Between Us

Just when Sanika Sathe is about to curl up in her blanket cherishing the Bangalore weather, the bell of her small apartment rings. It is almost midnight. All her Crime Patrol thoughts torrent her mind in a flash as her heart speeds up. She is able to recognize from the door viewer a silhouette of a familiar figure. In relief she opens the door to find her boy crush from college standing dripping wet in front of her with those brown pinning eyes. Before she can even comprehend what he was doing here at night. He comes inside pins her to the wall and kisses her pulling her hair hard and fast.Whoosh! Sanika wakes up to the vibration of her mobile phone. It was a wet dream and boy was it good! Her lady parts were throbbing as though silently agreeing. The boy who now looked like a man from her dream was Umang Bhatt, handsome, strong and a brilliant student. She had a massive crush on him but could never gather courage to tell him. Like those millions of love stories that began in minds, hers started and even flourished into a full-fledged relationship too!  Sanika had found a job in Bangalore, India after finishing her college like those 1.4 million other people who did too. She lived with a flat mate whose presence in the apartment was negligible. She suspected a boyfriend angle to be present. Though this supposed person never really showed up with her. Sanika's routine was very mundane. She would usually walk to office, pack her lunch and some extra treats for those loving strays that would greet her. That was the best part of the day according to her. She had two elder siblings at home and her childhood was normal except she came from a typical patriarchal household where men were given more importance and respect. She watched her mother toil to keep the household smoothly running with practically no one appreciating her efforts. Lack of education also gave her mum low self confidence. She knew she wouldn't spend her life being a shadow. She was a feminist at heart and wanted to make her own decisions, one of them being moving out of home to study and find a job. Financial independence would solve a lot of problems one of them being interference from her dad and elder brothers who thought they could run her life. She was still close to her mother. She would call her and ask for a change only about her mother's well being and how she was. Her colleagues were always curious to know if she had a lover. At the age of 25 she looked fairly young, She had jet black,slightly curly hair, a fairly hourglass figure though her boobs had taken shape only later in college. She always complained of being short, but her height added to her overall appeal. Sanika had multiple crushes in college but never gathered courage to confront or corner them with her love. She was happy playing it safe, She was always someone to carry a bag full of caution everywhere she went. This and only this would ensure her survival in this cruel and unforgiving world.  It was one of those rare occurrences where her roommate actually stopped and paused her life button to chat with her. She at that instant had an inkling something was wrong. The last time this happened, she suggested she paid one fourth the amount of all utility bills except the rent. The roommate had dropped a I am moving out of this apartment to stay with my boyfriend bomb. This made Sanika slightly nervous. She had no idea on how to rectify this situation. The weight of her caution bag was suddenly heavy. She would approach her colleagues first. The roommate was kind enough to give her a notice period.She would take to social media,in private conversations continue her quest to find another rent bearer hopefully like her soon to be not roommate. Though she cherished her solitude, she knew it would be a pleasant scenario of having company in her apartment. This concern kept her all weekend in task.  On the Sunday evening,  trying to fight off the blues and keeping her concerns in check she had forgotten to call her friend back. It had been a long time catching up with Amrit.  If only she knew how this single phone call would drastically change her life forever