Broke-up - Still friends

He held the screen fixed infront of his eyes. The green dial option was shaking and teasing him to use it. Seemed that it finally lost hope and the screen went off. Raj had been trying to call her. Her name was pressed from the contacts books in more than two minutes. It had been 10 minutes since he had not pressed the call button. His screen timeout had reached.

The phone vibrated. ‘Richa calling’ flashed on the screen. He forgot to switch from vibrate to ringtone. The mobile kept vibrating and he kept blankly looking at it. No feelings, no thoughts. He picked up the call and slowly brought the phone to his ears.

“Helllooooo. Raj?”

“Happy Birthday, Richa.”

“Aww, thank you. But you forgot na. You forgot my birthday. You were always the first one to call.” A very cheerful, excited voice was coming from the other end.

“Oh no, I didn’t.” his voice was heavy than usual. “I must have lost track of time.”

“You didn’t. Leave. Where is my gift?”

“I can’t do this.” Even heavier voice mixed with pain came out.

“Raj.” A pause followed. “We broke up but that doesn’t mean it will end our friendship. We will still remain good friends right.”

Silence was there and both needed it.

“Ok, where do you want the treat? Let’s meet at the Tikki wala, I haven’t been there for a long time. Don’t be shocked, we will then go to a good restaurant and have proper dinner.”

He was listening and breathing.

“You will come right?” The voice was a little concerning this time.

“Yes, I will surely come.” Raj said in a confident voice.

He removed his finger from the doorbell. Kept the mobile in his pocket. Placed the bouquet of flower on the doorstep and left.