Anju is still sleeping when I arrived her house, the next morning. Breakfast with her parents is awkward than I imagined; especially with her absence.

"Have you convinced her about the half saree?" I asked hoping the process of convincing her doesn't fall into my hands.

"Yes. With great difficulty" aunty replied making me sigh in relief.

"You will take them, right?" uncle questioned, frowning at me.

"Of course" I agreed immediately.

Trying to spend as much time as possible with Anjali is my only agenda for the next one and half months.

"How long will you be on leave?" uncle asked, as if reading my thoughts.

"Er-- Seven weeks"

He narrowed his eyes "That long, huh?"

I nodded awkwardly.

Thankfully, he didn't persist but suggested where to take them shopping and lunch before leaving for work.

"Did you know Ananya's insisting on a choreographer now?" Aunty commented, as we slumped on the sofa.

"Since when?"

"Yesterday night. Apparently, the boy's taking this very seriously and so is she"

"Anju's not going to be happy" I declared.

"You bet" she said half-heartedly "What are you doing Vamsi?"

Her abrupt question made me pause. Hesitate. What does she imply? "W-What?"

"What are you doing here Vamsi? Putting your job and your life on hold. Don't think you can fool me one second you are here for Ananya's----"

"I'm here for Anju" I replied honestly "I missed her. Every single day. As to putting my life on hold, I don't think I'm living much since she left"

"What are you expecting from her?" Her direct question stunned me into silence.

Everything. I want everything from Anju. Body, mind and soul. 

But for now, I can only say "I want our friendship back"

She sighed "It won't be easy"

"I didn't think it would be" I answered frankly.

Anju woke up an hour later and upon seeing me looked disappointed and sour.

"We only have to buy one thing. We can manage on our own" she explained slowly.

"Not a chance" Aunty interruped "First we have to buy saree, then find a matching lehenga, designer for blouse work and stitching and then you have to find matching ear rings. Then there's a salwar for the wedding day"

"But you said----" she paused, staring between the two of us.

"Go get ready"

She didn't look happy but did as told.

"Better to keep the news of choreographer to ourselves until later" Aunty mentioned quietly.

I nodded "Yes"

If there's one thing that didn't change in the time we have been apart, it's the fact that Anju still doesn't take shopping seriously.

Anything is ok with her as long as it fits the bill.

However, aunty isn't ready to give up until she finds the perfect dress for her daughter.

The boutiques at beach road and MVP didn't curb her needs just like the malls at Sampath Vinayak Temple road. Eventually we had to take a break for lunch at 3 PM.

After lunch proved fruitful when she found 'The dress' at our first endeavour. But our struggles didn't end there because then came finding the proper design for blouse work, a tailor and eventually jewellery. Then we got her a salwar for the big day.

By the end of the day, I decided girls' shopping is hell. If boys have to spend that much time shopping, we'd rather wear one outfit for the rest of our lives.

The weird thing about it all is that Anjali exhibited a great deal of patience through out the day. Not once did I hear her complain about getting it over with.

She may have been fine with anything but she let her mother make the decisions.

That's not the girl I knew.

"You honed your patience skills" I observed aloud when we sat for dinner.

"You don't have a choice when you have to stand six hours at the billing counter" she mumbled uninterested.

"Part time?" I guessed.

She nodded.

"Where else did you work?"

"Gas station. Library. Waitressing"

"What do you do in a library?" I wondered.

"Loan books. Sort them. Help readers find books"

"Must be interesting"

"It was the best of all"

"How was it, Anju?" I muttered softly "Living in the states? Among strangers"

"It's a good experience. It's huge and people are well, very open minded"

I nodded quietly. When the silence between us became too much to bear, I blurted out "Are you not going to ask me?"

She frowned "About?"

"Me. How I have been? What happened in the last 3 years?"

Shaking her head, she glanced away "No"

"Why not?"

"It's none of my business"

That hurt but it's nothing I didn't expect "That's a lie, Anju"

"Think whatever you want to" she said carelessly.

"Tell me, you don't want to know. Look me in the eye and say you don't want to know"

"I don't want to know" she said firmly. The ferocity in her eyes arrested my senses. Hell! 

"Are you still mad at me? Because I can explain everything"

"I have no interest whatsoever" she declared, getting out of the chair.

I followed her "Don't you want to know why I broke up with Nisha?"

"Who cares!"

"I thought you do" I said, a little hurt by her statement.

"Well, news flash! I don't care who you date or don't date. You want to know why?" she said, showing signs of anger and impatience for the first time since her arrival "Because you made sure of it"

"And I am sorry about that. If you give me one chance to------"

"Save your explanations for somebody who cares!" she announced, looking hurt and disappointed.

"Anju....."

"Don't!" she said dully as her eyes turned glassy "You can't come back into my life and ask me to pretend that everything's alright. Life doesn't work that way, Vamsi"

"So, you are going to throw years of friendship away?"

She bit her lip, looking upset "That ship sailed three years ago. You damn well made sure of it"

"I never intended it to end" I bit out furiously.

"Stop it, Vamsi. Just stop. I beg you" she implored.

"I can't. I missed you. Every single day" I replied earnestly "I know it was hard for you. But trust me, it was equally hard for me"

"You had a girlfriend. You had other friends. So don't tell me it's the same" she said through clenched teeth.

"But nobody's you"

Tears fell down her cheeks and she looked more disturbed "You can't say that, ok? Especially after leaving me the way you did"

"Anju.." I said, trying to reach out but she scrambled out of my way and strutted into her room, locking the door behind her..

I expected her anger and disappointment. Not once did I expect the tears.

The Anju that I know doesn't cry or give up easily. The Anju that I know stands tall and strong at everything life throws at her.

What happened to her may entirely be my fault.

If I wanted things to be easier for her, I should walk away. But no matter how hard I tried, I can't do it anymore; having tried once and failed terribly. I learnt the lesson, the hard way.

I can't live without her. It's either her or nobody.

But how can I convince her when she isn't even inclined to talk to me!

"Is it bad?" Auntie's voice interrupted my dreadful thoughts.

"How much did you hear?" I said awkwardly remembering my outburst.

"Not much. I only know that you guys were arguing and I can guess what. How did it go?"

"Worse than my expectations" I grumbled uneasily.

"She came three days ago, Vamsi. Give her some time"

I sighed "You're right. I shouldn't have--- I am an idiot"

"Here" she said, showing the key on her palm.

I frowned "What is it?"

"Spare house key"

That brought a smile to my face "You're giving me the extra key? Like the old times?"

"Your uncle will have my head on a platter if he knows. So, shush!"

"Thank you" I grinned, pocketing the key.

"You're welcome" she smiled "Tell me this, how are you living alone, in that big house?"

"I'm staying in the penthouse. It is compact but comfortable"

"What about food?"

"There's a small kitchen. But, I am doing all the eating here since 3 days"

"Well, you are always welcome here. God knows how much I am indebted to your grandmother for the way she looked after Anju"

I smiled sadly "I miss her"

"God bless her soul"

"Thank you" I murmured, gratefully.

The walk back home gave me ample time to go through things concerning Anjali. Laying out things directly will only result in arguments.

Saying I love you to the girl you are in love with is hard.

Saying I love you to the girl who's your best friend is harder.

Being patient and laying the groundwork to win her friendship back is the key. Then, I can confess my feelings and convince her to realize the same.

It's tough and I only have six weeks to accomplish that.

At 10 PM, the street I lived almost all my life is deserted and silent except for the night sounds. The house I lived since we first came to Vizag is now occupied by tenants.

It wasn't until I made the decision to leave for Hyderabad to join TCS did my parents reveal that the house was ours. Until then, I thought we were tenants ourselves.

When Nannamma decided to move back with my parents, they constructed a Pent House in case we ever wanted to visit the city. There was no point in keeping the house empty; especially when there's still a running loan.

The pent house is comfortable with a kitchen on one end and a bed slash living room at the other end with an attached bathroom.

There's a TV with DTH, small refrigerator and everything necessary for one person to live comfortably. The huge terrace is an added bonus.

My phone rang just as I unlocked the door.

"Hi mom" I greeted enthusiastically hearing her voice.

"How's everything nanna? How's Anju?"

"Everything's great. Anju is good too" I lied easily.

"Then why didn't you call since she came?"

"I have been busy. Ananya is getting married and Anju and I had lot of catching up to do"

"You do know I am your mother, right? What's going on Vamsi?"

Her soft voice did it and I sighed, wondering where to begin.

"She's not the same, mom and I don't know what to do about it" I confessed.

"What do you mean not same?"

"She doesn't talk, doesn't smile and doesn't care. It's like life is sucked out of her and all that's left is the shell of her body"

"Oh my.. "

"I don't know what to do. I spent every waking minute with her in the last couple of days but I'm a stranger to her" I complained.

"Three years is a lot of time for people to change, Vamsi"

"I know, mom and I can take it if she changed. But that's not what happened here. Her mom takes her shopping and she doesn't say a word. Her grandmother taunts her yet she is cool as a cucumber. The fire in her eyes, is just---------gone"

She paused a beat before responding "May be she's guarding herself"

That made me pause and look at everything from a new direction when realization set in "I broke her spirit"

Mom is quick to deny my statement "Now don't say that"

"It's true. I did that to her" I continued as words in my head started to make sense "First, I ignored her. Second, I abandoned her. Then, I rejected every attempt she made to connect to me. I made her take that decision."

"Vamsi----"

"Don't you see? I didn't give her a choice, mom. It's either watch me and suffer or go as far away as possible from me"

"You didn't mean to stay away forever"

"Yeah but she didn't know that. Now, she doesn't even want to hear me"

"What do you want to do?" she asked finally.

"What do you think I should do?"

"Give her time. Let her know you care"

"Well, time's something that's not on my side" I mumbled in disappointment.

"If you think you broke something, you fix it. That's the only way"

"But how do I fix this?"

"You'll figure a way out, Vamsi. Don't worry too much and take it one day at a time. You'll find something"

"Thanks mom" I disconnected the call after promising to call her everyday.

I still have no idea what to do but I know this:

I have to fix things with Anjali. I have to make our friendship whole again and then I have to win her heart.

I'm going to do it or I'm going to die trying it. 

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Thank you for reading. Vote, comment and share if you like this chapter.

- JANAKI