Stranger III [voice]

She lay awake in her distorted room. Cartons, empty, full and half full of books, discarded in the corner. Bed that should be next to the window, is in the middle of the room, diagonally put. Room still needs to be painted ocean turquoise. Staring at her cell phone, as though waiting for a call. Waiting to be able to hear a voice, that will help her across the river, that will let the blood flow, with the force that it is supposed to. That will let her breathe in peace. 

Dismayed, she put her cell phone to one side and turned her back to it. Thinking of how life is unpredictable, how red can turn to black, she falls asleep crying.

Her phone vibrates, once and then twice. She opens her eyes, feeling of knowing who it could be fills her. It's as though the Stranger is linked to her in some telepathic way; like a mother's intuition tells her when her child is lying. She stretches her hand and picks up the call without looking at the number. 

"Hello"

That's all he needed to say, to make her teary. She is happy. Happier than ever, 'cause it's his voice, 'cause it wasn't just a text message through someone. It was him, The Stranger.

They spend the night talking, like nothing had ever happened. He doesn't bring the past and she doesn't provoke it. She is happy about it, at least the horror filled silence won't exist between them. 
He sings to her, he sings her favourite song to her.
" In saadiyoon ke safer mai..."
She misses his voice, his laugh. His immaculate face and how he seems like a god when the sides of lips are turned the right way up, in a smile. How his perfect eye brows used to relax when his eyes used to captivate hers and that particular look used to fill her. She notices how her endless feeling of exploding chest, transforms to a never filling glass. She loves this, this moment; and never wants it to end. 
"Kash tehr jataayyy"

Silence lingers replacing the beautiful vocals , not the sort that wants to make you kill yourself, but the kind of silence, where things unsaid are heard. Where you realise how compatible you really are to his whispers. 

"I love you, Jaan" He says it in his, magical Strange voice, which is nearly a sigh. 
She realises how sadly he says it. It's as though, he is compelled by a higher force to love her; as though he has no choice, its irresistible. She knows what it is.
She's afraid to say, "You never did hate me did you? God, I prayed for it. I prayed you didn't hate me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being there, even though you weren't physically. Thank you for being my guardian Angel. My love. I love you too, more and more. More than you can ever know. Please just come back. I am sorry. Sorry, i know you don't believe me. But. I just wish. I could so something, anything to make you believe."

And all that she chokes out is, " I love you, jaan ke jaan"

Silence grows, and so does the night. He tells her should go, he can't sleep on the phone with her. She asks if he would like to just hold her, just for a little while. He reluctantly agrees, and tells her that he would rest his head on her shoulders and wrap his arms around her waist. There is some more silence, but this kind of silence is different. It's the kind where you want to be making love but all there is the sweetness of just holding the other. Warm and fuzzy, beautiful and marvellous. Images of his soft velvet arms and the smooth skin of his face produce in her memory, burning her eyes. She wonders, how real is real. How beautiful is this reality. How beautiful this Stranger is. But it's not a random stranger, it's the Stranger she fell in love with. Whose words are kind and love sprinkled, whose eyes gleam with satisfaction of being with her. Who doesn't feel sick, by being next to her. Her Stranger. Hers alone.
"Mia", "mine."

He makes a sound of kiss, and she blushes. 
"I love you." She makes it sound like a continuous rant, but it isn't. It's all she feels. She just loves him.

He tells her that he needs to go, before he falls asleep. 
" I can't sleep with you anymore."
"Just two more minutes please," She begs, 'cause she knows exactly why he has to go. He misses her too, somewhere deep in his heart. He wants to, but can't, he's too hurt. She realises all this and wonders how to thank him, for even just being there. She wants to apologise for stepping a head of her line, to even ask him to sleep with her, for just one night.

She smiles, she knows he's agreed for for the two minutes. She grins at how he just called her jaan, cause she hasn't heard it since.. Since she broke his heart. Opening her mouth to tell him, that he should go, she notices that he has fallen asleep. She counts the number of breaths, he's breathing. She tunes herself to the steady flow of it, and how little noise he makes when he turns a little.
Wraps her short arms around him and does what she used to do. She speaks to him when he can't hear. She calls him jaan again and again, challenging herself at how many times she can say it, in one breath; also being careful of not waking him up. She tells him of all the things, she hasn't ever been able to say. She tells him, all that he doesn't know about her anymore. 
She sings to him, and she misses how he used to call her, his Nightingale.

Aa Bhi Ja Aik Baar
Meray Yaar Esay Na Looto Meray
Mann Ka Qarar

Ho..
Ho Gaya Hai Tumsay Pyar

Jidhar Bhi Dekhoon
Tuhi Nazar Aati Hai

Aankhain Band Karloon To
Tu Aur Kareeb Aati Hai

His continuous breathing lulls her to sleep, a sleep she hasn't slept in so long. 

When she wakes up, she checks her phone to see if he's still there.
He isn't. There isn't even a call record..
She doesn't understand, not for a while. Then she has the answer to the miracle. It was her need for him, that made her dream of him so real. It was that she missed him, so unrealistically that her sub-conscience made him up.
Stranger and His Strangeness.

I miss you, Jaan.