Cross Connection

Part 3

Notice: "A Bengali translation is provided at the end of the English text."

বি.দ্র: "ইংরেজির পরে বাংলা অনুবাদ আছে।"

Around 10 PM.

The phone call had been going on for an hour and a half.
Ziana and Anu—both had barely passed the pre-test.
Their spirits were low, confidence shaken,
Yet Anu's voice carried its familiar warmth.

— "You know, I've planned a trip."
— "Are you even in the mood for a trip?"
— "Even if you're not, I am. I'm going with my dad. You know they won't let you go. I'll miss you terribly."

Ziana smiled faintly.
Her eyes still tired,
But Anu's voice seemed to carry a kind of love.

Suddenly Anu asked—
— "Okay, forget studies for now.
Are you still sending those emails?"

Ziana fell silent.
Quiet on the other end.
Her eyes turned to the window,
Where a lone star shimmered in the darkness.

— "Yes,"
Ziana said softly.
— "Every day."

After a pause, Anu replied—
— "I don't understand why you're so persistent. But I know whatever you do, you do it from the heart."

Ziana said nothing.
Just held the phone to her ear.
That silence was her answer.

Anu suddenly asked—

— "Hey, are you going to college tomorrow morning? And what will you do now?"
— "I'll go to college. Maybe I'll write a bit now."
— "Write? Another email?"
— "Maybe..."

A quiet moment passed.
Then both realized—it was time to end the call.

— "Take care, Ziana."
— "You too, Anu."

A brief silence.
Then the call ended.

Silence returned to the room.
But the words left behind on the other end
Still floated in the air.

Anu was incredibly sweet.
She could lift your mood in an instant.
Her smile, her words, her presence
Carried a warmth that lit up even a quiet girl like Ziana.

They had met in class 9.
Same section, same bench.
They hadn't talked much back then.
Ziana was quiet, modest, religious, introverted.
Her family was strict about modesty.
She kept to herself,

Always a silence in her eyes.

Anu was the opposite—lively, extroverted, vibrant.
Everyone's favorite in class,
Teachers saw her as "the dependable girl."

Yet strangely,
Their faces had a certain resemblance.
Like reflections of each other,
But from different angles of light.

Their friendship blossomed in class 10.
Ziana was Roll No. 1,
Anu was Roll No. 2.
Still, Ziana wasn't made monitor despite being "first girl"
Anu was—and everyone accepted it.

Both scored GPA 5 in SSC.
They enrolled together in a girls' college.
Now in their second year.
Walking together through classes, exams, results—
Yet their inner worlds remained completely different.

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Evening.

Afnan returned from university and went straight to cooking.
His hands moved silently,
But his mind seemed fixed on Proloy.

Proloy hadn't come home yet.
Maybe swamped with patients at the hospital,
Or perhaps wrestling with something inside.