Let Me Touch You!

She again looked at the street, her eyes searching that one face among the throng of boys playing gully cricket but to no avail. She wanted to look at his smile, which was reserved especially for her but no such smile came.

The boys dispersed after some time but she still stood in her balcony, wanting to see that one face she longed to see.

She wanted to ask the boys, where he was but was afraid. Afraid of the answer. 

But, her curiosity and her longing took hold of her and she sprinted downwards, looking for his best friend. She found him just as he was going towards his home, his cricket bat in his hand. She asked ( panting), " Hey Palash, Do you know where Sushant is?" I wanted to ask him about some assignments."

Palash looked a bit alert and hesitant. A line of worry crossed his features briefly, then he schooled them, remembering something. He said in a casual tone, " No, I haven't seen him in days. I don't know where he is."

Shikha looked shocked and bewildered, not believing a single word he said. She knew that he knew very well, where he was and why he was not replying to her messages but he was not telling her. She tried again, " Are you not in contact with him? Is he out of town?"

Palash again looked worried and hesitant, a mysterious look was etched on his face this time. It was like he was hiding a secret and telling it, would be, breaching the trust of his best friend. So, he said, " Shikha, I don't know, where he is. I would appreciate it if you stop asking me. I have things to do." and he all but, fled away from her, before she could ask any more questions.

Shikha was worried as to why Sushant had suddenly stopped messaging her. They had a huge argument ( more, like a fight) that day and she had shouted at him for being so irresponsible. He had lost almost 20 Lakhs, which she had borrowed from her father, without his knowledge in share market and now there was nothing left and instead of apologizing to her and finding a way to bring back the money, he was asking for more. She has short-circuited on him that day and shouted at him for his irresponsible behavior. She was afraid that if her father gets to know, everything would be finished.

Sushant knew about this, actually knew better than her. But, the money was lost and he couldn't do anything. He had realized that the share market with its options and futures was very risky but that was all he knew how to do. It was due to a sudden dip in the market due to the pandemic Coronavirus, the market had plunged and hit his stop loss, making him loose 20 lakhs within a fraction of second.

He was more devastated than her. But still, he had summed up his courage to come and tell her. Tell her what had happened, how it had happened but she was not ready to listen. As soon as he heard that the money was lost, she just started shouting at him. She was angry beyond words because she had trusted him completely and given him the money he craved for. She had believed all his promises and when he had done a profit of 10,000/- rupees, she had been convinced.

But, now everything was lost. 

He had thought about it and the only way to recover money was to invest again and do some intra-day trading again to recover the losses piece by piece. 

But she was not ready to listen. She was just going in a frenzy, shouting at him.

Now, she stood, feeling guilty in her balcony as to where he was and why wasn't she able to reach him. She looked at the sky and asked, " Where are you Sushant, please answer me."

And just then, her doorbell rang.

His father entered and said, " Do you know, Sushant committed suicide?"

---The END...

Markets and relationships are subject to market risks, please invest carefully. Both your emotions and your hard-earned money.