She waited for the tiffinwalah to bring her dinner. Waited and waited. Then as the clock ticked by, she knew she must call him.
"The number you have dialed is out of network area"
"The number you have dialed is out of network area"
"The number you have dialed is out of network area"
She put on her hoodie and ventured out to buy herself dinner. It was already late and soon the outlets would be closing.
"I will be back in a few minutes", She called out to her landlady as she opened the main gate. Streets get deserted quite early during late winter evenings. She was turning round the corner when a person on a bike passed too close to her. Losing her balance slightly, she got on her feet, quick! And muttered to herself, "Is something not right?!", thinking about the message she had sent to her boyfriend early that day and hadn't got any response to. The two blue ticks confirmed that her message had been read and ignored, or maybe he was just busy. Theirs was an ideal kind of relationship where none bothered each other with unnecessary displays of affection, and yet fulfilled the void that each suffered from.
"Two aloo paranths please", Fresh coriander getting mashed with soft potatoes.. Wow!
Her phone beeped in the pocket and she smiled in anticipation. "I will read his message when I get back to my room". Waiting is never easy, right?
She hurried back to her PG. It was past dinner time, or was it the message? The cell phone rang loudly and she had to take it out from her hoodie pocket to answer.
"Hey bestie! Where are you out so late? Already on a dinner date? Congratulate him from my side too, and the treat is due on you!"
"Always thinking about food! Don't you!?.. but what is the occasion? As for me being out so late, that tiffinwalah didn't bring my dinner and neither is his contact number reachable, so I had to drag myself out here in cold", she said all and stopped to breathe.
"Your boyfriend got selected for a multinational! Wait! Why am I the one to bring the news to you, but? Remember my cousin who works in the Canadian organisation? She told me about the selection. Why hasn't he told you?"
"I received his message a few minutes ago and haven't yet read it. Must be quite busy with all the process, etc."
"You know you are not sounding convinced yourself as you say this. How much time does a call take? And he messaged you now, when the whole thing took place in the afternoon! Call him as soon as you get back to the PG."
"Ah yes Amma! I will, I will!"
The thought boomeranged in her mind, 'Something is not right.'
She walked slower to the PG and on her way opened the instant messaging app, the two blue ticks stared back at her. He hasn't responded yet. Neither did he inform her about the coveted news. She remembered all the dreams he had shared with her, as he held her hands, and how she would extrapolate them with her head resting on his bare chest and, her bare shoulders alight with the visuals.
The two blue ticks mocked her and she started typing another message to him. Should she whine or should she act unaware? Should she give him a call instead? A direct conversation was the need now.
'The number that you have dialed is out of network coverage area'
'The number that you have dialed is out of network coverage area'
She glanced at the time for one confused moment, and the next she heard was a loud shriek of the tyres as the fast, uncontrolled vehicle dragged her on her back on the road.
She blinked at the faces who seemed to multiply every second under the starry sky. Someone asked her about how she felt. A face came closer to her and said something in muffled voice.
She watched the two blue ticks as they mocked her. Silence followed, then utter darkness blanketed her.
