MY BREAK UP STORY

Day 49... No! 50. Pardon me, my knowledge in mathematics is poor. I forgot the count of lock down days. But, I'm sure that there will be no more extension and tomorrow is going to be my D-day.

"Life without love is like a flat tyre which won't take us to our destination."

These words takes me back to the day in my school when I first met her.

The campus was sparsely populated with just the watchman and a few students who had just finished their practice session and were marching to the parking to get their bicycle and head back home. It was the first time I saw her in the school and I noticed a grief expression on her face from distance. So, I went to check with her whether everything was alright. But before I could utter a word, I noticed that her bicycle had a flat tyre. So, I politely asked whether she needed a lift. Even though she refused, the dark clouds in the sky bothered her. Without wasting much time, I took my bicycle and headed to the exit gate. As soon as I reached the exit gate, I saw her, she stood rooted to the spot and the grief expression still didn’t leave her face. I headed back to her and suggested that I would walk with her till her home. She immediately accepted the offer. During the walk, only silence prevailed. By the time we reached the destination, the Sun had already bade adieu to the Earth. She thanked me and introduced herself as “Mounika” by extending her hand. I shook her hand and said, "I'm Chandru" and bade goodbye.

From then, till now, we are best friends. The journey of 7 years of togetherness astounded us. We never knew that we could make it up this much as we were like cat and mouse all the time. But, we had one thing in common: “Hatred towards love.” Both of us got selected in the campus recruitment and will soon join our respective posting cities once the final semester is conducted after this lock down.

Lock down - Phrase I

Ever since the lock down was announced by our PM, our WhatsApp was filled with "Miss you, babe" stories from our friends who were in relationships which really annoyed us as we were the surviving singles of the class. So, in order to tease all those love birds of the class, we cooked up memes and shared it on our social sites. The memes were an instant hit and soon the love birds turned into angry birds and started chirping their curses on us. We completely ignored them and started laughing at their reactions.

After some time, I got a weird idea and confessed it to her immediately,

“Let’s enter into a ‘love contract’ till this lock down to know the pros and cons of getting into a relationship.”

Though she was initially reluctant, she finally gave her consent.

The oath

"I Chandru, take Mounika, as my girlfriend from this day until the lockdown ends and will shower my love on her and blah blah blah...” I took my love oath.

She laughed.

"Now we have been baptized as couple. Let's kiss!" I proclaimed.

She laughed again and soon I joined with her laughter.

For the next 21 days, the world outside was getting worse day by day. But, my inside world was getting complicated day by day. It was her daily video calls, playing Ludo & PUBG with her, sharing memes & quotes with her and finally performing Modi ji's tasks kept me alive these days. The lock down was further extended to 19 days.

Ludo and PUBG

Those 19 days were the crucial days. Just like the increasing corona cases, our love increased day by day, too. It was her idea to leave a text saying “why do you love me?” before going to bed and I was very much impressed with her. It was the final day of the lock down 2.0 and my heart almost skipped a beat when I saw her WhatsApp status change from online to typing. I sensed that my love life was at the verge of its death.

So, before Modi-ji could announced the extension, I declared to her: "Lock down extended."

Lock down 3.o.

To which she backspaced what she was typing and replied with laughing emojis.

"Phewww!! That was a close call," I said to myself and laughed at my stupidity of being in love.

Yesterday when we were on our routine video call, our shitty faces expressed how bored we were. So, I came up with the idea of playing "Truth or Dare." I flipped a coin and she called it. Luckily, I won.

"Truth or Dare?" I asked.

"Truth," she chose with immense confidence.

"Do you love me?" was the first question that hit my mind. But, I was in dilemma whether to ask that question. So, I skipped it and asked her "Have you ever had a crush on me?"

"Yes," came her reply.

I was taken aback with her reply and butterflies started fluttering in my stomach.

"When?" I immediately shot my next question.

"Calm down, dude! It’s my turn now," she said ignoring my question.

"Truth or Dare?" she asked.

"Truth," I replied reciprocating her confidence.

"Have you ever had a crush on me?" she reciprocated my question.

"Yes," I responded.

"What?! You too, Brutus?" she replied in shock.

"YEAH," I replied laughing at her.

"From when?" she asked still under the state of shock.

"Calm down, baby. It's my turn now," I mocked her.

"Fuck Off!!” she sounded annoyed and ended the video call.

But I knew that she was desperate to know the answer. So, I managed to call her immediately but she declined my call twice and when she finally picked the call, I confessed my part to her over the phone.

"I didn't have any feelings except friendship for you since school. But it was in college, when everyone wanted you as their girlfriend and every time you declined their offers for me. Your presence by my side always mattered to me. And that's how, I got attracted and had a crush on you."

For the next few minutes, only silence prevailed on either side.

Breaking the awkward silence, she started to confess her part,

"It all happened from the first day of friendship. The way you offered help gave me confidence and the way you protected me, just by walking till my home, you won my trust. I was impressed by your behavior that day and that's when I had a crush on you."

Again silence prevailed on either side.

Breaking the awkward silence, she ended the call with a goodnight.

Several thoughts kept lingering on my mind and sleep was not an option amongst them. I kept tossing and turning on my bed as there would be no more extension of the lock down and tomorrow will be the end of our love contract. 

I don't know when I fell asleep but when I woke up I saw 7 missed calls from Mounika. Soon, I got down from my bed and refreshed myself with a cup of coffee. As I was about to leave the bedroom, my phone rang. It was from Mounika.

The very first sentence she said sent shivers down my spine, "Let's break up…"

My heart almost skipped a beat and tears brimmed my eyes when she continued, "Let's break up and start a new contract without any terms and conditions!"

I cried in joy and my heart was filled with her love when she said, "I Mounika, take Chandru, as my boyfriend and my partner in love with all my heart and will shower my love on him unconditionally from this day until the end of my life."

Finally, we were “locked in love.”

"Locked in Love"