A belated love story, part 4 ...

Continued from part 3

I do not know why, but the next few years picked up the pace of my life. It all seemed to have happened so quickly.

In the year 1990, I appeared for the grade X exams while suffering from jaundice, still I managed three distinctions.

In the year 1991, my father was transferred to the City of the desert ¹. My family had to relocate to this city. I pursued grade XI studies in a new school in this city.

It had been very difficult for me to adjust in that city in the beginning. The dwellers of this part of the country were a conservative bunch. My irritation reached its height when I learned that the new school I was about to get admitted had separate sections for boys and girls. Still they called it a co education school.

This was the first time that I started to be scared of the subject Physics. The Physics chapters involved numerical problems involving integral and differential calculus. I missed my school in Golden gates, where the teachers were advanced and considerate enough to design a syllabus in such a way that integral and differential calculus is covered in mathematics before they start teaching chapters in Physics involving the same. This was not the case here.

Moreover I was accustomed to a mooring shift school ever since I started to go to school. This school was an afternoon one. It started at 12:30 PM unlike 7:30 AM of all the previous schools that I had attended.

I found it very difficult to cope up! My spirit too took the tool. I wanted to find some solace in some way, I always thought of Alice. How she once startled me by running fingers through my hair ², God I wanted to meet her. I regretted ignoring her in 1989. I thought I was being punished for such a sin.

I remember asking my mother when will we plan another visit to Native land? She seemed to be reluctant to give any final answer.

Unknown to me, again, family issues with the relatives of Native land, which included my grand mother had escalated, my parents did not want to visit the Native land, till things cooled down a bit. Hence, my mother relented that we had no such plans in the near future.

I accepted my fate. I thought some day, I shall be seeing her. I hoped, that day comes soon and it did come!

I had toiled at school and finally in May, 1992. My parents decided to visit the Native land. My heart did a somersault with delight.

I can remember the dates now, it was 26th of May, 1992. My family reached the Native land. I discovered the news that Alice's father had sold their house and moved into a new one. It was a little away from our locality. Well, how did a little walking distance matter, when I have already experienced a gap of almost three years?

My entire family visited Alice's new home on May 27th, 2009. It was a new house and her parents were looking at a new me. I was five feet six inches tall, my moustache was prominent I was seventeen years old. My health was good.

I was bigger than Alice's family members saw me the last time. The exchange of pleasantries continued a little longer than I expected. I realized that I have not yet seen Alice.

Her mother seemed to read my eyes, she said to my mother, "Just like your son, my daughter has grown up too!", my heart again skipped a beat! Then she added, "My poor daughter, she is down with malaria ³, why don't you go visit her upstairs Sudip?" .

At last ! Well that's the reason I traveled thousands of miles, I will definitely go.

My heart thumped against my chest and started to perspire with anticipation. I entered her room, there she was sitting on the bed! She had drawn a sheet drawn over her. She looked pretty in that green T shirt and black skirt. She now had beautiful long hair cascaded down her budding breasts. She too was seventeen years old, transformed... By looking at her, I realized we were grown ups.

"Hello! Sudip...!!", Alice exclaimed, I could hear an excitement in her voice but she started to cough before she could complete her sentence. I quickly found the jug of water and a tumbler beside her bed and poured her some water.

"Easy, easy!" , I said," have some water". I realized she intentionally touched my fingers while she was taking the tumbler from me. She drank the whole of it. I was still standing, she held my hand and made me sit close to her. I felt elated, I considered it as a warm welcome. I was completely immersed in looking at her face. I forgot that I was still holding her hand.

We kept looking at each other like that for some time. It was immediately clear that both our eyes were saying much more than words.

I was spell bound, even if she was sick and running a temperature, to me she looked radiant. My charm broke and I let go of her hand, when she coughed again.

"I am sorry" , she said,"I am still running a temperature."

"Let me see", I touched her fore head, it was warm.

She took and placed the back of my hand on her throat, "See... I am still down with this fever..."

As soon as I touched there I felt yet another electric shock of passion. This time I withdrew my hand. She started at me blankly and then she lowered her eyes. I regained my composure and we were silent for a few seconds.

"So how have you been...", both of us said the same thing together.

We both laughed and started to chat. I wanted to tell her that I am truly, madly, deeply fallen in love with her. It was the moment I saw her seventeen year old self. But I could not. What if she was already engaged, what if she said no?

I continued to chat, with my desire to say "I love you!" jumping in me. As I spoke, she kept looking at me from time to time but when ever we made eye contact and lowered her eye. The smile on my face seemed too much for her specially after what she did few minutes ago.

I was engaged in a conversation with her, when I heard my mother's voice, "Alice ...".

She had come up to her room to see her. I did not know, she observed that Alice was half laid on the bed and leaning against the wall and my face was less than a feet away from hers.

Alice got up and touched my mother's feet ⁴. My mother sat on a chair. She started to talk to my mother. It was all in general terms. She (my mother) kept on checking on me from the corner of her eye. I stared at the floor, and a voice inside me was screaming,"Mommy Go ...go ... go...I need to speak to Alice... ".

Alice was responding to my mother in"Yes/ No,... I understand" only apart from the time she would ask my mother how are things.

Unknown to me, my mother had been scanning me and Alice... it was a full and deep scan.

Within a little while my mother understood that me and Alice were up to something. There was something fishy going on between us. She said, "O.K.' I shall leave you guys with your chat..." and she left the room.

I turned to Alice, this was the first time I did not have anything to chat with her. What I had in mind, I was hesitating to say. Then I started to tell her about the movies I watch.

Time passed. My mother called me, it was time to return. I got up went up to the door of Alice's room, I turned towards her and asked, "Alice, do you have a boy friend?"

"No, not yet...", she replied. Her tone seemed to indicate much more than words. My heart started to pound inside me.

The only thing I could manage to reply was, "Thank you... ".

I got down the stairs but managed to figure out that she came up to the staircase, to see me off.

On our way back to our house in Native land, my mother asked,"What were you chatting about with Alice."

Even though I was burning with excitement, I said, "Nothing... just schools, weather, if she has a boy friend or if any I had girl friends...".

My mother was curious,"You never told me you have a girl friend...".

"No mother, not yet!"

"Does she has a boy friend?"

"No mother not yet..."

"What do you mean not yet?", it was clear my mother understood every thing.

We returned home. I had made up my mind. I will have to go and see her again. The only thing that I am waiting for is Alice getting well soon.

Continued to part 5

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