Monday, 17 August 2015
Not a love story: The first almost date- Part 2
Finding it hard to recall the previous story? Read here: Not a love story: The first almost date- Part 1
Oh! Visiting for the first time? Welcome. Read this: Not a love story: How they met?
‘Hi’,
said a 5’10 inches tall, muscular guy with no sense of wearing casuals and
an enigmatic grin stood behind Sahil.
With
a weary smile, Eshita responded with a single word, hi.
‘What’s up, won’t introduce me to your new friend,
huh?!’, he said with an impulsively creepy
gesture.
‘Ah, yeah.. Meet Sahil. And Sahil, this
is Anurabh.’
They
both exchanged a practiced smile and shook hands as most guys do. It is a
gentlemen’s statement which sets a good tune, generally. None of which happened
there though.
Sensing
the awkwardness sipping in, Eshita said frantically, ‘Sahil had his birthday yesterday. We were
celebrating here.’
Sahil gave
a flat lipped smile to confirm the fact, wondering about the need to reveal that.
‘Hey, belated happy birthday man’, the muscular guy extended a hand to wish him.
‘Thank you’.
*Please get it over*
Another
aura of uneasiness clouded around them. All because of the nosy new guy which
nobody liked at that point, including Eshita.
‘Mmm… So, will leave the two of you enjoy the
treat.’ The giant left sensing discomfort
around. And, Eshita immediately gave a sigh of relief.
Sahil wished
to ask about the guy but didn’t weigh in to sound desperate. And simply sighed
in relief. But he had his theory, assumptions and curiosity, everything inside,
locked safely to unleash some other time. Some better and comfortable moment.
They
both finished the food and beverages. The conversation after the strange meet with Anurabhdidn’t
bloom. It drifted above the normal topics here and there. And after a few
minutes they both left for the day bidding good-bye.
Later
that night while conversing something, Sahil popped up a question
about Anurabh. He wished to know who he actually was remembering the edgy
atmosphere earlier around Eshita, especially.
Sahil was
curious and bold enough to put that up to Eshita. She took her time to
reply and after so much of typing… she said, ‘He was a friend.’
Sahil didn’t
believe her. But he didn’t wish to play lawyer-lawyer that time. So, he drifted
the subject to something else.
‘Up for a truth and dare game?’ *winked*
‘Mmm… all right. Sure’, said Eshita with brooding eyes, as if
recalling something important. She was still not through with the question
of Anurabh.
Anyways,
they kick-started the game and it subsequently got interesting with
the passing time. Nobody was willing to sleep even at 2 in the morning. Their
eyes started to water, fingers yelled for a break and other biological signals
were clear that sleep has knocked at the doors. But they didn’t attend to it
and kept the game going.
And
as the game progressed, they came to know about each other even more. With
every passing question and every information shared, the bond was strengthening.
After all, they knew each other’s little secrets now. And secrets bind two
people just like fevicol. Quickly and strongly.
‘Ok, so 1 last question for tonight. You ask’, said Eshita. Seemed like she opened the door
for the sleep.
Knowing
the condition, Sahil gave a devilish smile and almost typed a
question regarding that bulky, puzzling guy, Anurabh, this
morning. But right before pressing enter, he reconsidered.
He
contemplated that if he questions about him again to her, then she might get
suspicious about his unsettling curiosity. Presumably, she will feel that he
doubts her, which he does, but not want to make it so obvious. And that will
not be a good signal to send.
But,
also at the same time, he wished to ascertain his deductions about Anurabh and Eshita.
He wished to know that he was right about the situation. And that Eshita lied
to her. His child like enthusiasm was at the peak. So, he rephrased the question
as..
‘Is there anything that I should know about you?’ *fingers crossed*
Eshita immediately
replied, ‘No, I have told you every
important thing.’
Sahil kept
patience and didn’t type anything to put the bait.
When
people hide something, they feel extremely uncomfortable with another person’s
silence. So, they either blur out anything or something relevant, to convince
the other person under such situations.
After
20 secs of no reply, Eshita did become a little anxious.
‘There?’
She asked.
No
reply. Sahil was simply testing her patience and waiting for the
answer that he thinks is right.
After
another 30 secs, she added, ‘Seems like
you have slept’. Restlessness was all over her.
She
could see that the messages have been read, so that made her uncomfortable.
She started to ponder whether Sahil knows the truth or has his
doubts. Or whether she is just over-thinking about it. She kept evaluating and
assessing for a while. And with no reply coming from the other side, made her
clench her fingers in tension.
But
finally, after 2 mins, she wrote this.
‘Seems like you have slept. No problem, we will
talk tomorrow. Also, one thing about which I lied earlier is that, the guy you
met this morning, Anurabh, was my boyfriend. We broke up last week. Sorry
to lie about it. I hope you won’t mind. Have a great night. Tc.’
And
she went to sleep peacefully with no burden. She spoke the truth. She was a
free bird with no guilt.
Sahil on
the other side banged the desk in victory. He knew there was something fishy.
His detective skills were improving with Sherlock’s episodes on a roll.
He
was happy to know that she revealed the truth. Mostly because of his own
efforts. But the thing that puzzled him was why did she hide it in the first
place?! Whether she thought he might not like it and this would affect the bond
between them. Or, she simply wanted to keep it personal. All this was blurry!
And
such questions raided his mind continuously until he caught a sleep. He didn’t
reply to her because that might have generated another round of questions and
speculations about his sudden absence and arrival. However, he planned on
sending a message in the morning at the earliest. And with that he closed his
eyes and got lost in the peaceful darkness.
To
be continued…
