Abhimaan's saga continues...

And then with God's grace their ranks in the WBJEE were also very close... And both of them landed up in GEMI... The first week when they returned home together in the weekends... Abhimaan was too happy that day... envisioning a great future ahead... He went on speaking, nineteen to the dozen... It took him some time to notice that Mallika wasn't exactly responding to him... She was a bit despondent... On enquiriing she just said she wasn't feeling well.

That was the last time they travelled together. Later that day, Abhimaan had received a message stating...

Abhimaan, I really thought about it... 

Our relation was nothing but a childhood 

infatuation... I deserve much more than 

an unsmart jerk like you... I don't love 

you any longer... Hope you too will 

realise soon... Do not contact me ever again...

Needless to say, Abhimaan got a nerve-wreck... Did whatever he could, she didn't respond back... And now, his last ray of hope was Swastika... He wanted to cling to it...

Abhimaan's saga...

...It was raining cats and dogs in Dohijuri... As far as his vision could lead him to, there was but a foam of white all around... No sane man would have left from his house that day... But this was different... totally different... She had asked her to meet him at the shed off the old cow-yard of the Ghose's... An usually abandoned spot... But then what piece of Earth in Dohijuri wasn't abandoned today... But then there was no chance to replan, postpone or reschedule this rendezvous... The command had been left on his old cycle, a chit stating the location and time, reason went unstated... But then when she called for, no guy in Dohijuri would need reason...

It was the first Kalbaisakhi of the season... The coconut trees were swaying madly, threatening to tear off their bases... Not an animal was to be seen... Even the swans were well hidden behind the reeds... The river was filled upto the brim and threatened to overflow at any moment... Any stranger would been petrified by the way the thunder reverberated in the open space... But he weren't a stranger, he could walk these lanes blind-folded... He knew every lane, every by-lane of Dohijuri... Another deafening thunder brought his senses back to reality...  He had almost neared the pre-decided spot, when a sudden thought sent tremors down her spine... What if she didn't come... He hadn't thought of this earlier... All the happiness that had started forming in him blew off in a second... Yet, he decided to try his luck... He walked on... The path that he would have covered in less than ten minutes on any other day, had taken over twenty minutes today... He was disgusted... Any now there was no one near the  shed... No one at all... At this moment, had it been possible he would have kicked his own butt... But that option being unavailable he kicked at astone ahead of him...

"Ouch"... panted someone... He turned to see her waiting by the banyan tree, drenched to her skin... She was stooping down and rubbing her ankle... He went towards her... picked her up... He was just going to ask her the reason for calling him, when a sweet coice chimed in his ears, "Abhimaan, I love you..." He didn't reply... or rather couldn't reply... His voice was choked... He just bent down a little towards the 5 feet frame and the softness of their lips touched each other...

A night... too long...

She didnt know for how long she had cried... But now she was even tired to cry... Her pillow was wet... Or drenched would be the correct word... Her eyes were stark dry... Eye lids were aching... Earlier crying had helped... But today seemed different... Her thumping heart threatened never to subdue... Unlike other times she was angry with herself... Angry with her audacity to dream again... Angry at her foolishness... Angry at the inability to stop thinking... Angry for being unable to forget...

Yes, she was unable to forget that booming voice... When she had expected to register the eternal three letter... they had deceived her at around 66.67%. Yes, the first two words hadn't changed. All the same, the third word had made all the difference. When she had first heard the name, the world had stopped for a while. The smile had been swapped by astonishment followed by despair. Swastika was never one of those who could control her emotions. Thankfully for her, Abhimaan was looking the other way. Possibly trying to avoid a blush. He was so engaged in his thoughts that he barely noticed the effect he had on the girl sitting beside her. Swastika kept on wondering... Of all people in the world why did it have to be this bitch...

He was lost... lost in the thoughts of his love... who was stranding him... and his was a lost attempt to save his life... He knew only too well that he would not be able to survive without her... And he wanted was to gain access to her via one of her friends. Sree would have been the best option for the job but then again Abhimaan couldn't pull himself up to talk to her. She was far too smart for him. The second best option was thus Swastika. So, he decided that he should tell every detail of those two years that he had spent before joining GEMI... The golden years of his life... When his life revolved around just himself and her... His Lady Love... Mallika...

New dreams...

Ever since the boy had said he wanted to talk to her, her cheek muscles wouldn't relax... giving a decided tinge of red. She was thankful about the fact that Sree was a bit absent minded today, else she would have definitely noticed. At the same time, Swastika was amazed at herself... When she had her last break-up, she had made an agreement with herself that life will never be so beautiful again. Never ever would she fall in love again. But today when he said that he wanted to talk to her, she was happy, very happy... A very well known tinge had passed down through her spine... Life would be happy again... Or will it... A dark cloud hid the sun... It became dark all of a sudden and the bell rang...

She informed Arushi that she would be leaving early. She had slipped into the library and waited for quiet some time until the college was almost empty. Then she slipped into the decided spot. A secluded spot between the trees, not easily spottable from the main lane. By the time she reached there Abhimaan was already sitting there, with his back to Swastika. For a moment she decided to turn and run. She could feel her pulse hammering at her adam's apple. Unknown to herself, a squeak left her throat... Abhimaan...

Standing over 6 feet tall with a lean frame and beetle-black eyes, he smiled down at Swastika. He asked her to sit. Swastika sat just beside him. A hairline's gap between them. They chatted about general things for sometime... This simple conversation was sounding so pleasant to her. His innocence, his genuinity... the way his face lit up... when he talked about his village... the open grounds... the way he used to catch fishes with bare hands... steal ripe mangoes from their neighbour's garden... when it would flood... they would make small boats... Abhimaan went on speaking... Swastika wasn't listening anymore... She was lost in her thoughts... A dreamstep towards a new life... Just then Abhimaan said, "Yeah... now the reason I called you is that.. I... "...