MrDreamy
Epic Legend
Some doors are never closed
When Mira returned, Kabir was among the first to reach out. He had missed their old conversations and hoped they could pick up where they had left off.“कहाँ गायब हो गई थीं तुम?” he asked.
“बस, थोड़ा सब से दूर थी।”
“मुझसे भी?”
She replied with a laughing emoji. He wanted to ask what her silence had meant, but let it pass. At first, he kept trying. He shared songs she used to love, sent her silly updates, and asked about her day. Mira responded warmly enough to keep his hopes alive, but rarely stayed long.
One evening, he wrote, “कभी-कभी लगता है, तुम्हारे पास अब मेरे लिए टाइम ही नहीं है।”
“ऐसा कुछ नहीं है, Kabir. बस busy रहती हूँ।”
He typed I miss us, stared at it, then deleted it.
Arjun was still her boyfriend, though his calls remained uncertain and their meetings stayed promises.
“आज बात हो पाएगी?” Mira asked him one evening.
“कोशिश करता हूँ, Mira।”
“तुम हमेशा कोशिश ही करते हो।”
“यार, बहुत कुछ चल रहा है। समझा करो।”
She was upset, but his affectionate message later that night was enough to soften her.
Around then, she began noticing Anurag in an online group. His sarcasm made her laugh.
“मैडम, आपकी बातों में ड्रामा कम हो तो ऑस्कर वाले खुद चलकर आएँ,” he commented.
“तुम्हें बहुत समझ है न ड्रामे की?”
“नहीं, लेकिन आपकी क्लास में एडमिशन लेने का सोच रहा हूँ।”
“एडमिशन मिलना इतना आसान नहीं है, जनाब।”
“फीस कितनी है?”
“आपके बस की नहीं।”
Their talks soon moved into private chats. Mira started sending him memes, sharing random thoughts, and messaging first just to make him laugh. One evening, she sent him a selfie.
“कैसी लग रही हूँ?”
“तारीफ़ सुननी है या ईमानदार राय चाहिए?”
“तुमसे तारीफ़ की उम्मीद करना ही मेरी गलती है।”
“अच्छी लग रही हो, Mira।”
She sent a heart emoji.
“देखा, इतना मुश्किल भी नहीं था।”
A moment later, she added, “वैसे, ये दिल वाला emoji देखकर ज़्यादा खुश मत होना।”
Anurag replied with a laughing emoji. Mira put her phone aside, smiling.
A little more than general chats
Mira remembered Anurag's favourite songs and asked about things he'd mentioned days earlier. Sometimes she'd stay up chatting with him long after saying goodnight.Kabir noticed the change before she acknowledged it. She was active in the group, laughing at Anurag's jokes, yet his own messages remained unanswered for hours. He tried once more.
“इस रविवार बात करें? जैसे पहले किया करते थे?”
“देखती हूँ, Kabir. थोड़ा काम है।”
On Sunday, he saw Mira and Anurag joking together in the group. He waited for her to message him later. She didn't. The next day, he sent her a song that had once meant something to them.
“याद है?” he wrote.
“हाँ बहुत पुरानी बात है।”
He began typing less often. He stopped sending songs, stopped asking when she'd be free, and stopped finding excuses to start conversations. Mira barely noticed; by then, Anurag had become part of her daily routine.
“वैसे, तुम्हारी girlfriend है?” Mira asked Anurag one night.
“क्यों? रिश्ता भेजना है?”
“पहले जवाब दो।”
“नहीं है। अब खुश?”
“मैं क्यों खुश होऊँगी?”
“आपने पूछा है। कुछ तो वजह होगी।”
“ज़्यादा खुशफ़हमी मत पालो।”
A few days later, Anurag mentioned chatting with another girl from the group. Mira's replies grew noticeably shorter.
“क्या हुआ?” he asked.
“कुछ नहीं।”
“आज तुम्हारे ‘कुछ नहीं’ में भी गुस्सा है।”
“उससे बात करो न। मुझे क्यों पूछ रहे हो?”
“अच्छा! तो मैडम को फ़र्क पड़ता है?”
“मुझे किसी से फ़र्क नहीं पड़ता।”
She left him on read for an hour, then sent him a picture of something they'd joked about earlier.
He replied at once. She continued chatting as if nothing had happened.
Another evening, Anurag asked about Arjun.
“आज बात हुई तुम्हारी?”
“क्यों? उसकी attendance लगानी है?”
“Boyfriend हैं तुम्हारे। पूछ सकता हूँ।”
“मिलते तो हैं नहीं, बात भी मुश्किल से होती है। अब खुश?”
“मिले भी नहीं अभी तक?”
“हर बात का हिसाब देना ज़रूरी है?”
“नहीं। बस समझ नहीं आता कि तुम इतना इंतज़ार क्यों करती हो।”
Mira didn't answer. Instead, she asked if he was free to talk, then kept him company for another hour.
“तुमसे बात करके अच्छा लगता है, पता है?” she wrote before he logged off.
“सिर्फ़ बात करके?”
“Anurag!”
“अच्छा, चुप।”
“Good boy ”
He laughed, but the message stayed with him long after the conversation ended.
The unanswered question
Kabir's messages became rare. He no longer asked Mira to make time for him or tried to revive their old closeness. Yet he hadn't quite let go. One night, he opened their chat and scrolled through old conversations. He found a voice note of Mira laughing at one of his terrible jokes. He played it twice, then closed the chat without writing anything.Mira, meanwhile, was waiting for Anurag's reply. After she'd complained about Arjun cancelling another call, Anurag asked:
“अगर वो तुम्हें इतना इंतज़ार करवाता है, तो तुम इस relationship में खुश कैसे रहती हो?”
“हर चीज़ perfect नहीं होती।”
“सही है। लेकिन कोशिश तो दोनों तरफ़ से होनी चाहिए।”
“तुम्हें लगता है मुझे ये सब समझ नहीं आता?”
“समझ आता है। फिर भी तुम उसी के साथ रहना चाहती हो।”
“क्योंकि वो मेरा boyfriend है।”
Anurag paused, then asked quietly, “और मैं?”
Mira sent him a heart emoji, then deleted it before he could respond.
“तुम मेरे बहुत अच्छे दोस्त हो,” she wrote.
“कल रात तक तो मैं इतना अच्छा था कि तुम सोने नहीं दे रही थीं।”
“तो क्या हुआ? तुम्हें बात करना अच्छा नहीं लगता?”
“लगता है, Mira. शायद ज़रूरत से ज़्यादा।”
She stopped typing for a while. “तुम मेरे लिए important हो,” she finally said.
“मैं तुम्हें पसंद करता हूँ। दोस्त से ज़्यादा। और जब तुम कभी मेरे करीब आती हो, कभी मुझे सिर्फ़ दोस्त कह देती हो, तो समझ नहीं आता कि इसे कैसे लूँ।”
Mira continued chat without replying his question. They talked about random things, laughed, and avoided the subject until she grew sleepy.
“कल बात करेंगे?” she asked.
“हाँ।”
“पक्का?”
“पक्का।”
“Goodnight, Anurag
”The next morning, she sent him a funny reel and carried on as if nothing had happened. Anurag didn't raise the subject again immediately, though he was beginning to understand what staying close might cost him.
Kabir had reached a different conclusion. He stopped waiting for Mira to return to the friendship they once had. When she eventually messaged him a casual “कहाँ हो आजकल?”, he replied politely—but didn't try to prolong the conversation. She noticed the brevity, wondered why he had changed, then got distracted by Anurag's next message.
Arjun was still her boyfriend. Kabir was learning to let go. Anurag was still close, caught between the friendship Mira offered and the possibility her affection seemed to suggest.
Mira kept looking toward Arjun, reaching for Anurag, and forgetting that Kabir had once waited for her, too. She wanted to feel special to Anurag without changing the place Arjun held in her life.
