Its all started with chat
Ira's POV
April 2019. My first year at Mumbai University. A whirlwind of new beginnings, college corridors buzzing with life, fresh friendships forming over chai, and emotions, love I had only read about in books, now knocking at the door of my heart. Everything was unfamiliar, yet exciting. And then, something unexpected happened.
One ordinary afternoon, I opened Instagram and noticed a message request. It was from a guy named Aniket. I hesitated. I didn’t know him, and I wasn’t sure if I should reply. So, I didn’t. But for some reason, I added his chat to my favourites; it was as if my heart had bookmarked him, even before my mind could process it.
That night, curiosity got the better of me. I ended up scrolling through his profile for what felt like hours. There was something about him, something that quietly pulled me in.
Aniket had thick black hair that fell slightly over his forehead. His eyes… they were sharp and deep, as if just one glance could hold you in time. I remember staring at one of his photos and feeling lost in his gaze, completely unaware of how much time had passed. His lips looked soft, his eyebrows dark and perfectly shaped, and his nose tall and defined. He wasn’t the gym-freak type, but he looked effortlessly fit. And in that moment, something shifted in me. I was drawn to him; I was falling into this quiet obsession, almost magnetically.
From that day on, I started following him quietly—his stories, his online activity, his followers, his mutual friends. I was observing it all like a silent admirer, and he had no clue. Every day, I felt like I was getting to know a piece of him, even if we had never spoken.
Time passed. April turned into May. May into June. And before I knew it, it was August 2019.
That’s when I finally gathered the courage to reply to his message, the one he had sent way back in April 2019. I simply wrote, “Hello.” I laughed at myself for taking so long, four whole months to say one word!
But what happened next left me stunned.
He replied instantly.
And just like that, something shifted. My cheeks turned red, my heart beat faster—I couldn’t stop smiling. Somewhere between watching him from afar and sending that simple “hello,” I had already fallen for him.
And that’s how our story truly began. With one message. Four months of silence. And a connection that was quietly writing itself all along.
