CHAPTER 1
(Previously)
Abha was scrolling through her newsfeed reluctantly going through all the party pics and photos of fests and people coming back from their vacations. This bored her. As she was just about to return to her studies, she came across this very interesting quote that caught her eyes. She had never read this before. It said “We don't have a lot of time on this earth. We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about mission statements.” Her heart screamed at these lines. This is what she believed in. She couldn’t contain her joy. This was everything she felt all her life and here it was put into beautiful deadly words. She looked at the profile that posted it. “Who posted this?” she paused for a second. Then she realized that he was a known face. The guy had been in her friend list for quite some time now. But she never bothered to ping him. He seemed to get enough female attention anyway! But today, something in her called out to him. “I have to talk to this guy”, she decided. A fellow writer in her friend list all this time, and she had no idea! She had to speak to him, appreciate the writer in him. But what should she tell him? Just a “great post” will not suffice. Oh no! Words were everything to Abha. So she thought and came up with a very polite response. She waited in anticipation of his reply.
After doing all the chores that his mom had given him, Arav finally came home and closed the door of his room. It was pandemonium outside. He was craving a little peace and quiet, some “me” time. His last few dates did not go too well. It’s been 5 years since he actually was in a serious relationship. The last break up didn’t end too well for him. Arav had decided he had enough. He was just going to focus on his work and studies and music. “No more girls!” he would often tell himself. He sat down and opened his Facebook. In the browser he saw 1 message in his inbox. It was a girl. “Oh! I bet it’s another flirty text from some random desperate girl. That does it.” Something really twisted came to his mind and as he was getting ready to give her a rude reply, he checked her message. It was not the usual “hi” and “hello” or “great pic” that he used to get. No! This was a long paragraph of formal writing asking him to share his writing with other bloggers. It was a letter of appreciation. He felt humble and a little embarrassed. She thought he’s a writer but this was a movie quote. He had to rectify her. “Thank you for your kind words” He replied with as much politeness as he could possibly muster up and corrected her, “but I cannot take credit for this. It’s a quote from the movie I was watching last night. Not many people will agree to it though. I’m surprised. I’m actually a musician.”
“Oh is that so?’ But these lines are beautiful. Don’t you sometimes wonder how the words in literature and movies resonate so well with our daily lives?”
“Yeah. Well life is a movie, a play if I am to believe Shakespeare.”
“Oh! You read Shakespeare?”
“Had to... part of the job.”
“And what exactly is that?”
“I’d tell you. But then I’ll have to kill you. LOL” He smirked. “That’s another quote from my favorite movie TOP GUN by the way. Do you like watching movies?”
“Not that much. But I read all the books on which the major movies have been made.”
“Wow” Arav was really impressed.
‘A formal conversation such as this doesn’t hurt’, He thought to himself. He was looking forward to what she had to say.