Almost

Part 6

"I think your phone is vibrating and I choose to believe that it is a phone" said Siddharth.

"JERK!! It is my phone!" I replied back to that grubby statement of his.

"Don't you want to attend it?"

"Perhaps not now"

*phone vibrates again*

"Still not attending? I can give you a minute if you want to?"

"Nope. It will stop"

"So... that a stalker?"

"What? No! and even if it was, I would have blocked by now"

"Who is it that you don't want to speak to after 4 series of vibrations from your cell?

"Let's drop it. I am hungry. Shall we place the order?"

"Yes, miss!"

"How is everything with Pradeep now?" I asked.

"Well... he's still hung up on his girlfriend, or should I say "EX- GIRLFRIEND"

"Really? After all that happened?"

"Yeah. He would have her back in any second. All she has to do is drop a tear and say that she had committed a horrible mistake by sleeping with his friend"

"Ouch! Stings my ears every time I hear it. How do people do that? Forgive and forget? But more importantly, having them back. How do they?

"I guess... that's what Love is. Never to stop, no matter what. Even if people call you crazy!"

"Sounds all cliché but I can only see him getting hurt back again if they patch up"

"There is a probability of a better relationship blossoming again too. And also, have you ever forgiven anyone without any selfish interests?"

"Yes"

"Why did you?"

"Because I had to"

"How did that make you feel?"

"A better person, but also a dumb person"

"Do you know what forgiveness actually means?"

I listened at awe like a kid waiting for the end of the story.

"It's granting a chance to the person who has done bad. Now, he might be totally underserving or maybe deserving, but at the end of the day you will sleep at peace knowing that even if the world falls into an apocalypse tomorrow, you did the right thing last night"

"Woahhhh! Damn! You should be a writer, man!"

"Ha ha ha! I will leave that box open"

"Seems more like a personal testimony than a general observation. So, who broke your heart?"

"Not to jinx anything but no one has shattered it till date. But I do have a feeling that someone or something might someday"

That calls for an awkward moment.

We shared a very long brief of silence. We didn't look into each other. I could practically hear the argument of a couple who were seated behind us. They had a squabble on who hid the television remote. Wish I had a conversation like that to break the ice.

2 years later

"Does the pain radiate and give you a headache? I asked the patient who I assumed to be my last before my lunch break.

"I'm not sure. How long are you going to shoot these kinds of questions at me? I need to have my lunch, doctor!" said the grumpiest patient I had ever encountered.