Guilt

Nihal was sitting in the Mumbai airport lounge, as his flight to Nagpur got delayed by 6 hours due to heavy rain. After 4 years he was back to India from USA. It was his mom’s bad health which made him come back. Nihal was trying to pass time by reading magazines, but how long he can read them.

“What a bad luck I have. Wasting time here, forgot my laptop charger too. What a bad day it is” he said to himself in frustration. He looked around to find any familiar face, but didn’t find any. But there was one girl in the lounge who stole his attention. Her milky white complexion, small pink lips, and curly locks attracted him towards her. He got up from his place, went and sat next to her. She was playing with her barbie, and didn’t give any attention to Nihal.

He bent a little and asked her “Hey little angel, what’s your name?”

She was busy combing her barbie’s hair, without even looking at Nihal she replied “Sur”.
“Nice name. So where are you going Sur” he was still looking at her with a hope that she will give him some attention. But she replied without looking at him “Agra, to meet my naani ma (maternal grandmother)”.

After failing to get little girl’s company Nihal started trying to get busy with the magazines again.
“Have you been to Agra?” He turned his head. It was Sur who asked him the question. He shook his head in agreement and looked at the little girl. This time he had eye contact with Sur and felt that she was so cute. Who won’t feel to play with her, shower all the love on her? And her eyes were so big and beautiful. They reminded him of someone, who was very close to him. Her eyes made him go back to those pages of his life which he never wanted to open again. But this time the urge of memories was so strong that he flew back in time.

*

That day was like any other day in the Agra University. He reached university, parked his bike and started to walk towards the library when he heard a girl’s voice “Excuse me, can you tell me where the library is?” He turned and saw a girl in green salwaar kameez, with big sea-green eyes. He never saw her in university before.

“Go straight then take left. You will find it on the first floor of that red building.” “By the way I am also going there. If you want you can come with me”. They both started walking quietly when he broke the silence. “My name is Nihal and your name?”

“I am Surbhi” and she smiled. That was the most stunning smile he ever saw in his life. Her dimples were making her look so gorgeous. That day in library his attention was less on books and more on this pretty girl. He wanted to touch her soft skin, play with her curly hairs and get lost in her big green eyes.

Now every day they started meeting in the library. She was one year junior to him. So he use to help her in studies and this way he was able to see her lovely face for more time.

Six months passed and they became good friends. But he always felt more than a friend for her. He decided that today he will speak his heart out to Surbhi. On the way to university he stopped at a flower shop and bought one yellow and one red rose.

After library he called Surbhi near the back gate garden of the university. In her red dress she was looking as beautiful as always. “What is so secret that you called me here?” She asked annoyingly as it was very sunny.

He took out the red rose in right hand and yellow rose in left. He went down on his knee, closed his eyes and said “I like you Surbhi. You are the most beautiful girl I ever met. When I see you my heart skips a beat. I am not sure how you feel about me, but I love you.”

There was silence all around for 2 min. Nihal’s heart was beating so fast that he was able to hear his heartbeat. He broke the silence “See I just said what I feel. The final decision is yours. If you have same feeling for me you can take the red rose else….”

Before he could complete his sentence Surbhi took the red rose and said casually “I always like red more than yellow and you see it matches with my dress too.” Nihal gave her a puzzled look. She smiled and took his hand in her hands and said “I love you too”. Her acceptance for his feelings made Nihal so happy and excited that he took Surbhi in his arms and kissed on her cheeks. He was the happiest man on earth that day.

Now they use to be together most of the time. Roaming around the city, spending evenings at bank of Yamuna near Taj Mahal, and hour long talk on phone was a daily affair. Soon they were famous among friends as two body one soul or the best couple and what not. They were so much into each other that they never noticed that it has been one and a half years together. With time their closeness increased and bond became stronger. Life was going all fine and smooth until Nihal got a phone call in the middle of that night, which changed him and his life forever.


To be continued……. here 

PS: do come back to know who called Nihal that night and how his life changed.