It was the beginning of the summer of 2021. The previous few months had been very tough on me - a covid infection that almost ripped out the last bit of life left from me, a job that was increasingly becoming difficult to manage, and all the post covid complications. I had become positive around Christmas, and had a dreadful period leading onto the New Year when I had almost given up on life - so much so that I was sure that I was going to die. I guess the person writing my script up above had other plans, and I managed to survive the dreaded disease. A few weeks of recovery in Kerala, and I was back in the garden city living the old life.
By March the physical effects from covid were almost gone, but the mental scars remained. Most people dont realise the mental and emotional toll that covid takes. I was at my rock bottom by that time - my confidence was all gone; and I was feeling very lonely. The fact that I was alone in Bangalore with my family staying put in Kerala didnt help either. Evenings after work were dreadful as I would stare into the empty house, and images of those days when I was fighting the disease for survival would come back to haunt me regularly.
That was when I was pinged one evening by a random account on my fake Facebook account. It started with just a simple "Hi" - like umpteen of them that I would get. Afterall these fake Facebook accounts resembles fishing. These "Hi" are the hooks that are dangled for fish to latch on to. Generally I would ignore those messages. But this time I decided to respond back with another "Hi". I still remember the date - its was March 27. Little did I realise my response that night was going to change my life for ever. That account was offline and I was not expecting anything to go forward; there are far too many chats like that in my Facebook account.
Two days went bye, and I had forgotten about it, And then on the night of March 30, I was parsing through the various erotic stuff that you get to read on Facebook on that fake account of mine. All of a sudden I had a message. It was in response to the previous "Hi" that I had sent out. Having nothing else to do that night, I started responding to his messages. He was a VG - obviously a fake id as mine. But there was something special in the way he spoke. It didnt take long for sparks to fly, and the chat session had almost covered three hours. I was literally engrossed and addicted in that conversation. Everything under the sun came up for discussion - there were equally good number of topics on which we agreed and disagreed; but never a dull moment all the while.
It was well past midnight, and sleep was starting to get the better of me. As I said I am feeling sleepy, he mentioned he would like to exchange numbers. I was never a proactive person when it comes to sharing my identity or phone number. And honestly, I was not planning to give him my number that night - no way I am handing over my number to a person whom I met online just a few hours now. By that time he had shared his number. It was one of those ouch moments - now that I have his number, what would he feel if I were not to share mine. But the fear that I am always wrapped in forced me not to share mine.
I had fear; at the same time I had curiosity as well. I had saved his number as a random name on my phone. The inquisitive me was out to find out who he is - I opened the social media apps - Whatsapp and Telegram just to see if he had a display picture in either of them. There was nothing in Whatsapp; and I was strangely disappointed. Telegram was something that was not used extensively; so I had no hopes of getting a display picture there. But my curiosity forced me to open that app, and to my absolute surprise there was a picture of him as a display snap. OMG!!! He was dead drop gorgeous. Have I hit a jackpot? It was always difficult to find someone who matched your wavelength in these fake Facebook profiles. I had found one; and as an added bonus he happens to be seriously handsome as well.
My fear and apprehensions dissipated in absolutely no time. It was replaced by an insatiable urge to befriend him. But then I had said that I am afraid to share my details to him. How do I change my stand now? I had to find a way by which he asks for the same. Somewhere I had realised that he was as scared as me about being opened up. I wrote to him that he was handsome. He didnt expect that from me. I told him that I have seen him from his Telegram display picture. Sheepishly he realised that I was telling the truth; and he asked me if I could share my snap now that I have seen him. I was just waiting for that. I scurried through all the snaps that I had of mine, and sent him the best one of mine. Phew!!! I am exposed in front of him as well. The perpetually scared human being that I am, it should have worried me. In turn I was excited. A surge of energy was sweeping through me.
That night when I called it a day, I was flying. I was happy as crazy. I know then itself that I had stumbled upon something very special. And how right I was on that!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment