The corridor was deserted. Not a sound could be heard. The only source of light was the window at its end, from where the afternoon light was illuminating the darkness to some extent. The aura of the corridor gave the feeling of a morgue. Occasionally a light breeze would break the silence, and ruffle her straightened hair, which fell above her shoulders. She just stood there, looking out of the window at the sky outside. There was no one in this dim and vacant corridor. The other end of the corridor ended in a T-point, leading to two more corridors, clearly brighter than this one with illuminating tubelights, leading away from this deserted one, and a worn double door between them, made of metal, with splashes of white paint on its glass windows and the doors swinging lightly off its hinges, and no signs of anyone's presence outside or inside. She never realized when the seconds melted into minutes and then into hours. Perhaps, loneliness was all that she wanted. Of course, she had stayed away from all her friends and family since... Who would really remember her after all those months? Moreover, who would she need to stand besides her, she had always stood there on her own feet, by herself. She was all that she had, and she had always been like that. She had always been a loner, a one man army, who had many friends and relatives, but none of them were those who were close to her heart, it had only been herself. Time passed and she stood there like a statue, staring out of the window into nothingness. Suddenly, the silent solitude was broken by a swift creak in hinges of the big double door which made her turn back. Someone had just pushed open those weary doors and entered the building. And he didn't choose those corridors to the sides, he decided to walk straight into this dark one. Seeing someone already standing at its end, he paused his swift walk. After some mental consideration, he realized who this lone girl was. His eyes widened the moment realization hit him. "Akki??" he muttered her name in shock, the whisper too drowning in the silence as it approached the end of the name. He doubled his pace to get to her. She kept standing there, looking at this transition that had just taken place in him. Even she had grown curious for a split-second when she saw him, but soon her curiosity was replaced with a tiny smile, and then again went back to her plain face. He came to a standstill only when he was right in front of her.
"Akki, you here..?" he asked inquisitively. She just smiled for an answer. Those warming and tired smiles. Even he smiled in return. From those old times of friendship, he knew that she just didn't want to speak at that moment. She looked away from him, her mind still wandering on unknown paths, while her feet stood at the exact same spot. After a couple of moments of silence, he held out his arms with a sweet smile and hopeful and consoling eyes, indicating a hug. Sensing movement in silence, she looked back at him and smiled, and hugged him as he closed his arms around her. Well, friends were meeting after quite a long time, a hug was meant to be. But it wasn't like those tight and refreshing reunion hugs that happened when friends met after a long time. The two seconds hug somehow lengthened and it all of a sudden became tight for a while, pressing her insides making them chill in the sudden warmth and solace to soul and make her give out a sharp exhale and grit her teeth and tighten her fists, her eyes closed tight, unknowingly hugging him tighter. Two more seconds, and they again went back to normal. She was looking at the floor. He was looking anywhere but her. After a second, they again looked at each other, with apparently blank faces.
Anupamaa
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