I arrived a few minutes late at our favourite haunt, the coffee shop, and saw her twisting impatiently in her seat, a sure sign that something was on her mind. I approached her with a look of forced joviality. She just sat there looking at me with piercing eyes.
“What’s bothering you?” I asked.
“Nothing!” she said.
An awkward silence followed. She made no move to initiate a conversation. It was the only time I had seen her short of words. This state of affairs lasted for another ten minutes before I ventured to ask what was troubling her. This time she did not even reply. I tried to take her hands into mine but she brushed them aside. I could make nothing of it. It was about twenty minutes before she spoke in an icy tone that chilled me to the bones.
“Do you consider me as your friend?” Perplexed, I said, “Yeah, sure, my best friend, what a silly thing to ask.” “Then may I know why you did not deem it fit to tell me about your semester result. It’s been two days and you haven’t even mentioned it. When were you planning on telling me about it?”
It was like a bolt of lightning. I had had an abominable result, barely managing to make the grade.
“Well, you see, I was going to tell you in a day or two!”
“Don’t bother, I looked it up myself.” “Oh! Forget it then, it’s one of those things, I will make up for it this semester.”
She was angry now and her voice was bitter –“What’s the reason for it? No, wait, let me finish, it’s me, isn’t it, you haven’t been concentrating properly and I’m directly responsible right?”
“Hold on, it’s got nothing to do with you.” She stopped me in mid-sentence and asked, “Do you love me?”
It was totally unexpected. I barely managed to say “Yes” in a hoarse whisper. “So do I, but I cannot live with the fact that I may somehow be responsible for spoiling your life and future. No, I cannot bear that thought”, she said and before I could respond, she had walked out of the shop.
I was shell-shocked. I just sat there trying to collect my thoughts. We had finally managed to express our love for each other, and yet the circumstances under which we had done so could hardly have been more fitting. It should have been the happiest moment of my life, instead I felt utterly miserable and defeated. To me it seemed almost ridiculous that something as mundane as a semester result had induced such a severe reaction from her. Honestly, I had no idea that she kept track of my academic performance, and worse still, seemed to take it so personally. I had never supposed that academic prowess was going to be a factor in our relationship. I mean I had never heard of girls worrying about the results of the person they were going around with or even friends with. It just went to show how much she cared for me. Her concern for me was obvious and the pain that I caused her was immeasurable. I then made a promise to myself that in future I would never hurt her like this again. How wrong I was, how could I have known?
I put my head down and started studying hard, really hard. It took me a month of fervent pleas before she agreed to meet me. However, when we did come face to face, she had changed visibly. Gone was the incessant chatter and frequent bout of giggles, no hint of even a smile. It almost broke my heart. Her replies to my eager questions were monosyllabic or restricted to a sentence at most. It was her way of punishing me I guess. We played tennis once a week. Whereas previously the game used to be full of verve and unmitigated delight – principally because of her – they now turned into a dull drag. She showed absolutely no emotions on the court, just going through the motions mechanically, like a robot. It was torturous, she would be right beside me and yet so far away. I would have been much better off had she simply refused to see me. It made me even more determined to resurrect my academic credibility. A semester passed by. I will never forget it, I worked with a maniacal zeal, driven by an intense searing pain. I was not very happy but extremely purposeful. I had a fantastic result, never had any doubt about that really.
And on the day it was declared, I was greeted with a sight that was worth the six odd months of hellish torment. I had just glanced at the notice board, satisfied but not over the moon, when there was a flurry of activity behind me. I turned around and saw a figure pushing her way through the crowd of people. It was her of course. She came bounding towards me, laughing uncontrollably, and enveloped me in her arms much to the surprise of everybody watching and to my acute embarrassment. I freely admit though that I would have given anything to have been embarrassed like that daily. It was a moment frozen in eternity, everything seemed to have fallen in place. I was definitely over the moon now. If it were up to me I’d have wound up my life into a perpetual loop revolving around that moment. I realize now how well she understood me, how she could effortlessly play me like a guitar. She knew exactly how she could make me channelize my potential. It was amazing.
We had a memorable time at college after that, we could do no wrong, revelling in each other’s company. It was a remarkable period of our lives, we were drunk on each other, and our happiness knew no bounds. We introduced each other to our respective families on her graduation day. I was a trifle nervous, I mean I was in my final year, had not yet completed college, and here I was preparing to meet the parents of the girl I was dying to marry. She, on the contrary, was looking forward to acquainting herself with my parents. I need not have worried, it was a cinch. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. It was just too good to be true, but there it was, our families had no objections whatsoever, they approved whole-heartedly of us as a pair. It was a fairytale.
I had no inkling that I was hurtling inexorably towards a nightmare.
43 comments :
I think I asked u this before... but what's with the ending??
Interesting way to mould the story... towards what, though, I dunno... now I'm REALLY waiting for the next part! :D
Thanks for keeping the wait for this one so short though... Cheers
love guru is in full form here..i was surprised to see the change in the story telling n the story ending for this part.!
May be i am biased..becoz i dnt like stories to be broken up in parts...i want more n complete soon!!!,
Love
Amit
@ Arnab - Patience my frienf, patience.
YAY!! Mission accomplished!! :D
And uh, are you trying to be sarcastic there? *Raised eyebrow*
@ Amit / HR - Surprised is good right??
Awwww....if it is any consolation...the next part will be the last. Promise! :)
Cheers
Beautiful!! Simply beautiful...u keep gettin better and better..no wait..awesomer and awesomer :P....but u ll break my heart if u tear these 2 apart...:(...its so perfect right now..y cant it stay??!!
top stuff as always ish
luv
amith
ok one thing i m still confused.. how will u end after ths sudden turn
anayway i need not to be worried bcz u r the author
hehehe...
other thing r u sure u gonna end it in next part..
if it is...
i mean if u r thinking this i must tell u u should drop it..bcz we all r expecting the same n u shld not fulfill our expectation
hehehe :D
yar thoda aur time lagao...
i loved it..
u knw i always used to praise Arnab for his writing now i think i should start motivating u for writing a book
dont worryy u ll have 3 readers.. paka
One is Arnab second is me...aur ek ko to me peet paat ke padha hi dunga
hehehe :P
simply loved it
Awesome.. n miiiiiinnnndddd blowwwwwiiiiiing....
Cheers :)
Pallav
rofl @ as mundane as semester result :P
and i am standing on my toes expecting a gr8 twist plz make me fall down!! :D
Cheers!!
Isha,
First of all it was a wonderful experince to read something like this.
Your each part is full of versality.
I liked this girl very much, but you are so ignorant that you did not care to give a name to her..
Anyways... i liked this situation where they expressed love for each other in a very different way..
I see a very great writer emerging in you , especially on LOVE.
In a competition with me kya..? :-P
Ab yeh mat kehna ki maine comparison bhi kis basis pe ki..
:-D
Ending iss part par ho sakti thi, phir twist kyun..?
life is beautiful.... kitne parts hai abhi....
Tum bhi meri tarah patience check kar rahi hai parts mein.. :-P
Cheers
i read all d 3 parts back 2 back n i'm thoroughly impressed.ll come bac 4 d next part...ur a fabulous storyteller
i read all three parts in one go just now and its been very very interesting and gripping... the end of this part has really caught me at one of those "oh! what the fuck!... don't end it here" moments!... am waiting for the next part... bring it soon kid!
cheers
@ Amith - Hee hee. Thenkew!! :)
Arre yaar that's the role that suits me best. :D
Thanks a tonne!
Cheers
@ Pallav - He he. Wait and watch and you shall know. :D
Haan yaar, I think I should end it ab. It's going round and round in circles.
Arre yaar kabhi kabhi tto xpectations fulfil karti hoon. Enjoy it while it lasts. :D
Awwwwwwwwwwww!!!!! That is the shweeeeeeeeeeeeeetest thing anyone ever said!!!
THANK YOU!!!!
If ever I do write a book, teko two copies free. One for you and one for the person jisko tu torture karega meri book se. :D
Thank you sooooo much fo that wonderful comment. :)
Cheers
@ Richa - Itna tto girti rehti hai vaise hi. Na baba! Me not contributing to the making you fall down part. :P
Love seeing you here. :)
Cheers
wow, its becoming all the more interesting!! bring it on isha :) waiting for the next one.
the romantic queeness..
but the climax? whats with that?
Oh god!!when's the end approaching????
Nice blog and nice article...
Regards..
DevPalmistry
But for the last line ..Sigh ..
:)
Fine flow and keep them guessing. Good work :).
@ Mahesh - Honoured that you think this way. :)
Arre I haven't given a name to either of the leads. Purposely. ;)
Awwww...thenkew!! But you are a league apart...I've a long way to go before I catch up with you. :)
Bus last part bacha hai!!
Cheers
@ Anwesa - Heyy!! How have you been???
Thanks so much ya. :)
Good to see you here again. :)
Cheers
@ Crimson Feet - YIPPEE!! That was what I had intended it to be like. :D (I know, I know, I'm a sadist) ;)
Glad that you liked it! :)
It'll be up soon.
Welcome to C'est La Vie. Hope to see you around. :)
Cheers
@ Sawan - Yayiee!!!
Will try to keep the wait short. :)
And how are you ab?? Fever and all gone ya nahi? :O
Take care. :)
@ Chriz - Keep watching this space and thou shalt know. :)
Cheers
@ Netika - Soon, very soon. :P
@ Dev - Thanks a tonne man.
Welcome to C'est La Vie. Keep visitng. :)
Cheers
@ Brown Phantom - He he...that was to make sure that I have a steady flow of visitors for the next post. :D
Thanks mate!
Cheers
Hey , your narration is beautiful and has me hooked. But i don know...the whole academic achievement playing a huge part in relationship doesnt seem so right.
Wow..wow..wow!! It's just getting woww-er and suddenly u mention the word "nightmare"!!! Arreeee yaar!! Mujhe abhiiii padhna hai 'the end'!! Damn..how do u do this?!
LOL. It was all the while reminding me of a friend of mine in IIT kgp. Uska toh pehle hi semester result ka band baja hua hai! And now that he's into this girl..God only know uska kya hoga!! And I don't think the girl even cares!
I like the girl in this story that way..I've never seen someone doing that!! Smart gurrl!
@ Gymnast - I thought some one will raise this question and I'm glad that you did.
Tell me something, do you think had the guy not been able to manage a decent grade, the girl would have left his side?
Exactly. You know the answer to that. :)
The point here is not the academic achivement but the effort that has been made to reach it.
The point is that the girl cared so much that she did not mind foregoing their time together and making the two of them go through a hard time just to make sure that he secures the kind of grades that he is capable of.
The point is that love is not always about "Us". It is as much about "You".
The point is that sacrifice is also a form of love. :)
Thanks for visiting and being honest in your comment.
Looking forward to such reviews from you in the future as well. :)
Cheers
@ Dr. Acula - LATECOMER!!! *Narrowed eyes*
He he...bechara tera friend. Girls are smarter that way, nahi? They have their priorities set right.
You do?? Yay!! Everyone seems to like the girl. :D
Cheers
oh wow!!! i was so caught up in d story, and the 2 parts before them (sheepish look... i read them now) :P... i was like "areee whtttt yaaaa" at d last line. :P :D
hope dat tell u hw much i liked it...
post d last part soon!!!! N i agree wid Ami, plz dont tear them apart.... they sound perfect together.. :)
Luv,
Annie.
P.S: They make me think of me n Ro. :)
lolz.. i forgot to add this, fond memories as they are... 3rd sem mein meri aur Ro, dono ki band baj gayi thi!!! lolz lolz.. n we had to convince parents to send us for Goa trip.. lolz lolz.. wht a time it was..
Ahhh... ur post made me think of d amount of times I had to keep reminding him to keep his eyes off me n on crazy weird stuff called "Fluid Mechanics" :P :D ...
@ Annie - Awwww. Thenkew!! :)
Ohho!! enough requests for this one. :P
And awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.........hugssss !!!!!
He he....I hope tum dono theek thaak marks se pass ho gaye hoge!! But then, I think the fun of being in love is in such small things. Nahi??
Cheers
I have resisted commenting on all parts as I was waiting for the end. But i cant wait any longer.
Publish the conclusion else prepare for a hard kick to thy rear end.
P.S Puh-leeeze! :)
this just gets better and better everytime.
girlie you surprise me !!
i thought i was the only romantic and here you are proving me all wrong!
haey!
@ Dphatsez - Ohhhh!!! I have almost planned it out in my head...just wait a lil more please!!
*Puts up stone pads to protect her rear and to make those who try to kick it really sorry for it* :D
The Puh-leeeze! works just fine you know. :P
Cheers
@ AD - Haye!! What more can I ask for?? When the queen of romance showers such wonderful comments. :)
Arre yaar, I'm very boring in real life...it's only on pen and paper that my romantic side surfaces. :D
Cheers
The last line was like a slap on the face :O
btw... I wish somebody made me study and things like that :(
I want to drop out of school and everyone around me makes me want that even more..
This story's got to continue
Oh it will!! It will!! I'm on it as soon as I finish this comment!! :)
Really?? Why would you want anyone to make you study?? I would LOVE the opposite to happen..lol.
Drop outta school??? Girl, you better not think on that track!!
And hey!! I thought you were done with school!
Class XII now ?
Interesting read! As for the curve ball at the end, I suppose that's the cliff-hanger to keep us waiting for Part 2? :P
Btw, I started a new blog along my old design blog (http://deliciouslysunsational.blogpsot.com). I figured I might as well post some non-art based posts. :P
Err, part 4 you mean right? :P
Ohh!! That's great news!! Will be soon haunting your new blog. :P
Cheers
ooo i m late to read ...but still i enjoyed :)..
lovely..
@ Amu - :) thanks. :)
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