Post # 12. Late, but better than never ! #atozchallenge

“ Shrey, can we talk for sometime?”, he asked over the phone.

Shreyasi had just walked in to her clinic, and changed into her uniform.  Her first patient of the day, three-year old Liara, was waiting on her bed. She beamed in happiness when she saw Shreyasi approach her with her usual smile.

And that was when he had called. 

This was the second time he was ringing her up, the first one being his invitation to dine out.

“ Not now, Aagney. I’m at work, and I can’t use the phone much. We’ll talk later,” she said.

“ When do I call you then ? I don’t have your mobile number either. How can I contact you  then ?,” he asked.

“ I’ll call you when I’m free, Aagney.  That should be fine, right ?”, she asked, looking at Liara, and making a puppy face at her.

“ Fine, Shrey. I have no choice , right ? You seem to be in a hurry.  I’ll wait then, bye”, he said, hanging up.

Shreyasi returned the cordless to Ruby and reached Liara in a minute.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, dearie,” she said, as she started with her exercises for the session.

She called Aagney on the number which she had retrieved from the Callers List on the office phone.

“ Hi Shrey, I was waiting ,” he said, as soon as she greeted him.

“ What is it all about, Aagney ? What did you want to talk ?”, she asked, coming to the matter quickly.

“Why are you always so stern with me, Shrey ? I never knew you were so tough to talk to,” he said, irritated at the way she plunged into the conversation.

“I was never like this, Aagney. Yes, I know I was soft and all that. You’ve yourself told me that I could melt you with my voice. But not now, anyway. I’ve lost it,” she said, her voice mellowed a little.

“ Why so ? Are you….. are you still angry with me, Shrey ? For all that happened ?”, he asked, caution lining his tone.

Shreyasi didn’t answer.  I have every right to be angry, even though you might blame on my over reactive female hormones, Aagney, she thought.

“ Shrey, will you give me a second chance ?” he asked.

“ What for ?  To repeat what you once did ? ”, she wanted to know.

“ Shrey, please. I know I’ve been on the wrong side of things, I’ve not tried to understand you properly. I agree.  I want to make amends”, he spoke fast, as if he didn’t want her to interrupt him.

After so many years, she thought.

“ What kind of amends will you make, Aagney ? We have lost this much time between us. What can be done to get that back?”, she asked, warming up.

“ I admit I’ve been wrong. But not that I didn’t try to set things right. I did. At least I took an effort to. But you weren’t there , were you?”, he asked.

Ah, just as expected .

She knew it.  Her presence could’ve altered things back then.

“ No, I wasn’t  and that’s my mistake, I agree,” she said, calming down.

“ See, Shrey, I want to have my life back, as I had dreamt it,” he said, his voice a hoarse whisper.

“So?”

“ Can we get back our lost love, can we ?”, his question fell on her ears as a soothing balm.

“ Do you hate me, Shrey ? Do you think you can’t love me anymore ?,” he continued.

Shreyasi could feel her heart sing out to her. A soothing, melancholy refrain.

“ No, Aagney. I have never hated you, I can never do that,” she said.

He remained silent on the other side.

“ I have never grown out of my love for you.  You’re always the one for me,” she said, as tears streamed out of her eyes.

“ But it will take time, I still need a lot of answers to heal myself,” she continued.

“ You’ll get them, Shrey. I just need your assurance that you’re mine,” he said, calmness lacing his voice.

“ All things destined to happen will happen. Life’s like that, isn’t it ? There is no assurance,” Shreyasi said.

“ May be, but you can tell me whether your  love will flow to me, can’t you ?”, he questioned.

Shreyasi sighed.

She loved this man.

She was ready to be his, in all senses. 

She couldn’t explain how she had stayed away from him for so long.

Or, was he the one who had been away from her ?

“ Yes, Aagney. I still believe, we have a future together,” she said, her lips twitching in a faint smile.

Life had never been a nice card game

Happiness in life, I could never claim

Light was what I was looking for,

To pierce the veil of sadness I wore

Love was the magic you wove around me,

That was the happiest place for me to be

Lend me your shoulders, let me cry

Extend your fingers and wipe my eyes dry !

To be contd....

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This post has been written for the A to Z Challenge 2015.