The Collection

WHERE DID YOU GO?

(Message alert)

-" Uh.......oh.........um......"

(one more message alert)

-" Wha.......huh..........."

(incoming call)

-" What? Who? Oh, my phone. Huh! What's the time? One am! Why is she calling me now?"

This was my first reaction when she had called me. I took the call nonetheless.

-" Hello, ______ what's up so late?"

-" Nothing. I just thought of talking to someone."

-" Well, you got the wrong person at the wrong time."

-" Were you sleeping?"

-" Can't say I wasn't. Weren't you?"

-" No, I was just thinking.......about you."

This is when the strings in my crappy brain realized that I was talking to her, this late in the night.

-" I want to ask you something."

-" Go on, you already destroyed my sleep."

I was trying not to act super excited.

-" Can you please come down? If you have no problem, that is".

Thank God my phone didn't slip out of my hands.

-" Alright, but it better be worth my time."

-" I don't know if it will."

-" Just kidding. I'll be down in a minute."

(Line disconnected) I thought to myself, what was going on?

I freshened up, wore my hoodie, slowly opened the main door, and went outside. To my horror, the lifts were off. Meaning I had to go down 10 stories before I could reach the ground floor. And so, I did. When my feet touched the last floor, I was already feeling numb due to the exertion. I looked up and there she was. Sitting on the table of the empty reception desk, dangling her legs. Her face half-covered in by her hoodie. She also looked up and there was a considerable gap between our eyes locking and her lovely smile. She jumped off the table and walked to me.

-" Did I disturb you?"

-" If you don't consider waking up a sleeping person as a disturb, then no."

-" I'm sorry. I was feeling lonely. Felt like having someone beside me." She gave a smile.

-" Well, I'm glad that I was able to qualify for being that someone". She looked at me with her well-known expression.

-" If you don't qualify then who will?"

-" That's quite flatter.........." I stopped mid-speech. She took my hand in her's. In the bone-shatteringly cold night of December, her hand felt warm. Her soft skin against mine felt like silk.

-" let's go for a walk, shall we?" she said.

As I stepped out of the building, the cold air of the night hit me like a sharp knife. But it was a pain worth enduring as long as it meant being with her.

We walked around the three high-rise buildings in our area again and again. We talked for a long time. Her words made me feel like she was sad or upset about something. But I didn't ask in fear of ruining this beautiful night.

There was a small place for sitting beside our Mosque. We went there and sat down. We sat there looking at the empty benches in front of us. Suddenly I felt a weight on my shoulder. It was her. She had kept her head on my shoulder. I pinched myself and ensured that it was not a dream. A few moments later she wrapped her arms around me. Right at that moment, a part of me wanted to lose myself in one of those Indian love songs. But the conscious part of me asked her

-" Is anything wrong?"

-" No, not at all." She was still hugging me." I just felt like hugging a fat boy like my friend here would help me feel better." she started laughing. It was the first time I saw her laugh this entire time.

-" Well, I'm quite proud of my fats. They serve as a multi-purpose tool." She started laughing even more.

-" We should get going. It is already 3 in the morning."

-" Okay, let's go."

I climbed up the 6 floors with her to her house.

Before entering, she said,

-" Close your eyes."

-" Why?"

-" Just do it."

-" Ok." I felt a warm kiss land on my cheek.

-" Wohh.........." I stepped back.

-" I...........I'm sorry." She stepped back.

-" No, it's ok."

-" Hope you will forgive me." She closed the door before I could say anything.

The night could not get any weirder.

The next day, when I went to school, Obonti and Sarah came to ask where she was.

-" Hasn't she come to school yet?"

-" If she had, we wouldn't ask you" Sarah replied.

-" Matter-of-fact, why are you even asking me?"

-" She said she was going to talk to you." Obonti said.

-" She did talk to me last night."

(Message alert)

I took out my phone. It was a message from her.

"Dear Apurbo,

I know what you are thinking. After everything last night, I would have told you. But I took it too far.

I love you and I wish, I told it to you before. But now it is too late.

I can't stay here any longer.

Hope you will forgive me. Goodbye.

______"

I wish I could find her. But after that, I never saw her again. I never even found a clue. Her family is as clueless as I am. It's like she vanished in thin air. And I still don't know what to forgive her for.