Chapter 14: chapter 14

  My phone rang, it's Nyra."Yes, Nyra" I answered her in  dull voice."Hey" she asked me gently, "Jamie said you've got periods. How are you?""Nothing big, cramps"."You need anything? If you wish me and Henna will drop by"."No, you know I don't like that. Just do your work"."Ana" she sighed, "We've been over this many times, you need to consult a Doctor. This cramp is very bad...""Okay Nyra, resume your work, Bye" I hung up before she can finish.I layed down on the bed in a foetus position holding my stomach. This cramp..this is the most powerful pain I experienced in my life. Every month it won't fail to show me hell. It'll be like 12 knives at the same time tearing my stomach till it ran out of blood. Of course, everyone has cramps during this time. But mine is worse, I could barely walk. My hip bones will fracture and makes me bleed to my death. I know the reason behind this..but..no..I can't disclose it to anyone, not even Jamie or Nyra or Henna. It's my own battle, I will face it. I don't need help from anyone.I rolled over and bit my tongue to bear this shit. I can't help it for 3 days..my friends know I don't like to be interrupted during this. So they won't disturb me until I'm ready.I tried to sleep..come on Ana! You can do it. Try to count from backwards...100...99..98..97..96..95...94...93...ugh..No! Dammit! It's not working.Ok then, let's hear some music. I searched through Billie Ellish, Hasley, Ellie Goulding music and played some albums in my headphones. It worked for an hour. But again brain bought me back to the pain. No..No..take a deep breath Ana! You can do it!Fuck it! I don't have a choice. I took a sleeping pill and gulped it down with help of water. Ok, now you can do it!The pill worked, my eyes automatically closed to sleep. I went into a deeper hole surrounded by darkness. I stood there alone. But I heard that extremely wicked voice, "Hello sweetie! My buttercup"No! No! No! No! Stop it! I closed my ears."Look what I got for you" it continued, this time a little louder.No! No! No! I yelled loudly."I really love you so much, come here" that voice came near me."Aaaaah!" I screamed. I opened my eyes and looked around. Shit! It's just a dream! It's just a dream! You are good! You are good! I said to myself. My whole body started to sweat and made my shirt stuck with my body. I gulped down the water, to console my rapid heartbeat.When I couldn't do it anymore, I broke down. Bringing my legs closer to my chest, I placed my face down on the knee and cried. Why? Why this is happening to me?It continued for 2 more days and I failed to stop it. I cried, rolled out in pain, screamed and pissed about my condition. When it finally stopped, I got back to my normal and resumed my daily works.3 weeks later,   Chris and Me became best friend. Oh! Sorry..not only me. My gang also bonded with him. For the first two days, it was a bit awkward for them. But when they got common topics to discuss, they got attached.Whenever he was free, he joined us for weekend parties, movies. Sometimes, I felt he is happy with us.Today is Friday, We all were in my apartment. While I was preparing popcorn, the doorbell rang. I opened it, Chris stood wearing a Salmon coloured turtle neck long woollen sweater and black jean."Hey!" I smiled.He came inside, "Are you guys busy?""Chris, it's weekend. Come in" Aaron shouted.He went to take a seat with them. I resumed my popcorn preparation."One head is missing," he asked while sitting."Jamie" Aaron replied sadly, "He went on a date"."What's the matter with the gloomy faces?"I chuckled, "Tomorrow is a football match, these idiots forgot to buy tickets"."No, we tried. But it was sold out" Henna replied."Ugh..I can't believe that I'm gonna spend my weekend in baggy clothes, sipping my wine" Nyra leaned her head on the sofa with irritation."Guys! Is that your problem?" Chris laughed, "I can solve it".They became curious and came to their edge of the seat, surrounding him, "You can help us?""I'm a big fan of New England Patriots. I never missed their games. I can arrange tickets" he stopped, "VIP tickets".They all looked at each other unbelieving, "Chris, if you are teasing us, it'll end badly" Jake asked.He took his phone and dialled someone. After few minutes, he replied, "Well, 9 VIP tickets for New England Patriots".They all jumped in joy, "My weekend got saved...yeah..baby..all credits to Christopher" Nyra shouted happily."Chris, strike out one ticket" I came with my popcorn, "I'm not coming"."Why?""Ugh..I don't like this. I have another plan for the weekend"."Yeah, she hates football. We can go...football baby!" Aaron joyed, "I'm gonna tell this to Jamie. Sure he'll forget that he is on a date".Little barked with them happily, not understanding what is happening.When the time reached 10, everyone departed to their apartment, except Chris. He helped me with plates. I washed it and he wiped it with clothes."So, what's your plan for the weekend?" He asked wiping the plates."Oh..I'm going to meet a friend in The Roof"."Friend?" He raised his eyebrows."Umm..kinda..my ex-boyfriend" I smiled.He stopped wiping and looked at me, "I'm sorry, what did you say?""Yes, my ex-boyfriend" I nodded."Your..your..I mean.." he stammered, "I'm sorry, what..was that? You had a boyfriend""Mm-hmm..his name was Sam Barber. We dated for a year in college".He coughed, "Wow! A year!" He was completely surprised, "So, why does he want you to meet now?"I shrugged, "No idea. Out of the blue he called me and asked whether I'm free this weekend or not"."Oh...oh..oh..cool...cool..cool...""Chris, why are you blabbering?"He tried to be cool, "Nah! I'm not..I...I'm..I..Umm..kinda surprised that you had an Ex"."Why? I should not have Ex?""No..I didn't mean that..I mean..who..will dump a girl like you..that's what I meant"."Umm..we never disclosed this to anyone..only Jamie knew we are dating. But when things didn't work out, we broke up silently..well he kinda"."Can I come with you?" He asked suddenly.I was surprised, "But what about the game?""Oh..that thing..Nah! I can watch it later. So, what do you say? Can I come with you?""Umm..sorry..Chris, he asked me to come alone...so...""Oh! I can understand..no worries..ugh..it's getting late..I need to go..bye".He hurried to leave."Hey! What about remaining plates?" "You take care of it, goodnight" he left the apartment.What happened to this idiot! I shook my head and resumed my work.Chris came down, Dialling chuck. He answered after two rings, "Yes, Chris?""Do me a favour, Collect information about a guy named Sam Barber".Next day morning,     I reached the bar and occupied a table. It was an open rooftop bar that's why it called 'The roof' but they covered it fully with HAFG glass and an air conditioner to reduce the intensity of sunlight. In the background 'Your love by the outfield' played on the speakers."Your order Mam?" A waiter came near me."Oh..I'm waiting for someone" I replied politely.He nodded and left the table. I sighed and tried to recall him, Sam Barber,  Medium height, brown hair, blue eyes, carefree attitude and one of the bad boys in our class. I still couldn't believe how I dated that Jerk. He dated me only for a bet. Yes, boys in our class placed some kind of crazy bet that who will get the highest number of sex and I'm an idiot to fall into that bet. He waited patiently for a year and when he got what he needed he broke up with me."Umm..Ana?" I heard a soft gentle voice.I raised my head, Sam stood. Omg! He got completely changed. He was wearing a plain white shirt with brown pants, not a spiky leather jacket. He removed his ear pierce and his eyes had specs. His messy brown hair is now slicked back and his hand were free from tattoos."Hi, Sam" I replied unbelieving him.He took a seat. I couldn't still digest this as same Sam."Umm..how are you, Ana?" He asked."I'm fine..how are you?""Good" he tried to smile.A waiter came near us to take our orders. I ordered Margarita and he ordered lime juice. Awkward silence covered us."So, what you are doing?" He asked me."Umm..we you know my circle..we started a magazine..what about you?""I'm a freelance journalist" he adjusted his specs.Our order came and we started to sip our drinks."You may wonder why I asked you to meet me after all these years?""Umm.. kinda".He let out a breath, "I..umm...want to apologize for my behaviour. That's why I called you".I remained silent."I realised how I've been an asshole in College. I simply...umm.." he sighed, "I don't even have words to explain how bad I am. I'm sorry for the pain and trouble caused to you. I swear that I'm not that person anymore"."Sam, I'm not gonna lie. Yes, you hurted me. But now I'm happy that you realised your mistakes" I smiled, "I mean..this guy..I can't believe this as Sam Barber".His lips twitched into a smile, "Even I couldn't. It's true a girl can change your life. She made me realise how bad I was. She is the reason I'm apologizing to everyone I hurted".He is definitely not playing. His eyes sounded sincere, "I'm happy for you, Sam"."Thanks, Ana, for accepting my apology. Hold on" he opened his bag and handed me an invitation, "This is our wedding invitation. Hope you'll come there"."I'll try Sam, congratulations!" I shook his hand. We talked for another few minutes, he was head over heels for his girl. Strange! How Time changes everyone. "Ok Ana, I have a long list to apologise" he was ready to leave.We raised up, "Well, I need one clarification?""What?""I made you win the bet?"He lowered his head smiling, "You did"."Well, then you owe me one".He felt guilty."Come on, I was just kidding" I tried to loosen him."I'll meet you at the wedding. Best of luck Ana, One day you'll find your love"."I will".He nodded and left the place. When I ensured he left, I reached the table across from me and patted the shoulder of the guy who sat there, "Chris, I know that you are here to stand up" I crossed my arms.