It Started With a Friend Request (23 page)

One death had scattered many lives. Her parents, Aleesha, Akash, Kritika, and me—all had suffered the pain of loss. Aleesha had lost trust in Akash and Kritika had lost a friend in Aleesha, while Akash had lost everything.

Still time doesn’t stop for anyone and life moves on.

It was February 13, Kritika’s birthday!

She had forced Akash and me to join the party organized by her friends in Lavasa. Despite our constant pleading, Kritika had managed to convince us both to come. We were staying at Ekaant Hotel which had an amazing view of the valley. We were sad but tried our best to hide our sadness from others at the venue. Kritika’s college friends were also present at that time. Akash tried to hide his feelings as he didn’t want to spoil
Kritika’s party. She had supported him selflessly during the bad times. However, it was difficult for him to attended the party and pretend like nothing had happened.

I brought him a plate of biryani but he refused to eat.

I knew how it felt to go through such a difficult phase. Though your face shows no expressions, your soul is deeply tormented.

‘Kritika, did Aleesha call you?’ Akash enquired.

‘Yes. We even chatted for some time. She is returning back from Kolkata tomorrow,’ Kritika answered.

‘Did she talk about me even once? Please tell me…’

Akash was getting on my nerves by continuously talking about Aleesha.

‘We chatted on WhatsApp yesterday so I can mail that to you. Give me your mail id,’ Kritika replied.

I was drunk and losing my patience.

‘Haaa, the same way you would mail me all of that bitch Tamanna’s chats. Tamanna did this, Tamanna did that, Tammy looked at me, Tammy tried to fuck me, blah blah blah… All your WhatsApp conversations are still fucking lying in my Gmail account which I hardly check. Get over it, Akash. Don’t be a coward. What did I ever do with the chats you sent? Nothing. So what are you going to do with Kritika and Aleesha’s chat? Kritika at least you should know better…’ I screamed.

Suddenly, I stopped dead in my tracks. I still had Tamanna and Akash’s WhatsApp chats saved on my Gmail account!

‘Akash, my mailbox! You have mailed me all the WhatsApp chats you had with Tamanna. Do you remember
even one which one can help prove to Aleesha that you are innocent.’ I screamed aloud in excitement.

‘Oh my God, that’s amazing! And if you don’t find anything relevant, then you can put up a request to the service provider to retrieve your messages. We have finally found a way out of this mess,’ Kritika shrieked and jumped in excitement.

‘I don’t remember my password now but it’s saved on my system. So let’s check it once we reach Mumbai tomorrow morning. What say guys?’ I added.

All three of us jumped in joy and high-fived each other. Akash hugged me with tears in his eyes. We had found a ray of hope that could bring new sunshine into Akash’s life. The charm on his face was back. We all wished that we could find the relevant chats which could convince Aleesha that Tamanna was a liar and wanted to destroy her relationship with Akash.

‘You both have given me hope for a better tomorrow,’ Akash exclaimed in happiness and continued, ‘I never meant to cause her trouble. I owe so much to her. Now that I have a way, I know we will be together again and live for each other until life closes its last curtain.’

He hoped that they will unite again on the day of love—February 14.

Never Knew Love Like This

February 14

The new dawn had brought with it new rays of hope in Akash’s life. He was so excited to see Aleesha after such a long period of time that he didn’t even bother changing his clothes in the morning. He was nervous and excited at the same time. Just thinking about Aleesha’s touch brought the dimples back on his face. As soon as we reached Mumbai, Akash, without even caring to return back home, directly came to my house to check my mails.

‘Aadi, log in fast. Please.’ He sounded excited.

‘What do you think I am I doing? Watching porn? At least give me a minute to check,’ I told him.

As we waited for my Gmail account to open, I went to quickly freshen up otherwise my mom would have logged me out of the house. Once open, Akash carefully searched all the mails in my inbox. He opened every mail with the subject: WhatsApp Chat with Tamanna, and transferred them to his cell phone. He scanned my entire Inbox and even opened the trash and spam folders to make sure that he had not missed out on any mail.

‘Aadiiiiiii… Aadiiii, come here quickly.’ he screamed as if the house had been set on fire.’

I was in the middle of a shower when he yelled and I had to come out running half naked with a towel wrapped around me and shampoo still in my hair. ‘Look at this mail,’ Akash pointed to the computer screen.

‘Chat history is attached as “WhatsApp Chat with Tammy.txt” to this email.’

I checked the time and date again. January 13, 11.30 pm.

Holy shit! It was sent on the same day Tamanna’s accident! It means Akash had mailed me their last WhatsApp conversation. Now who the hell checks the spam folders!

‘How did this mail go into spam?’ I asked.

‘I had sent it from my new id. Fuck, I wish we could have seen this earlier!’ said Akash scratching his head.

I was dumbstruck after reading the message and cursed myself. If he had mailed me from his frequently used id, it wouldn’t have gone in spam. We stared at each other after reading the entire chat. This time we both screamed in pleasure and hugged each other. Akash wanted to go over to Aleesha’s place that very instant and show her all the chats between Tamanna and himself which would prove not only his innocence but also prove how much he loved Aleesha. He couldn’t hold it any longer and ran to Aleesha to make her fall in love with him all over again.

Suddenly love was back in his life. He wasn’t perfect and neither was Aleesha. Perfect couples don’t exist, but there is always someone who is perfect for you. Akash ran to meet his imperfectly perfect love Aleesha!

He boarded the local train to CST, remembering how he had boarded the ladies compartment when they had fought for the first time after she caught him staring at the girl’s poster. In the entire one-hour journey to her house, Aleesha’s thoughts kept lingering in his mind. Distance really makes the heart grow fonder. All the incidents that had seemed irritating at that time, now seemed cute to him when he thought of them. Separation from a loved one makes you realize their worth. Akash wanted to surf on the ocean of love. When he got down at CST, he called Kritika to enquire about Aleesha. Kritika told him that she had gone to Tamanna’s apartment to collect something. He immediately took a taxi to Tamanna’s apartment. Once he reached there, his mind went back to the time he had dropped Tamanna home after the party. Back then, he had never thought his life would take such a U-turn that he would lose everything. He wiped tears from his cheeks to make way for happiness.

When a girl cries over a guy, it means that she misses him. But when a guy cries over a girl, it means that no one else can love that girl more than he does. Akash not only shed tears but he also did everything possible to bring her back into his life. Now standing at the entrance of her apartment, he had goosebumps all over. He took a deep breath and pressed the bell.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds and thought of what lay ahead. He had waited for this moment. His days were clouded with her thoughts and nights rained with her dreams. He prayed hard to bring her back. When he opened his eyes, Aleesha was standing in front of him, staring.

He was speechless. It doesn’t matter if the person you love the most has broken your heart or been the cause of your sleeplessness, but when you see that person after so many days, your heart still misses a beat. Akash was numb seeing Aleesha after so many days. He smiled at her warmly.

‘Why don’t you leave me alone?’ Aleesha screamed and pleaded him to go away even though in her heart, she wanted him to stay. It made her feel better after seeing him, but she couldn’t forget the sadness she saw in Tamanna’s dad’s eyes when she visited her folks in Kolkata.

She was just about to shut the door when Akash forcefully stepped in. Without wasting a minute, he sat on the sofa and started speaking,

‘Aleesha, I love you. Today, seeing you after so many days…’ ‘Akash why are you here?’ Aleesha interrupted him.

‘I want to show you something which will make you believe that I’m innocent and had nothing to do with Tamanna’s death. Not only that, I will also prove to you that I never encouraged Tamanna to come near me and always stayed away from her…’

‘Akash, please, don’t start this all over again. I don’t want to listen to any of your stories. If you want to convince me that what you’re saying is true, then the only way to prove it is by bringing Tamanna in front of me and that’s impossible. So chuck it. You better…’

‘That’s what I am going to do. I mean, I can’t bring her in front of you, but I can show you her chats. Yes, I used to mail all the chats she had with me on WhatsApp to Aditya. If I would have remembered this earlier, I would have proven myself innocent long ago. Even when I left the
farmhouse that night, I had messaged her. So that should clear all your doubts. Read this and you will believe that Tammy wanted us to part ways and break our relationship,’ said Akash handing her his mobile phone.

He urged her to read that night’s conversation first and then the others. Aleesha looked at Akash. She was confused, for she didn’t know whether to believe Tammy di or Akash. The innocence in his eyes told her that he had nothing to do with Tamanna’s death and that he still loved her. Even Aleesha hoped Akash was innocent. She was equally nervous when Akash urged her to read the messages.

10.15 pm, 13 Jan, Tammy: Akash, please come back. I need you, not beside me but above me. Please don’t leave me alone. You never looked at me but I always felt some connection with you and now you are leaving me here unsatisfied—what for? For that bitch Aleesha? That bloody slut can’t take you away from me.

10.18 pm, 13 Jan, Akash: I told you everything. I am sorry but I love Aleesha a lot. So stop trying your luck with me. I am not your puppet, Ms Tamanna Kapoor. Try respecting at least the girl who treats you like an elder sister.

10.20 pm, 13 Jan, Tammy: You are ignoring my requests? How can you? Come back right now or you will have to face the consequences. I will make sure you are mine. If you can’t be mine, then I’ll make sure you can’t be with anyone else too. I’ll make you beg for my love. I’ll make sure you lose everything you have and come back to me so that I can give you everything
you want… Till then, fuck that bitch.

10.25 pm, 29 Mar, Tammy:

10.26 pm, 29 Mar, Tammy:

10.27 pm, 29 Mar, Tammy:

10.28 pm, 29 Mar – Tammy: Keep ignoring me and I will send you more such photos. You have to come back to me. You can’t go away like this. I will prove to you that I am better than her.

She looked at Akash with teary eyes and asked:

‘What’s this “Media omitted”?’

‘Her photographs. Not exactly naked ones, but ones in which she is skimpily dressed. She tried her best to make me go back to the farmhouse. She tried forcing herself on me, pressurizing me, and seducing me. But everything failed. I ignored her messages after trying to convince her that I love you a lot. But when she started sending me photographs, I decided to send her one last and final message. After that, she started to call me continuously and I threw away my phone in frustration.’

Aleesha continued reading:

11.50 pm, 13 Jan, Akash: You do whatever you feel like and I’ll do what I feel is right. These photographs won’t affect me. My soul, my heart belongs only to Aleesha and I can’t hurt her. I know such behaviour can devastate you and maybe you’ll start hating me, but I can’t help it. We can’t keep everyone around us happy. My only aim in life is to keep Aleesha happy and make my family proud of me by achieving
success without taking the shortcut. I can never be yours and you can never make me yours. It will be better if you get over me ASAP. Bye.

After reading the entire conversation, Aleesha started sobbing. She continued reading other chats that had occured between them before that night and realized that Akash was actually telling the truth. She couldn’t believe Tammy had played such a dirty game on her. She hated herself for not trusting Akash, for taking decisions in haste, and for assuming things without even thinking twice. She felt guilty for having treated Akash so badly in the last few days, yet he was sitting in front of her with the same love in his eyes as before. Akash went closer to her, took her hands in his, and hugged her, as he understood the pain that Aleesha felt somewhere deep inside her after reading everything. After some time, she freed herself from his arms abruptly.

‘But…how could she speak such crap… I still don’t believe that she could have…is it some trick…?’ she tried to speak but every touch of Akash made her weak. Akash had held her tightly by her waist and was circling his fingers on her lower back, slowly working his way up, and Aleesha was finding it hard to resist.

‘Akash, I am still confused…don’t do this to me. You are making me…aahhh!’ she moaned as he rubbed her back and tried to pull down her shorts.

‘Aleesha…don’t stop me. It’s been so long and I have missed you so much. Now at least believe me that I was not wrong. Let’s forget everything! Come close to me, jaan. Come very close,’ he muttered kissing her ears and biting them tenderly.