Part 6: Love never starts and ends the way we predict!!

Abhi’s return trip home wasn’t at ease…….her mind was all ruffled up about her encounters in the last few days…….She wondered what God had in store for her……..

Her life was going on in a mechanical circle with just the regular routines, her work, her home, her family………The life was predictable and to an extent dry as she recalls it now……the fact was also that no guy ever evoked such thoughts so far…………

then suddenly, enter 3 men who have made her think deeply about them……everything had literally changed for her in a matter of 2 days…..

the first one, an unknown singer…..she didn’t even know his name but just the thought about him, his song and his voice makes her heart flutter………he had sung his way into her heart…….She is damn sure that she wouldn’t be able to forget his voice, nor pull him out of her heart in a million years…….such was the effect he had on her…….. but the sensible side of her knew that he is just a passing phase in her life…….a very sweet illusion which was too good to be true!

Next comes, a smart young guy whom she meets without any specific reason assuming that he was the one her parents chose…..she must admit that she was truly impressed with whatever she observed……..there was an unknown urge to know him better……she strongly felt that he was not just a random guy whom she met by mistake…….there was something which made him interesting and she wanted to find it…She didn’t know at the moment what that something was but she wished to find it out soon………She had a gut feeling that she would meet him again…..and that she would get to know him better…..and perhaps that was why he had left behind his diary on the table…….and when her eyes fell on it, she only chose to pick and tug it into her bag quietly…..She herself was surprised by what she did!

And then steps in Abhay,  the groom whom she had to meet…….her parents choice for her......He was rich, suave, handsome.....and from whatever little her mom disclosed and from the brief interaction she had with him, he appeared flawless.......He spoke and behaved well with her.....But deep down, Abhi's heart wasnt with her.....It seemed to be struck elsewhere.....moreover, she felt that there was an unknown cloud around  Abhay which was yet to be revealed......

He appeared too good to be true.....he was a dream like character and Abhi believed that such characters only happened in novels.....He was just like the rich, famous, desirable men from Mills and boons!!!.....he was every girl’s dream man….literally a prince charming!

She sighed deeply thinking about the three mystery men who were bound to change her life upside down......

In another 10 minutes she would be home but she was confused about what to tell her family……her parents especially her mom would be eagerly waiting for her………She would expect a positive or near to positive reply from her……She didn’t want to reject Abhay without even giving them a chance to know each other……nor did she want to respond positively and give high hopes to her parents……she knew her mom very well…..Just a positive signal from Abhi and her mom would just jump into the next few steps of the marriage ladder……….It could just get out of Abhi’s control! and that was the last thing that she wanted!

She decided to talk to her dad openly about how she felt…..her dad was understanding and would very well relate to her thoughts…….He would give her the required time to make the most important decision of her life!

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Abhay's hand phone beeped......it was mom and he knew she was curious to know what he felt about the girl he had just met....Abhilasha......He didn’t want to tense her more and so picked it up in the first ring……..

yeah Mom, met her just now....[his mom is piling up questions at him about the meeting and the initial mess ups] yeah yeah a lot of unnecessary confusions but finally I met her.....mmmm...she is good.....but i guess, you need to find out her opinion and then take it from there.......well, its not that…....she appeared confused the whole evening and didnt look too comfortable with me.......no mom....she never said anything like that but it felt like she wasnt at ease....yeah possible, maybe she was plain nervous meeting me....[sarcastically] I am sure ppl have given her all wrong ideas about the rich and famous guy ABHAY!!  

MOM, that wasn’t anywhere in the agenda you put forth to me…….you wanted me to meet her, talk to her.....and thats what I did exactly…..I put up a brilliant show of me in front of her.....now dont expect anything more.....
I dont have the time to run behind her and get her approval mom!!! Its all up to you and that girl now…….You can decide whatever and let me know how and when….….ok?

[Abhay cuts the call snapping of his mom’s anticipations and queries regarding the alliance…….His mom wanted him to meet Abhi again and get to know her better but he wasn’t just ready to waste any more time on such meetings……]

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Abhi retired to her room after a long tiring day……..Her parents were considerate and allowed her to think over and let them know….She knew that her dad was behind the whole idea…….He would have counseled mom in her absence and convinced not to force anything on her or to press her for details when she returned back…….She was thankful to her dad for understanding her so well…….Her brothers made a bit of drama ragging her but it was all to lighten up the situation and de-stress her……Her brother winked at her when he said “so how was your prince charming??? When can we expect the wedding??”

Abhi just gestured back a punch on his tummy and rushed to her room………

After a warm shower, she plunked herself on to the bed……..She quickly prayed to GOD “take back my 5 years and I promise, I will change everything…..i will fix a microscope and telescope to my eyes and mind to find my Mr Right!! Then I would be saved from all this confusions!! I wouldn’t have had to decide on a guy I just met…..Is Abhay really my prince charming? Will I be able to spend the rest of my life with him happily?....or is there someone for whom I have to wait? God plz, help me…..guide me through this maze”

Suddenly the diary struck her mind….She quickly got up and pulled it out of her bag…….She swore to herself that she wouldn’t read beyond the first few pages and that too was just to know his identity……As expected, his name and phone number were written neatly……..In one glance, he appeared organized and disciplined unlike the guys of his age……”CHAITANYA” the name did strike a chord somewhere……it was such a poetic name…it meant “Wisdom and Enlightenment”………….She didn’t know why she was thinking so much about a random guy and his name…….whatever be his name, how did it affect her??

She dialed his number and then cut it before the line went through…….She was confused about what to speak……or how to introduce herself to him…...he never even seemed to have noticed her presence in the restaurant…….so she was a bit tense on what his reaction would be!

She had a strong urge to flip the pages and see what he had scribbled in….but she knew that it wasn’t a good thing to trespass his private diary…….
She felt that there was something in the diary which she had to know and was quite important to her but she didn’t dare to break her promise………she brushed away the feeling terming it as weird and crazy!

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Back in his hotel room, Chaitanya was restless…..Having lost his diary somewhere, he seemed to have lost his right hand….it was his soul…his half life and he had been careless with it…..he cursed himself and all those who caused this to happen which included the silly girl who had come to his table by mistake…...

He kept saying "I shouldn’t have left the place in a hurry….I should have double checked my belongings"……
but again, he wasn’t sure if he left it there or in the cab….he had called up both places and asked for it but they weren’t aware of such a diary……."where else could it go???"

In between this tension, Abhay’s secretary had called him and re fixed the meeting for the next day……He suppressed his agony and agreed just for his company’s sake!

"How could I be careless with this priceless possession??"


 He took it everywhere he went and not once had it slipped away from him…....It had his compositions, the songs he penned down so far…….his thoughts etc etc…It was unique and a replacement wasn’t possible…not in this lifetime……He had even started writing something new for his upcoming album……

Though he never understood or believed in love, all his songs were written for an imaginary girl whom he tries visualize in his dreams……He created her in his compositions and gave life to her though his music…..He used that imagination as his inspiration…..the words just flew out of his heart whenever he imagined her before him……..and today, just because of his carelessness, all his creations were lost!

His mind was disturbed completely…… he even thought of going back home because he couldn’t concentrate on anything else!

His phone was constantly ringing and it was from his colleagues back in Chennai……”Sanjay must be calling to find out how the meeting went about and if the deal is signed”………


He just passed on the happenings in brief and cut the call…..Sanjay’s reply sounded as if he was disappointed by the meeting being postponed…….he would be, afterall, all their career ambitions, their future lay in this deal……Chaitanya tried to console himself by thinking about the troubles his team were taking to get through this business deal…..So he had to rise up and do his best…..The diary is very important but not at the cost of his company’s failure……

He got up and went to the restroom….He stood in front of the wash basin and looked at his reflection on the mirror…….he splashed a lot of water on his face to win over the tears that were waiting to roll down…

His phone started ringing all over again……he looked at the phone on his bed with irritation “Now what???”..... the ring didn’t stop……”Who the hell was calling at this time???...it must be past midnight in India!!!”

[To be continued]