It was a chilly winter evening. Armelle was sitting in the lobby of her house. The day wasn't as good as she expected, so she preferred to divert her thoughts by focusing on reading something. When she was searching through the book rack, the book titled "THE LAST LOVE" caught her attention. It is one of her favorite storybooks from her favorite author which she never felt bored of reading. Without any second thought, her hand seized the book as her body moved in an instant to the particular spot where she used to enjoy reading. There is another reason why she chooses to read that particular book. As it was one of the presents from HER Zaike. She settled in the bamboo swing in midst of the flower garden in the mezzanine. Her fingers traced the edges of the book, a strange feeling started enveloping her. Her eyes were fixed on the pages of the book, but her mind wandered thinking of the abrupt act which is over and done.

As she was immersed in the pool of her thoughts, she suddenly heard the sound of a certain two-wheeler that's so familiar to her ears. The sound wasn't different from other vehicle engine sounds but she felt it special, kinda signal which made her heart pound strongly. And it seems to be increased as each second passes by.

It took a while for her brain to process all the sounds which she heard; her muscles failed to move as she was rooted to the place where she was sitting. Her warm beige skin started to pale, as she felt hot flashes around her body. As her brain started to gain sense, her long thoughts came to an end. In a flinch, she reached the corner of the balcony to get the proper view of the street. But to her disappointment, the road looked empty. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. She couldn't stop thinking about him even for a second.

In no time, she picked up the mobile from the teapoy table beside the swing. She began typing the number in a hurry to make a call. She never once searched for contacts in the contact directory. As she was engrossed in making a call, she failed to notice that dialed number has not been in the phone directory. Soon the call ended without a ring, she couldn't get her calls connected. She tried calling him as many as times possible but to no avail. She felt her heart was struck with a bundle of arrows, it ached badly. She longed to hear his voice, and an urge to see him right at the moment, embrace him and make sure that he was all good.

She went inside her WhatsApp, searching for his contact but she couldn't find it. She realized that she deleted his contact not so long back. She couldn't bear her act, she felt guilty about her behavior. She had never once expected that she could be this brazen in her life. Soon she saved his contact in the contact directory and when straight ahead to his WhatsApp page to text him.

She started to type, "Zaike, I'm sorry!!!". But she paused, she didn't feel it right to apologize to him virtually right away like that. Deleting the text she wrote again, "Hey there!! Please reply to me Zaike… please do reply to me soon… I can't bear this feeling anymore… I'm too full of stuff I've spoken already… Please reply to me Zaike… I want to see your eyes…feel the warmth… let us not be like this Zaike…I can't bear this pain anymore…" she paused. "I miss you already!!" she completed texting as her eyes wandered to check once again.

As she sent, her eyes welled up with tears with unknown feelings. She tried to hold them up but it wasn't easy as said. The controlled tears ended up falling uncontrollably. She sobbed hard.

She stared at her mobile for a long while without twinkling. A single grey tick appeared, denoting that her message was sent but it was not delivered yet. She thought he must have simply turned off his internet or he might be having any network problem.

Hours went by, she couldn't patiently wait for his reply. She checked now and then. But the single tick didn't change to a double tick. She felt the electrifying sensation in her heart, causing to pound harder. An unrealistic pain made her body flinch when her brain detected certain changes in his WhatsApp page. The moment she realized the changes, her dried-up eyes got flooded again.

There was neither the display picture seen on his WhatsApp Page nor she could see his last seen. Her instincts said that she was blocked in his contact. The moment she realized the reality, it was harder for her to accept the truth.

Her flooded eyes paused to release the tears which were held back. The karma paid back for her act.

2 months before…

(continued...)