Aboni’s Blue Poems

The afternoon sky was overcast. Shortly after, a heavy downpour began. Aboni quickly took shelter in a small roadside tea stall. At that exact moment, closing his umbrella, Neel entered the stall as well.

Both were wearing blue outfits. Aboni looked away with a slight sense of discomfort.

The stall owner asked, "Brother, how many cups?"

Neel and Aboni spoke at the exact same time, "One cup, ginger tea."

They both looked at each other and smiled. Stepping forward slightly, Neel said, "Nothing beats ginger tea on a rainy day, right?"

Aboni nodded in agreement, "Hmm, absolutely."

The tea vendor handed them two steaming cups of tea. Standing side by side, they took sips while listening to the sound of the rain outside. There was no acquaintance between them, yet a strange silence bound them together. It felt as if this rain and these cups of tea were an eternally familiar moment.

As soon as they finished their tea, the rain eased up. Just as Aboni was about to take money out of her bag, Neel paid the stall owner.

Surprised, Aboni said, "Hey, why did you pay my bill?"

Neel smiled sweetly and replied, "You can consider it the fee for today's wonderful conversation. But if you want, you can repay this debt."

"How?" Aboni raised an eyebrow.

Neel held out his phone and said, "By having another cup of tea tomorrow at this exact time, at this very stall. May I have your phone number?"

Aboni stared into Neel's eyes for a moment. There was a genuine honesty in them. Smiling, Aboni took the phone and typed in her number.

The rain had completely stopped by then, but a new spring breeze had begun to blow in both of their hearts.

The next day, at exactly four in the afternoon, Aboni arrived. The sky wasn't cloudy today; rather, it was quite sunny. Aboni thought Neel might not have arrived yet, but looking at the stall, she saw Neel sitting at a corner table. Two empty cups were in front of him. Seeing Aboni, Neel stood up and smiled, "I thought you might not come."

Sitting across the table, Aboni said, "I don't break my promises. Besides, I have to repay yesterday's tea debt."

Neel gestured to the stall owner, who brought over two steaming cups. As Neel was about to put a spoonful of sugar into Aboni's cup, Aboni stopped him with her hand, "Oh no, no! I don't take sugar in my tea."

Surprised, Neel paused his spoon, "Tea without sugar? Life is already bitter enough, are you going to drink your tea bitter too?"

Aboni laughed and said, "Why should life be bitter? You get the true taste of tea without sugar. You can recognize the pure aroma of the liquor. Do you like sweets a lot?"

"Extremely!" Neel said, stirring two spoons of sugar into his tea. "Actually, I'm a bit of a dreamy person, so I try to overcome the bitterness of reality with sugar. For instance, I work as a copywriter at an advertising agency. Imaginary words spin around in my head all day."

Taking a sip from her tea, Aboni said, "Wow, a writer then! I'm quite the opposite though. I work as a credit analyst at a bank. My whole day is spent dealing with calculations and real numbers."

Neel widened his eyes and said, "That means you are a pure realist, and I am a floating dreamer! Then our chemistry is going to be amazing. Just like negative and positive charges make a perfect circuit."

Aboni couldn't help but laugh at Neel's quick wit. She said, "Well, that's not a bad point. Tell me Neel, do you come to this stall for tea every day?"

Looking into Aboni's eyes, Neel said softly, "I didn't before. But after yesterday, I feel like I'll have to be here every day at four o'clock. Just to recognize the aroma of sugarless tea."

Aboni's cheeks grew warmer than her cup of tea. She lowered her eyes and took the last sip. Aboni had never imagined that talking to a stranger for just the second time could feel so effortless.

Looking at his watch, Neel said, "Today, however, the bill is on you. But there's a condition."

"What condition again?" Aboni asked, raising her eyebrows playfully.

"You pay the bill, but after that, you have to walk with me along the pavement up to that corner. The sun has gone down; it'll feel nice to walk."

Pulling money out of her bag, Aboni handed it to the vendor and said, "Let's go, but on one condition—if a new ad idea pops into your head while walking, you have to tell me first."

Neel smiled, "Deal accepted!"

In the soft afternoon light, the two began walking side by side. There was still a distance between them, but the unfamiliar wall inside their hearts had already begun to crumble.

After that afternoon, days began to change rapidly. Aboni and Neel's familiar world became confined within that small phone screen.

At first, talks revolved around the four o'clock afternoon tea. But very quickly, the scope of their conversations expanded. In between busy bank files, Aboni's phone would chime: "Today's afternoon sun is as strong as your favorite sugarless tea!" Aboni would set her files down and smile, leaving her colleagues staring in surprise.

And when night fell? When the whole city was asleep, their real story began.

Midnight, one o'clock, two o'clock... the clock hands kept moving, but their conversations never ended. Neel shared his new ad ideas, word games, and childhood memories with Aboni. And Aboni, who remained trapped in a cage of numbers all day, unfolded the deep secrets of her heart to Neel—her hidden desires to get lost in the mountains on a cloudy day or eat ice cream while getting drenched in the rain.

Neel's voice took on a magical tone late at night. Whenever Aboni closed her eyes with the phone pressed to her ear, she could almost smell the rain from that tea stall.

Just like that, seventeen days went by.

On the seventeenth night, it was a quarter to three. Silence surrounded them. Neither spoke for a long time over the phone, yet neither hung up. Only the sound of their soft breathing could be heard.

Breaking the silence, Neel called out in a low voice, "Aboni?"

"Hmm, tell me."

"Do you remember our first day at that tea stall? You were wearing a blue dress."

"How could I forget? You were wearing blue too."

"You know Aboni, since that first day, all the blue in my eyes seems to have come to a standstill in you. For these seventeen days, I've thought about you every single second. I... I think I've fallen in love with you, Aboni."

Aboni's heart churned in an instant. The playful Neel she had known for seventeen days sounded so deeply desperate tonight. Aboni knew that in these seventeen days, she had also lost herself in the magic of Neel's words. The girl who knew precise bank calculations couldn't make any sense of her feelings today. Burying her face in her pillow, Aboni smiled gently, then whispered, "A person has been occupying my entire heart for seventeen days, and today he's asking for permission? You deserve a punishment, Neel."

Neel almost jumped on the other end, "What punishment? Whatever you say, I'll accept it wholeheartedly!"

"Tomorrow at four in the afternoon, we'll meet at that stall. And tomorrow, you'll have to drink your tea without sugar too. Your first test in getting used to my taste!"

Neel laughed, his familiar hearty laugh. "Even bitter tea is nectar for you, Aboni."

The next day at four in the afternoon. There were no clouds in the sky, yet the surroundings felt strangely heavy.

Neel had arrived early today. There was a unique excitement on his face, like a teenager about to receive his most precious gift for the first time. When Aboni entered the stall, Neel stood up and smiled as usual. But as he looked at Aboni's face, his smile faded.

Aboni's eyes lacked their usual playfulness today; instead, a deep ocean of silence lay frozen within them.

The vendor served two cups of tea. One had no sugar, while for the other, Aboni herself stirred in the sugar and slid the cup toward Neel.

Surprised, Neel said, "What's wrong, Aboni? You mixed the sugar yourself today? Wasn't today my test?"

"Neel," Aboni interrupted softly, her voice trembling. "Please forgive me."

Neel froze, "Forgive you? For what?"

Aboni couldn't meet Neel's eyes. Lowering her gaze, she tightly clenched her trembling hands on the table. Then she said in one breath, "I like you very much, Neel. These seventeen days were the most beautiful time of my life. But I cannot make you my life partner."

The spoon in Neel's hand clinked softly against the tea cup. Stunned, he asked, "Why, Aboni? Are you joking?"

"No, Neel, this is reality," Aboni looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. "My marriage was arranged by my family long ago. I didn't know anything about it. I thought I could convince my family and tell them about us. But the groom arrived from abroad last night. Both families met and finalized everything. My wedding is this coming Friday."

Neel felt as if all sounds around him had suddenly ceased. The car horns on the pavement, the clinking of tea cups—everything vanished in a second. He just stared blankly at Aboni. He couldn't have imagined that a dream built over seventeen days could shatter in seventeen seconds.

Aboni pulled a beautiful blue envelope out of her bag. A wedding invitation card. She gently placed the card on the table in front of Neel.

"You're invited, Neel. Come if you can." Aboni's voice choked.

She didn't sit there for another moment. Her tea remained untouched. Turning around, Aboni began walking away in a hurry. Neel watched as she wiped her eyes with her scarf while walking away.

Neel didn't call out to her. He had no right to. He just kept staring at the blue envelope left on the table. It didn't rain today, but beside a cup of cold tea lay the living evidence of a seventeen-day incomplete love story.

Friday...

The sound of the shehnai echoed all around. Aboni's entire house was filled with the commotion of relatives. Dressed as a bride, Aboni sat in her room. In a red Banarasi saree and gold jewelry, she looked exquisite. But a massive storm was raging inside her heart. As the hands of the clock advanced, her heart pounded faster.

Suddenly, Aboni stood before the mirror and looked at herself. The conversations of those seventeen days, Neel's unconditional love, and the pure scent of sugarless tea seemed to beckon her. Aboni realized this bridal attire was not for anyone else; it was meant only for Neel.

She didn't hesitate for another second. Reaching out, she picked up her phone. As soon as the call connected...

"Neel?" Aboni's voice trembled, but it carried a firm resolve.

Neel answered in a broken voice, "Tell me, Aboni. Are you okay?"

Aboni asked directly, "Neel, do you really like me? Can you spend the rest of your life with a girl you've known for just seventeen days?"

Neel didn't take a second to answer. With a conviction that burst straight from his heart, he said, "I can, Aboni. Not just seventeen days, I can spend seventeen lifetimes with you."

"Then come to the corner of the alley behind our house right now. Don't be late," Aboni said and hung up immediately.

Neel was sitting quietly in his room at that moment. Hearing Aboni's words, a surge of energy rushed through his body. Just as he was, he threw on a shirt and ran out toward the street.

Within fifteen minutes, Neel stood at the corner of that alley. His heart was thumping. Just then, holding up her red Banarasi saree gently and managing the weight of her heavy jewelry, Aboni came running out of the alley in a hurry.

Seeing Aboni suddenly in front of him in gorgeous wedding attire, Neel couldn't take his eyes off her. Spellbound, he whispered, "You... look so beautiful, Aboni."

Panting, Aboni grabbed Neel's hand tightly. Hiding her shy smile with a touch of mischief, she said, "Hey, you can look at this beauty all year round, for the rest of your life! Now is not the time to stand and admire; start running! Let's go to the registrar's office before anyone from home spots us."

Neel didn't waste another moment. Holding Aboni's hand firmly in his, he ran toward the main road.

The pallu of the red Banarasi saree fluttered in the wind, and along with it flew two free souls defying all rules of society. A seventeen-day love story had now crossed seventeen moments into eternity.

The End....