Chapter 1 [ CHRISTIAN - MY LIFELINE ]

Ivanna

There's one more year left to complete the final semester. I'm trying my best to work on my studies and job both at the same time. Still, I'm lagging in studies because of my shift. I work in a call centre in the night shift, most of the time I'm found yawning in the class and sometimes sleeping on the last bench. I had good grades until my father died. He was the only support system for us. I never had to think about money and expenses. My mum never had to worry about monthly expenditures. Life became a complete mess after dad was expired. 

I'm counting the number of days that are left to finish my studies. I'll have to focus on my job completely to support my family. I tear down the page of my journal where I was making a plan of upcoming days. I knew making a timetable is useless when I have to spend half of the day in college and half in the call centre.

     "Another page is wasted", Ava utters while taking a sip from her cold coffee. We are sitting in the college canteen and she was observing me for a long time. Ava is my BFF. We had known each other since high school. She is complete the opposite of me. I'm a little shy, introvert, less speaker but she is bubbly, lively and of course too much naughty.

     "Ava. I'm trying to set up a plan", I tell her, taking out a fresh paper. 

     "Like every day, then end up doing the same thing always", she taps on my back as I scratch my head with the end of my pen. 

     "Stop it Ivanna. You'll be late", she tells me.

     "I have a lot more time before the shift starts", I say while making a timetable again.

     "Silly girl, you were about to meet Christian today", she reminds me, tapping on my head.

Fuck! How did I forget that? I have to meet Christian today. He must be waiting for me at the nearby coffee shop.

     "Fuck! Ava! Why didn't you remind me of that earlier", I immediately put my stuff in my back to rush.

     "Oh girl!", she sighs. "When did you let me speak? I was trying to...."

     "Fine, fine", I interrupt her and give her a light hug. "Meet you tomorrow, bye" 

I run towards the college gate and make my way to the coffee shop. It's near my college so I have to walk for 2 minutes to reach. I reach there and look myself at the mirror which is placed on the entrance.

      "Eww. I look horrible", I throw a dirty look, looking myself into the mirror. After a whole hectic day, I'm supposed to look horrible. Arranging my hairs with my fingers I try to look little better. I know Chris won't mind however I look but which girl wants to look bad at her weekly dates?

Satisfied with my arranged hairs I walk into the shop. I find him at the same table we prefer to sit. It's at the corner of the shop and from the window next to the table we can enjoy a great view of the hills. 

     "Hey", I snap from behind as his back is facing me. He immediately turns to me and leaves his chair.

     "What made you so late?", he says while hugging me. I hug him back. 

     "You know... the schedule. I mean", I mumble.

     "Hey, I understand", he breaks the hug and smiles at me. "I know that my girlfriend is becoming responsible nowadays"

    "Still, I shouldn't make you wait for so long", I pout.

    "No problem, sweetheart. We meet once a week. I can wait for you at least", he smiles again. I cannot but kiss him right now. Why is so sweet every time? He kisses me back. Our lips fight with each other for 30 seconds then we release each other. Generally, our kiss lasts longer than this one. But we don't prefer to be extremely cosy at public places. He passes me a warm smile again.

     "Either you'll stop smiling or I'm taking you to the washroom", I shoot him a look.

     "Such a lovely warning", he smiles again. He knows that this smile of him kills me. So, he repeatedly teases me with that. I release myself from his arms as I go to my chair. He follows me and pulls the chair for me as I sit down. He too sits before me and opens the menu.

     "Latte?", he asks.

     "Sure", I smile at him.

He orders two lattes. We both prefer it on every date. 

     "How was your day?", I ask him casually. 

     "It was great. I had a few classes then the piano class. Same with the whole week. Boring and typical. What about you?", he says.

     "It was hectic. My whole week was hectic", I tell him, pressing my forehead with my knuckles.

     "Ivanna", he places his hand on mine. "Relax baby. Don't take much stress"

     "What should I do then? I need to save dad's printing press for my mum. If I don't start earning handsome money, how will I gonna save it? You know mum had mortgaged it to attain my education, she thought I'll be doing a great job in a while. But it's been 3 long years, I'm still stuck into a stupid call centre. They pay horrible", I vent out everything that I had been hiding inside me for the whole week.

This happens on our every date. I express my sorrows, pain, stress to him and it gives me some energy to survive for the next seven days. I lower my eyes and try to control myself. 

     "Hey calm down", he squeezes my hand. "You're taking excessive pressure on yourself baby. Did aunty say something to you about it?"

    "No. But I know what she feels", I almost sob.

    "Because you're silly", he pats on my hand. "She doesn't feel like this way. She knows that you're working hard every day.  And people don't get things at once. It needs time. You need to be more patient", he consoles me they way he always does. 

His words may turn older, those words still affects me, soothes me and touches me deeply. I shake my head and look at him with a smile.

Christ and I are dating for the last five years, from high school. We, including Ava, were in the same school. We love each other madly. The depth of our love is immense, so much strong that we couldn't even survive without seeing each other for a day. However, things changed with time. We got admitted ourselves in different colleges, my father suddenly passed away, I had to work for livelihood. We met hardly at that time, once a month or sometimes several months passed we couldn't meet. Gradually, things changed again. After we were stable in our lives again we started meeting twice a month, then finally once a week. It was tough for us to hold a relationship while so much chaos was happening around. But I'm glad that with all ups and downs we survived in a relationship. 

    "By the way, what're your plans for this weekend?", he asks, taking a sip from his cup.

    "Nothing. I'll be sleeping", I say.

    "You'll sleep for the whole weekend? Is it possible?", he asks. 

    "I haven't slept for the whole week. So I think it's possible for me"

    "That's right. You're having lack of sleep", he utters, I feel disappointment in his voice.

    

    "Did you have any plan?", I ask him. 

    "No. No, I just asked you", he mumbles.

    "Come on. I know you wanted to say something. Speak up or else…"

    "Or else?"

    "I'll splash this latte on your face"

    "What?"

    "Yes"

    "You behave like a crazy person sometimes", he laughs.

    "Yeah. Yeah. Now tell me", I say, throwing a blank look.

    "I wanted to invite you to my piano sessions", he smiles.

    "Wow. Really? Do you want me to come there?", I snap. I have never visited there neither I had listened to his piano tunes live. He doesn't have his piano because he still can't afford to buy one. He had been sharing his masterpieces with me through recording. I'm hell excited to hear him live.

   "But you need rest", he says.

   "Are you mad? I was kidding. How can I sleep for the whole weekend?", I laugh?. "I wanna come. Please, Please"

   "You don't need to request like this baby. I'll pick you this Saturday", he beams. He becomes happy after I agreed to join him. It's been a long time we visited somewhere else. This is the only place where we are meeting for the last 2 years. Such a boring couple we are! But our love story is my favourite. We share a great understanding and have been loyal towards each other till now.