Sam had approached the week with some gusto. A week had passed and he kept hoping that she would turn up at least once. To his ill-fated mornings, she never turned up. At least, not in the same bus ever again.
“Maybe she was visiting the city. You know? Maybe she doesn’t work here after all” said Ranil, hoping to assure him.
“At 8 in the morning, which girl would roam about Bangalore if she didn’t have to go to work?” retorted Sam.
He was right, thought Ranil. He wouldn’t normally expect Sam to work his mind this quickly but here he was, pointing out the flaw in his logic.
“You’re right. Look, it’s a Friday. She might come on a Monday, you can never say. Infinite possibilities…” said Ranil.
“Is that your company’s tagline? Infinite possibilities? Really?” asked Sam, whimsically.
“Ok, forget that. You are coming to the play tonight right. Don’t make excuses like the last time and stay at home. This will be good for you. You might find a new dream girl there, you know?” he said, nudging Sam.
Sam looked up and gave an empty stare. Ranil shook his head and looked out the window non-chalantly.
All of the week, Sam had spent in misery. Love does that, doesn’t it? It eats you up little by little each day, and the more you try to regain a normal state, the more you slip away from what currently was. Normal suddenly doesn’t seem so normal once you’ve seen what you can be. Quicksand - that should have been a synonym for love. Somehow no one else had quite felt this way to call love that, he thought to himself.
That evening, Sam dragged his feet to get to the play. His friends awaited him at the reception. They greeted each other and awaited the usher to let the people enter. Sam behaved as normal as he could be, only Ranil knowing his sordid plight, and only partially.
A burst of giggles was heard a few feet away from where they stood. A group of friends, mostly girls, were sharing an old joke and laughing about it. Sam looked up at the crowd. It’s nice to share a joke in a group, he thought. He quickly surveyed the group. A thin guy in a muscle tee, a girl who constantly kept playing with her hair, a girl in blue rimmed spectacles…
“That’s her!” screamed Sam.
Unmindful of the crowd around him, he had let out a loud, excited yell. Ranil walked upto him. People gave him a quizzical look and went about their business as usual.
“The bus girl? Where is she?” he asked.
“There. In that group. The one wearing the blue specs” he exclaimed, still unable to hold his enthusiasm down.
“Her?” asked Ranil “Are you sure it’s her?”
“Yes, yes, I’m sure. That’s her alright. Same glasses, same smile, same laughter. It’s her, no doubt” he said.
Ranil smiled. He walked up to the group now. Sam froze as he stood.
“What is he doing? I thought I was the mad one!” he muttered, but stood still, hoping for the least embarrassment this situation could lend.
A few minutes later, Ranil seemed to be making some progress, because they seemed to be talking to him normally. No screaming, no anger, no slaps. Yet.
After a few more minutes, Ranil beckoned to Sam to come to them. Sam tried his best to play cool and waved back, indicating it was alright and he was going to stay right there. Comfortable, and unhurt.
Ranil beckoned a second time, and this time, Sam didn’t see any sense standing and making an ass of himself there. He might as well do it there in front of her. So he mustered his courage and walked up to where they were standing. His eyes were planted firmly on her, but kept shifting focus to avoid looking like a creep. After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the group.
“Guys, this is Samarth, also known as Sam. And Sam, this is my friend Nikki and her gang. I’m sorry I can’t remember all your names” he joked, as the whole group smiled at Sam. “Let me try anyway, this is…”
Sam muttered a seemingly warm “Hi” to everyone in the group as Ranil did his best to remember their names and introduce them, albeit in a coarse voice, dry from anticipation.
“And this is Neena. Neena joined work at Bangalore a few days back” he said as he finally introduced the only person in the group that mattered.
“Hello” said Sam, shaking her hands.
“Hi” she said.
A short pause. And the rest, as they say is as history would write it.
…
Dreams, and their weird power of changing us.
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