All was well in my mind. It was a beautiful day. Warm sun, cool breeze. You can almost feel winter setting in. I opened my eyes to look at the window opposite my bed. I stared at the pigeons perched on a iron railing on my neighbour's terrace. The sky was cloudy and I felt good.
After a few minutes of solitude, I turn to pick up my phone from the bedside table. I was surprised to see that my phone screen was blinking and said 22 unread messages. I was wondering who would send me so many messages? Did mom message? Was there an emergency?
No they were messages from my new friend, Devika. I was surprised.
Hi. how are you?
I am glad we are friends now. It feels so nice talking to you.
Do you think I should go to office today? I dont feel so well.
Would you like to come down for coffee?
Why are you not replying? Are you sleeping still?
Dont you have to go to work? Get up
So on and so forth. First I thought it was sweet. But then by the time I got to the 20th message I was annoyed. I mean who is this girl? I hardly know her. Why on earth is she texting me so much?
So I picked up the phone and called her.
"Hello?"
"Hey hi, Tanya here", I said sleepily. "I just saw your sms's. Is everything alright?"
"Yes. Just missed you. So I texted", she said. "Would you like to come down for a cup of coffee or maybe some breakfast?"
"No. I am actually getting ready for work. I am late. Slept in past my time" I said making an excuse.
"Maybe you can come here after work?"
"Lets see. I will let you know"
"Ok. Have a nice day"
"Yeh, you too", I said before hanging up.
I had a weird feeling in my heart as I sat there on my bed with my hair all ruffled thinking what it could mean. Why am I feeling weird about the whole thing? She seems like a nice girl. And my first acquaintance in the apartment. So I decided to stop feeling weird about it.
Later that day, when I was coming back from work I decided to drop by and say hello to Devika. She was surprised to see me. We had some coffee and talked. This was a beginning of a friendship and soon my weird feeling disappeared.
We started spending time daily. We also started talking a lot about our lives. She told me that after her separation from her husband she fell in love with her classmate from college. She also told me that he was married but has filed for divorce. I told her about all my attempts at love and how I am single now. I also told her about my best friend Ritu and my mom.
She was just a friend to me. But for her I was becoming something more. She would ask my opinion on every small thing. I started getting a feeling of unease. I felt like I was her lover. A feeling I never got from any of my close friends.
"Tanya, are you at home?" She said over the phone one day.
"Yes. Why?"
"Well, are you coming down for lunch?"
"In a while" I said, still lazing around in be. It was a beautiful cold Sunday afternoon, with just a hint of a drizzle.
"Ok. Tell me, should I take a head bath or a body bath?". As soon she asked me that I got very irritated.
"Please Devika. You want me to decide about something like that for you?" I must have sounded irritated on the phone cause she quickly said her goodbyes and hung up.
Later when I had gone down to her place, I apologized for my behavior over the phone. She didn't mind, and we went on to have a lovely lunch.
A few days later Ritu, my best friend, called to tell me that she would be in town. So I called up Devika to tell her this.
"I am so happy. After such a long time" I said elated.
"Will you introduce me to her?" She asked. If only I had noticed the change in her tone.
"Sure I will. Why wont I?"
A few days later my best friend Ritu landed. I was so excited. We had three days to ourselves and we already made plans having loads of fun. Ritu's flight had arrived late that night. She was so exhausted that we decided to sleep. The next day was a Friday and I took the day off to be with Ritu.
At breakfast the next day I mentioned Devika to Ritu.
"Oh! A new friend huh?" Ritu asked, between mouthfuls of scrambled egg.
"Yeh. Nice girl. I am sure you will like her" I said, applying butter to my toast.
"Well why dont we meet her after breakfast?"
"Yeh ok. I will let her know we are coming", I said taking my phone out to text her.
"Ask her if she would like to go partying with us tonight. The more the merrier", Ritu said, finishing off the last of her scrambled eggs.
We went to Devika's place in the afternoon for lunch. She was making a special lunch for Ritu. I thought it was very sweet of her to do that.
"Hi Devika. I am Ritu", Ritu said, extending her hand.
"Its so nice to meet you finally", Devika said taking Ritu's hand.
"What did you make? It smells yum", I said heading toward the kitchen.
"I made some lovely chicken curry and fried rice. Are you guys hungry? Would you like to have something to drink?"
"What do you have?" I asked.
"There is some Coke in the fridge if you want some", she said heading toward the fridge.
"We have it with the food", said Ritu pulling a chair to sit.
"Fine. Shall I serve the food then?", Devika asked.
"Ok", I said.
As Devika got busy in the kitchen Ritu turned towards me and said, "She seems sweet. I kinda like her".
Little did Ritu and I know what was going to happen next.
Keep reading for more.
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