Love Story – The Phone Call
Photo credit: xenia from morguefile.com
2:35 A.M.
Phone rings.
Boy: “Hello”
Girl: “Hello….am I disturbing you?”
“No”
“Were you sleeping?”
“Is Mumbai in a different time zone from Kolkata?”
“Don’t be so rude. You used to stay up till four!”
“That was before I started working.”
“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up…”
“Go ahead”
“There is nothing in particular that I want to tell you”
“You haven’t changed, have you?”
“They say that the best friends shouldn’t change”
“I am glad you called”
Girl: “How are you?”
Boy: “Just the same”
“Won’t you ask me how I am?”
“How are you?”
“Do I still need to tell you what to tell me?”
“You know I talk less”
“And I can’t help talking a lot”
“And that’s why I still like you”
“I wish”
“I do”
“A little?”
“A lot”
Girl: “How’s life?”
Boy: “I see the clock striking seven twice a day. How do you think my life is?”
“Miserable”
“Somewhat”
“But you don’t have to study any more. Isn’t that what you always wanted?”
“Maybe I just wanted a break”
“I want it too”
“You always liked studying.”
“It kept me busy”
“Oh please, even without the books you were busy”
“Do you mean theater shows?”
“This, that or something else. You never had time”
“For you?”
“Even for me”
“You were always on my mind”
“Don’t lie”
“I am not”
Boy: “Why did I always feel so neglected?”
Girl: “I guess I can’t love staying in a relationship”
“And so we had to break up!”
“And I started loving you again”
“I moved on”
“I didn’t”
“Move on”
“I wish I could”
“There’s no point holding on to the past”
“It’s all that keeps me going”
“Why can’t you find anyone else?”
“I tried”
“And?”
“I realized that I am too used to loving you”
Boy: “How are your new friends?”
Girl: “They are nice”
“Are all of them like you?”
“I am a no-one here.”
“Do you have normal conversations or is it always related to Economics?”
“We discuss everything.”
“Don’t tell your new friends about me”
“Why?”
“They will bring me up even after you get a new boyfriend”
“I don’t care”
Boy: “Do you know why they ask you never to date your best friend?”
Girl: “I guess the pain of separation is too hard to bear.”
“I always told you”
“Do you know why you should?”
“Why?”
“Because it is worth it.”
Girl: “Did you fall in love again?”
Boy: “Yes”
“You never told me anything about that”
“I was waiting for you to come back to the city”
“I still can’t believe that you had kept it from me”
“I wanted to tell you face to face”
“Why?”
“Distance makes it worse”
Girl: “Telling me face to face would have been a better idea?”
Boy: “I thought so”
“Are you dumb? Have you got no sense?”
“I am sorry”
“I am glad I asked you”
“I am glad you did”
“Why couldn’t you bring it up?”
“I was afraid of hurting you”
“I am not so easily hurt”
Boy: “I knew you’d say that”
Girl: “What do you want me to say?”
“Are you okay?”
“Did she replace me?”
“No”
“I knew you’d say that”
“She didn’t”
“Oh come on!”
“I told her so”
“You told her…what?”
“That you can never be replaced”
Boy: “Are you still too busy?”
Girl: “Mastering a subject is hard”
“Do you want to go for PhD?”
“I want it to end”
“This line doesn’t suit you”
“I want to run away”
“Where to?”
“I wish I could tell you”
“You can still tell me”
“To a brown hut in the green meadow”
“It was my line”
“It was ours”
Boy: “Do you still write?”
Girl: “I do”
“Maybe some things do not change”
“I guess.”
“Do you still wake up in the middle of the night to check your phone?”
“I did”
“Why did you stop?”
“You stopped replying”
Girl: “Do you still sit at the edge of your terrace and call your girlfriend?”
Boy: “Sometimes”
“Do you tell her that in-spite of being insanely sleepy, you drove your bike all the way back?”
“Yes”
“So you still do that?”
“She hates me too”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“She told me that she’ll stop taking my calls if I do that”
“I like her”
“I bet”
“I really do”
“And why if I may ask?”
“She does the things I should have.”
Boy: “You like her already! Are you high?”
Girl: “I wish I was”
“Do you drink with your friends in the hostel?”
“A lot”
“Why are you doing this to yourself?”
“It makes me happy”
“Why are you sad?”
“I have lost all reasons to live”
Boy: “What were your reasons?”
Girl: “I can’t explain”
“You can’t give up, remember?”
“That was only when we were together”
“I am still here”
“Too far away from me”
“Come closer, will you?”
“What if you push me away?”
“I never did”
Boy: “It’s getting late”
Girl: “I guess we should hang up then”
“Will you call me?”
“I shall try”
“Can I make a request?”
“What?”
“Will you write this for me?”
“I will”
Boy: “Is there something else that you want to say?”
Girl: “Yes. This sounded beautiful in my mind”
“So will you finally call me up tomorrow?”
“I am scared”
“Of what?”
“Maybe you have changed in all these years”
“You need to talk to me to find out”
“I know you won’t sound the same in reality”
“This practice of yours is insane”
“In my mind you say things I want you to say”
“Call me, please, I miss talking to you”
“Then why don’t you call me, ever?”
Girl: “Can you still read my mind?”
Boy: “Yes and I can’t believe. Even after all these years?”
“Yes, I still do”
Muffled sobs, night-breeze and silence.
__END__
