Unofficially Yours

Does she really mean her last sentence “I cannot be officially yours”, all the questions troubled me. Her condition would have been more miserable than mine. I have no idea what to do. How to meet her? Should I call her? Will it create more problems for her? I want to meet her, I want to just look at her once and get satisfied that she is fine. This could be the last time. Its 1:00AM, Is this the right time? Yes, if I want to meet her, this is the only time as no one will leave her alone during the day. I can enter her room through balcony; the only concern is night guard. I decided to leave for her place thinking ‘jo bhi hoga dekha jayega’. I do not care if people see me and think of me as an intruder, just one hope – ‘I could meet her, gave me the strength.’ I took 3 rounds of her society, observing all the things and calculating how and when I can implement my plan. Guards at the main gate were taking a nap. Main gate was locked and a small one was left open for people to walk in and out, I cannot enter along with my bike through the small gate. Arohi’s room is at the back side of the building, only issue as of now is how to enter the society. I do not want the guards to wake up. One of the options is to climb the back wall studded with sharp mirrors but climbing it without any support would be difficult. I stood outside for a while thinking how to get in, without waking up the sleepy guards. I parked my bike outside the society, and walked in silently through the small gate, my inaudible steps did not disturb the dreamy nights of the guards. 2nd challenge was to climb up to her balcony, it was around 10 to 12 feet above the ground, easy for me to climb, I took support of the pipe on the side wall, my athletic body helped me to climb up and I jumped in her balcony. My guess was correct; she kept her balcony panes open, Darkness of the night supported me to hide from the outer world. I entered her room and closed the balcony panes. My heart was beating fast; the darkness that once supported me was now challenging me. I have to confirm if she is sleeping alone or with Priya. I went near her bed; it was difficult for me to figure out anything in such a dark room. I opened the curtains slightly allowing moon and street light to penetrate inside the room. There was a girl lying on the bed wrapped in a blanket, her face was on opposite side. I wanted to be sure that she is my Arohi, before I take any step. I kept my shoes near her closet and walked to the opposite side of the bed, without making any noise. I looked at her. Yes!!!!! She is my Arohi, my sweet heart. I took a deep breath and locked the room from inside. I sat beside her; if she will see someone sitting like this on her bed she will be scared. I do not want to scare her. I woke her up softly. ‘Baby, your Shona is here. I came to meet you’ I whispered in her ears. She moved and opened her eyes, she looked at me. She rubbed her eyes and again stared at me. She looked around the room confirming that she is at her home. She looked at me again and touched my arm ‘RV Sir?’ ‘RV sir…? What are you doing here?’ She panicked. ‘I came to meet you Baabu’ I replied keeping my hands on her face She sat on the bed and hugged me tight. ‘I cannot be yours, I cannot be yours Shona. Why did you say that in front of papa’ She cried ‘I cannot lose you Arohi, I am sorry for what I did. I will do whatever you say but please don’t say like this’ I said wiping her tears ‘Nothing can happen now, I said yes for the wedding’ She said ‘No No, baby please don’t say so. We will do something’ I tried convincing ‘Nothing can happen now Shona, I will meet you tomorrow then we will talk, please go from here now. It is too risky, if anyone comes in, we will be in a big trouble, please go’ She insisted ‘Where will you meet me tomorrow?’ I asked ‘I will call you and will let you know’ She replied ‘Please go, by the way how did you manage to come here. It is not possible to reach my room hiding from everyone’ ‘I just knew one thing that I want to meet you, I figured out the way’ I replied ‘You took a very big risk, please leave as of now. I am too scared. Papa is at home please’ She pleaded I kissed her forehead and stood up to leave, I told her that I love her more than anything in this world. As I got up, someone rang the doorbell. She freaked out. ‘Who could be here at this time’ She asked We looked at each other. ‘Look this is why I was saying, you should have not come here’ she said holding my collar ‘What if they come in this room?’ she panicked ‘I have locked the door, do not worry. I will leave once things are normal. Till then I will hide somewhere’ I said We tried to hear the conversation and figure out who would have come so late at night. All we could hear was - 3 men talking. I asked Arohi to empty the folded clothes so that I can hide behind the hanging ones in her closet. She arranged her folded clothes and made space for me to hide. ‘Arohi open the door’ her father called out. ‘Ohh Nooo...Ohh God. Its papa’ she freaked out. ‘Wait I will get inside the closet, you go and open the door. Be calm please else they might doubt.’ Bang bang bang... ‘Arohi open the door’ too many voices in repetition shouted. They banged so hard that I feared just few more bangs and the door will break. I climbed inside the closet adjusted myself, I told Arohi to behave sleepy though her sleep by now was completely vanished. She closed the closet and gathering courage went to open the door. She opened it. ‘What the hell did it took so long for you to open the door?’ Her father asked angrily ‘I was sleeping papa, sorry I did not hear the knock’ she replied. Her mother switched on the light and confirmed looking at Arohi that she is okay. ‘Haan sahib, that thief climbed through the balcony of this room’ one of the guards spoke ‘Thief…?’ Arohi asked in astonishment ‘Yes babyji, I am guard for your opposite building, I saw a thief climbing the pipe and jumped in your balcony. I came running to your society and told the incident to Sitaram (Arohi’s society watchman)’ ‘You ok Arohi? Did anyone come here?’ Priya asked ‘No Dii, there is some confusion. No one came to my room. Balcony is already closed and I heard no noise.’ Arohi said I could hear all the conversation clearly; this was the only thing left, other society’s watchman catching me climbing Arohi’s room.