The Love Game Continues...

 

Run, run, run; Run the WhatsApp clock

Miss him as you must

But how can you help what’s done?

Okay one last time and then I won’t

She mocked herself all night long

After 1 year 3 months

Month – November

Day – Sunday

Time – 2 am

She undressed and put on her favorite T-shirt and old pyjamas. It had been a pleasant evening with Sahil at the mall. Okay wait – Didn’t all the boring couples land in the mall on a Sunday evening to shop unnecessarily like middle aged couples because shopping and eating were the only things to do? “Jahnvi!” She swore herself a silent little curse. Why wasn’t she excited? Like everything was perfect. Sahil was perfect. And there was this quiet harmony between them. But she berated her soul as she felt a spark missing between them. That spark was well, it, she felt it with Prantik. That excitement, that adrenaline rush, that risk of being online at the same time!

It was 2 am and she better go to bed. Just then her phone buzzed and it was Sahil wishing her goodnight. She smiled and replied a goodnight to him. Then the devil in her woke up from her resting coffin somewhere between the bridge and the water to make it hell for her. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the moment Jahnvi put her future and very stable partner at stake. She went on Prantik’s profile. She felt that he wouldn’t be online since they’d stopped playing that game about a year ago now. She got engaged and he moved countries. She heard her friend mention something about him working as a manager in Arizona. Despite all these hard facts, she went on his profile and boom! He was there!! She swears her heart leaped out of her mouth! She went offline instantly. Then went back online and he was there!!!!

She put her phone to her chest and almost collapsed on the headboard of her bed. “Jahnvi you have a nose for trouble and you’ll see your life will be a constant adventure because of that!” She remembered her sister cautioning her once after school when they were both broke and Jahnvi challenged her sister she would manage a lays packet from John uncle in the canteen. She did. She just told John uncle he was a great caretaker and that her mum would visit him soon to gift him some cash for taking care of them. She giggled remembering her sister busy munching the chips, kept asking how she got them a pack without money!

She went online again and this time Sahil messaged her the moment she was about to visit Prantik’s profile again. She controlled her excitement somehow and told Sahil she was sleepy and would talk to him in the morning. She didn’t check Prantik’s profile after that. But he played on her mind after that, all the bloody time!

The next morning, she woke up to Sahil’s message that he would pick her up in the evening for dinner at his friend’s new restaurant by the bay. She wanted to half decline the offer. She wanted to talk to her friend in the evening about Prantik. But she reluctantly gave in and typed okay to avoid any sort of questioning “why” from Sahil. The rest of the day sped by and she busied herself deep in her work. She was writing a short series on “Why, where and how in Europe”, since the past month and it had acquired quite a readership online so her editor turned her articles into a short series of timeless tales in the west.

At about 6 pm in the evening she went online, ignoring all the warning signs on why she shouldn’t, she braved one eye on Prantik’s profile. He was online. She went offline. He went offline too. She went online and he came back on too! Now what the hell was happening, after so long? Wasn’t he unsure about her a year ago? Didn’t he just stand by and watch her get engaged to another guy? No! She decided he was just bored in the urban desert of the whites. This wasn’t possible. But day and night difference Jahnvi. Her heart nudged her to rethink her determination to ignore what her soul knew. He was still playing the game.

She was just about to ponder over him for a moment longer when her mum reminded her she had to dress up since Sahil would be at home in 15 minutes to pick her up for their date. She quickly put on slacks and a black light wool sweater to beat the fragile chill in the air later at night. At exactly 6:30pm Sahil picked her up. Here it was – the stark difference between Sahil and Prantik. Sahil never made her wait and Prantik well, he didn’t care for time. Her head screamed Sahil was the one but her heart skipped a beat at the thought of Prantik. First world dilemma of a woman engaged to be married in a month!

The evening was nice. Sahil’s friends were sweethearts. All chilled out and sorted with wives or girlfriends. Nobody fishing for someone new, just work and party on their minds to get them through the road of life. She realized she was blessed to enjoy this stability in her life. But why was she then dying to go online in the middle of the Jenga game? Suddenly, she didn’t feel so good and she thought she caught that little chill in the air. She requested Sahil to drop her home. He knew at once something was playing on her mind but he didn’t ask her what. He just drove her home.

She propped herself on her bed and with urgency like a doctor for a nurse in an operating room, she went on Prantik’s profile. He wasn’t there. Good, she thought. This isn’t real. She was about to go offline when he came online. She just laughed despite the situation they were in. She laughed because he made her happy. She went off to sleep peacefully, soon after that. She woke up with guess who’s message in the morning? Prantik!!

“Hey, just wanted to say that this game is fun and like that we’re always connected in our own little dream world.” She stopped breathing. The room started spinning. She jumped on the bed and her parents entered the room! She pushed past them. She ran to her friend’s place in her pyjamas who lived in the next lane. Sim smiled a knowing smile and let her in. She didn’t wait for her to say anything. She declared, “Prantik’s in love with you and wants to see you!” Jahnvi thought she’d faint. She steadied herself and simply uttered one word with great strength, “How?” Sim told her everything.

She told her that Prantik had been asking about her a lot after she got engaged. He even moved countries just so he could get away from her but it didn’t work. He had told her he would message her only if she’d just come online once more. She had that night at 2 am and he was determined to get her back. Jahnvi felt herself losing control. She told her friend she needed sometime to herself and returned home.

This was the biggest challenge in her life – Choosing between adventurous love and stable love. A love that took time to come to her or the love that never left her. She didn’t work that day. She didn’t eat either and bravely ignored calls from her editor when she was busy trying to make a choice between the two playing innie minnie miny moe! WTF!!! What would she do? She silently prayed to God to help her make the right choice and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Sahil came home. She tried her best to act normal but she knew she couldn’t hide it anymore. She took him to her room and confided everything to him. She expected him to storm off in anger but he just smiled. He held her hand and said, “Who sends jitters through your heart?” She closed her eyes and God!!! WTF!!! Both of them came together in her mind! “Too spoilt for choice huh?” Sahil lightened the moment and left.

She re-examined the situation. She was engaged. Her wedding cards were distributed to friends and relatives to be married in December this year. Her parents knew something was up. Prantik had come back in her life and Sahil had easily made her laugh and left when she confided in him.

She shut her bedroom door. Sat in the middle of the bed, facing the sun she meditated for a few minutes and then thought of true love. That instant she had the most important clarity in her life. She would marry Prantik. He brought excitement in her life. He was the one for her. If there was a risk in life to be taken, she was putting her money on this idiot whatsapp boyfriend of hers!!