Another love letter

It was morning time & the local buses were crowded with school children, college students, working persons & other sort of people so Bhavana wasn’t left with any option rather than to wait.

Bhavana was really late. She tried really hard not to be late as it was her reunion & after one year she was going to meet all her friends. Her mind was occupied with the memories of her college life, her first day in college, ragging, new friends, exam days, the farewell party & gallons of tears they shed that day, everything was fresh in her mind. The horn of the bus brought her back from her memories. It was a crowded bus but she didn’t want to be late anymore so she got into it. There was a little space where she could stand but by holding her breath. Few people left the bus & now she could breathe. Just then someone pulled her bag; she looked down & found a guy offering her seat. She felt that she had seen that guy before but wasn’t able to recall where & when. She grabbed his books, took the seat & started looking out of the window. The bus passed her school & now the memories drifted from her college life to her school life.

She was a real shy, innocent & simple girl in school days. There were not many interesting things about her school life except one incident that really changed her life.

Bhavana was promoted to 11^th standard. Life was more or less same for her. Her close friends were still in the same school while a majority of her classmates had left. There were many new admissions in her class. A lot was going around. Many old friendships were broken & many new were formed but she still retained her old friends without any new additions. Just a few girls were in her friend circle as she was too shy to talk to guys. She wasn’t too excited about her life nor was she sad about it. Life was going steadily for her until she found that letter.

There wasn’t much work in school so Bhavana was free at home. She didn’t even bother to open her bag. It was a pending assignment that made her to open her bag. As she was taking books out her bag, she found a letter. She opened it & went red after finishing it. Her heart started pounding so fast as if it would just pop out of her body. The letter read:

“Bhavana, the very first day I saw you, I fell in love with you. Your simplicity, your innocence, your charm is just so irresistible. You have made me crazy. I keep thinking about you all the time. There are a hundred things I wanna tell you but I don’t have words to express myself.

I can’t even wish to get you as I’m still unsure if you are a dream or reality but one thing I’m sure about that I love you, I really do”

Bhavana wasn’t super stunning or anything like that but with her beautiful eyes & long hair, she managed to look simply beautiful. She didn’t know but many were charmed by her gracious simplicity & impeccable innocence.

This was the first time Bhavana had received a love letter. She was scared. She didn’t know what to do with it. What if someone finds it? So she tore it into pieces. The whole night she kept on wondering who that guy could be. She couldn’t even guess but one thing was sure, that the guy was one of the new admissions.

The next day she started her investigation but she couldn’t ask anyone directly. She kept observing newly arrived guys but found nobody staring her. She kept her investigation going for few more days but still no clue. She thought maybe it was just a prank. She waited for few days for the prankster to come before but nobody came. Finally she gave up.

Life again went steady for her. She went busy with studies. She was quite intelligent, one of the toppers. Many came to her for help & she helped them happily. One day, a guy called Akshay came to her & asked to lend her notebook to him & she gave.

Akshay was one of the new comers. He was a smart, sporty, spontaneous & friendly guy but at the same time too practical & focused.

Akshay started taking Bhavana’s help in studies. They started exchanging notes & gradually became friends. Now Akshay became the only guy in class with whom Bhavana talked. Rumors spread about them which fell on Bhavana’s ears also so she stopped talking to him.

Akshay asked for her notebooks many times but Bhavana refused to give every single time. It wasn’t that easy for her, after all they were good friends. So finally she started talking to him & gave her notebook to him. When he returned the notebook, Bhavana found a note in it. It read:

“I’m really sorry. I don’t know why you were annoyed with me. I never wanted to hurt you. I’m sorry if I hurt you in anyway.”

She felt Akshay could be that guy. There was a similarity between his handwriting & the one that was on that love letter. She never observed it before & now she didn’t have that love letter with which she could compare. Her mind was clouded with strange thoughts.

Should I stop talking to him? What if he really loves me? What should I do now?

She thought a lot but finally decided that she would continue talking to him after all you can’t stop anyone to love you & he was a nice guy. Though they were good friends but she never dared to ask him about that love letter. She just hoped that one day Akshay would tell himself. They talked a lot about their likings, disliking, career & other stuff but the topic of letter never came up & never did Akshay gave her a hint that he loved her.

In the hearts of hearts, Bhavana was very happy, she was in seventh heaven. Being in love is amazing but being loved by someone is even more amazing.

The school was about to end. It was their farewell. Bhavana was hoping that Akshay would tell her about that letter now. Finally he would confess that he loved her & then she could tell that she loved him equally.

Akshay came to her & said,

“Bhavana, I never thought I could get such a wonderful friend like you. I’m really thankful to you for helping me in studies. I’m thankful to you for the wonderful time we shared together. I just wanna wish you a great life ahead. Take care.”

Bhavana waited for the topic of the letter to come up but it didn’t. She decided to ask herself but something stopped her.

That night she wept to her heart’s content. She tore that note of Akshay which she had kept under her pillow for the past one & a half year. They joined different colleges & never met again.

Bhavana made new friends in college. She was also purposed by some guys but Akshay had paralysed a part of her heart & she never felt that way for anyone again. Her college ended & her parents started searching for a suitable match for her. Finally her parents selected a guy for him & she was going to get married in the next two months.

Bhavana was completely lost thinking about her past, present & future when she gained her conscious by hearing her name. “Bhavana, I’ve to go. Please give me my books.”

Bhavana was astonished. How that guy knew her name? She wanted to ask but she was still so lost that she handled him books without asking anything. A page from the books fell down. Bhavana turned to give it back to him but he refused to take it saying, “It is yours.” She simply put that in her bag without noticing that she wasn’t carrying anything with her except a bag so that page couldn’t belong to her.

She reached her college; all her friends were waiting for her. Girls were asking her about her fiancée, guys were telling her how lucky her fiancée was. They talked & talked until it was really late & she came back home.

At night when she was taking cards (which her friends gave her) out of her bag, she found the page that was given to her by the guy who offered her seat in the bus. It was a letter actually. After reading the letter she couldn’t hold back her tears.

It read:

“Bhavana, when I saw you entering the bus I couldn’t help remembering all those moments I was madly in love with you. I wish I could have told you then but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. So I put a letter in your bag. Yes, I was the guy who did that. I still don’t know if you found that. I guess telling you this won't make any difference now. I just want you to be happy wherever you’ll be because once I was deeply in love with you. Yes I loved you and…………………………………. I still do!!!!!!!!!!

Kavish”