Terms & Conditions.

'Hello, how you doing?'

'Fine.'

'So are we meeting this weekend or what? Been quite some time, no?'

'Let's see…'

Anastasia went about her day doing chores and running errands. Thinking to herself,'what am I to do this since they are yet not decided on anything.'

'Maybe I should just finish that book that's been left alone for a while, yea', she said to herself, 'or let me call up Martha, I'm sure she'll turn up to chase away my loneliness.'

'She would turn up for anything', she quipped. 

So Anastasia creeps out of her cozy blanket, which she had gotten into after the day's petty ordeals, to reach the phone kept by the bedside lamp. And without even looking she dialled the numbers on her rather old phone which worked just about fine, though. 

As if her fingers had miniature brains in them with dedicated memory to remember each number.

'Hey there! What you upto 'M'?'

'Nothing as such, you tell me.'

'Well I was wondering if we could catch up this weekend over coffee and maybe, also, lunch?'

'Umm... Would love to mate; but I'm not in town you see- internship and stuff.' 

'Oh yea, how could i forget!'

After a brief conversation with her, Anastasia willowed down, like a sad flower, thinking what she'd do over the weekend; not that she hated reading. Sometimes she drowns in literature like a ship deep beneath the ocean. 

'Let me just sleep the day out and maybe by the time I wake up, the weekend would come to an end', she thought to herself. 

She started thinking about Richard, the love of her life. Maybe that would launch her into a dreamland. Well, that's what she 'thought'. Nobody ever understood the kind of bond they shared. To people, far and close, they were lovers- quite the serious ones. That was true but, only ostensibly. Fact is both were just really close buddies who met only on occasions- the likes of birthday and stuff. And yet were pretty uptight. 

Anastasia wakes up and much to her displeasure she'd slept only an hour, actually less. 

'Aggh! What do I do!'

'Mommy!', she shouted on top of her voice, 'give me something to eat, will you?'

'Come and get it yourself', she snapped. 'Whatever!', she snapped back. 

'This day couldn't get any worse, why can't someone, I mean, atleast my mum be nice to me today!'

She swung her head backwards and banged the headrest, 'ouch! Damn it.' 

Now she was annoyed like nobody's business, needed much alleviation for her discontent. 

'Let me call them up again, maybe they've come up with a plan by now', she thought. 

'Hello! Please tell me you'll have a plan by now and I just have to meet you at some common place; please, please?'

'God Ana! Why are you so clingy- a blood sucking snail somewhat.' 

'What? Huh? What do you mean?', perplexed, ' I was just wanting to meet up and have a good time like we do.'

'Ok! Let me get this straight with you, I don't think I can take the crap you've slinged at us.' 

'Alright, I have no clue where you getting at. Please elaborate, will you?'

'Oh c'mon now! Don't you beat around the bush anymore, I know what you've been doing behind my back, rather all of us’.'

Nervous as a weak building during an earthquake, Anastasia somehow summoned up all her wits and said,"you're talking about me speaking to Richard, I guess?"

'There you go woman, there you damn go! Thought you'd never say it. We told you not to mingle with that low-life mongrel.' Almost screaming, 'why would you do this to us, you've breached our trust, wasn't expected of you girl, it really wasn't.' 

'Hey, but wait, hang on a second- let me… hear me out?', Anastasia cried. 

'Don't you utter a word, scumbag!' 

'Hmm... Perhaps you'll never wanna see me again.'

'Damn right!'

Anastasia hung up and went into a perpetual delirium, she couldn't hear herself think. Days went by, the sun stopped shining on her window- a never ending dilemma. She did not speak to Richard as well, leaving him worried to no end. But then her worries were no less, rather it felt like falling off the top of a building over and over again till your body felt like a pulverised potato. An existential crisis of some sort. 

She decided to seek refuge in one of the books she'd been lazy about. 

Not a friend like a book. 

While reading she came across this particular quote by the protagonist, it said,"To love somebody means to respect, it means not to exploit. To give all that you have without expecting a return. If there is even a slight idea, a slight motivation then it is cunningness, it is lust. Even to ask for gratitude is wrong."

Now that got her thinking... They were to her what lovers are to each other. The camaraderie shared was like that of passionate lovers. 

'Well yea, I guess from my end it was like that, ofcourse. Never had any ulterior motives, on the contrary have always been imposed upon. I've given all that i could, not that I expect in return but the least they could have done was not to set forth rules and all', she thought. 

Little did gullible Anastasia knew that everything comes with 'terms & conditions'. Even people.