She stood there in the hallway. Waiting for a sign, trying to think rationally and make some sense out of what she was about to do. NOTHING, nothing made any sense.
“Oh for the love of peace, DON’T PANIC.” This was probably the hundredth time she tried to calm herself down. But no amount of reasoning or pacifying seemed to help. This was it. Her first and probably, last chance to set things right. She had to tell him; tell him that she loved him. She always did, from the very beginning…….
Shawn and Sherina had been best friends since they didn’t even know what the two words meant. Being the only offsprings of two extremely close families, it’s no surprise that they could barely live without each other. Their parents would often joke about how those two were ‘programmed’ to be companions. They were brought up together, faced every situation together, they were the closest of friends. So close, that even after her parents died in a plane crash, he made sure that she ended up living with him and his family instead of going ten thousand miles away to live with her aunt. Somehow, Shawn couldn’t bear the thought of living without his ‘best friend in the whole wide world’. So, he forced his parents to shoulder her responsibility. He knew that his parents were not that keen over the idea of two young adults living under the same roof; he knew about the rumours that began to spread around the neighbourhood; he knew everything…and he didn’t care, because he also knew what the truth was, that their friendship, no matter how close, was as pure as could be. Such was the strength of their friendship. Their college mates would frequently refer to them as ‘a couple’. And even though she’d pretend to laugh it off and deny it, in her heart of hearts, she saw him as much more than just a friend. He was her knight and shining armour and she hoped with every fibre of her being, that someday, he would tell her that he felt the same way. Until then, she would just have to keep mum. That was her plan……uptil last week. Uptil the time Shawn got an offer to his dream job, uptil the time he declared that he was leaving the country forever. And that’s when she realised that she had to reveal her feelings. She had no choice; he couldn’t leave her and go. Maybe he was hoping for her to make the first move, just like she was for all these years. Therefore, she decided to tell him and eventually, accompany him to wherever he was going. So, standing in the hallway, she took one last look at herself in the mirror and headed for the door.
He was about to check in when she reached the airport.
“Where in the world were you??” He asked, angry at her for not coming earlier.
“I’m sorry. I got hung up at work. There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Well you better hurry up, I need to leave soon.” He replied.
“I love you Shawn. I always have…and I can’t see you go away. I can’t live without you.”
He was flabbergasted. This is impossible, he thought, she can’t love me. He didn’t know what to say to her, he’d never looked at her that way. To him they were ‘just friends’ – best friends.
“So?? What d’ you think??” she asked.
He didn’t know what to think. Everything was happening too fast for him to comprehend his feelings for her. And then he realised that he had to check in. What do I tell her? He thought. Hurting her was probably the last thing he’d ever want to do.
“Sherry…I….I didn’t know you felt this way….” All things considered, he was surprised his tongue still worked. His mind had switched to automatic pilot, making him say things without even thinking twice, “I’m so sorry…”
She felt the colour rise up to her cheeks. She couldn’t believe what she just heard. He didn’t love her??? How could that be possible? They were always together; they even lived together for seven years. How could he not love her??
No, she thought, I’m not going to cry, not in front of him. So she stood there, faking half a smile, while he went on and on about how important their friendship was to him, and despite how horrible he might sound at the moment, he didn’t want to lose his best friend.
“I hope you’ll understand Sherry.” He said.
“I do. Don’t worry Shawn. I get it. You have a safe trip okay.” She replied while hugging him one last time.
He knew that she’d been shattered. He also knew that he was the reason behind it, but he didn’t know what else to do. Everything had happened so fast…perhaps if he’d known about this earlier, he might have just told her he loved her too, just to see her happy. It’s not like he was in love with someone else anyway. But it couldn’t be helped now. The damage was done.
“I think I should leave……..”, he said, “Goodbye Sherina.”
“Goodbye”, she whispered, lowering her gaze to the ground.
*FOUR HOURS LATER*
As he boarded his flight, he couldn’t help remembering all the times he’d spent with her. He closed his eyes, and thought about what she’d said. And for some strange reason, he felt himself smiling. He tried to force himself to feel remorseful over the fact that he’d hurt the only person he ever cared about; instead here he was, smiling his heart out. “She loves me,” he said to himself, “she said she loves me.” And just at that moment, her radiant face flashed before his eyes. He couldn’t imagine living without her either; she meant the world to him. What he couldn’t understand though was why he felt so happy over the fact that she loved him. They’d always been the best of friends, but he didn’t feel like ‘just a friend’ anymore. He felt more than that, he felt like he belonged to her.
“Oh my God, I love her too.” He never felt more insane in his entire life. How come I never realised this earlier, he thought, I love you Sherry..I’m just the world’s biggest idiot for not understanding my feelings for you until now.
“Sir, would you please fasten your seat belt, the flight’s about to take off.”, said the airhostess, pulling him away from his thoughts.
“Oh I’m not travelling with this plane…. I need to get outta here!!” And with these words, he quickly got his luggage down and began to run towards the exit.
Once he reached outside the airport, the first person he tried to call was undoubtedly, Sherina. He dialled her cell-phone number a couple of times, but no one picked up.
“Obviously, she must be so depressed after the way I treated her.” He thought.
So he tried the house number. This time, his father picked up.
“Hey dad is Sherry home? I need to talk to her.”
And what he heard next sent him gasping for air…………………………
“Sherina’s in the hospital. She’s paralysed !!!”
( to be continued…..)
