All of her pen pal were always close to her heart. May it be the person next door, or the one sitting behind the globe. She had always wondered after having developed a close friendship with anyone, how in the first place did they come across each other?! Matching of wavelengths? Or just the paths crossing each other?

It all started when someone told Anamika about a way of travelling and a traveller’s den, where she would meet many other people of similar interests.

It was her picture that attracted him first. Her profile at that time was as empty as most of the students’ brains in exam hall! Like every other guy, he sent her a message saying she looked good in the photo, and the ‘bindi’ added to her Indian beauty! But unlike others, he did not seem to demand for anything in return. Not even a reply. His profile talked of explicitly of the expanse of his travel experience. She was intrigued, and certainly was touched by his decency. So she decided to reply him. And there seemed no end to writing. Almost a hundred mails exchanged in less than a month!

With each mail exchanged, she got to know more of Varun. His likes, dislikes, interests, so on and so forth! If definitely had become a routine to read and write him, without it being monotonous. Every early morning she would eagerly wait for his mail.

In spite of being a busy businessman, he took out a few minutes aside to write her, it definitely flattered her! His love for auto mobiles, super bikes and shooting intrigued far more! Being the cautious girl she was, she did maintain a distance from him.

The overall aura of him made her want to know him all the more. An interesting personality. Tags which came along with him could not be missed either! To name a few entrepreneur, Goa, love for travelling!

Soon enough, phone numbers were exchanged over an April Fool prank! Annoyed her a lot. Set her thinking or many things! Until the prank was confessed! Anamika had this urge to beat the hell out of him! But the first ever phone call made her smile ear-to-ear. A smile since quite a while! Probably this attention over the phone from other side was lacking since a year and half! She felt genuinely delighted when Varun would call her up on his way back home, or towards office!

Unknowingly she had started to wait for his occasional calls along with a daily dose of a mail! Probably he felt the same for her! Her friends would tease her for finding the love of her life! She would laugh it off, for she knew somewhere down, that he can’t be the one! But one never knows what the future holds!

In one of the mails he mentioned his trip to her city.

As expected, Varun asked, “Would you like to have a cup of ‘green-tea’ with me?”

She willingly replied, “Sure! A cup of green-tea can take me all the way to hell!”

They laughed!

She was pretty much excited to confront this man who walked out of nowhere and occupied a tiny little part in her life! Every morning, it made her jump with joy on seeing his unread mail in her mailbox! During the day, whenever she did something interesting or utterly foolish, she would eagerly wait to write it all to him! The child in her was more than delighted to finally have found a perfect pen-pal, who preferred writing mails than short and curt text messages. The excitement of waiting for a mail was far more than a measly text message, which had often got misinterpreted in past until the time she started disliking the mode of communication!

As the day of his arrival approached, the excitement started gripping her! Their tryst was no more a sweet dream, but soon to be a reality. She started counting days, which he measured in hours! She rehearsed n number of times in her head, the things she would talk to him about. Wondering if he may get bored of her blabbering and chattering, and going crazy with excitement like a small kid in a candy shop! She wondered if he would find her too talkative and if she would even let him say a word!

Her mind kept buzzing with a thousand thoughts per second. She was excited to go out with someone after ages. Putting behind the bad memories and heartbreaks, this date with a stranger can open doors to a new world! The guys she had come in contact with, had unknowingly made her keep a distance with most of the guys in general. She for once thought of cancelling the plan altogether, and sit peacefully at home. Not to worry of any other guy who can ruin a bit of her life. No matter how decent and dashing Varun might be, she thought of taking a step back!

[…to be continued]