JOY FILLED HEART
THE curtains of the day had fallen, but Joe and Lisa were still on the road en route to the place no one but Lisa knew.
"Why the church?" Joe asked
“The place we are going cannot be found on any map. It is very remote. The only famous place close by is the church. "
“By the way, Why the ASCII and the Latitude and Longitude”
“I just wanted to make sure you came because you wanted to come and not because you couldn't turn down my request. From what I know about you wouldn’t have cared to decode the message if you were not interested with me anymore... Am I not right? "
“Yeah, absolutely, " Joe corroborated her observation.
Lisa pulled over the car and said, pointing at a building farther down the hill," That's our destination ".
Within a few minutes Joe's car rushed through the gates of the two storied villa with the name Jolly Villa engraved on the compound wall.
“You must be tired. Take a shower. I'll make dinner for us in the meantime. "
"Alright...Where's the bathroom?”
“Oh, I forgot. The room on the left is yours and there is an attached bathroom.”
"Okay ".
Joe didn’t realize that he had been in the shower for more than half an hour until Lisa knocked at the doors asking if it was going to take him forever. Dinner was ready when he came out wearing a black pants and T- shirt.
"You have changed, huh" asked Lisa kind of teasing him.
"I thought was a good idea to pack some clothes.”
“Come sit. I did know about your taste of food, so I haven't prepared anything special. "
“It’s okay. I can go with any food ". But that's not the matter. You didn't tell me anything about you, Lisa"
"Today's your day. You tell me everything today. I will answer all your queries tomorrow. Today is just not right for it”
“You were the one who stopped me, remember?”
“Hey, did it make you feel bad. I'm sorry. It’s because we had to get here early" said Lisa placing her hand over his hand. "
“OK, like I was saying, I had figured the convocation day to be a perfect day for confessing my feelings for you. I still remember everything. It was a very proud day for all. All most everyone's parents were there.
When the official function was done and dusted, I started to search for a reason to get away from my parents. I was confident that I could find a moment to talk to you alone. Luckily my parents found Manu’s parents and got busy talking. I excused myself pretending to let them have parents to parents chat.
Almost around this time you walked away from your parents for some reason unknown to me. It felt like God had showered his blessing upon me. But that belief didn’t last for long. I had almost started walking towards you when Shruthi and her gang surrounded me and began flirting with me. I don't know whether you had noticed, but she had a big crush on me. Though I had made it clear to hear that I was not interested, she wouldn’t quit.
By the time I managed to get away from them, you were not there. It was like being on the final level of a game and the system crashed. I started searching for you everywhere. When I found you, you were walking towards your car. I don't know how that thought came into my mind and I didn't think twice about it in that panic. I tore a paper from a book I found lying on the ground. I wrote what I had to tell you on that made a rocket and flew it towards you. But it got caught in the wind and fell into the water and you were gone. "
Joe ended his long narration with a sigh. Now it was Lisa's turn or rather that's what Joe expected. But that was not quite what happened.
“Hmm. I always wondered what made you use a paper rocket. That isn't quite like you. "
“Wasn’t “Joe corrected Lisa.
“Wasn’t?”
“Yeah, things have changed a lot after that. It made me realize, I have to what my mind tells me without further hesitation or I'll suffer”
“Then it’s nice that you didn't have that day as you planned. It changed you in a good way. "
“I told this much about me. When are you going to unwind your string of mysteries? "
“Patience, Joe... Patience. You waited this long. Just one more night. Please... "
“Okay, okay. But it shouldn’t change to day after tomorrow ".
“No, it won't. I give you my word"
“By the way, why are you not on Facebook and WhatsApp anymore?” He had tried many times to reach her on Facebook and WhatsApp as her number no longer existed but only to be disappointed.
Lisa became serious again. “I’ll tell you that too tomorrow”
Joe and Lisa continued this conversation talking about irrelevant things till their eyes were so heavy with sleep that they couldn't stay awake any longer. Lisa showed Joe to his room where he slept with a joy filled heart.