Memories

​He stood in front of the mirror and looked at his reflection. It was going to be his first day at the office. He was successful in cracking a job offer in the campus placement drive. 

His view fell on a light blue shirt and grey formal trousers kept on the bed. He got dressed up rather quickly unlike other days. 

He again stood in front of the mirror and started examining  whether the dress has properly fitted his slim athletic frame. He then looked at his face closely by getting very near to the mirror. He had neatly trimmed his beard the other day. 

“Ekansh, you look dapper.” he told himself still looking at himself in the mirror 

Suddenly, his phone that was till now residing silently on the bed rang up. The number was unknown. He picked up the call and placed the phone against his ear while he was sitting on the bed. 

“Where are you, yr?” a certain known male voice enquired 

“Whose this?” he asked back

“Abey ganja maar rakha hai kya? Mai Pardeep. Got this new number yesterday night. (Have you taken Marijuana? It’s me Pardeep.)” Pardeep replied enthusiastically and added “Be ready, I am gonna be there in 10 minutes. Bye” 

With that he put down the call. 

He then went to the gallery of his phone and using his fingerprint, unlocked a hidden folder. That folder contained images of him with a girl. The girl he loved immensely in his college days. His friends teased him by saying that he doesn’t belongs to the current crop of lovers. Ekansh and that girl were in a relationship that hadn’t any future but still they couldn’t get away from each other till he wasn’t humiliated by her mother. She didn’t even voiced her opinion in front of her parents and this damaged him more. 

He was a reserved and introvert guy but that humiliation made him more silent, reserved and introvert. It changed his perception about people love and relationships. The damage those words and actions had inflicted on him was beyond words. 

“Aur beta kaise ho? (How are you?) ” he heard her mother asking someone down in the lobby 

He took a last view of those images and deleted them for forever. He had promised himself of deleting those last saved pictures of them on the first day of his job. 

“Bas aunty theek hu, aap kaise ho? Aur han Ekansh kaha hai? (Aunty I’m fine, How are you? And yes where’s Ekansh?) ” she asked simultaneously 

“Mai bhi theek hu beta. Wo upar hai. Zara dekhna ready hua ya nai. (I am fine too. He is upstairs. See whether he got ready or not.) ” his mother replied 

And he could hear the sounds of footsteps getting closer to his room. 

“Hey, Smarty boy. Got ready or not?” she said happily while entering the room and moving towards him 

Her name was Pakhi, the closest friend Ekansh had. She knew everything about him. Both his and her family knew about both of them being best friends and moreover both the families were open minded. Hence, none of them had any objections even if they were to be in a relationship. She knew what happened with him. She was always there for him. 

“Yes.” He replied nodding his head up and down

He was trying to avoid looking her so that she doesn’t get to know about the tears in his eyes but she knew him inside out. 

She came closer to him and gave him a hug. 

“Ekansh, I know you still think about her and what happened in the past. I know you were looking at her pictures and that’s why your eyes are wet. Now don’t make me cry otherwise my mascara will get spoiled and I will make you pay for it then.” she playfully tried to change his mood 

“Thank you.” he said and smiled even though it was just a small one 

She too smiled. 

“I just deleted the last remaining pictures of her.” he said while putting the phone in his pocket 

“Now that’s good. You have to move on. Just because of one incident, you can’t just stop your emotions from getting out. You can’t bind your heart to stop feeling.” she said trying to once again making him understand that moving on is the only option

He didn’t knew what to say and just nodded his head to show her that he agrees with her. 

There was silence in the room as both looked into each other’s eyes which was suddenly broken by his mother’s voice informing them about breakfast being ready. 

“You are the bestest of best friend anyone can get. Thank you for being in my life and now lets go otherwise ma is gonna scold me.” he said and moved out of the room

She smiled with tears in her eyes while saying to herself “Only if you knew that you are more than just a friend to me.”