my dad had planned a short trip to goa for me and family.

“So…ill be going on the 1^st of October and will be back by 21^st”, I said.

“3 weeks…why so long baby? You know I can’t live without you”, he said with a cute face which always brought a smile on my face.

“Aww…ill miss you too”, I said with a lump in my throat. He just kissed me on the cheek and muttered something about his dad calling him home for some urgent thing.

I watched him leave and remembered his expression when he said he couldn’t live without me. Warmness spread through me and I realised it was minutes ago that he had left the park.

The night before the flight to goa found both of us talking till wee hours. He told me how much he loved me and how much he was going to miss me. I disconnected the line after promising him a nice big bear hug when I came back.

“Do you want to have banana shake, Aru?” my mom’s voice interrupted my train of thought and brought me back to the present.

“No”, I muttered and went back to 20^th October. Due to some railway default I was back a day earlier than scheduled. I had missed Abhimanyu oh-so-badly. We had hardly talked in the 3 weeks and I was dying to see him and have his arms around me. I decided to surprise  him by going to his place and thought of picking up the chicken grilled sandwiches and cold coffee from the same coffee shop which we both loved.

I went in the coffee shop happily and gave my order.  It was then that I turned around and saw a couple sitting on our favourite table in the corner. . Someone who was cosily sitting with a girl in a mini skirt. Someone who had the same physique as Abhimanyu. Someone who had the same white and red striped t-shirt as Abhimanyu

All the pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly in my mind. I still could not bring myself to believe what I saw. Some part of my heart wanted my brain and my eyes to not believe that it was Abhimanyu with some other girl, holding her hand. I couldn’t make myself move an inch from the place. All those I-miss-yous and i-love-yous reverberated in my mind. So this was what he was upto when I had been missing him badly in goa. It was as if somebody had crushed my heart. Believe it or not I actually heard the sound of crashing glass. The sound of crashing hopes and dying dreams.

And then suddenly he turned around. His eyes grew big with shock. He whispered something in the girl’s ear who looked at him with some god-like respect and nodded.

He came to me and said “Hi Arundhati. This was long due between us. I just couldn’t….” He seemed to be lost for words.

“Sorry….but hope we remain friends. Bye.” with that he and his girl left the coffee shop without even glancing back.

Most people confronted with such a situation would react angrily. But me? I felt disappointed. I felt confused. I wanted answers. How long has this be going on for? Did the girl know about me? Was my love not at all valuable to him? Did he really love me or were all the I –love-yous a mere pretence?

After this incident I saw no more of Abhimanyu Singh and neither heard from him. Almost a year has passed by and I still cannot understand why he cheated on me. What had I done wrong? Three weeks prior he had been telling me how much he would miss me.

Almost 2 years have gone by, but even now any white and red striped t-shirt guy would make me look back. Whenever I enter the coffee shop, my eyes search for him. Even now sadness and pain has not been replaced by anger. I just can’t bring myself to accept the fact that he had cheated on me. Thinking about him makes my eyes water. I just hope that someday I would get to know the reason behind all this or maybe he would come back to me realising my true love for him. It feels as if a little part of my heart went with him and it pains to think that my heart will never be complete.