“Hello all, this is my first attempt at a story… so please bear with me!!”

She sat in her favorite chair sipping her hot tea. It was a beautiful day, the morning breeze touched her gently leaving her skin respond with those tiny little goosepimples. The mist did a splendid job by covering all the slums that she could otherwise see from the 16th floor balcony. The lonely red rose that blossomed for the first time in her balcony’s garden swayed gently splashing the dewdrops on her hand. She felt fresh and rejuvinated, a feeling she hasnt had for ages now.

Just 22 Jina looked 40. Her face has become the pallet of numerous wrinkles with all the worries that never seemed to end, her eyes were always swollen every morning as she wept herself to sleep the night before, she felt exhausted at the end of every single day not just physically but mentally as well. Jina did not love the person she was now. It has been 3 years since she sat there looking at herself in the mirror and smiling at the person she was looking at…3 years since she went shopping to buy clothes, jewels, shoes, perfumes and anything she felt like…. 3 years since she aimlessly sat around in the night watching horror movies and eating popcorn…. 3 years since she hung out with her girl friends and smiled gleefully at the handsome hunk around…. 3 years since she has been herself… 3 years since she lived! And to think that it was her choice to be this way? She couldnt believe it.

She still remembered the day Anup walked to her, two years senior in college Anup was the talk in the girls hostel. Her seniors were always raving about him. Jina only saw him after 2 months of her freshman year. “Oh! This guy is really handsome, who is he“ - she remembered wondering, staring at him while she was in the canteen waiting on her classmates to join her to discuss their project work. She realised this smart guy was walking towards her and she so badly wanted to turn away, maybe even look at the other guys but she couldnt. He approched her and pointed to the chair next to her - “Can I sit down here?”
“Well, ummm..yes, sure.. why not.. ofcourse you can..”.
He simply smiled, the dimple on his right cheek gave an extra character to his already handsome face.  She still couldnt take his eyes off him. He held his hand forward - “Anup, 3rd year ECE“. “Ahhh!! no wonder these girls couldnt stop talking about him. This guy is really a blessing on this college”.
“hmm..oh…I am Jina, first year ECE“.
“Nice meeting you Jina, thats a lovely name…..” and she never heard the rest of what he said. All she could remember was the dimple that occasionally came out when he smiled, his sparkling white teeth, his soft dark hair and the little pimple that was the only distraction on his otherwise perfect skin. She could never forget that day. That was the day she fell in love for the first time!

Slowly their accidental meetings seemed to increase as if desired by mother nature and then their planned meetings. Anup met Jina almost every other day in the college canteen causing Jina to be the object of envy of most of her hostel-mates. Friendship turned to love and it was June 10th, 4 days before she had to pack her bags for her first year vacation that he proposed. Jina did not respond but her gleaming eyes spoke a million words …. of excitement and happiness. They sealed the day with the most romantic kiss and he walked her back to the hostel. Their love grew and her interest in studying slowly weaned. All she wanted was to hug him, kiss him and be with him. When she was with him she spent her time kissing and staring at him and when she was away she spent her time dreaming about him. Very soon another year passed away, another year of low grades, lying to parents, numerous visits to theatres, uncountable kisses and red roses for Jina. For Anup it was a very successful year, he had found his lady love, was finishing his fourth year and was to leave college, was the year’s gold medalist and already had a high paid job in one of the MNC’s in Mumbai.

While Jina was happy about his job and all his accomplishments she was deeply sadened by the thoughts of having to live away from him. The last day of college they bid their tearful byes…he promised to come and visit her ever so often and she promised to study hard and join him in Mumbai soon. To her it seemed to be the tragic end of a very beautiful story.

Back home she could not stop thinking about him and all that he did….the roses he sent to apologise when she was angry, the disney movies he watched with her though he hated them, the way he patiently taught her engineering maths (ah, how she hated it..), his warm wet kiss, his handsomely contoured body, his captivating dimple….. The vacations seemed to move painfully slowly for the first time and her parents realised there was something wrong. Her mom kept asking her probing questions and she was not in a position to let her little secret out, atleast not yet! When she came back to college she was excited to get her freedom back. She threw her bags in her room and rushed to call Anup from the college canteen. He seemed happy and was enjoying his new job, he said he missed her but did not sound it and that bothered Jina. The next weekend she took a flight to Mumbai and there he was waiting to meet her in the airport with red roses. She ran into his arms and gave him a deep kiss. Anup was embarassed but was too excited to have her around and did not scold her for acting silly in a public place. They stayed in Anup’s apartment and that night was the best night of her life. She did not know how it all started but when it ended she was terribly glad it started. In the morning she woke up with guilt but just looking at him lying next to her she knew it did not matter. She loved him and they were going to get married anyways, werent they?

Her trips to meet him increased and were sponsored by Anup. He was always excited about her arrival, waiting for her with a bouquet of red roses and she spent all her days in college waiting to meet him. 3rd year in college was about to end and she realised she did not clear any of her internals which would mean that she cant move to the next year. She was shocked and scared.
“What will I tell my parents“.. I will tell them the course is very difficult, but I was the school topper… they will not buy it“.
She immediately called Anup… “Please send me some money, I need to meet you“.
“What happened sweety? Is everything alright?“.
“Dont ask me anything I need to come there and meet you now!“.
“Ok, check your bank in another 2 hours you should have the money“.
She took the first flight to Mumbai. As soon as she saw him she broke down…  “I cant write my exams, my internal grades are horrible. My parents are going to kill me. What will I tell them” …..she wept uncontrollably. He simply hugged her, took her back to the car and kept saying..“It is OK sweety. Dont cry! We will find a way“. The found a way after 2 days, monday morning when she was supposed to fly back Jina did not. She instead called her parents..“Mama, my exams are starting next week!”.
“Good luck Jina, am sure you will do well.. we are waiting to see you“.
“Mama, I wont be able to come for the summer vacations. I need to go to Chennai for a college project as soon as the exams get over“.
“But Jina its more than 8 months since we met“.
“I know Mama, I have just been so busy with all the college work. I will surely come whenever I get a break“.
“Ok.. We love you Jina and will miss you“.
“I love you too Mama. Bye, gotta go!“
It worked perfectly fine. She spent the rest of the vacation with Anup.

Another week and it was time for college to re-open. Jina would be repeating the 3rd year and not moving to 4th year along with her classmates. She was embarassed to go back but Anup insisted that she complete her college graduation. Atleast thats what he did till the positive sign appeared in the pregnancy test……

to be continued…