It Started With a Friend Request (22 page)

He had called her more than a hundred times from his alternate mobile number but did not get a response. She kept ignoring all his calls. Finally he sent her a message:

You really feel I am a liar? Even when I lied to you that I was not drinking with my friends, you caught me. Was I ever successful in lying to you? Then how can you just walk away like this without giving me a second chance? I don’t know how to put this across to you, but I would like you to know that you were, you are, and you will always remain my princess. I know I didn’t tell you things which I should have told
you a long time ago, but… How could you even think like that? It was just you with whom I shared my little secrets. Even when I cut my nails, I told you. So at least you should have given me a second chance. But, I know these words mean nothing to you as you have lost your trust in me and don’t want to hear any more clarifications. Maybe, I shouldn’t have come into your life and raised your hopes, only to shatter them. But falling in love with you was not in my hands. How many times have I told you not to make decisions in haste? But…

He waited for a reply but knew that she wouldn’t. She had already assumed that he was the villain of the story. Akash was devastated and couldn’t believe that he had lost his job, his respect, his self-confidence, and his love—all in one go. Akash felt as helpless as a puppet in destiny’s hand and however hard he tried to break from its clutches, he was unable to do it. The only good thing was that Kritika firmly stood by him in this time of crisis like a good friend. She believed in him and wanted Aleesha and Akash to be together once again.

The next morning, Akash went to her hostel and waited under the same tree where he had once waited for her before going on a date. This time he waited there to make Aleesha realize what reality was. Kritika messaged him that Aleesha had left the room, so he went closer to the main gate. He turned nervous when he saw Aleesha coming towards him. She seemed to have cried a lot and she had even forgotten to put her eyeliner, and there were bags under her eyes. Aleesha saw Akash, but she completely ignored him and
walked ahead. Akash had made up his mind that he would talk with her anyhow. He ran behind her and stopped her midway.

‘What’s this? You could at least hear what I have to say. You are not even taking my calls or replying to my messages.’

‘Look Akash, please don’t irritate me like this, or I will scream. Go away. I don’t want to hear anything. I trusted you and felt you were different from other guys who just plays with the emotions of girls. But I was wrong. All guys are the same. Tamanna was right. I wish she had warned me before. At least her parents wouldn’t have suffered. You killed her parents too. They have lost their sole reason to live. Even my parents are… Forget it, why am I telling you all this? You are a loser. Go away.’

‘Do you even know why I did that? I lost my job. I knew something of this sort would happen once Tammy came to know about us. She was one obsessed girl. She behaved like a…’

‘Oh please! Don’t use such words for her. You think I’ll listen to your lies again? Buzz off. Yes, you said it right. I shouldn’t have assumed you were different from others, Mr Akash, or should I call you Mr Deep? You are… you knew that we are family friends and still you forced her… Go away Akash. Don’t force me to shout and create a scene here.’

That was it! Akash had lost his one final chance too. Aleesha was in no mood to hear him out. She had never witnessed the death of a closed one before. It was the biggest shock of her life and the parental pressure to come back to Kolkata was making her head spin. But she had to wait until
the cops allowed her to leave the city. The medical reports were yet to come and she had to wait. Akash wondered how Aleesha could get over their relationship so easily. He checked his recent updates on BBM and saw Aleesha’s status update.

I am not ignoring you but just trying to lessen my expectations from you and preventing myself from being hurt again.

Akash messaged her immediately…

Not even for one night can I sleep without thinking about you. And you have no idea how loudly my heart beats for you. Don’t crush it so harshly. We may have to part ways for now, but you will always be the one for me.

‘She doesn’t even talk about me once?’ Akash asked Kritika. We were all at Shivaji Park, Dadar.

‘She does. But she is too disturbed and… How should I tell you? She has lost trust in you completely,’ Kritika answered.

‘Aditya, am I that bad? You think I can really play with her feelings? Tamanna has screwed it all. She is not even in this world anymore to clear the mess. How can I prove to Aleesha that I am innocent? I don’t care about the cops but…this is the same place where she had consulted me about shifting to a hostel and today she kicked me out of her life without even consulting me, ’ Akash said with watery eyes.

Almost a week had passed and the situation had only worsened. Kritika and I were consoling him and trying to bring him out of depression. Kritika even tried to convince Aleesha but it was of no use. After I tricked her into meeting Akash, she ignored me as well. All we could do was to be with Akash and make him feel better. Kritika even missed her lectures and supported Akash. This gesture made him feel better since Kritika was Aleesha’s friend. She knew misunderstandings do happen and was positive about their patch up. Her amethyst crystal made her feel so. But nowhere could we see any light of hope.

‘Akash, I would suggest you wait for the medical reports. Tomorrow, the medical reports will be with the police and then the picture will be clear to us. Aleesha will be convinced after that but till then don’t be sad. I know how it feels. You know what I went through. Even this phase will pass. Trust me,’ I tried to motivate him.

Akash felt like his body was being ripped apart into half. The medical reports were yet to come. They were his only hope to prove himself innocent. He couldn’t sleep the entire night, the same way a student can’t sleep the night before his Viva especially when he is the target of all the professors who are waiting to pounce upon him. The mere thought of the police station made him nervous.

The next morning when he reached the police station, Aleesha was already there, sitting in front of the officer. Her eyes were wet but her mind was firm. The officer glanced through the reports.

‘This is the medical report which we were waiting for. And as expected, it makes everything clear,’ the officer said.

Akash crossed his fingers and bit his teeth in nervousness. Nothing had gone right in the last few days and the blame game by colleagues had left a deep impact on him. Inspite of being loyal to Aleesha, he was sitting beside her in the police station like a stranger.

‘We are closing the case. The medical reports say that percentage of alcoholic content was way above the permitted limit in her body. She was not in a state to drive. There were no marks found on her body. This clears the doubt of rape and sexual harassment. It was just an accident. I am sorry for all the trouble you had to go through but that’s our duty. You can leave, you are free now,’ the officer announced.

Akash’s happiness knew no bounds. As they walked farther away from the police station, Akash stopped Aleesha midway and gave her big smile.

‘Stop it Akash. You are…’ Aleesha screamed which turned many heads in their direction.

‘Now what? Didn’t you hear what the officer said? It was an accident. The intake of alchohol killed her, not me. I didn’t force myself upon her. There are no marks on her body. He said this very clearly. Now trust me jaan,’ Akash pleaded.

‘You think I was waiting for the reports to come? You are wrong, Mr Akash. There are so many cases that get shut due to lack of evidence, but the real truth is known only to the family members. So what if there are no marks on her body? You must have done it with her on a previous occasion. Otherwise why would Tammy di lie to me? She said it very clearly that you lusted for her and had always wanted to take her to bed with you. Why would she try to spoil our
relationship? If she would have known that we loved each other, she would have been happy for us. Anyway, let’s not discuss this any further. It’s over between us.’

‘Aleesha please don’t do this to me. I agree that I should have told you, but I did all that for you. I never…’

Everytime he tried to speak, Aleesha stopped him short. She kept walking away from him as if he was a stranger. When Akash stopped following her, she turned back and said:

‘Akash, I will never say I regret being with you. Because at one point of time, you were exactly the person I wanted to be with. The past is never a mistake if you have learnt from it. I have learnt never to trust someone so much that it hurts your expectations. Even I never wanted it to end this way. It’s all your fault. I don’t want to take revenge or teach you a lesson, but you will bear the consequences of your actions by losing me. Bye Akash. I am changing my number.’

‘You are again assuming things and not looking at the other side of the coin, Aleesha…’ Akash screamed after her. But this time she didn’t turn back.

‘Aleesha, where are you going? What have I done to you that you have stopped discussing things with me?’ Kritika enquired when she saw Aleesha packing her bags.

‘You think I am a fool? As if I don’t know that you are busy running after Akash. I’m not blind. It’s better to be calculative rather than regret later,’ Aleesha exclaimed.

‘Oh please! You all are just my friends and it’s my responsibility to be with my friends when they need me. I am tired of making you understand. Can’t you give him one chance?’ Kritika added.

‘Why should I? So that he breaks my heart and insults my love again? And you don’t need to tell me what responsibility is. I won’t be surprised to see you both on this very bed when I return from Kolkata. Tamanna failed to warn me earlier, but I am warning you in advance,’ Aleesha screamed, making Kritika lose her temper.

Aleesha’s parents too were upset and wanted her to come back to Kolkata for a week or two as there were no lectures due to college functions. Aleesha also needed a change. Though she still loved Akash more than anything in the world, she was afraid to start everything all over again since it was difficult for her to live with the fact that Tammy had died because of Akash’s harassment. Her subconscious mind never believed that Akash could have harassed Tammy but she couldn’t ignore Tamanna’s last phone call either.

As soon as Kritika told Akash that Aleesha was leaving for Kolkata, he couldn’t stop himself from going to the airport to convince her for the last time. But she had already checked-in and Akash didn’t find her anywhere near the departure gates. He couldn’t deal with all the pain and wanted to end it but had no clue whatsoever. Sometimes he wondered if anybody would miss him even if he put a bullet through his head, sometimes he wondered why it started when it had to end this way. The world kept crumbling around him. All his hopes had vanished. He had to convince his heart that it had ended for good. But
whenever he stood in front of the mirror, he saw this person getting tortured. He watched this other Akash suffer all the pain and crying to sleep every night with a wish that this suffering would end. But it kept growing inside him, killing him bit by bit every day. So what was his destiny?

To walk on the path of sorrow and pain?

What an Idea, Sirji!

February 13

A month had passed since Tamanna’s death but the wounds were still fresh. There are times when you feel nothing could possibly favour you. Akash was sitting alone, trying hard to get past the emptiness he felt within his soul, but was lost, scared, and couldn’t feel pleasant about anything around him.