Shirish are you coming on time tomorrow morning or as usual will you be late?” said Rita， as she was packing for college before retiring to bed. Shirish said， “I will be on time. I promise.” Rita hung up the phone wishing him good night and went off to sleep. The next morning Rita started for college. As she approached Shirish’s house， a note lay outside his house for her which said that he would meet her at the bus stop in 3 minutes. As she waited for him， the bus pulled in at the bus stop. With a final glance at his house， she boarded the bus.

In college at the end of the first lecture， Rita saw Shirish waving out to her. Rita ignored him and went to the 1)canteen to chat with her other friends. Shirish came up to Rita and apologized to her. Within minutes she was convinced that he wouldn’t repeat the mistake again.

This would happen every day. Shirish would keep written notes for Rita and she would collect them. Days passed into years and they became the best of friends. They met every day and spent the maximum time with each other. Rita was an outgoing girl and she made a lot of friends. She was a 2)tomboy， so a lot of guys would hang around with her. After college， Shirish would wait for Rita at the station. Once， Rita told Shirish to go to the station without her， as she would be late. After an hour， when Rita arrived at the station， she saw Shirish sitting on the seat on the platform. This touched Rita and she was happy. Rita asked Shirish， “Why didn’t you go home? I’ve told you I would be late because I had to copy some notes from Hemant.” Shirish replied， “Rita， all these days you would wait at the bus stop in the morning and every day I would be late. Can’t I wait for you for one day?” Then there was silence throughout the journey. After reaching their station they would 3)make it a point to have a cup of coffee at a café very near to their house where they would share the day’s events. The bond was so strong that if either one of them was feeling low， the other would understand it. Shirish was so dependent on Rita that he would need her whenever he was in doubt. If Shirish’s mother wanted to put forth something to Shirish， she would have to call Rita to make Shirish understand.

It was Rose Day at the college. Rita asked Shirish whether he could come on time because she was wearing a 4)sari for the first time and didn’t want to go to the

college alone. But as it turned out that he didn’t come on time， she had to go by herself. When Shirish finally arrived， he went to look for Rita. He was stunned to see Rita in a sari. He just stood there staring at her. It wasn’t until that day that he realized how beautiful she was. He came up to her. Hardly spoke. She shouted at him and left angrily.

He went to the canteen hoping she would be there， but she wasn’t. After 3 hours of futile efforts， he went to the station alone. It was at that time that he realized he wanted her in his life. He missed her terribly when she wasn’t around. When he reached the station， Rita was there with Hemant. She came over and smiled at Shirish and apologized about the incident， after which Hemant left， and Shirish and Rita left for home.

Later， Shirish sent Rita a friendship card， which expressed his feelings for her as a friend. Rita was happy. Days passed into years and they were in their last year of friendship when Rita knew that unknowingly she had started liking Shirish but didn’t have the 5)guts to tell him fearing she may lose his friendship forever. After college， both parted ways—Shirish didn’t take his graduation examination and lost a year. Rita took her examination and later took up a job， which kept her busy throughout the day.

This went on for two years. Rita had been keeping her distance from Shirish. She wanted to get Shirish out of her mind as she was sure their relationship wouldn’t work out. Rita’s parents found a match for Rita and Rita agreed. She called Shirish one day and asked him whether he could meet her. Shirish met her. They both were quiet for some time. Shirish broke the ice by telling Rita that there was something he wanted to tell her. Shirish poured his heart out and confessed his feelings for her. Rita was open-mouthed. All she could say was， “Shirish， why did you express your feelings so late?” and she got up from the table and left.

Rita and Shirish didn’t meet for 4 years after that. Rita heard about him from her mother that he had become a poet and writer and was 6)penning a book. Later， Shirish met with an accident and wanted to see Rita. Rita came to the hospital in a 7)crisp white 8)salwar kameez， looking as gorgeous as ever. Shirish asked Rita whether they could be alone for some time and she agreed. “Rita I want to know before I die， did you ever even like me?” Rita had tears in her eyes and replied， “Shirish， I’ve always been loving you but didn’t have the courage to tell you. I was frightened that if I ever disclose my feeling， you may go away from me.”

Shirish and Rita realized that just a matter of words drifted them into different worlds and now it was too late to change it. A few days later， Shirish died and left her his entire earnings from the sale of the book， which was dedicated to her.

謝瑞什，你明天早上會準時出門嗎？還是會像往常一樣遲到？”麗塔問。在念大學的她正在收拾書包，睡前為明天回學校上課做準備。謝瑞什說：“我會準時的。我保證?！丙愃f完晚安就掛電話了，然后上床睡覺。第二天，麗塔出門去上學，當她到達謝瑞什家時，看見門外貼了一張給她的紙條，約她三分鐘后在公車站見。她等著他，公交車來了。她最后瞟了一眼他家，上了車。

學校里的第一堂課結束時，麗塔看見謝瑞什在朝她招手。麗塔不理他，走去飯?zhí)煤退钠渌笥蚜奶臁Ｖx瑞什走到麗塔面前，向她道歉，并再三保證不會再犯這樣的錯誤，不一會兒，麗塔又相信他了。

這樣的事每天都在重復上演。謝瑞什每天都留紙條給麗塔，她都會看到，然后收起來。幾年過去了，他們成了最要好的朋友。他們每天都見面，大部分時間都在一起。麗塔是個性格外向的女孩，交了很多朋友。因為假小子的性格，很多男孩都會和她玩。每天放學，謝瑞什都會在車站等麗塔。有一次，麗塔讓他先走，因為她要晚一些才回家。一個小時后，麗塔來到車站，她看見謝瑞什坐在站臺的凳子上，這讓麗塔很感動，她很開心。她問謝瑞什：“你為什么不先回家？我告訴過你我要遲一些才回，因為我要抄赫曼特的筆記?！敝x瑞什回答說：“麗塔，這些年每天早上，你總是在公交車站等我，每天我都會遲到。我就不能等你一天嗎？”接下來大家一路沉默。每天回到他們家附近的那個車站，他們總會特地到離家很近的一間咖啡廳喝杯咖啡，他們會在那分享一天發(fā)生的事。他們是那么親密無間，以至于只要他們其中一個情緒低落，另一個總會感受得到。謝瑞什很依賴麗塔，有任何疑問都會去找她。如果謝瑞什的媽媽要給兒子灌輸什么想法，她總得打電話給麗塔讓她去說服他。

那天是大學玫瑰日。麗塔問謝瑞什能否準時出門，因為那天是她第一次穿上紗麗，她不想一個人回學校。但結果他還是沒能準時出門，她得自己一個人去上學。等到謝瑞什終于回到學校，他去找麗塔。當他看見穿著紗麗的麗塔時，他驚呆了，只是站在那盯著她看。直到那天，他才意識到她多么漂亮。他走向她，幾乎說不出話。她朝他大吼，很生氣地走開了。

他跑到學校飯?zhí)茫Ｍ谀抢?，但她并不在。找了三個小時，還是徒勞無功，于是他自己一個人去車站了。就是那時，他意識到自己想和她共度一生。當她不在身邊時，他總會特別思念她。當他走到車站時，麗塔也在那里，和赫曼特一起。她走過來，朝謝瑞什笑了笑，為剛才那事向謝瑞什道了歉。然后赫曼特走了，謝瑞什和麗塔也回家了。

后來，謝瑞什送給麗塔一張友情心意卡，表達他對她的友情。麗塔很開心。幾年又過去了，一轉眼，他們的友誼走到最后一年。這時麗塔才知道自己不知不覺中已經(jīng)喜歡上了謝瑞什，但她沒勇氣告訴他，她害怕可能會因此永遠失去他這個朋友。大學畢業(yè)后，他們各自過著自己的生活——謝瑞什沒參加畢業(yè)考，耗了一年時間。麗塔參加了畢業(yè)考，不久就找到工作，每天都忙忙碌碌。

這樣的情況持續(xù)了兩年。麗塔一直刻意和謝瑞什保持著距離，她不想再想著他，因為她確信他們不可能在一起。麗塔的父母為她物色了夫婿，她也同意了。一天，麗塔聯(lián)系謝瑞什，問他是否能和她見面。謝瑞什去見了她。有那么片刻他們什么話都沒說。還是謝瑞什打破了沉默，他告訴麗塔他有些話想和她說。謝瑞什傾心盡訴自己對她的愛意。麗塔驚呆了。她什么話都說不出來，只說了一句：“謝瑞什，你為什么這么遲才表白？”她從桌邊站起來，離開了。

那以后，麗塔和謝瑞什有四年時間沒再見面。麗塔從謝瑞什媽媽那得知他成了一位詩人和作家，并且正在寫一本書。后來謝瑞什發(fā)生了車禍，提出要見麗塔。麗塔穿著一身亮麗的白色紗麗克米茲去到醫(yī)院，她看上去像從前一樣美艷動人。謝瑞什問麗塔他們能否獨處片刻，她同意了。“麗塔，我想在死之前知道你有沒有喜歡過我？”麗塔滿眼是淚，回答道：“謝瑞什，我一直都愛著你，但我沒有勇氣告訴你。我怕對你表露我的感情，你會離開我?！?/p>

謝瑞什和麗塔意識到，不過是幾句話的事，把他們分隔在了不同的世界里?，F(xiàn)在想要改變一切已經(jīng)太遲了。幾天后，謝瑞什走了，他把所寫一書的全部收入留給了麗塔，而這本書，正是為她而寫的。