THE BOYFRIEND

“Hey hi Prerna. How have you been?”

“Very well, Santosh. How about you?”

“I am doing fine as well. And how is Vivek?”

“He has just joined Liberty. So work keeps him busy.”

“Aah! That’s good!”

“I know. Listen, I am getting late for my class. It was good meeting you.”

“It was good seeing you after the vacations as well. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Prerna attended her classes. It was her first day of college as a senior. As she was entering her hostel she met a batch mate.

“Hey Prerna. Why did you join late, girl?”

“Hi Namita. Couldn’t help it.”

“You may be wanting to spend some time with Vivek Sir. So how is he? He has stopped communicating with me – doesn’t reply to any of my messages! Tell your boyfriend to reply to me.”

“Namita,  his new job is keeping him busy. After college immediately, he joined Liberty. He doesn’t have time for me also.”

“Sad.”

“I know I got to go and change. Will catch up with you later on in the mess.”

“Yeah, OK. Bye.”

*

Prerna quickly ran to her room and locked the door. She went to the cupboard and opened it. On the lowest shelf was her bag. She unzipped the pocket and removed an envelope.  She sat down on the floor and with trembling hands opened the envelope and took out a letter. Folded in the letter was a photograph of a guy who was smiling.

Dear Prerna,
The last year has been one of the happiest times of my life and I owe that to you. I have got a job in Liberty, USA. I don’t have the guts to tell you this personally, hence this letter. I will not be able to pursue a long-distance relationship with you. So the best way out of it is for us to break-up. Thank you for everything. I know this is a lot for you to digest, but I hope you will find it in you to forgive me.
Thank you for everything.
Yours,
Vivek

Tears rolled down from her eyes as she muttered, ‘why did you have to run off without facing me and end things in such a way – leaving me behind to answer the questions about us? No. I will not give anyone the satisfaction of knowing that we broke up. Not now, at least.’

With that she quickly wiped her tears and put the photo, letter and envelop back into its place. As she was closing her cupboard, she heard a knock on her door.

“Hey Prerna, you up?” said a voice from the other side.

Prerna drew in a deep breath and said to herself, “I can do this. I can do this. Just smile,” and went to the door and opened it.

~ A Story By Fizaah Faiyaz, © 2015