The Call I Waited For

Again, I couldn’t hold back. I was thinking about her all the time, and this time, I decided to make a call. No matter what she thinks, I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to hear her voice. I was sure she would pick up, thinking today was my birthday. And guess what? She actually did.

“Happy birthday, ra.”

I almost laughed. “It was yesterday, not today. And you just made it worse by wishing me now.”

She hesitated for a second and then said, “Hey, I actually remembered, but I wasn’t sure about the date. That’s why I messaged you on March 1st to confirm. Then I saw your birthdate on Snapchat as March 3rd and got confused.”

See how funny this is? She said it so casually while I had spent the whole day waiting for her wish, overthinking every second of it. She tried making an excuse, and I couldn’t help but wonder—how can she talk to me this comfortably? How?

Then, she suddenly asked about Pooja’s marriage. I told her that Pooja was finally getting married to my brother. They had been in love since childhood while studying at “The School.”

She was shocked.

And then, I was shocked.

She had no idea about this. I explained everything, and she was surprised that she had forgotten something so significant. But it wasn’t a big deal. Then, as usual, she started questioning me—like she always does. But this time, I stopped her. “No, don’t ask me anything. This time, it’s my turn to talk.”

She laughed. “Okay, fine. Ask me.”

So, I did. I asked her how her father was. He had some health issues, and I wanted to know if he was taking rest. She told me that he wasn’t working anymore and that the family was relying on her now. That hit me. I didn’t expect her to say that. “How are you managing everything then?” I asked.

“That’s the only thing I’m worried about,” she said. “Everything is on me now.”

I joked, “You? Handling everything? Haha.”

She laughed. “Yes.”

Then I told her, “You’re just enjoying your life, man. From morning to night, you chill, and your day is done perfectly. But me? I have to do everything. Outside work like my father, and home maintenance like my mother—cleaning, cooking, everything.”

She found that hilarious. “Do you even cook?”

“No, apart from that, everything.”

“That’s good,” she said. “Your wife will be lucky.”

My smile faded. “Marriage isn’t for me. I’m not getting married.”

She laughed, but she had no idea how serious I was. How could she joke about this? She probably doesn’t even know how obsessed I am with her. I can’t imagine anyone else in my life apart from her.

Then, out of nowhere, she said, “We’ll meet if possible. I might come to a wedding near your town, so I’ll catch up with you that day.”

I just smiled and stayed quiet. She says things like this so casually, but she never actually meets me. And even if she did, I don’t want to see her. I’ve struggled for years trying to move on, and if I see her again, I won’t be able to hold back. I’ve suffered enough.

Just like that, she started asking about our common friends—Albin, Vishnu, Tausif, Siddhu. She wanted to know where they were, if I still met them. And then, out of nowhere, she asked about Jathin.

I was shocked.

Jathin? That junior who had a slight attraction to her? She still remembers him? That disappointed me. “He’s the only reason I didn’t join the same college as Her,” I told her. “And the scar on my shoulder? It’s because of him.”

She was confused. “What? What did he do to you?”

I froze.

She didn’t remember? The scar on my shoulder—she was right there when it happened. She saw my mom hitting me. She saw how her bangle broke and a piece of it pierced my back. She was there, watching, feeling bad for me. And now? She doesn’t even remember it.

I didn’t want to remind her, so I said, “Don’t ask about it.”

But she wouldn’t stop. She kept asking, like a child repeating the same question over and over again. Did she really forget? Or was she trying to hear it from me?

I told her to wait. “I have a call waiting,” I lied. I needed a moment to think. Then I called her back—but this time, she didn’t pick up.

A few minutes later, she called me back. What a miracle. She actually clicked on my name and called me.

I picked up. “Where did you go in just one minute?”

She gave me some reason. I didn’t even care. I was just amused that she gave me an answer.

Then the call was about to end, but she mentioned something. “I have an exam today for a company that offers an 18 LPA package.”

“Send me the questions,” I joked. “I’ll try to solve them for you.”

She laughed. “Okay, I will.”

And then, before hanging up, she asked me again, “Why do you hate Jathin? What happened that day?”

So she really wanted to hear it.

I took a deep breath and told her.

“When we were in tuition, that idiot Jathin did something—I don’t even remember what it was. But I got back at him. And then he ran straight to my mom and told her, ‘Your son Chaitu loves Harshi and proposed to her.’”

I paused. “The next day, my mom came to my school. She took me to an empty classroom with Vishnu’s mom and started questioning me. Then she hit me. I cried, but I didn’t say a word.”

I could feel her listening. So, I continued.

“When she got tired, she finally asked me, ‘Is anything like this happening in your class?’ And I replied, ‘Vishnu and Deepika.’”

Harshi laughed. “What? You actually said that?”

“Yeah. So my mom called Vishnu next and replaced me with him. I was satisfied. But then Vishnu, after coming back, sent Albin instead of himself.”

She laughed again.

“But the real thing happened when I got home,” I said. “My mom started beating me again. This time, with a curtain rod. Then later, when you came to tuition at my house, my mom called you inside and made you sit in front of me while she hit me again.”

She went silent.

“You looked so shocked, like you didn’t understand why she was hitting me that badly. And then, suddenly, her bangle broke, and a piece of it got stuck in my shoulder. That’s where the scar came from.”

She was still silent. Then, suddenly, she said, “Someone’s calling me. I’ll call you back in five minutes.”

I waited.

I knew she wouldn’t call back. But still, I waited.

But you know what? That was a good call. It made me happy.