If you missed the previous parts, you can read them here: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
Morning came soon enough, that meant she had to catch a bus to Indianapolis, and I had to take the shuttle to Bloomington. In other words, it was time to part. As much as I tried not to feel sad, I couldn't help it. Though we started talking due to a mishap, we got along so well that we couldn't believe we had known each other for less than a day.
"Are you on Orkut?" she wanted to know.
"Who uses Orkut nowadays? I moved on to Facebook like a decade ago." I quipped.
"Oh what is Facebook? Is it similar to Orkut? Or is it like Yahoo Messenger?" she asked.
"Wow I can't believe you are so behind in technology. No one uses Orkut these days. Nor do people use Yahoo Messenger. It is all Facebook and Google Talk now."
So after a short, two-minute long lecture on the latest trends in social networking and instant messaging technology by me, we exchanged email ids. I promised to send her my mobile phone number as soon as I could, and so we parted with sadness writ large on our faces.
"Don't miss me too much." I said jokingly as she got into her bus, but deep inside my heart I knew I would miss her a lot.
"Ya right. Dream on." she managed to smile, as the doors closed and the bus started to leave the airport. I kept looking in her direction till the bus disappeared from sight, and I was sure she would have done the same too. Soon after, I was on my way to my apartment in Bloomington, thinking about how my life was going to be at a new place, with new people around me.
A couple of days passed. I managed to settle down in my new environment, new roommates and all that. We managed to have Comcast install a new internet connection, and I got myself a cheap Nokia on an AT&T connection in one of my seniors' family plan. As soon as I opened my inbox I saw that it had close to a hundred unread emails, but I immediately found the email which I really wanted to see.
Jerk,
Got myself a phone. Call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx. Miss you.
Krithika
I reached for my phone in such a swift move that my roommates thought I had a paralytic attack. I called her. Somehow she knew it was me on the phone, even though I hadn't sent her my number yet. It was such a magical feeling when I heard her voice again. I felt like a hundred unicorns were circling around me, and a thousand flowers falling all around me. It was as magical and revolutionary as the original iPhone. I hadn't missed anyone that much in my life before. And I told her that. She told me she felt the same. We spoke for hours, yet it felt as if we spoke for hardly a few minutes. I can't even remember what we spoke about, but I couldn't care less. Yes, I was in love.
A couple of weeks passed. I kept talking to her on the phone so much, that I hadn't bothered to go out and look for part-time jobs while all my other friends were already employed. I was absolutely certain that she was into me as much as I was into her. I think she once mentioned to me that she hadn't taken a shower in 48 hours since she spent most of that time talking to me, but I am not quite certain.
It was a Sunday morning when I received the email. It was around 9 in the morning and I was wondering why she hadn't called me yet. I was still lazing around in bed, when I casually opened my inbox to find an email from her. It had been sent to me 4 hours earlier.
Karthik,
I want to tell you so many things, but I need to tell them to you in person. I am in a very bad state right now, so don't try calling me. I will not answer your calls. Meet me at the following address at 2 pm today. I will tell you everything. If I am not there at that time, please call the police and report me missing immediately. Please hurry.
135, 7th Main St,
Woodburnton. Indianapolis.
Love,
Krithika
To be continued...
