The Wrong Number

Chapter - 19

                                                                                    ‘The unexpected’  

The next day mom came to wake me up in the morning, not that I was late again but because she had to go out and she wanted me to get up before she went out. I checked my phone; the time was ten a.m., a bit early for me to be up but I did as mom was stirring me up again and again. I sat up on the bed to assure her that I was not going to sleep again and then only she left the room. I got up and went to the bathroom and after freshening up went downstairs, mom was just going to leave.

“When you would be back?” I asked her.

“I can’t say,” she replied.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“To meet your uncle, they have some dispute going in their home. He called me in the early morning and asked me to come,” she replied. My uncle lived next to my city. He got married two years back and dispute between him and my aunt had become a common thing for them but he always called my mom when the situation seemed to go out of his hand as mom was the eldest sister of him.

“Okay, just let me know if you get late,” I replied.

“Okay, I have prepared the lunch, you do eat it on time,” she gave me a few more instructions to complete some chores of the house and then left. I still was feeling sleepy but was not in the mood to sleep anymore. I came back to my room and picked the phone, two texts were flashing there, and both were of Sneha. In her first text, she wished me a good morning and in the second she asked me to text her back as soon as I wake up.

“Good morning,” I texted her.

“When did you wake up?” her reply came within a few minutes.

“Just now,” I replied.

“Do you always sleep till this late?” her text came. Late, hah, it’s early for me, I thought.

“Yes, usually,” I replied.

“Can I call you?” she asked. I thought for a moment before replying. I took some time to think about what I was going to say to her. As I had discussed last night with Neha, I was going to tell her the truth that I talk to one other girl too. She wasn’t going to like that truth, I was sure about that.

“Okay,” I replied after taking my time. She called me within the next minute.

“Hello,” I picked the call and said.

“Hello, Sid,” she replied.

“I want to meet you,” she next said.

“I think we had talked about it yesterday that we would talk on call first, didn’t we?” I asked.

“Yes I know but I still think I can talk to you better when I meet you,” she replied.

“Sneha, I want to tell you something,” I said.

“What is that?” she asked with curiosity.

“I talk to one other person, a girl,” I answered. She paused for a few seconds and then replied.

“Who is she?” she asked without raising her voice.

“Her name is Neha. We haven’t met yet but we are talking on call for the past few days,” I replied.

“Do you love her?” she asked in the same tone. I wasn’t quite sure what could I answer her, I mean I hadn’t found the answer to that question myself yet, then how could I tell her that if I loved Neha or not.

“I don’t know yet,” I replied honestly.

“Do you like her?” she asked again.

“Yes, I do,” I was sure about that so it didn’t take much time for me to answer that question.

“Okay,” she said, and went silent. What does this mean? Why she is not reacting the way I thought she would? She didn’t even get a bit hyper, is she going to continue the talk or is it the end of it? I questioned myself as she was not saying anything.

“Don’t you have a problem with this?” I asked when she didn’t say anything for a while.

“Yes, I do have a problem with this but what can I say, I mean you like her then she must be better than me, I don’t think I can do anything about it,” she replied in a hushed voice. This was the least expected answer I got from her. She was different than yesterday, she was talking differently too. I wasn’t able to understand how to react to that, I mean I was expecting a different answer from her side since last night but she took me by surprise.

“Do you want to meet?” I didn’t know why I asked that but it was like I hadn’t had any control over my words and those uttered out of my mouth on its own.

“Why do you want to meet me now?” she asked. She again made me speechless. That behavior of her was drawing me more towards her.

“We will talk about it,” I replied. She didn’t say anything for a while.

“Okay,” she answered and I felt glad about it.

“When would you be able to come to my home?” those again were the words I didn’t want to say. I was inviting her to my home when I was all alone, how could I be so blatant? I damned myself for speaking impetuously.

“In the afternoon maybe,” she replied. I again felt gratified that she didn’t take me in the wrong way and moreover she didn’t even ask me if I was alone or my mom was at home too, that meant she was trusting me, I felt pleased while thinking that.

“Okay, great. Just text me and let me know whenever it would be possible for you to come,” I replied.

“Okay,” she answered and we said bye to each other. I lay down on the bed and started thinking about what I was going to say to Sneha when we meet, it was going to be hard though. I didn’t want to hurt Sneha after hearing that tone of her voice. I had to find a way to make her understand that we could remain friends, but of course, that too was not going to be easy. I got up from the bed after a while and went downstairs to eat something. I checked the time on the clock; it was showing thirty minutes past eleven a.m. I went to the kitchen and first made myself a tea; I was getting this habit of drinking tea in those days. Mom made the stuffed aloo paratha for the breakfast, the best breakfast dish for me in the winters. I put two parathas on the plate, picked the cup of tea, came in the hall, and sat on the dining chair. I wasn’t in a hurry as Sneha was going to come in the afternoon only and I had guessed she would come between one or two p.m. I finished my meal in around twenty minutes while enjoying every single bite of it. I put the dishes back in the kitchen, sat on the sofa, and turned on the TV. I kept changing the channels for a few minutes as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to watch. In actual I wanted to watch nothing, I was just looking to pass my time before the afternoon could reach.

                         It was not long before the doorbell rang, I checked the time, and it was showing just twenty minutes past noon. I didn’t expect Sneha that early. I got up from the sofa to open the door. I was not sure if it would be Sneha on the door or not, but it was she. I opened the door for her and she came in silently. She was wearing black jeans and a blue denim jacket and her hair was loosened on her back. I couldn’t get my eyes off her for some time; she was looking stunning in that outfit. I closed the door and came inside, by the time she sat on the sofa.

“Where is your mom Sid?”She asked.

“She is not home. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before,” I apologized while sitting on the sofa in front of her.

“No, that’s okay. Don’t be sorry, I didn’t ask either,” she replied and went silent. She wasn’t showing any sign of audacity, she wasn’t even looking at me. She was completely different than the person I met yesterday.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I thought something was bothering her.

“Yes, why?” she asked in return.

“No, nothing. I am just asking randomly,” I replied.

“Okay,” she said and again went silent. I was confused about that situation. How could I start any conversation with her when she was not speaking more than two words?

“Do you like to have some tea?” I asked to give her and myself some time to get comfortable.

“No, thank you,” she replied. She was not the girl I met the day before. She was wanton and sensual the other day and now she changed into a complete demure person. I kind of liked her that personality.

“You wanted to talk about something,” she looked up and asked me. I took some time to think where I could start the conversation.

“I just wanted to know if we can still remain friends,” I asked. She threw a hard look at me for a few seconds and then took her eyes off and started looking at the other side, but she didn’t answer my question. I couldn’t understand what the meaning of that was. I got up from the sofa and sat beside her but slightly at a distance as I didn’t want to give her any kind of the wrong impression. She still was looking away and didn’t move her head.

“You haven’t replied Sneha,” I tried to make her speak.

“Yesterday you called me Neha and then you lied that there is no one with that name, why did you lie to me Sid?” she moved her head toward me and asked. I didn’t know if I was mistaken or what but it felt like I did see a tiny drop of tear in her eye.

“I didn’t know what to say at that time, your behavior was different yesterday, you took me all by surprise,” I replied in a helpless tone.

“I can’t be your friend Sid. I told you how I feel about you. It’s not possible for me to be your friend when I think of you more than that,” she said and tears rolled down both her cheeks. I never anticipated something like that would happen. I moved closer to her, extended my hand, and took her in mine, and tried to calm her down.  It was then only she hugged me tightly and I hugged her back.