Silence Has Entered the Chat
Raghav woke up to silence.
Not the usual silence—the familiar, loyal one.
This was new silence. The kind that checked your phone and then looked away.
No “Good morning.”
No meme.
No emoji doing emotional labour.
He checked his phone again. Nothing had changed. This was disappointing. Phones usually lied better.
He told himself it was normal. People got busy. People had lives. He had… mornings.
He made tea and waited for the kettle to whistle. It didn’t. The gas had finished. That felt personal.
At 11:47 a.m., he finally sent a message.
“Hope your day is going well.”
He stared at it after sending, as if it might crawl back into the phone and apologize.
No reply.
Raghav placed the phone beside him carefully, like a fragile animal that had chosen not to speak today.
He didn’t double-text.
He didn’t check “last seen.”
He didn’t read old messages, except once. Maybe twice. Okay, several times.
To distract himself, he applied for jobs.
Something unusual happened.
An email arrived within ten minutes.
Subject: Shortlisted
Raghav blinked.
He refreshed.
Still there.
The company name was impressive—one of those names people lowered their voice while saying. The package was better than anything he had ever imagined. So good, in fact, that Raghav assumed it was spam.
He checked the sender.
He checked the website.
He checked his bank balance, just in case destiny was mocking him.
It wasn’t.
He read the email again, slowly, as if it might disappear if startled.
Raghav smiled. Not big. Not dramatic.
A careful smile. Like someone testing a chair before sitting.
His phone buzzed.
He looked.
Not Nisha.
A spam message.
He sighed, stood up, and ironed his shirt.
For the first time, the interview mattered.
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