I wish I could

Chapter 9

“Nothing much, Alan showed me some places and then we went for dinner. That’s it. But these things only left me way too exhausted to call you at night.” I answered.

“But we celebrated your birthday really nicely. The way birthdays should be celebrated, with all your friends and loved ones. I wish you had been here. It was really…….” And he suddenly stopped.

“It was really what?........” I asked. “Steve, Are you still there?”

“Zara, I’ll….I’ll call you later okay? I’ll call you” and he hung up.

I was confused. He sounded so scared suddenly as if he had seen a ghost. And I waited the whole day for his call but he didn’t call. Then I called him but his phone was switched off.

I thought he must have become busy with some work and that I shouldn’t bother him like that. But the next 3 days also went like that. He didn’t call and when I did, his phone was always switched off. He was not a person to switch his phone off for no reason, so I began to worry. I called Vanessa but she said she hasn’t seen him since the party. Then I called Ruth and Keith and they also had the same answer. Then I decided to call Phil. I thought he must know why Steve is behaving so weird and why his phone is switched off for 4 days but he didn’t answer any of my calls and my worries grew alarmingly.

Then finally on 20th he called.

“Hey Zara!” He said sounding too low.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling you all the time in the past 4 days. Why was your phone switched off?”

“I know. I’m sorry. Actually my phone broke down and its repairing took 4 days. That’s why I wasn’t able to call you or take your calls. Sorry.”

“But you could have called me from anyone else’ phone also. You know how tense I can get.”

“Yeah…I know but I forgot your number also. That’s why this option was also not there with me.” He answered.

At that point, I knew he was lying. He had always been good with remembering mobile numbers and I knew that he knew my number by heart. And I wanted to ask him why he was lying but then I decided against it.

“You could have asked for my number from anyone else also. Phil, Vanessa, Ruth. Anyone.” I said and waited for an answer. But when he didn’t say anything, I continued. “But anyway leave all these things. Just tell me how are you? Because you sound really low.”

“I’m fine. Just a bit of fever and cold, that’s it.” He said.

“Have you taken any medicine or not?” I asked.

“Yeah!”

  The way he was talking that day was really weird. He wasn’t even trying to make a conversation. He just simply answered what I asked and didn’t ask me anything. Not even how I was doing which was his pet question for our every conversation.

I made his ill-health an excuse to answer all my queries, but I was really very worried about him lying to me.

“Alright, take care of yourself. Take all your medicines on time. Okay?” I said.

“Ahmm hmmm…..Okay. So I’ll talk to you later, alright?”

“Yeah, but I…” I couldn’t even complete my sentence and he hung up.

And again he didn’t call later and when I did, his phone was again switched off.

I had loads of work to finish in 3 days before Christmas but due to Steve’s weird behavior, my mind was just not able to concentrate on work. But somehow I managed to detach my mind from him to focus on my work. He didn’t call again and my mind was just not able to guess why.

I thought he would call on Christmas but no, again I was proved wrong. So, finally I called him and thankfully he answered.

“Merry Christmas love!” I wished him.

“Merry Christmas.”

“So, how’s your fever and cold now? Better or worse?” I asked.

“Not better, not worse. It’s the same. But how are you?” He asked. Finally!

“I’m good but I’m missing you and I’m really worried about your health. I tried to call you a million times in these 5 days also but couldn’t talk to you.”

“Yeah, my phone still has problems and I’ve been really busy too. But leave these things. Tell me, what’s your Christmas wish?” He said changing the topic immediately.

“Christmas wish? Don’t tell me that you still believe in Santa or those Christmas stories.” I chuckled.

“Oh please. We are never too old to stop believing in Santa. So just tell me, what’s your Christmas wish?”

“Nothing. I just want to come back to London now. I’ve had enough of United States and New York. That’s it. What about you? What’s your Christmas wish?”

“You really want to know my wish?” He asked.

“Yeah, now tell me fast. No playing around please!” I said in an irritated tone.

“YOU are my Christmas wish for this year and for every other year that has to come.” He said in his most serious tone.”I just want to be with you forever. I love you from all my heart Zara. I’ve never loved anyone like this before and I never will. I love you and only you.”

My eyes were filled with tears at that time. I was just too happy at that time to know that I have someone who feels this way for me.

“I love you too.” I wasn’t even able to say anything else at time.

“Just promise me that you’ll never leave me, no matter what happens. Just promise me.” He said.

“I promise that I’ll never ever leave you till death do us apart.” I said and started giggling over my way of saying that dialogue.

“Yes, till death do us apart!” He said and started laughing.

My mother had always told me that we should never speak anything unnecessarily not because our words can harm others but also because sometimes our words can become reality. And when I said that line, I didn’t even think twice about what I was saying.

But I was really happy that finally he was behaving normally. And I just couldn’t wait for the next 10 days to pass. I just wanted to go back to him.

New Year’s went alright and then finally after 5 days, I boarded the flight back on London. I told Steve that I would be coming back on Jan 7th so that I was able to surprise him. But he already had worst surprises planned for me.

~~Really sorry for the late update! And I promise that from now onwards I'll be updating at regular intervals :) Some good things have happened in between this time like I got a new cover made by @mylovefromthestar, so this chapter is dedicated to her. I'm really thankful to her and @fandomcrazedd who made really nice covers for this book. I hope you also like them. 

Please vote and comment what do you think of the chapter :) I need lots of votes and comments!

Plus I have a surprise for all of you but it will be ready when I upload the next chapter most probably! So please let the votes and comments coming.! Thankyou and I love you all xxx ~~