DOUBTS AROSE

The next day after the fight, I talked to her nicely. She also seemed pretty normal. Every night before going to sleep, I used to check her Facebook profile. One day I found that a guy named Sourav, who was in her college, had texted her. At first, I didn’t open the chat head. Since I thought it was inappropriate to invade someone’s private talks. But out of curiosity, I opened it. He had texted some romantic quotes and he was flirting with her. Pranshi didn’t reciprocate but she also didn’t oppose. This created doubt in my mind.

The next day after returning from college, I called her up.

“Who is Sourav?” I asked.

“He is my classmate. But he is not my friend. Why are you asking about him?” she replied.

“I saw some texts of him in your profile. He has sent some inappropriate texts like romantic quotes and poems. He is also flirting with you. Why haven’t you blocked him?” I asked.

“No, No! He is a very friendly and funny guy. He talks to everyone like this. He also has a girlfriend. Please don’t think anything negative.” she said.

“Alright. But please be careful. I don’t want anything as it happened before with Rakesh.” I replied.

“Don’t worry. I am only yours. I can’t even think of any other guy than you.” She said.

I was happy to hear that. I talked to myself, “I think I am unnecessarily doubting her. She is so loyal to me. Why am I even checking her profile.”

I told her, “You can change your password. I won’t check your profile anymore. This is creating confusion between us.”

“No problem. I won’t change it. You can always check whenever you want.” She said.

Her loyalty won my heart. I felt like I am a lucky guy to have such a loyal girlfriend.

I got busy with my studies and exams. Every evening I used to sit with my college friends at Piyush’s home for group study. It was more of a gossip hub than a group study. Some of us would mimic our teachers and make fun of them. Sometimes we would discuss our ambitions and fulfilling our dreams. Sometimes we would go out to have some street food. It was all a nice experience. Three months passed like this, and I was enjoying my life.

I WENT FOR A 5-DAY VACATION

One day my cousin-brother called me up. He and his parents were staying in Chhattisgarh, the neighboring state to Odisha. He invited me to his place since he had completed his post-graduation and wanted to celebrate.

I and my elder brother went to his place for a 5-day vacation. We were meeting after about 5 years. We visited some nearby scenic spots and had a lot of fun. So, I couldn’t give much time to Pranshi. We used to have short conversations and that too on WhatsApp only. I didn’t want my uncle (Father’s elder brother) and aunty to get even a small hint of my relationship. So, I told her not to call me during my vacation. She also agreed to do so.

I returned from my vacation and again got busy with my studies. I also missed some classes so; I had very little time to spend with Pranshi. She became angry and said, “You can’t even spend some time with me. What kind of relationship is this?”

“Okay, we can meet tomorrow, if you want,” I said.

“What? If you want? So, you don’t want to meet me, right?” She asked surprisingly.

“Of course, I want. But you know how busy I am with my studies.” I said.

“You don’t need to come. Please focus on your studies. We can meet after your exams. I have no issues.” She said.

“Thank you for understanding,” I said.

After hanging up the call, I thought, “Wow! She is so understanding. I am really lucky to have her.”

SHE STARTED TO CHANGE

She used to send a good morning text every day with a red heart emoticon and call me every evening after returning from her college. But after that conversation, her texting got less and less. She used to stay online but didn’t text me. Sometimes I would wait for her call, but she didn’t call me up.

This made me feel worried about her. When I asked her, she said, “You can also call me or wish me good morning. Why should I always call you.”

Although she said this gently, I got surprised to see such a reply from her. I couldn’t understand what had happened to her. At first, I thought, “Is she doing this to get my attention, or she is hooked up with that Sourav? Have I started her losing her again? Her replies are giving me negative vibes.”

Her attitude was almost changed. I started losing focus on my studies and thinking more about her changing attitude. I couldn’t bear her this kind of behavior and finally asked her, “Have you lost your interest in me? Did I do something wrong? We can meet tomorrow and spend some time together.”

“No. I am busy with my college function and studies. I have no time. We will meet after your exams get over.” She replied.

Her straightforward statement struck me like thunder. I became restless and went to my friends. I explained everything and they became worried about me.

One of my friends said, “Hey! Don’t be so serious. She must be really busy. Your exams are around the corner. So, please focus on that otherwise you won’t be able to score good grades.”

His words seemed reasonable to me and decided to focus on studies. I thought to talk to her sister, Disha once about this matter. I texted her and told her everything that was happening between me and Pranshi.

She said, “Don’t worry. I will talk to her.”

I felt a sense of relief. But I was constantly getting a vibe like Pranshi was telling lies to me. Someone from inside was telling me, “she may be cheating on you.”

I became so worried and perturbed that I couldn’t even sleep. Even it made me to skip attending college and also hampered my study routine. When my friends found me in this situation, they became annoyed with Pranshi.

Piyush was her friend on Facebook. So, he texted her, “What is wrong with both of you? Are you guys not talking to each other? He has lost his focus from study; he is not even attending classes. Please sort it out ASAP.”

Pranshi saw his message and replied, “OK! I will”.

SHE WAS SEEN WITH A STRANGER

But she didn’t do anything. I had never felt like that before. I was being ignored by a girl whom I loved so much. My friends suggested resuming college so that I could focus on things other than Pranshi. I tried the same… But that turned out to be more disturbing. One of my classmates came up to me and said, “I saw your girlfriend with another guy on the riverside. They were sitting with their common friends.”

“Are you joking? I don’t think that she would do that.” I asked him.

“I am just telling you what I saw. Now it’s up to you to believe or not.” He replied.

After hearing this, I couldn’t stay focused anymore in the class. I wanted to get out immediately. But somehow, I held my nerves and continued till the end. After returning home, I immediately tried to login into Pranshi’s Facebook account. But she had changed her password. I couldn’t believe that she had changed her password without even informing me. I had no idea what to do. After thinking for a while, I thought it would be wise to inform Disha about Pranshi’s activities. So, I texted Disha, “Your sister again cheated upon me. She was found sitting with another guy on the riverside.”

“Really! Are you sure?”, she asked.

“I don’t know. But the way she is treating me, I can guess that she must have hooked up with someone else.” I replied.

“Okay let her come today from college. I will ask her in the evening and call you.”, she said.

I hung up the phone. I took a deep breath and sat with closed eyes. Our memories of togetherness were constantly flashing in my mind. Her lovely talks and promises echoed in my ears. “Is this true? No, she can’t do this. She only loves me. She might have gone with her friends to the riverside to hang out.”, I tried to convince myself.

It was 6:30 P.M. My mom had served me some snacks, but I was not in the mood to eat.

“Why are you not eating? Are you okay?” My mom asked.

I looked at her and said, “Yes, I am fine. I am just thinking about my exam.”

“What’s there to think about? Just finish your snacks and go to study.” She said with a smile.

I thought in my mind, “I wish I could tell you the situation I am going through.”

Suddenly my phone rang, I immediately picked the phone expecting it to be Disha’s call. But it was one of my friends.

I was not in the mood to talk but I received the call.

“Hello!” I said.

“Chirag! Where are you? Immediately come to the nearby marketplace.” he replied in a hurry.

“Why? What happened?” I asked.

“We are standing here, and we saw Pranshi walking with a stranger. Come asap,” he said.

I immediately hung up the phone and rushed to the nearby market in desperation. When I reached there, I saw my friends standing with their bikes.

“Where is she?”, I asked.

“She walked down this road to home. We can catch them if we go near her home.” one of my friends said.

We rode through a different way and stopped near her home. Then I saw Pranshi walking with Sourav. When both noticed me and my friends, they immediately got conscious and behaved as if they did not know each other but standing near to each other. Then she made a false try to show as if nothing had happened. I stopped both of them.

Stay tuned to know what happened next…