And then, it drizzled..

And then, it drizzled.

‘I have a problem with people.’

‘I have a serious problem with people.’

This was mostly the answer he gave when questioned about being a loner, keeping things from others, being depressed and lots and lots of other questions.

‘I have a problem with people. I have a serious problem with people.’ he always said.

Today, the 13^th of February 2008, was going to be one of the most important days in his life. The words that he was going to say this day were indeed going to change his life. He was on his shuttle to office, the usual third seat from the last. He was unusually not reading his novel. He was playing his whole past in his mind, trying to figure out what went wrong. He had his eyes closed trying to figure out what really went wrong. He wasn’t able to figure it out. But this day, could change all that.

A few years ago.

He had an extraordinarily happy childhood. He had wonderfully loving parents. He made people laugh. He could sing any song he was asked to. He could dance to any of the tunes. He was good in studies, to a certain extent, of course. He, though was good in languages, wasn’t too keen on sciences. This ranked him well behind others who opted for engineering. He finally settled for a seemingly unknown course. His parents were ready to spend on a wonderful course and a superb college. But he was too proud to make his father spend.

From day one in college, he decided to achieve and make his parents proud. He did, off course, but the road to his success was unfortunately bumpy. It was made bumpy by the very people studying with him. It was made bumpy by the very people around him.

Sincerity was his forte. He took extra care in whatever he did. He tried to be every bit sincere in his studies, his friendship, in almost everything. His sincerity was the bench mark set for others. He was adored by his teachers. He was the typical front-bencher in the line of achieving something great down the line.

He never hesitated to help anyone. Whichever course he or she was in, whatever help they wanted, he never said no. He did everything he could to every body who asked for help. He was theoretically the best person around.

But practically, his fun loving class and college mates slowly started avoiding him. For the very reason of being sincere, he was being left alone.

‘You are going to be alone if you continue to be like this. You are going to be alone for the next four years’ they warned him. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and thought about his parents and his goal. He replied only with his silence but it made things very clear. He was here with a goal and these cheeky issues were not going to affect his work. At the end, he was left alone. He was left really alone even when among hundreds of other students.

At least he was happy. At least he was happy with this life, until she stormed into his life.

It was sometime during the second year she came into his life. She had come to his class from another unknown college. She wasn’t too beautiful but she was very friendly. He felt her friendship to fill the void that others had created. He liked talking to her. He, indeed, liked her friendship. He helped her in every thing he could, her studies as well as personal life. She used to say, ‘If it weren’t you, who else would help me.’ She made him smile. She made him live life when she was around.

But there was always a line she maintained with him. She had many other friends who were more important to her. He was there for her whenever she needed anything but he, at times, felt something missing. He spoke to her straight and made things clear that he really needed her friendship. She smiled and said ‘I am your friend’ but he always felt he was her least important friend.

Slowly, this started causing a psychological drift in him. He started yearning for her friendship. It came only in parts but never whole-hearted friendship. This started building up a serious feel of sensitivity in him. This made him sensitive and emotional. His concentration was fully shifted towards her. She was in his mind than anything else. He started longing for her and one day the frustration got to its peak and she said ‘Yes. You are least important to me! I have lot of commitments in life and commitments with others. I cannot be how you expect me to be!’

‘Why not?’ he asked.

‘Because you are too sincere. Sincerity and seriousness can help in studies. But definitely not friendship. Definitely not in life.’ She shouted back.

He stood there stabbed by the words. He was controlling his anger. He was controlling his tears. He didn’t know what to speak. All he could ask was, ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, it’s difficult to make you understand but, mark my words. Sincerity helps you in studies. Sincerity might help you at work. But, you are too sincere to be a good and caring friend. This hyper sincerity and hyper sensitivity is going to make you a loser in life.’ She didn’t even wait for a second, but turned around and walked away.

He just stood there for hours in the scorching sun in tears and sweat. He was left stranded. He was left alone. He just stood there for hours. It took days, even could say weeks, for him to recover from what had happened.

His dad’s words helped him recover. ‘One thing, hard work and sincerity never let’s you down.’ his dad had said when he had left him in college. He started working hard again, with the same old sincerity. He worked hard and hard to achieve what he wanted to. To add to his work, tears were there for his company now.

He was left alone again. But now, he was not happy. There was an unspeakable void left within him.

Days became weeks. Weeks became months. And, years rolled on. He made his parents proud by achieving a much deserved medal and award for studies. He got himself a job in a reputed firm, to much of his parents’ dreams and happiness.

Years rolled on. It was almost three years since he had come out of college, and he had not visited back since. Three long, busy, sincere and hard working years had rolled on. He hadn’t made many friends. He was scared to mingle with people and try making friends. He was scarred and scared.

‘I have a problem with people. I have a serious problem with people.’ he always said.

September 2007.

It was decided. He was being sent on-site for a short term negotiation. He was to be in the United Kingdom till the mid of November. Only his parents and his only best friend from college were there at the airport to wish him bon voyage. He felt it to be just another day in his life. Not much of happiness. Not much of hype. It was just another day of his life.

He was finishing his formalities at the airport entry when a girl crossed him in a hurry. She resembled the unforgettable girl of his college life. It made his heart beat faster. He felt as if he re-lived a terrible dream but it was not her. It took a few minutes for him to calm down.

This girl had a radiance that made everyone turn around to grab a look at her. She looked traditional. Exactly the way he liked. He just smiled to himself and moved on.

He was surprised to see her enter the same flight as his. The seat near him was empty and for some unknown reason, he wanted it to be her place. She walked near him, stood near him for a second, and moved to the seat in front of him. To add to this, a brilliant talkative old lady occupied the seat beside him.

She was trying to push the things she carried into the overhead stow. She was trying so hard that her handbag tripped over and fell on him. He was so much carried away with his thoughts that he was startled when something heavy fell on him.

‘Sorry, Sorry, Sorry. Very sorry, I lost the hold of it.’ She said and he just nodded his head in acknowledgement.

This girl’s face lingered in his mind for a few moments and to escape the crap his neighbor was talking, he fell asleep. He woke up after sometime to see every one around him to be sleeping. With a little curiosity, he lifted up his head to see what she was doing. He was confused to see that she was comforting a baby in her arms. He was baffled for a few minutes when he looked at the scene. He wasn’t sure if she had brought a baby with her. The power nap had relaxed his mind so much that what happened in the beginning of the journey was not that clear now.

To him, no doubt, she was cute. Her traditional looks, her cheeky naughtiness to make the kid laugh, her smile, the way she had did her hair, everything was interesting. Without his own knowledge, he was admiring her. Rest of the journey, though was silent, he kept himself watching her play with the kid. A couple of hours later another lady came to her seat to get the baby. Finally, he was happy that it was not her kid. ‘Happy that it was not her kid?’ Why should he be? Well, he himself didn’t know why.

The flight landed and all of the passengers were waiting for their baggage to roll out on the conveyor. His big blue trolley was the third to roll out. He grabbed it without wasting even a second and started walking.

A few seconds later, he heard ‘Excuse me! Hold on for a minute! Excuse me!’

He turned around to see that she was running towards him pulling her baggage behind her. His mind was racing with a lot of thoughts.

Amidst her heavy breathing, ‘I think you got my luggage’ she said.

He was confused. ‘Well, I brought just one blue trolley and its mine’ he said.

‘I think that’s the confusion. I’ve got a similar blue trolley. It’s yours! You have mine.’ she said with a childish sarcasm. He had taken the baggage in a hurry and missed to see the name tag. He had taken her baggage wrongly. He looked like an idiot without knowing what to say.

‘Sorry, Sorry, Sorry. Very sorry, I got confused.’ he said.

‘That’s Ok! It happens. J’ She said. She gave him a big smile and bid him adieu.

He just stood there with his eyes transfixed on her. After a very long time, he seemed to like someone. When she was out of sight, he remembered that he had not even asked her name. He almost cursed himself on missing out on this.

The very next day, he got himself immersed into his work and kept himself busy. Her face was bright in his mind. He occasionally smiled thinking about her. He didn’t know who she was but felt attracted.

January 2008.

It was two weeks since he had come back to India. His negotiations were successful and he was taking a complete time off. He was spending time alone at movie halls and book sections. His craze for movies and novels never subdued.

One fine day, when he stepped out of a book store, he spotted her. She was standing right next to his car door talking to a guy. He felt the energy level rise. He crossed the road and walked fast to his car and she saw him coming. She moved giving him way and showed no signs of recognition. His energy level dropped immediately.

After a couple of seconds, she suddenly turned to him and screamed, ‘Hi!!! How are you, eh, Mr. Trolley?’

He gave out a clumsy look adjusting to the situation and said, ‘Well, seems you remember me after all. I am fine. And….’ Just then, to bring his energy level further down, he noticed her wearing a toe-ring.

‘Eh, how are you, eh, Mrs. Handbag?’ he asked.

Both of them looked surprised a bit and exchanged names. ‘And, it’s Miss and not Mrs’ she added.

‘I thought I just noticed you wearing a toe-ring.’ he said.

‘It’s interesting that you noticed that. :-) Well, yes I do. But, it’s on the third toe not the second. I wear it for good luck. I am not married yet.’ She said. He felt relieved. He felt very much relieved.

‘When did you return from the United Kingdom?’ he asked.

‘A couple of weeks back. I have actually switched company now. Will be taking charge in my new company next week.’ she said.

‘Which company are you moving to?’ he asked.

She said something but he thought he heard her wrong. She said the company name again. He waited for a second to absorb it and he said, ‘Well, I have been working in the same company for the past three years.’ She seemed to be genuinely happy to hear this. He was happy as well but he didn’t know if to call this Luck. ‘Call this luck?’ why should he? Well, he didn’t know the reason for this too.

He seemed to like her from the first sight. But still, deep in the corner of his heart, he was scared. Too many things from the past still haunted him. He was still scarred.

They would have talked for almost thirty minutes. He didn’t know he could talk this much. He was surprised with himself.

‘Can I have your mobile number? Hope you would not mind if I called you on your mobile.’ she asked after the long chat.

‘Sure not, it’s 9940201530. Anytime, any help, just give me a buzz’ he smiled.

‘I didn’t believe till this moment that you could smile.’

He held his smile for a second. As far as he knew, it was the first time he had smiled in years. For the first time in years, he had really smiled.

‘Neither did I.’ he said with an even broader smile. :-)

Then it began. And then, it all began.

February 2008.

It was a few weeks since she had joined her new company. Having him there made everything simple for her. She liked him. She liked to talk to him. So did he.

He seemed to understand Einstein’s relativity theory when he was with her. Days went on like minutes. He stepped out of his shuttle every day eagerly to see her waiting in the lounge for him. He walked in to the cafeteria to see her waiting for him at the counter. He felt once again in his life that someone had come to fill the void in his heart and life. This time he felt it was something more than friendship. He sure it was something more than that.

It was the 09^th of February and he was there at the railway station to send her off. She was taking a couple of days off to meet her parents. She was to be back on the 13^th. He didn’t want to make a typical cinematic scene at the station by opening his heart to her. He had decided to do it when she came back. He would tell everything to her on the 13^th and ask her to convey what she had decided on the 14^th. He wanted to know her decision on the Valentine’s Day. He was sure that she was his one.

Today, the 13^th of February 2008 was going to be one of the most important days in his life. The words that he was going to say this day were indeed going to change the upcoming days in his life. He was on his shuttle to office, the usual third seat from the last. He was unusually not reading his novel. He was playing his whole past in his mind, trying to figure out what went wrong. He had his eyes closed trying to figure out what really went wrong. He wasn’t able to figure it out. But this day, could change all that.

She was not there in the lounge as usual. She was supposed to be back from home today morning he thought. She hadn’t called for the past four days and he was seriously planning on what he had to say and do this day. He tried reaching her on her mobile but it said, ‘the number you are trying to reach is currently switched off.’ He was worried and waited there for a few minutes but to no avail.

He walked to his cabin. He was sure to meet her sometime today, during the break or lunch for sure. Unfortunately it didn’t happen. He decided to go to her place and see if she was in today. Her project was at the other end of the campus. At that time, he was called in for a quick meeting. The quick meeting dragged and dragged for hours together. His sincerity didn’t allow him to concentrate outside the meeting. The time was 6 pm.

The minute the meeting was over, he ran outside to meet her. He didn’t miss picking up the small gift that he had bought for her. The security outside the door said that there was a visitor to meet him a few minutes back. It was her. She had come to meet him, waited for twenty minutes and had left just ten minutes back. He started running like crazy to meet her. He was almost going to enter her project floor when he met her friend. She informed that she had left just a minute before. She was going to take the shuttle.

He ran in the pathway she usually took but she wasn’t to be seen anywhere. It looked too dark for 6 pm. He looked to the sky to see dark clouds gather close.

He ran faster not to miss her. He hadn’t run like this for a long time. He reached the shuttle area. His eyes searched for her wildly. But, she was nowhere to be seen. He reached the shuttle but could not find her inside. His heart was yearning to meet her. He got down from the shuttle, very dejected. He bent down with hands on his knees to calm down his heavy breathing.

He stayed like that for sometime and due to some instinct he lifted his head up. There she was. She was walking right towards him. She seemed to be walking in his dream. But she was walking towards him in reality. A flash of lighting behind her made her look like an angel walking towards him to show a miracle.

‘I am very, very sorry.’ She said. ‘I left my mobile at home. :-( The train was late and I reached office very late. The schedule got hectic and was not able to meet during lunch. I wanted to meet you from the morning. I came to meet you but you were busy.’

‘I wanted to meet you from the morning too.’ he said.

‘Yeah, I just met my team mate. She said you came running to meet me. What is it about?’ she asked curiously.

‘Well, Ladies First!’ he said with his usual etiquette and dignity.

‘No, its ok, you go first!’ she said.

‘I can wait to hear you first.’ he said with a smile.

‘Well, ok! As you wish’ she said.

She dug into her bag for a few seconds to bring it out.

‘I have been trying to see you from the morning to give this to you.’ She said.

She handed him what she had taken from her bag.

His heart started beating faster than it actually was. All he could do was to close his eyes and try to figure out if it was for real or he was dreaming.

She, then, told him what she was trying to tell him the whole day.

A very, very, very bright lightning flashed followed by a banging thunder.

And then, it drizzled.

London, Street lights and.. an angel. (Final Episode)

And with a progress of time, I noticed something that had changed a bit. I didn’t know what it was until one day.

Part VI:


We were walking back home from a hectic schedule of ‘eating at McDonald’s’ she all of a sudden stopped in the middle of the road and began hurriedly searching her bag.

‘Did I take my purse from the McDonald’s counter?’, she blurted and continuing to search.

‘Yes you did’, I said.

She didn’t stop searching until she got her purse out of her ever crowded college bag, ‘Here it is, thank God’, she finally said.

‘My word, you gave me a fright Eva’, I laughed.

She had turned pale when she was searching for it and she was sweating badly. That was when I realised. The difference I noted in her was this. She was more serious about making sure she didn’t miss anything.

The number of times she was worried about the door being locked, the bus she was on, the change she got at the counter, all those cheeky things was lot, lot more than she was doing initially. The slightly serious part was that she was, nowadays, getting a more agitated while doing this.

And another day something even more scary happened. That was a weekend shopping trip to the Westfield shopping centre, the largest shopping centre in Europe. Walking across all the wonderful shops like NEXT, Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and my personal favourite HMV was one heaven of an experience.

I didn’t notice much of problems in her till about a couple of hours shopping. And when we were walking through the sections of Marks and Spencer, she pulled me by my shirt sleeve and showed me something.

‘I think the baby is going to fall from the pram’, she said.

It took me a few seconds to realise where she was pointing to and what she was telling me.

‘I don’t think so, the baby’s dad is just near the pram’, I said.

‘Will the baby fall down?’, she asked again.

‘No, why do you ask? I.. don’t seem to understand’, I said, slightly concerned.

‘I am just scared and I keep repeatedly thinking that the baby is gonna get fall down and get hurt’

‘Hey, hey, hey.. look who is talking like a baby now’, I laughed trying to tease her.

‘Oh no..! The baby is going to fall..! Please will you help the baby?’, she exclaimed. The problem was that she exclaimed at the top of her voice and the whole store was stunned for a second.

That really caught me off guard and the whole shop turned to look at her. Everything seemed bizarre and I didn’t understand what was happening.

‘You didn’t believe me, did you?’, she asked in a hopeless tone.

‘I think we should leave’, I said.

‘You didn’t believe me, Pete’, she said and started to walk away.

It took me quite a while to apologise to her. All part of love, I smiled to myself. But, something was seriously, seriously was not right.

That night I could not sleep that well. I was concerned about Eva. I wanted to make sure that she was alright. There seemed to be something wrong but I did not have a logical explanation about it. I thought it was my stress at work making me imagining things.

I was so carried away with my thoughts at around two o’clock at night when my phone scared the devil out of me.




Part VII:

The phone rang so loud that my cousin almost fell from her bed in the other room. By the time I dug around my things to find my phone, both of us were wide awake.

It was two in the morning and I was half expecting Evangeline to call me. Immediately, I could feel there was a problem.

‘Eva..?’

‘Pete, I think there is someone trying to break into my house’, she whispered in a horrified tone.

‘What?!!’

‘Pete..! some one is there in my garden trying to climb up’, she was in tears on the other end.

‘Hey come on, it could be someone shifting into their new house Eva’, I was kidding.

‘Peter..!! Please..!!! Please...!!! HELP ME..!!!’, I could literally hear her from her house and in a reflex I burst out of my house and ran to her house. I didn’t even wait for her to open the door. I jumped over the fence and ran into her garden. There was no one there.

‘Eva, take a breath. I am in your garden. There is no one. CALM DOWN will you..!!’, I shouted.

‘Peter.. Please..’, she was crying out loud.

‘Open the door Eva, I am coming in’

‘Pete.. Please help me..!’, she shouted in tears.

‘Eva, open the door, NOW!!!’, I commanded into the phone.

My god..! It was totally difficult for us to calm her down. It was almost four o’clock by the time she was asleep. We couldn’t leave her alone. My cousin agreed to stay with her till the morning. The way things were going, I was sure something was wrong.

Having not slept properly the whole night, I called up for a day off. My cousin came back at half past nine and prepared breakfast. Both of us were seriously concerned about what was going on. She handed over a cup of coffee and sat down to talk. Both of us were quiet for a few minutes.

‘Is there a problem Pete?’, she started.




Part VIII:

I took a few seconds. ‘Honestly, I am not sure’, I said.

‘We need to find out. Tell me what is going on?’, she insisted.

‘Just a few trivial changes’, I blurted.

‘Tell me what is going on and let me decide if they are trivial’, she strongly said.

Hesitantly, I started with the changes that I had been noticing over the last few days. I didn’t know if I was correlating some uncorrelated events. But, I felt better that I could get things clarified.

She was silent for more than ten minutes after I had finished. I didn’t know what she was thinking. After the cup of coffee she started with a logical medical explanation of what is happening.

‘Have you heard of OCD?’, she asked.

‘Heard of what?’, I said.

‘It’s called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in the medical terms’, she said.

‘Medicine and I don’t go so well. Explain it to me in a stupid and easy way’, I said.

She opened up her laptop and showed me a few basic links of OCD.

http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/obsessive_compulsive.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive-compulsive_disorder

http://counsellingresource.com/distress/anxiety-disorders/obsessive-compulsive.html

‘OCD starts with little doubts about your daily activities. Then the anxiety grows day by day and it gets to other serious anxiety disorders. And if not treated at the right time, you never know what it would lead to…’, the words hung in the air.

It was difficult for me to comprehend what she way saying but I could see this was a much more serious problem than what I was thinking.

‘What would that lead to?’, I asked.

‘OCD can make people paranoid and psychotic’, she said.

‘What do you mean by psychotic?’, I asked.

‘It is a generic psychiatric term. Something like "loss of contact with reality".’

‘What?’

‘People experiencing psychosis may report hallucinations or delusional beliefs, and may exhibit personality changes and disorganized thinking’, she read out loud.

‘Do you, in the name of God, mean she is crazy?’, I shouted.

‘Cool down Peter..! I am not saying that..! Take her to a doctor before anything serious happens..! I am just trying to say that..!’

I was trying to digest what I was hearing. I was getting more emotional every second and getting even more confused.

‘Help her Peter..!’, she said

I turned and looked at her.

‘She needs your help at this point than any time in her entire life’

I fell silent again trying to agree with all these.

She gave me a gentle punch on my back and said, ‘It still seems to be in an early stage, so there is nothing to worry’

For the next few days, we made sure Evangeline was not left alone. We took turns to keep her company. We did all we could to keep her feel safe and happy while something could be sorted out.

While on the phone with my best friend in India, I learnt about one of the Indian Psychiatrists taking a vacation in London. There were quite a few constraints in the UK for immediate medical attention and I didn’t know if we can wait for long.

With a bit of influence from my friend, I managed to get a personal first hand time with the psychiatrist, though against the rules of the UK health services. I was ready to go to any extremes to help my Eva.

Breaking the rules was the easier part. The difficult part was that of convincing Eva to meet the doctor. Difficult? It was an impossible task. And sadly, it remained impossible.

‘So, you think I am mad?’, she asked. Not a question to start with.

‘Eva..’, I began.

‘I AM NOT CRAZY’, she shouted.

The next second, she sank to the floor screaming with tears. The mere sight of this got me emotional. I couldn’t take it even for a second. That was it. End of discussion. To hell with OCD..! There was nothing wrong with Eva, MY EVA. I told myself. She is just scared, scared like a little kid.

‘Why don’t you go and talk to the doc?’, my cousin asked.

‘Me..?’, I asked.

‘Yeah. You. At least you can know what can be done’, she said.

‘I think we should both go, you grasp the medical terms better’

‘You really think so?’, she asked.

‘Maybe your patients don’t. But, I really think so’, I joked trying to convince my cousin that I was ok.

With Eva having calmed down over the last few days, we assumed it wasn’t necessary for us to be with her. She was so normal that I even thought of turning down the visit to the doc. But I thought, ‘what am I gonna lose? Let me go and meet the doc it might help’





Part IX:

Eva had plans of collecting materials for her project that evening. So, she was going to be late and I didn’t have to make up false situations to meet the doctor. She was going to be alright, I knew. It was just a patience that we required right now. Hopefully, there were going to be better answers today.

My Eva was going to be alright, I knew for sure.

I had borrowed my friend’s car trying to avoid the crowed evening travel in the trains and buses. A turn away from my house was the Horwarth main road. The building to the right of the signal we were standing was the Trinity shopping centre.

‘Probably, we’ll get something for Eva at the Trinity’s on our way back’, I was talking to my cousin.

It would not have been more than five minutes when my phone sprang to life. It was Eva.

‘Eva..?’, I picked up the call.

‘Where are you?’, she asked in a very low voice, almost a whisper.

‘Eva?? I am not able to hear you. Can you speak up??’, I said.

‘No..! I can’t talk loud. He’ll find out I am here’, she said.

‘What..!??? Who..!???’

‘I am hiding from him’

‘Hiding??!! From whom..? Where are you!!!’, I shouted.

‘Can you come and get me Pete???’, she cried.

‘What are you talking about?? What’s happening Eva??’, I asked pulling my car out of traffic onto the road-side parking lane.

‘He is coming to hurt me..! I am scared..!’, she cried again.

‘Where are you Eva..? I am coming right away’, I said.

‘Trinity Shopping.. I am hiding from him behind the Matalan’s collections’

Trinity shopping..! I had just crossed the building.

‘I am just a few minutes away I am turning around..! I will come and get you..!’, I shouted.

‘Please Peter..! Save me..!’, she said over and over and over again.

I turned to look at my cousin. She hadn’t spoken but understood what was happening, she nodded in acknowledgement.

I took a wild turn giving the traffic rules a damn. There were bewildered onlookers with a few sc..r..ee…t..ch..es.. behind from the traffic I cut through.

‘Get on the third lane, it open’, said my cousin, I obeyed.

Neither of us spoke a work. My pulse was racing, heart pounding. I held the wheels tight to control my nervousness.

I didn’t know what happened for the next few seconds and my driving was frantic. All eyes were searching was a way to the Trinity shopping. And all my mind thought was about my Eva.

And all of a sudden, ‘WATCH OUT..!!!!’, shouted my cousin and I got to my senses in a flash of a second and got my brakes. The car came to a scintillating stop with blares of horns all around. I was held up amidst a long lane of vehicles at the signal just a minute away from the building.

‘What the crap..!’, I shouted and the phone rang again. It was Eva.

‘Eva darling, I am almost there, don’t be scared. I am almost there’, the words kept coming out.

‘I am so scared. I am gonna run home’, she said.

‘What?? No..! stay right there..!’, I shouted.

‘I am almost out of the building..! I am gonna run home. That’s the only safe place for me’, she cried aloud.

‘I am a minute away from the building, I am gonna get to you in a minute. Stay right there’, I begged.

‘I’ll take the wheel, you run through the traffic..! Go to her’, said my cousin.

I was out of the car in a fraction of a second and started to run.

‘I am running to you Eva, stay….’, I began.

Before I could complete my sentence, ‘I am out of the building, the entrance near the signal’, she said.

‘Thank God..! I am just a few seconds away. Stay there, I am coming’, I said and I saw Eva among the crowd near the signal, waiting for the pedestrian green.

I slowed down. ‘Oh, my God. Oh.. My.. God..’, I told myself and slowed down my pace. She was just there a few feet away from me.

My Eva was safe right just right in from of me.

And suddenly she shouted loud..! So loud..! So, So, Loud..!

‘HE IS HERE..! HE IS GONNA HURT ME..!!!!!’, and she started running through the crowd towards the pedestrian crossing. She ran frantically without even noticing the traffic coming right at her.

‘NOOOO!!!!!!’, I shouted. All I could do was to shout. I froze right there..! But everything happened in less than a second. It all happened before I could blink my eyes.

‘NO……..!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY MOTHER OF GOD….!!!!!!! NO……..!!!!!!!’






Part X:

Eight Months Later…

‘You are late Pete..! Come on..!’, my cousin rushed.

‘Yeah..! I know.. I know..!’, I hurried.

‘Hey, I have packed double roasted crushed cashews. It’s Evangeline’s favourite’

‘Ha ha..! J Thank you..!’, I said.

‘Convey my regards to her. Tell her I will come to meet her on Friday’, she said.

‘Will sure do..! Catch you later..!’, I ran to my bus to meet Evangeline. Eva. My Angel.

I was a bit late than usual. And all the others had gone in to the room. The visitors ward opened every day at half past seven and I was late by a few minutes.

‘I thought you wouldn’t come today’, the receptionist said.

‘I cannot miss Eva even for a day. I would have taken her home but you people wouldn’t allow me to’, I smiled.

‘Don’t worry. Very soon..!’, she said with a smile..

There she was. My Eva dressed as beautiful as ever in the bright white. She always looked like an angel.

‘Hey Angel..!’, I sat next to her, ‘sorry I am late today’

She kept looking at me.

‘Don’t worry..! I will take you home soon.. J’, I said.

She kept looking at me.

‘See what I have brought you..! J your favourite..!’, I said with enthusiasm.

She didn’t react but kept looking at me.

‘Won’t you smile at me today?’, I kept talking to the same blank look.

The doctor came over behind me and gently tapped my shoulders and nodded in understanding. I nodded back controlling the tears that were beginning to roll from the corner of my eyes.

It’s been eight months since it happened. Just outside the Trinity shopping signal.

She was hit by a car while running across the traffic and she was thrown against the other vehicle. She fell hard on her back. She didn’t even twitch. She didn’t even move.

For a second, everything seemed alright that day. I thought my Eva was safe. And the next second she was there soaked in blood, right in front of my eyes.

Everything had happened so quickly, in a blink of second. The doctors had fought hard to save life. And all they could save was her life. Only her life.

She was in a coma for more than a month. And now, she had her eyes open but still has not come out of the serious brain damage. The doctors have a doubt if she would ever will.

I don’t have a doubt at all. She definitely will be alright some day. I know that for sure. She definitely will.

‘She doesn’t even recognize you..! She doesn’t even know who you are..! Then why waste your time and life?’, I am being asked everyday.

All I do is smile and give them the same answer, ‘May be she doesn’t understand who I am. But I do. I.. still.. Do..’

She is my EVANGELINE.

My ANGEL.

My LIFE.

I wake up everyday praying to God that, some day show would be alright. And that someday, she would recognize me and she would smile at me, as beautiful as ever.





NB:
This fiction is dedicated to those with obsessive compulsive disorder (diagnosed or undiagnosed). One person in every 50 suffers from serious OCD. The symptoms are usually overlooked and lead to disastrous situations. Lets understand this disorder and help people with the symptoms.

London, street lights and.. an angel.. Episode 2

And then, there came an unexpected reply.

Part III:

‘I am the girl living in the house opposite’, said the voice from the outside. It was a great timing, the door opened and the first song started playing.

‘What the hell..!!’, I cursed myself.

I swiftly opened the door with all my fury to face the neighbour I was furiously shouting about.

“She is a fantasy.. shina.. na.. na.. na.. oh..! oh..!” The first lines of the song.

There she stood like a beauty from my fantasy books..!

“She has a harmony.. shina.. na.. na.. na.. oh..! oh..!” The song continued.

Such a harmonious beauty..!

“No one knows she’s a mystery.. shina.. na.. na.. na.. oh..! oh..! oh..!” The song went on.

Those mysteriously calm eyes..!

“Fills the heart with ecstasy.. oh.. hoo.. oh.. ye.. ah.. yeah ea..!” The song again.

Every beat of my heart, was filled with ecstasy…!

I had never understood the real meaning of the song. And now, there she stood the meaning of those lines. The fantasy..! The harmony..! The mystery..!

‘Hello’, she said hesitantly.

I was, well silent - kind of awe struck for the moment of time. The radiance of her beauty kept me mesmerised. I didn’t even hear the ‘hello’ she said.

‘Eh.. Hello’, she said again.

I am sure, I would have looked stupid. I was standing there, looking at her, without even taking time to blink. I didn’t hear what she said, even for the second time.

‘Hi..!’, said some one behind me. Well, it was loud Hi and it shook me to reality. It was my cousin to break my concentration, to be precise, to get me out of the mesmerism. J

‘Hi, I am Evangeline, I stay in 21 C the house opposite’, she said to my cousin.

‘Hey, come on in..!’, invited my cousin.

‘That’s ok, I am already late to college. I.. eh...’, she hesitated and looked at me standing there with a blank face.

‘I just came over to apologise for what happened last night. I didn’t mean to call the police. It’s that I was so scared and didn’t know what to do’, she completed without taking in a breath.

‘No problem, it’s alright..!’, said my cousin.

‘What..?!! No problem??!!’, I asked my cousin as she gave me a strong nudge to stay calm.

Evangeline gave both of us a bewildered look trying to understand our situation.

‘I would have done the same’, said my cousin, ‘not to worry at all’.

‘Oh.. Thanks a lot’, she said and looked at me trying to gauge my reaction. I was still standing there with a blank face. I was not sure why but I guess it was the time when I was deciding to be furious with her or to be awe struck by the beauty and innocence.

‘I have to run’, she said, ‘I will catch you sometime later.’

‘Take care then’, waved my cousin and she walked away.

‘She looks cute, doesn’t she?’, asked my cousin.

‘What..! How come it was alright..??!!! I was the one who was ‘almost’ arrested..! not you..!’, I shouted at my cousin.

‘Ha huh..!’, my cousin sighed, ‘ don’t start all over again.’

‘Whatever..!’

‘Its getting late brother..! you better run to office..!’, she said.

‘I know.. I know..’, I said in a frustrated tone.

And just before I walked out of the door, I came to a halt, took a second to smile to my cousin and said, ‘Yeah, she looked really cute.’ I gave her a mischievous wink.

‘Ah ha..! There comes the imp out of you..!’, she smiled.J

Yes, it certainly did. J In a few minutes, all the furiousness had vanished without a trace. All of the furious rage was completely replaced by a soft smile.

A few days passed and everyday I looked at her house when I started to office. There was always small thought that I would see her soon. But unfortunately it did not happen.

That day, I was hurrying to catch my bus at half past seven. I met her just around the corner to the bus stop when she was hurrying towards the house. And in one split second everything around me came to such a slow motion. Even the seconds in my watch was taking ages to move. Seemed the world had come to a stop as she came close by. And a bright smile appeared on my face.

I guess she was not expecting me to smile after all the blank reactions I had given her when she came over to my house to apologise. And in a quick second she gave a slight smile with a lot of hesitation as she walked across me,

‘I thought you were angry with me. I didn’t even expect you to smile’, she said.

‘Oh that, eh.. forget about it. It’s alright Evangeline’, I said. I hoped my cousin was not around. If she had heard me saying ‘its alright’ after all the fuss I had made, my tongue was definitely to be chopped as a punishment.

‘Oh that’s a relief finally Mr.. eh..’, she smiled.

‘I’m Peter by the way and no formalities please’, I said.

‘That’s a real relief Peter. I really feel bad about what happened’, she said.

I didn’t know what to say but kept on smiling searching for words to speak out.

‘I guess I need to hurry. I need to be at the university an hour early’, she said.

‘Oh.. Ok. I thought the bus stop was in the opposite direction’, I said pointing to the direction opposite to which she was hurrying up.

‘Yeah’, she smiled again, ‘I need to check out back entrance of my house. I am not sure if I locked it.’

‘That’s interesting. You forgot to lock you door in a hurry? Ha Ha..! Be careful young lady, burglars like me could be in the opposite house’, I winked reminding her of her emergency call.

‘I kind of keep doing this always. Iron boxes, warmers, gas etc etc, I sometimes am quite confused if I have shut them all off.’

‘Oops..! Someone like me’, I said.

She smiled again for a few seconds and then realised, ‘I need to hurry its getting late’

‘You certainly need to hurry’, I said smiled bidding her adieu.

She hurriedly took a few steps and said, ‘Try not standing under the street lights at night. You look scary like in the ‘Candy man’ movie’’, she winked.

‘Taken as a compliment..! And point noted..!’, I winked back. ;-)

It was nice having talked to this girl. Right from the second we landed outside her house, it had all been excitement. And right from the second she stood at my door, it had been.. well, excitement of course, but of a different kind.

I would have hardly taken ten steps and something within me kept saying, ‘Turn around..! Turn around..! Turn around..!’. I came to halt. I turned around.

What I did was unexpected. And what I saw was totally unexpected. (Maybe it’s the expected for the readers. J )

Part IV:

Trust me..! I didn’t even expect what I was about to see..! J

She was standing a few feet away from me having turned around to look at me.

A fairy tale situation when Romeo turns around to see his Juliet. And Juliet blushes and cheekily skips a couple of steps. In a spark of a second hundreds of flowers bloom at midnight, thousands of stars shine bright right during the day.

I don’t know what to call it but certainly did I feel all of these happen in those few seconds.

There were a lot of cheeky surprises as we bumped into each other almost every day. More smiles, more blushes (obviously both of us) and a story was slowly beginning to build up.

Evangeline Fiona - that was her full name. Two of my favourite character names put together. Evangeline – the little girl from ‘Uncle Tom’s cabin’ and Fiona – the beautiful princess from ‘Shrek’. Kind of romantic name, na? J

One fine day I was getting ready at least twenty minutes ahead of my lazy schedule. That was my cousin’s biggest surprise. J

‘Well well well, look whose early to start’, she said.

‘I need to meet Evangeline’, I said just taking a step out of the door.

‘What..! Meet who..?’, she looked confused.

‘Evangeline..? The girl in 21 C..?’

‘Meet Evangeline..? Am I dreaming..? When did…’, I didn’t even wait for her to complete her sentence and I was on my way.

I hopped over to Evangeline’s house and rang the door bell. I waited there for a few seconds but there was no answer. I rang the bell again but to no avail. I thought she would have left a bit early.

‘That’s ok’, I said to my self and turned around to leave when the door opened.

‘HELLO..! What a surprise..!’, she said with such an enthusiasm.

‘Hey Evangeline, how are you?’, I began.

‘I am doing good, just starting to college’, she said.

She was dressed the most pleasing colour of all, White – the holy colour of Peace. And true to her name, she looked like an angel.

‘An angel would look brighter than the brightest of lights’; I had read in someone’s recent blogs. I was not sure if the world around her had suddenly gone dark or if she was really brighter than the brightest light. I really didn’t know. If those words were the true, she sure was an angel.

‘I brought you this’, I handed the wrapped pack over to her.

‘What’s this? Can I open it?’, she asked enthusiastically and I nodded yes.

She opened the package to find a thick book with the name ‘PETE’ embossed on the cover.

‘What is this?’ ,she asked.

‘That’s me..!’, I smiled.

‘Pardon me?’

‘It’s a daily check-your-door-book for you to make a note of things.’ I smiled.

She was waiting for me to tell something more.

‘That’s me..! Helping you remember that you have done your things right’, I said.

I could see a smile appearing any second now.

‘It might seem cheeky but at least you won’t have to run back and forth to check your door and warmer’, I said.

She smiled. ‘Eh, Peter.. I don’t know what to say’, she said with such a heartiness and understanding, ‘I.. Eh.. Thank you..!’

‘I think I only know very little about you and could think nothing better as a first gift.’

‘Yeah, I guess you are right Peter’

‘Yeah, I wish I could be there helping you with things’, I said trying not to conceal too many things.

Before she could answer I said ‘And.. Call me Pete. People close to me call me that way’

Before she even agreed to the question, my next words came blurting out, ‘Can I call you Eva, or Eve, or angeline or angel..?’

‘Eh.. call me.. eh.. what ever way you want’, she said.

I didn’t understand what she meant and gave the same old blank look.

‘I haven’t had anyone close to me for a long time now to be called with pet names’, he smiled. Her wry smile spoke a thousand words of loneliness and the heartiness to have met someone she liked.

That’s when I got to know a shocking and sad truth about her past. She was an Indian by birth. Her parents had moved to London a year after she was born. She had always grown up to be a happy kid well taken care of. She had all that she needed in life. Above all, she had the love of her parents.

A terrible and tragic road accident had made her an orphan four years ago. Her happy life was shattered and she had been living sad and alone since then. She had learnt to live life this way. She had learnt to make sure she was safe and not to be scared. That was when she became extra precautious with everything.

Being the first person in her life in a long time got me more attached to her than anyone else. It was certainly the case with her. Slowly and steadily over the next few months, the relationship took its own course. And then came a time when both of us could not do without each other.

And then, as in all the ‘boy meets girl.. falls in love.. ’ stories like ‘And then it drizzled’, ‘The most beautiful girl I had seen’, etc, it all began. I didn’t know whether I changed her life or she changed mine. But for sure, there were lots of changes in those few days, our lives had changed.

She liked me for the way I cared for her, the way I took interest in each and everything she did. I became more than a friend to her, more than her guardian. I didn’t know if she had ‘technically’ fallen in love with me. Not yet. J

Me, well I had fallen in love with her a long time back. I just loved everything she did. The way she talked, the way she sang, the way she.. well, I will go on and on and on. Except for her over-precautious self and the way she repeatedly checked everything. Ha ha.. J I never took that seriously though.

Then came the day, I can never forget in my life.

Part V:

It was a Friday evening and I had come back earlier than usual to take her out to ‘Costa’ for a cup of coffee.

She had been uncomfortably quiet for some time. I could see that she was trying to hide her nervousness. I wanted to ask her why but bit my tongue. I knew if it was something that I should know, she would definitely tell me.

When we started walking back home, she said, ‘I’m a bit nervous’

‘Like I didn’t notice J’, I said.

A few uneasy seconds passed in silence.

‘Will you hold my hand?’, she asked me out of nowhere.

I took a couple of seconds trying to adjust myself to her question.

‘Will you, Pete?’, she asked again. I could feel the shallowness in her voice.

I still didn’t react. I didn’t know how to react, if I put it in the right way.

And I slowly asked, ‘Now.. or.. for ever?’, looking into her eyes with all the love I had kept in store just for her.

And she said, ‘Now.. and.. for ever..!’, with the same love and with tears of happiness in her eyes.

Those few minutes, those few wonderful minutes. Unforgettable.

Slowly I took my hands to her’s and held her hands for all the time in the world. And we walked hand in hand, in the beautiful evening forgetting the whole world around us.

Just before I left her at home, I said, ‘You have got beautiful pair of hands Eva’

‘Really?’, she blinked.

‘Oh yeah, really’

‘May be, because I keep cleaning them often. I have a feeling that my hands get dirty always’, she smiled. Another addition to her precautions, I thought.

‘So finally, you have fallen in love?!!!’, exclaimed my cousin.

‘I.. Well.. yes..!’, I said, jubilantly.

‘Wow..!!! I knew it..! Right from the minute she knocked at the door..! J My God, the way you looked at her mesmerised. I knew it right that minute. J’, she said without taking a minute.

‘You did?? You didn’t tell me..?’, I was just kidding.

‘Leave that you idiot..! Have you proposed to her?’, she asked.

‘Yes, Actually, she did’, I said with a blank face.

‘Eh.. And..?’, doubtfully asked my cousin.

‘And.. J And what..?’, I smiled.

‘You got to be kidding me man..!’

‘What? I am serious!’, I said.

‘Oh ho ho..! She is a pretty unlucky girl to have got some one like you’, she said with a sarcastic smile. She was kidding really. J She knew that Evangeline was the most luckiest girl.

Evangeline and I made sure that we spent at least a couple of hours a day together. However busy I was at office and how much ever held she was at her studies, we made sure that neither of us was left alone.

She could not even imagine a day without seeing me. And me..? I loved Einstein right from childhood. Oh yeah, the theory of relativity. To me, seconds were years and minutes were millenniums, slightly more that what Einstein had proposed in the theory.J

And with a progress of time, I noticed something that had changed a bit. I didn’t know what it was until one day. (To be continued)