Realization

Somewhere deep down in his heart, Ritvesh knew that Raksha had feelings for him. He was thinking that either she did not know that she had them or she did not want to express them. He felt like giving up on her because the 'Friendship' thing was killing him. Roaming around with Raksha and not being able to hold her hand was killing him. Trying to console her with his words and not with a hug was killing him. Being just a friend and nothing more was killing him. He decided to go home for a vacation. He wanted to go as much as he did not want to. He would miss her but then being with her just as a friend was also as bad. He finally made up his mind and decided to go home. He wanted to inform Raksha so he called her up.

"Hi Raksha"

"Hey Ritvesh. Tell me whats up?"

"Nothing much. I will be going home tomorrow."

"Oh!! Ok. Have a great time."

"Ok. Bye"

"Bye"

He was sad that she was not feeling sad that he was going. She did not even bother to ask him how long the vacation would be. Sadness made him more resolute. Off he went.

Ritvesh was with his friends. A party was going on. Everyone burst into laughter. Even he did. But something was holding him back, the thought of Raksha not being with him at that moment. It was four days since he came home but he avoided calling her. Actually there was a reason behind his not calling her. His mobile stopped working for some strange reason. So he could not call her from his mobile. He did not want to call from any other place and create an impression of him being desperate. He could not blame Raksha also for not having called him because she did not have any other number apart from his mobile number.

All was not well at Raksha's end either. She was doing pretty well for the first two days of Ritvesh's absence. Third day somehow she was feeling wierd. She thought that he would call her by the end of the second day which did not happen. Third day morning she was expecting a call, even that did not happen. She was starting to miss him. She tried calling him on the fourth day morning but he was not reachable. By the end of the seventh day there was a restlessness in her. She was hoping to see him the next day and talk to him and even scold him for not having called her. She thought that Ritvesh had taken a vacation for a week. She was sure even though she never asked him. 

Ten days passed and Raksha did not hear from Ritvesh. The restlessness turned into fear now. She was scared about his safety. But she had no means to contact him. Two more days passed and nothing happened. Now she started to think as to why she is so restless when he is just a friend. She doesn't talk to other friends and feel sad if she did not. Why is it so very different with Ritvesh? It did not take long before she realized that even she had feelings for him. Her desperation to meet him and let him know about her feelings knew no bounds now. Time seemed to be the villain of her story, not letting them meet.

14 days, 14 long fought days, fight between ego and love, fight between confusion and clarity, fight against time and distance, fight against technology and networking had finally ended. Ritvesh came back. And the first thing that he did was to get his mobile repaired. And the next thing that he immediately did was to call her. 

Raksha was surprised to see her mobile buzz with Ritvesh's name. She had been waiting for this for long now. There were times when she used to stare at her mobile blankly hoping that he would call. The wait seemed to be over. 

"Hi Ritvesh"

"Hey Raksha, how are you? How have you been doing?"

"I am fine. How about you? How was your vacation?"

"Vacation was good, nothing spectacular happened. It was just OK."

"I want to ask more and talk more but I need to go now. Shall we meet up today evening?"

"Sure!!"

"Ok then. You know the place and time right?"

"Nope. Where and when?"

"Huh!!!"

"Yep, you got me. I was kidding. I will see you then"

"Bye"

Raksha did not have any work but she did not want spoil the moment by telling him about her feelings over the phone. She wanted to see the look on his face when she would propose to him. She wanted to see the joy, the exuberation when she told him. She wanted the clock to tick, the time to fly and for the moment to come.