Stories by Preetam

“Just let me be. I don’t need your help…”

She held my hand as I turned around to leave. “Please don’t leave me alone.” – with mushy eyes, tears rolled down her cheeks while she made me remember my promise to her. “You promised that you’ll always stay by my side, no matter what!”

It’s almost next to impossible to understand what a girl wants. But, sometimes it’s not that difficult to read between the lines.

No matter how many fights we had, a video call from her @9 in the morning, the next day used to sort everything, driving all the negativity out of the window. Sometimes, it is not about holding onto the person that you love; It’s not even about how hard you try to be with someone that you love. But, it’s more or less about peace.

I have heard a lot of people say that – “Love hurts”, “I don’t know why we are together”, “The love is gone or lost in the thin air”, and so on. Sometimes, it’s about finding the so-called “Sukoon”, when you spot her smile on a snap that she sends. Sometimes, it’s about boycotting the sleep to make her stop crying and let her sleep peacefully on your lap, just so that you can see the kajal get smudged off, ’cause of the tears. Sometimes, it’s about understanding the pain she is going through, even if we are on the dying edge. Sometimes, it’s just about preferring her hug more than our own alter ego, after a fight.

We take a lot of time to express what we really feel for someone. By the time, we decide to get on with the decision, it’s too late. Either, it’s you who has lost the love or she has. Talking from my experience, I still get the feeling that – I could’ve done a lot more than what I actually did. Telling her how much she meant could’ve been the first thing to start with. A fight- that’s what it took.

Dodging her calls, my ego took over my self-respect. All I did was make her feel unwanted. Unfortunately, I forgot the fact that even when she asked me to leave her alone, she didn’t mean that. I ended up forgetting to read between the lines and see through her tears to perceive her heart that only had me in it. By the time, I tried to reach out to her, it was too late. I lost her. I lost her at the crossroads to an accident.

It was just a fight. No video calls the next day. No selfies or snaps either. No smileys. No songs dedicated only to me. Sometimes, I wish that I could take back all the time, which I wasted on fights so that I could spend more time with her. Well, the irony is that I lost her to my ego before I could even tell her one last time that – “I love you”!

I lost my love! I hope that you don’t. Just read between the lines, when there is time.

“It is all just a few scenes and regrets that flash right back in front of my eyes, whenever I hear the word ‘love’. But, that’s the thing about life- It is merely unpredictable” – I ended the conversation in sheer despair.