The Friend Request(Part 2)

It was a new follow request on my social media from a stranger. I opened the app with a dull face and what I then encounter took me out of my feet. It was Derik. It was his request to follow me on some social media app. He still had the same profile picture which I once approved. 

It’s been two years today when I last spoke to Derik. Life in New York has been hard but I guess that’s what I wanted somewhere. I decided to shift to New York from Australia. Maybe I was running from things but confessing them was even harder so I chose to run. Run to the point till I stop and find a permanent closure for myself.

I deleted everything from my cell phone which belonged to him. His photographs,his number, his mails. It felt like a decade passed by. I wasn’t aware about his existence but I knew he was still breathing in some corner of the earth. I could feel that every day. Though my everyday was an effort to move on but in that effort some part of me used to stay behind and think about him. Next morning it was freezing cold. The streets of New York were laced with ice. I slipped into my heavy furry coat over my one piece, airbrush my curly hair into a messy bun, overloaded my eyes with mascara, dabbed my bright fuchsia lipstick on my lips and gave it a go to the office. The weather was unpredictable and I guess so was my day. My manager was in a different mood altogether, so he blessed me with couple of weird projects in which I was least interested to work but I have to. I was already working on something else. The air was heavy in the office. Derik was my only professional counselor and friend who used to save my ass from such scenarios. I used to save him up at home, he used to save me at work. Deal done. But this was New York. A New York without Derik.  

 A voice inside me whispered to me, “You can do it. I know you can handle it.” It was Derik. They were his words. Just to shut down the voices behind my ears, I refilled my cappuccino mug and kissed it one more time to take a sip of it. It felt he was sitting next to me and laughing and saying, “you still look stupid. Come, Lets gear up! Loads of work on your table Miss.” I felt him everywhere. I wish he was there around me. Unlike any other day I missed him today as well. And there I failed yet again to move on.

I wrapped my not so interested work, attended some meetings with the people I wish I would have never meet, ate my lunch alone and then headed back to my place. The moment I sat in my car, I quickly checked my notifications on my phone. It flashed some regular calls from my family, the how-about messages from my only best friend Genny and some account balance details which were not to miss. I quickly dismissed all of them until I found something not so regular. It was a new follow request on my social media from a stranger. I opened the app with a dull face and what I then encounter took me out of my feet. It was Derik. It was his request to follow me on some social media app. He still had the same profile picture which I once approved. I zoom in his picture and had a nice glare. I was looking at his picture after two years. No messages, No calls, no mails, no sign of existence. He knew I was alive somewhere. I knew he must be breathing somewhere. I was still angry. He was all cool and moved on. But what was this? Why is he doing this now? He has everything today, why does he even want to know about me? What is the point of following someone on social media and not talking to them even once! It’s like you are trying to be a friend but you already know nothing friendly could spring up.Is he trying to be a surveillance camera in my life? But that’s creep. Isn’t it? I am still angry. Very angry. He must know that.

My bones felt weak. I felt a sudden punch in my stomach. I didn’t respond to his request and drive my way back home. I tried to keep my focus on the road but my mind was loitering in the pages of the past. I somehow reached home. Had a glass of water, slipped in my bed without having any dinner and thought again. This time with the cup cakes on one side and phone on another I clicked the “accept” button and waited!

To know what happened earlier, click on the link below :

http://www.mylazygirl.co.in/2019/12/the-phone-call.html