India, Kolkata, present day.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Monday right?"

....................

"Yup, see you in college."

Sandip ended the call and sighed. That was his friend Mrinal, he was talking with. Their exams were fast approaching and after not attending any class the whole year, Mrinal had finally decided it was time to attend a few of them and extract whatever information he could from his teachers and, of course, Sandip.

Sandip had always been his friend-providing-benefits. He actually doubted if he considered Mrinal as his friend at all. But he could never say no to him. It wasn't in every case, just in the case of Mrinal. 

He picked up his coffee cup and wandered aimlessly around his apartment. After a while, he started feeling bored and went to his bedroom. He plopped down on his bed making it bounce. He placed his now empty cup on his bedside table and slowly picked up Sigmund Freud's 'Interpretations of Dreams'. He opened the bookmarked page and started reading.  

Soon one line caught his attention.

What happens to the thoughts which are forgotten?

Were they lost? Could thoughts really get lost somehow? He did not know. He looked outside through the window, overlooking the buildings on the other side of the road. He had never been the one to think deeply. But that line; he felt like the author was asking the same question he, himself, had always nurtured within his mind for three years.

Three years.

It had been three years since that cursed day.

He closed his eyes and leaned back. The heart ache had not lessened even after all these years. He had gotten used to it, yet not used to that familiar ache gnawing at his heart whenever he thought about him. It was not like he had not tried to suppress those memories, it was not like he had wanted to preserve those memories. It was just that he just could not let them go.

Liar, his subconscious whispered, You have always wanted to preserve your memory of those days. the truth is you will not let them go. 

He felt a shudder go through his body as he revived all the incidents from the alleys of his of the memories he so desperately wanted to forget some times.

It had all started some three and half years ago. Then he had been a freshman in college, a little desperate to make new friends before the students started judging him by his looks and clothes. He hated all those who did that and definitely hated all those who  let that happen without any protest.

He remembered that the first few weeks had been exceptionally hard for him. For the first time in his life, he had gone to live somewhere, however temporary though it maybe, without his family. However, after that phase was over, for the first time, he could understand the elating feeling of being free. Free from the constant ordering and commanding of his family. He was ready to live his life to its full extent.

It was Mrinal who had introduced him to the idea of having a pen-friend.

"So," one day Mrinal said, "Do you have a pen-friend?"

"Pen-friend?" Sandip had frowned. He had no idea what or rather who a pen-friend was.

Mrinal had raised one of his eyebrows like that was the most ridiculous question one had ever asked him.

"You really don't know anything about this?"

Sandip had just shook his head. No.

"Well... lets consider a person A. Now this A knows nothing about you and vice versa. Then one day, A sends you a friend request and you accept him. You guys become close enough to swap addresses and write letters to each other and bingo, you guys are pen-friends." 

Then Sandip had just smiled while he thought about the absurdity of the whole idea. Why would a stranger send him a friend request? And even if that ever happened, why to write letters when they could simply e-mail each other? He had mentally scoffed: "Pen-friends? My foot."

Now sitting on his bed with 'Interpretation of Dreams' lying open across his lap, while he looked outside through the window, he knew how wrong he had been. Sandip had met Joseph Lautner through Facebook. He did not know exactly what had urged him to accept his friend request. After a few weeks, his instincts were not wrong. Joseph Lautner had a certain way with his words. An acute sense of humor and an optimistic nature just added more charm to his personality. Sandip did not know exactly when they had started trusting each other.

He had loved chatting with him and there had been times when he had spent the whole night doing so. Their topic of discussion had varied from movies and celebrities to sports to Einstein to fashion to human psychology. That was, there had been nothing they did not talk about. He remembered, one day, they had even argued over which ice-cream was better - chocolate or butterscotch. Joseph had passionately defended the worth of chocolate ice-cream over butterscotch.

A smile crept up on his face. Those had been the best days of his life. Knowing that he had someone, besides his family, to whom he could unload his worries, with whom he could share his secrets, with whom he could laugh and talk freely without feeling worried about being judged, had made him feel secured and comfortable.

The day Joseph had asked Sandip's address had been the most difficult day in his life. A huge part of him trusted Joseph. However there was this small part inside him, that continuously reminded him of what he was taught from his childhood.

Never trust a stranger.

Joseph had been no  stranger to him. But still... 

He had asked Joseph whether he would give him his address to him. Unlike him, Joseph's reply came within a few seconds. Reading that, he had asked him how did he know that Joseph was not bluffing him. Joseph had counter questioned him: How can someone bluff another so perfectly without a single slip for four months? It had been as if Joseph could sense where Sandip had been hesitating. Instead of asking Sandip to trust him, Joseph had just let it be known to him that he trusted Sandip. Sandip had not needed anything else. He had happily exchanged addresses with Joseph.

-x-x-x-

Orlando, 3 years and 2 months ago.

Joseph woke up in the morning with his usual hatred for the alarm clock and his usual love for his warm bed where he had been cocooned under his covers just a few seconds ago. He had chatted with Sandip till three in the morning and had no idea how he was going to stay awake during the lectures. However he did not, for once, regret staying up so late at night. He smiled. Last night he had asked his address. When there was a delay in getting a reply, he knew Sandip was hesitating. He would not lie but that had hurt. He had trusted Sandip completely and had been completely himself with Sandip so far. Towards the end, he was starting to think that Sandip would decline his request. However, Sandip had not disappointed him.

He smiled. He had finally found a person whom he knew he could  trust and joke with. He was the only person to whom he had confessed about his inferiority problems. Well, Sandip had just went on blabbering about his childhood stage-performance-blunders and how he had once broken a mike and ran off the stage because he did not want to perform.

Those tales were not uncommon but they had helped him a lot in recovering from his inferiority complex. His witty remarks, his childlike comments  had added a notch of brightness and color to his life.

-x-x-x-

India, Kolkata, present day.

Sandip had kept the three letters Joseph had given to him - the first one described Orlando, the second one was on his obsession with Indian as well as Chinese food and the third, also the last, was an invitation Joseph had given to him to visit him in Orlando - carefully in his fire-proof case.

Sandip kept aside his book and completely lay down on his bed. It was getting dark outside but he did not have enough strength in him to get up and switch on the lights. He inhaled a shaky breath and slowly exhaled. As soon as he had received the last one, he had started preparing for his trip to Orlando. He had to lie to his parents about this - his college had decided to take the students to an excursion.

A week before the date of his flight, Joseph had informed him that he would be going to the Pulse the next night to meet a friend.

Had Sandip known how it would turn out, he would have kept chatting with him, would have somehow dissuaded him from going to the Pulse. But he had no idea.

He would never forget the date.

June 12, 2016

On the 13th morning when he had been going through the newspaper, he had come across that horrifying news. Pulse had been under terrorist attack. 49 people were killed.

Joseph.

That had been his first thought. He immediately ran to his room and texted him asking him whether he was alright. Then the painful wait started.

One minute, he thought, Just be patient for one minute.

That one minute turned into an hour. Two hours... three hours.

The clock ticked by. Still there had been no reply. Horrified and panicked, he typed in another message for Joseph. Then another. And another.

One whole day had passed. Two days... three days... 

He had already sent more than 100 letters to him and a letter yet none of them got any reply. Days turned into weeks which again turned into months. Sandip had been devastated. However numerous times his mind might had told him that it was all over,his inconsolable heart was not ready to accept it.

Soon, almost 6 months had passed. There had been no letters, no messages from him. It was like he never existed. Finally, he had started coming to terms with his absence. No, he had not forgotten him. He had finally accepted that it was time to respect Joseph's memories and move on. One day, he stood in his empty apartment and finally said those three words which he had been denying all the while, "He is gone."

Immediately, he had felt like his heart had stopped beating for a moment .His eyes widened as the reality dawned on him that Joseph Lautner, 23 years old citizen of Orlando, the only person he had allowed to break through his barriers and see the real him, was really, really gone. Numb, void of any emotion, any feeling - that was what he had felt. He had not noticed how he had ended up sitting on the floor.

He is gone. He really is... gone. And to that certain place from where no one can ever return.

Death.

A strangled sob escaped had broken apart the silence ruling inside the room. Why had he being crying? He never cried for anyone else. Not even when his only best friend had died from a car accident just a  few months ago. He really did not know. But at that moment, all he had wanted to do was cry, cry until it was over.

A lone tear escaped his eyes. He did not know how long he simply lay on his bed, lost in his own thoughts .The ringing of his phone broke him out of his reverie. An irritated frown carved its way on his face. Mrinal could be one annoying fellow. However as soon as he checked the caller ID, the frown of irritation changed into one that of confusion.

Unknown number.

He slowly pressed the receive button.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Am I talking with Mr.Sandip Biswas?"

"Yes... "

"I am Dr. Woods, speaking on behalf of Joseph Lautner."

After conversing with the doctor for a while, he mulled over what he wanted to do for a while. He had requested Sandip to meet him. He took a deep breath. His exams were approaching. He knew studying day and night should be his priority now.

He remembered all the banters, secrets and laughters they had shared together. That made up his mind.

-x-x-x-

India, Kolkata, Dumdum Airport, 3 weeks later.

Their flight would leave in another five minutes. Sandip and Dr. Woods were seated in the flight to Orlando. Sandip rested his head on his seat and remembered the conversation that had took place two weeks ago.

"So you want to tell me Joseph, the Joseph Lautner, is alive?" ,he still could not trust his own years.

"Yes. He has forgotten about his past from the shock and head injury he had received that day. The memories of last 4-5 years are completely suppressed be his brain."

"How did you know about me?"

"Through his contacts. Besides his family, yours' was the only contact which he had used frequently."

After being silent for sometime, he had asked,"Then why didn't you contact with me earlier?"

"Joseph was in coma for the past three and half years, Sandip. Now that he is awake we all believe that your presence will help him a lot in recovering his memories."

The pilot's voice made him open his eyes.

Please tie your seat belts. The plane is going to take off in a moment.

He tied his seat belt. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Dr.Woods going through some magazine. He looked outside. Soon the scenery outside would be replaced with that of clouds and then that of the airport of Orlando, his destination.

A smile etched on his face.

A/N:

Thanks for giving my first short story a try.

Oh yeah that is the end of the story. 'Evil Smile'

Dont forget to check out my other stories.

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