He Said Yes - Part 1

The First Yes

She was nineteen. He was twenty-three.

She was in love with him. Obviously. She didn’t know if he loved her back. She hoped he did. That would make things a whole lot easier. Her best friend could become her boyfriend, and it would become her perfect little world.

It was the age to dream after all.

She sometimes felt that he loved her back. She was certain he at the least felt strongly for her. But she was nineteen, at that was the age of uncertainty. And she knew that he didn’t believe that he would ever fall in love. Yet she hoped.

They did text each other all the time. If offered an extra hour, they would spend that talking to each other too.

Amidst all that conversation, she had never once plucked up the courage to ask him the one question that she wanted the answer to the most. “Do you love me too?” So they spoke about everything else, under and above the sun.

Until one day, he had to drop a female colleague late in the night. She waited till he had returned home, so they could chat before she slept. It was no more an option to sleep without doing so. During that much-awaited conversation. he seemed a little miffed… irritated with her. Very unlike his usual self. She chirped away nonetheless, enquiring about his day and the like. There was no chirping from his end, just mild one-word grunts.

“Is something the matter?” she finally gave in and asked

“No”

“Really?”

“Do you really not care?” Came his reply. She couldn’t gauge his mood from this text, though usually she was quite adept at it.

“I’m asking because I do. Is something wrong?”

“Do you really not care that I dropped a girl off alone at 11:00 pm?!” – So he wanted her to be jealous? A little sprout of hope sprang up, but she shushed it.

“Why would I be? She is just your colleague right?”

“Erm ….yes”

“Then..?”

“Aren’t you worried that it might be more?”

“With her?”

“Uh huh”

“Well, should I be ….Can I be?”

*Long Pause*

It was getting late and she was sleepy despite her heart racing.

This would have been a very awkward silence, had they been having this conversation face to face, an imp told her. She contemplated turning off her cell phone and going to bed. To hell with men. The light of her phone came on, signaling incoming text in the silent mode.

Sleepiness disappeared and the heart was now pounding away on over drive.

“…”

To hell with men!!! The voice in her head screamed. She was about to turn the damn thing off. The cell phone, not the voice in her head, when it lit up again.

“Yes”

The clock struck twelve.

Hah …. Can hearts beat faster than the speed of light? The sprout of hope was now a little sapling with shoots. She ignored it as best as she could.

“Yes…?”

“Yes you can be worried”

Followed immediately by another text from him: “No...I mean you don’t have to be worried… shoot”

She waited patiently. Knew he would be confusing his head, and finally decided to just ask.

“Do you …. You know?” was all she could manage

(Links to Part 2 and Part 3)

“Yes”