When Vel logged into the messenger, Reema also came online. Initially, both of them were quite excited to meet online after a gap. Vel’s trip abroad was news to Reema. As everything happened within a short time at short notice, most of the people in his office did not know about his abroad trip. So more than three weeks Vel was not there in the office.
To see him online was a pleasant surprise to Reema. Yet, Vel was the first one who wished her a good day. In the beginning, Reema wanted to sign off after exchanging a few enquiries. But the conversation went on for more than one hour and revealed both their hearts. It also gave an opportunity to each of them to show how they loved each other even without confessing their love to each other.
‘Hi, Vel, Good day.”
“How are you? How are things at home?”
“Good. I am talking to you after a long time. Where are you now?”
“I am stranded. Sitting in the airport lounge.”
“Stranded.” Reema could not understand anything from his one-word answer.
“Are you joking? Why to get stranded?” Reema was confused by his answer.
“Yes, I am here in the UK. Stranded and sitting in the airport lounge with my laptop.” Vel replied.
“Oh, my god. No one told me. Even you did not inform me before leaving.” Reema started to feel
heavy at heart.
How can he go like this even without informing her? Did he wish to vanish from her life even without telling her where he would be going? Reema felt so bad. It always happened with her. So many important things will be happening around her, but she will not know anything. To heighten all the pressure, she will be the last person to know about everything that happened. During such times, she would feel like a fish out of water and a fool among the crowd.
Vel explained to her about the volcano ash, how the flights were cancelled, and the plight of travellers worldwide.
“So, sad. Did you eat anything? I know it will be horrible over there.” Reema replied with concern.
“Things are not much worse here. We get all kinds of food items here. I had my food just now.”
“Ok. When will you be here?” Reema’s question reflected her excitement over meeting him online.
“As per the plan, I must reach there by tomorrow. But, now I don’t know.”
“I am waiting desperately to meet you.” Reema sent the reply in a second.
“I know my sweetheart,” Vel replied with love, for it was the first time he addressed Reema as a sweetheart.
Reema could not control her happiness. She could not control the tears that welled up in her eyes.
“Thanks. Do you mean it?” She asked with a doubt.
“Yes, I mean it truly.” Vel acknowledged his love without hesitation.
Reema replied with emoticons.
“Do you like using emoticons? I don’t know their meanings. So I rarely use.” Vel replied happily.
“Symbols can express a thousand words. They are more powerful than words.”
“Yes, but I prefer words.”
“Do you know early man used symbols to express himself before he started to speak?” Reema questioned him.
“True, but now we live in the latest robotic age, where technology rules the world.”
“Yes, that is why you are stranded there without any connecting flights to come over here,” Reema answered him with a chuckle.
“Do you miss me?” Reema could not answer immediately to Vel’s question.
“What answer do you want me to tell?” She questioned him back.
“I miss you. I wish you were here with me.” Vel answered her back with wholeheartedness.
“Why don’t you look for some alternative arrangement?” Reema asked him with concern.
“My flight got rescheduled for tomorrow morning. No problem. I am relaxing.”
“I heard sunsets are spectacular to watch over there. Is it so?” Reema being a nature lover asked this.
“Yes. I have taken some snaps also. I will share it with you.”
“Can’t you find any friend over there? You can take a stroll around the place and just explore it.” Reema’s question made him feel happy.
“I would love to go around this place for a while. But it is so chilly. I will be frozen to death if I go out on this night.”
“If you are frozen, ask them to send you here. I can thaw you and set you right.” Reema replied.
“What a good idea? Now I look for you to keep myself warm in this cold weather.” Reema blushed and did not reply for a while.
“Reema, are you there?” Vel called her.
“Yes, I am here. It is daytime over here and I am in the office.”
“Oh, god, sorry.” It took some time for Vel to realize that it would be a day if it was a night in the UK.
“So, I will have plenty of stories to hear from you,” Reema asked him with hope.
“Wish, there must be something to share.”
“Oh, nothing important, you didn’t meet any beautiful girl over there?” Reema asked him.
“Plenty, I wish I live here.”
“Then stay back there, no one needs you here,” Reema answered him.
“Oh, you are so jealous.”
“Yes, I am. I will be like this only.” Reema’s curt reply made him laugh loudly.
The loud laughter shocked some of the little babies sleeping there, and Vel had to apologize again and again for disturbing them.
“Sorry, sorry. I am really sorry.” Vel could not face the mothers who were having a tough time with their little ones.
“What is the time over there? Do you want to go to sleep?” When Reema asked him, he did not want to go to sleep at once.
Though most of the people started to lie down, still some kind of disturbance prevailed over the place. People who did not get sleep kept walking here and there. Here and there people sat in groups and discussed the situation.
Some people who did not want to lie down and sleep sat in the large, long lounge sofas and kept reading endlessly. As their minds were completely preoccupied with thoughts about home, they simply skimmed through the pages of books in their hands.
Vel knew very well he could not rely on any information until he got the flight and reached home. After chatting with Reema, he started to feel it was a long wait and he started to count the hours to reach home.
After some time, all the bright lights in the lounge went off. The lounge plunged into light-shaded darkness that would help people to get a good sleep irrespective of the continuous noises and disturbance that went on till the early morning.
“Tell me if you are going to sign off.” Reema reminded him once again.
“Let me talk with you for some more time. At least for another thirty minutes, please Reema.” Vel pleaded with her.
“Never mind, but get some sleep.”
The next thirty minutes went on with both of them exchanging sweet nothings and it also helped them to share things about each other. Both of them felt easy to converse with each other. Whatever they hesitated to talk in person; they spoke in detail over the messenger.
When both of them signed off from the messenger, they were desperately looking for the day when they would meet each other in person and express how deeply they loved each other. Vel yearned to be near Reema and talk in detail and share with him the secret that made her wish to win his love forever.
After chatting with Reema, Vel felt cheerful and happy. He decided to go out of the lounge to take a stroll and come back. While he was walking toward the exit gate, some more joined him. To spend the whole day within the four walls suddenly made him feel suffocated and drained off.
The full moon in the sky was a spectacular treat to enjoy. Vel did not know how long he stood there gazing at the moon in the sky. The accompanying clouds tinged with varied colours of pink and red painted the sky with different shapes drawn by some unknown hand.
The small bright planet, Venus also caught his attention. Venus, as the goddess of love always fascinated him. He loved admiring the statue of Venus which he got as a present from one of his intimate friends in the college.
Vel stood looking at the vehicles on the road. The cars, buses, and other vehicles had a coat of dust that looked like an extra coating. Though the sky looked clear, the moon looked blurred on the sky. The twinkling stars also looked hazed and dull. The chill night breeze did not give a cold shiver instead it gave him a new experience.
After reaching the airport lounge, he could not sleep. He lay down on the temporary bed provided by the airport authorities and closed his eyes for a while. He took a cat nap and waited for the dawn. Before anyone got up from the bed, Vel went to the rest room brushed his teeth, washed his face and got ready. After having a cup of coffee, he went to check for the confirmation of his rescheduled flight.
Growing up in an environment enriched with colours of nature adorned with sounds of machines, I enjoyed life with all challenges. Nature is always a great teacher that teaches empathy to live and let live others. Though I am now living in an urban environment, the lesson that nature taught me motivates and allows me to keep on writing. I will always remember the cool afternoons in the shades of trees that made me write more on love.