Platonicism

“Say yes.” She said.

“Huh?” Me.

“I said say yes.” She reiterated.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“Just say yes!” She said, agitatedly.

“I just want to hear you ask the question. You want me to say yes to what?” I.

“Rather say yes to who.” She corrected me.

“Don’t you mean, say yes to whom?”

“Whatever.” She folded her arms.

“Say yes to whom?”

“Say yes to me.” She looked down.

“You want me to say yes to you?” I smiled.

“Yes.” She drew a horizontal line on the ground with her foot.

“Yes?”

“Yes!”

“Yes..!”

“Great! So yes, from now on, I am your sister.”

Before I could comprehend what had happened, she had turned and walked away. She had said it. Hereafter, she was going to treat me like a brother. We would be known as siblings, and there’d be no turning back.

We couldn’t be. I didn’t want us to be. I remembered the goose bumps I had when she’d asked me to say yes. No way could I be her brother, I thought. That night I couldn’t sleep.

Next day I decided to talk to her. I wanted to try and explain to her how stupid the whole idea was. But she never showed up. For one whole week I waited only to come across no sign of her.

I really wanted to talk to her, so I garnered some courage and went to her home. She wasn’t there. I got to know from one of her friends that she was out with her boyfriend to celebrate their One Week Anniversary.

I was distraught. I was now stuck in her friend zone. Although it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, I had realized what she was trying to do. She didn’t actually mean to make me her brother. It was just her way of telling me that I was nothing more than a friend. Of course being in a platonic relationship was way better than being her brother. But right then I knew that we may never be more than friends. I didn’t want to jeopardize our friendship either. So now what I felt for her was a lost cause. I was going to have to let my feelings go.

It wasn’t like I didn’t try. We had known each other for some time. She always used to smile at me. I felt like there was a strange connection between us. I knew she felt it too. Our conversations went on forever. We shared stories of our childhood. Nearly everyday I dropped her home. She trusted me. And I felt closer to her than to anyone else.

I had started to think about her more and more. I wanted to be with her all the time. I wondered if she thought so too. May be I should ask her, I used to ponder.

I was determined to ask her straight to the point. On the day I decided to ask her, we didn’t talk while I was driving her home. Her silence was killing me. I couldn’t even utter a word throughout the way. After reaching, she got up and started walking away towards the house. I kept looking at her from behind while cursing my lack of confidence. Suddenly she stopped. After pausing for a moment she turned in my direction. While I was busy trying to get my breathing back to normal, she started to walk towards me.

Awkwardly taking small steps she came near me. I saw a faint smile on her lips. She took a deep breath and looked into my eyes. There I was, nervously smiling back at her. My heart was pounding vigorously. I felt the numbness in my fingers. My throat had dried up and I simply couldn’t speak.

I reached out and held her hand. She was shivering with anxiety. It felt like eternity while we were looking at each other. I knew this was my only chance to tell her. She’d understand. I’d seen the way she looked at me. There was no mistake. Everything was going to work out. I was certainly going to get a positive answer.

I opened my mouth to speak. But the words didn’t come out. If only I knew how to start. Time was running out. What if she turned back? There would be no tomorrow. I had to say something. I fumbled for words in my head. I looked at her with utmost nervousness.

She had the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. That light brown color always had the prettiest twinkle. Her soft hands had a calming effect. Her flawless skin would make all the worries go away. Her flowing long black hair shined even in the darkest of nights. She was looking at me like there was no one else in the world. Nothing was going to come between us. She was perfectly poised to make me the happiest man on earth. She took another deep breath and sighed. Then she squeezed my hand tightly and said,

“Say yes.”