Chatroom Encounters: Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

It was The book. The book she had told me about. An old second hand copy of it. I read through the summary and found it to be like every other teen fiction romance novel on the shelves of a book store. A girl looking for the guy she loved.

Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes.

I put it down and went around the fair once again, but for some reason I couldn’t seem to get the book out of my head. Her words kept running through my mind, like a CD on replay. She’d said that it was one of her favourites. I couldn’t imagine what it was about a typical romance novel which would make it someone’s favourite.

As I came out my thoughts and back into reality I realised that I was back in front of the same stall and book was exactly where I had left it. Eyeing it, I went to the stall picked it up and stared at the cover for a while.

'If you’re so interested in that book, why don’t you just buy it?' The stall owner seemed to have materialised next to me. He continued, 'You’re not going to be able to figure out the story just by staring at it, you see. You’ll have to read it. And to read it, you have to buy it.'

I thought for a second and decided to buy it eventually. After all, it barely cost anything, and I knew I won’t be able to shut that nagging voice in my head up until I owned the damn book.

By the time I got back home, it was past 11. I rushed with my dinner and settled onto the study table, thinking of the pile of work I had to do and started with it. The book lying next to pile didn’t let me focus, so I picked it up, and started reading it. I was immediately engrossed.

Around two in the night, captivated by the story, I turned a page and found a neatly cut rectangular card in the book. Assuming that it was a business card left by the previous owner by mistake, I picked it up and flipped it, to read something that made the world freeze around me.

When the wind came back to my lungs, the rational part of my brain reminded me that it could be anybody else. It wasn’t necessarily who I was thinking of. Checking the address under the name, all froze again, as I realised that the rational part of my brain was wrong.

I was shocked into a stupor.

Out of all the book fairs in the city, I went to that one. Out of all the second hand books’ stall, I stopped at that one. Out of all the books in the stall, I picked this one. And out of the 7 billion people on the face of Earth, the book had to be hers.

Was this a coincidence? What did it mean?

I was never the one to believe in fate or luck. Believing that things were ‘written in the stars’ or ‘spun by the fates’ was difficult after dealing with as much tragedies as I had. But staring at her name on the business card, left me with no other explanation.

After all this time.

After 8 years.

Could this really be happening? Could this be my chance to meet her? Was it a sign for me to meet her for real? Was it a sign for me to rectify my mistakes? Was it a sign to ignore my brain, for once, and listen to my heart?

And then, suddenly, I knew what I had to do. I picked up the phone and called up my best buddy.

‘Hello?’ Chetan spoke, finally taking the call.

‘Hey Chetan, it’s me, Aran. I need a favour.’ I spoke into the phone.

‘Aran, you ass,’ Chetan’s voice yelled. ‘It’s two thirty in the morning. Some of us like to sleep like a normal human being. And I've got a meeting with Colonel Batra at nine.'

‘Chetan,’ I said, trying to sound a little stern. ‘I have to get to Lucknow as soon as possible. Please use your connections to get me a ticket in the earliest flight out of here to Lucknow.’

‘Lucknow?’ he asked in a puzzled done. ‘What the hell do you need to go to Lucknow for? I though you were going to parents’ in Gwalior.’

‘This is important, Chetan,’ I said persistently. When he didn’t respond I realised that my only chance was to come clean. ‘It’s Her Chetan.’

After a moment of stunned silence, he finally spoke ‘ The girl from the chatroom eight years back?’

‘Yes,’ was my only response.

The next thing I heard was, ‘Give me fifteen minutes.’

I sat in silence and stared at the card for fifteen minutes. The phone finally buzzed with a text saying- Pack your bags. The plane leaves at 5, I’ll come and pick you up at 3:45. You better have something ready for me to eat. You owe me BIG time.

Smiling to myself, I started packing my stuff as fast as I could. Forty minutes later I was showered, packed and ready for departure. Pulling open the drawer in the bedside table next to me, I picked up the envelope which was its only content. The old battered picture of her had been with me throughout the five years at NDA and the successive three years in service.

Now, eight years after meeting her and losing her within one hour, here I was, Capt. Aran Sinha, all set to meet the girl who had made me who I am.

The girl who had made me fall in love with her within half an hour of meeting her.

Aanya Pathak.

Hello Everyone.

I know this is very short, shorter than even the prologue, but I really didn't want to add anything more to it, and ruin what was going to happen next. Thank you so much for reading this. Please take a moment to drop a review. Everything is appreciated.

Harshita :)