It was just another day at work, mundane, bland and as usual I was multitasking – switching my view from the software that I work on to the many pages on chrome ranging from Gmail to Facebook – whilst keeping my mind off a chatathon which had commenced in the neighbouring cubicle.
That’s
when I saw your name on the Gmail chat list in green – available – and that’s
how my very perfectly mundane day ceased to end.
For
one whole minute I couldn’t take my eyes off your name. You were online and
your chat status signalled that you were available. How I wish you WERE
available.
Suddenly
the world around me seemed to dissolve into a deep abyss. I was oblivious to
the passersby or the chatter. I could neither shift to the software I was
working on nor to another tab on the browser. I fell into a pensieve,
revisiting memories that I had kept hidden for some time now.
I
remember getting excited whenever your name appeared on the chat list ensuring
endless conversations ending with a smile on my face. In that little box on the
corner of the screen, I shared my secrets, my joy, my pain and my world with
you. That little box was where we met, day after day, strengthening our bond,
closing in the distance that lay between the two of us. It was in that little
box that I fell in love with you.
One
day, you turned from green to grey. Perhaps you need some time away from being
green was what I thought. Little did I know that you would choose to remain
that way forever. The little box – my escapade, my Pandora – only popped up
when I had a lament against you or when I lashed at you out of feminine
frustration but it never turned green.
I
came out of the pensieve and found myself still staring at your name. The
chatter around me hadn’t ceased and I have no clue if some passerby had caught
me staring at the screen. I couldn’t care less.
I
stretched my hand longingly towards your name to feel it half hoping that I
could feel your finger touching mine. Hopeless me but I waited. Thought you
would open the box for old time’s sake. I waited, but it only took a few
seconds to uncross my fingers.
You
were gone. Your name went from green to grey.
