As I got ready for our meeting, something on my dressing table caught my attention - a birthday gift from him, which I had treasured. Yes, my world was filled with his memories though it had been a while since we had met or even spoken on the phone. I had one last look at the mirror just to make sure I looked perfect.
This meeting had come as a big surprise. After college we both had gone our ways. Initially we kept each other up-to-date on our lives both then after a while we drifted apart. We did Whatsapp each other every now and then but somehow things were not like before.
I wasn’t in a mood to drive so I decided to take a cab. As I sat in the cab looking outside, my mind wandered into the past. We had met during our high school years – Varun and I. Since then we had been best friends. When we got into the same college our friendship only grew stronger. He knew everything about be and the other way round too. He was the first one to help me if I was in trouble. Though I had so many friends, he had a place unrivalled. He was perfect in every way – tall, fair, good-looking and above all a gentleman. Moreover he danced, played the guitar and played cricket too. What more was needed to make him the heartthrob of all the girls in college? But he made sure I received enough attention and never did I feel left out.
Life was perfect until the disastrous day when I realized something – that I was slowly falling in love with him. Yes you read that right! Now this was not something I wanted but it was beyond my control. I tried telling myself that I was just stupid to think like that but over time I knew what this was coming to. I knew Varun never saw me like that. We were best friends and just that. Nothing more. But then it became harder with each passing day. I found it impossible to stop thinking about him I guess it started to affect our relationship. I seemed to be avoiding him more than necessary and then the dreaded thing happened – Varun decided to clear this mess. He went into a lot of trouble trying to figure out what was it that was troubling me but I never dropped even a hint. I was afraid he might be angry or even worse – he would leave me; forever.
I tried my best to be the old me – the Megha who was Varun’s best friend but as much as I tried, I failed miserably. I needed to do something; and soon – it was impossible to continue to be his best friend. I finally decided to tell him. I didn’t know what would happen to our friendship but all I knew was that I had to let him know. Maybe being honest was better. But the more I thought of it the more nervous I was. Our friends had always teased us that we were love birds but we had laughed them off. How could I after all that think like this?
It took me all the courage in the world to call him up and tell him that I wanted to meet him after class to discuss something really important. He was really happy because he had been quite upset that we both were seeing less of each other. But it turned out that I just couldn’t get it out to him. But then our relationship slowly started to get back to normal. It was painful beyond explanation to be completely normal in front of him when all I wanted was to let him know the truth. But all through the college years, I kept it from him afraid of losing him.
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of my message alert tone. It was a Whatsapp message from Varun. Wow, what timing; he will live to see a hundred years. Excited, I picked up my phone and read the message. I said “Sorry Megha I can’t make it today. Let’s meet next time.”
For a minute the world stopped for me. I didn’t know what to do next. I tried calling him but his phone was switched off. He had called off this meeting in the last minute that too with a Whatsapp message? What could have been more important than meeting your best friend after years? This was not the Varun I knew. But then it would be long before I knew the answers to these questions. I asked the cab driver to drop me back. As I entered my house, I could feel his birthday gift staring at me and a tear rolled down my cheek.
"Certain people can remain in your heart but not in your life..."