[featured on @ShortStory 2024]
Neil had just arrived in Delhi, a few days ago to meet his sister. Exhausted by her endless rants about how he doesn't have any time for the family, he finally decided to show up and make his sister happy! One fine day...
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The hour hand of the clock moved lazily to strike another hour off of Vedika's list of impatient waiting intervals. She sat restlessly atop her plushy dusty-grey bed sheet tucked mattress, nibbling on her lips and drumming her fingers over her bobbing knee. A few creases formed on her forehead indicating her anxiety towards the act at hand. Starting conversations with people was her forte, but somehow today she found her hands getting clammy anticipating it.
"Why am I freaking out? He liked my music. He asked his sister about me. Clearly explains, he would wanna have a conversation with me! Listen, Vedika. Calm down. Deep breaths. Okay? You got this." Exhaling an ample amount of air out of her nostrils, she looked at the clean-slatted window of Neil's chat.
Hey, Vedika here! Remember me?
Backspace. "Too immature. Who says remember me?! Am I an elder relative of his?!" She scolded herself and stared at the blinking cursor in the message box reiterating its appearance as if mocking her for her anxiety towards an unnecessary thing.
She found herself smiling mischievously when an idea struck her mind. Her fingers soon worked upon her brain's command. What's better than sending a text that not only breaks the ice but gives a pathway for forwarding the conversation ahead, as well? She doesn't call herself a genius for namesake, after all.
Biting the insides of her mouth, she quickly hit send and closed her eyes tightly scrunching them. Throwing her phone beside her, she sat back to eat her favourite chocolate syrup doughnuts which she had adorned with a magical touch of her own. Of course, it was none other than the sprinkle of milk chocolate powder over them. Vedika believed doughnuts without her favourite powder were just plain bland.
Half an hour passed, with no signs of his replies or even a 'seen' from him. Sulking, Vedika sat back licking her fingers. Feeling her spirits coming down, she put the half-eaten doughnut back in the box too. Whatever, I'm just gonna make another song.
With that, she marched to her kitchen sink to clean her hands and sit on the floor of her bedroom, resting her back against her bed and holding a guitar in her hand. Just when she struck a chord of the guitar, her heart mimicked the same as she heard a ping on her phone.
And, here it begins.
***
After a hectic flight that Neil shared with an annoying PDA couple, all he wanted was a fresh shower and some good sleep to refresh him for his work day tomorrow. Dropping his luggage, over the shiny wooden tiles of the living room of his lavish apartment, he slumped on the sofa massaging his temples. Unbuttoning the above three buttons of his shirt, he grabbed the remote control of the air conditioner and switched it on.
Neil loved working and going to his office every day was a drug he lived for. Well, when you literally create an application, nourish it like your own child and then watch it become successful after years of struggle, it is hard to not love your job. And so was the case with him. However, Neil couldn't deny, that as much as he was giddy to be back here, he missed being back at Delhi. His sister and him bantering all day long, her boyfriend occasionally visiting them, Neil threatening him, his sister's tuition classes and watching the naughty yet cute little kids getting on her nerves, he was kinda missing it all now. But that wasn't all he was missing. A little encounter with someone, had him missing that someone a little too much too.
