I was sitting on a bench beside the pole light in a park, it was a cold night.The pole light was flickering,the cold breeze blew and I got goosebumps.I heards steps towards me, I was fully freaked out.A man and stood in front of me, I wasn't brave to see him. But I dared and saw his face, he was not ghost.
He said: ” Sir, we are closing."
I stood and started walking out of the park, the watchman moved to the next bench and said: ” Mam, we are closing." That lady replied: ” Yeah, I was about to leave."
It was the voice of Varsha, but my mind said she is not, but my heart said yes. It’s been 10 months I came here, but she was still in my mind. I tried to turn back, but I was fully freaked out. I ran out of the park, started my car and flew away.
In the morning, I got a mail that one of our clients was coming today and they want to know everything about the current status of the projects.
I went to the office, my team gave me the opportunity to give a presentation to the client. We welcomed our client, and client’s name was Megha. When I saw her, I felt like I saw her somewhere. We had breakfast with her, after that we introduced ourselves to her. I gave her the presentation. I don’t know why my team didn’t attend the showcase. She had lunch with us. Post lunch she attended a meeting with our Project Manager(P.M).
Our P. M said that she has some doubts about the project, so asked someone to clarify them. Our B. A asked me to go and clarify because I was the person who gave the presentation.
I can smell something strange is happening, but I didn’t get it.
As they requested, I went into the room. Instead of asking me about the project, she started about my office timings. I finally asked her does she have any doubt about the project, but she said she is clear about it after the showcase.
I asked: ” Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“No."
“Can I leave now?”
“Yeah, tomorrow at 10. Right."
“What?”
“Sir, You’ll be coming to the office at 10."
“Yeah and don’t call me sir. You can call me Akash”
“Bye. Nice meeting you. See you soon."
“Bye”
I went straight to P. M, I was angry. I said: ” You said she has doubts about the project?”
”Yeah," replied P.M.
“But she says, she is totally clear about it.”
“Oh.is it?”
“Instead she asked about me and my in and out timings etc."
“Cool”
“What? Are you out of your mind?"
“Why are you angry? What happened?"
“You all are acting strange today. Can I know what’s happening here?”
“It’s not like that."
“It is."
“Cool. You are angry AF."
“Okay! After all this, you want me to be happy?”
“Come to sit. Cool down."
“Tell me what’s happening?”
“Actually it’s a prank”
“What?? prank???”
“The girl whom we referred as the client is our new developer”
“We planned to pair her up with you so that she will cope up."
“And."(angrily)
“And she should know the status of our project, that’s why we asked you to give a showcase.”
“And what was that meeting for?”
“Actually, I explained her everything about our office and people and before sending I told her that I’ll send someone from the project so that she can know everything and anything she wants to.
“Oh god, you filthy people."
“Oh! Come on."
“Who is that intelligent, who planned this prank?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Tell me."
“It’s Pete”
“Pete?”
“Yeah, I think he will be in single piece after this."
“I’ll try."
I came out of his room, went to the cafeteria and took a bottle of cold water, and went to Pete’s cabin.
Pete said: ” Hey. Hi”
“Hi."
“How was the prank?” asked Pete with a dirty smile on his face
“It was cool."
“Cool? Is it?”
“Do you want to know how much cooler it was?”
“Yeah. I’d like to know”
I emptied the whole bottle on his head. The water was damn cold. I felt he will be angry with me after that, but he smiled and said sorry. Pete was the only person who hangouts with me, others stay away from me because I'm short-tempered and sometimes I’m lost, but Pete never complained anything. He is a good and kind person. We visit bar or pub daily. Every day, we try a new one and the funniest fact is till now we didn’t have a habit of alcohol. But still we visit the pubs to entertain ourselves and tonight we are going to visit a Spanish pub.
We went there, as usual, Pete started moving around and flirting with girls. In these ten months, he dated nearly thousand girls, with some he dated twice and thrice too.
I just sat in the alcohol cabin and was having mango juice. In those Lights, I saw Varsha sitting on the opposite side, I was happy after seeing her after so many days.
But it was my hallucination, I left that pub, Went home and slept. All these days, sleep helped me to reduce my pain.
The following day, I went to the office early and I was thinking I was the only person in the office. I went to the cafeteria, made a sandwich and was heading towards my cabin. I saw Megha, sleeping in the meeting room. At first, I felt I shouldn’t disturb her. But later on, I woke her up, because I can’t simply ignore things that I observe. She was shocked to see me there and asked me why I was in her home. I explained to her that, she is in office and she slept in the office yesterday. She said that she was trying to understand about the project and she didn’t even know when she slipped into sleep.
I was sitting in my cabin and watching a movie, she came and said she is leaving.
I asked: ” Why are you leaving?”
“What is the problem in that?”
“This is your first day in the office and you’re taking a leave."
“Sir... Sorry. Akash today is Sunday”
“What?”
“Yes, yesterday was Saturday. Though it was a holiday yesterday, they all came for me."
“Shit, I should keep track of days or else I'll end up doing these things."
“Okay, bye. See you tomorrow."
“Wait, I’ll drop you."
“No, it’s okay”
“I’m also leaving, so I’ll drop you on my way home."
“Thank you, but...”
“Why? What happened? Aren’t you feeling safe with me?”
Megha nodded.I asked her again: “What is it? What is stopping you?”
“Okay, fine. You can drop me."
We reached her home, she got out of the car and thanked me for the lift. She started walking towards her house and I was checking notifications on my phone. She rang the bell, someone opened the door. I was about to leave, but something was stopping me. I just turned my head to see, who was it?
I saw the person, for whom I was searching for years. It’s Varsha.
The next day, I called Megha. I asked her for lunch. Her reply was: “Lunch?? With me??”.
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll pick you up from your home, then we will go from there.”
“Okay, at what time?”
“Around 12.”
“And I accidentally booked a reservation for three people, so is there anyone to come with us?”
“You can call Pete.”
“He is busy today.”
“What will we do know?”
"If you are okay with calling your friend to lunch, you can do it.”
Hoping that she will ask Varsha to come with her.“My friends??” replied Megha.
“Yeah”
“My only friend is you and my friend whom I’m living with here.”
“Oh, can you call her?”
“No, she went to her father’s place.”
“Oh, shit”.
“Can’t you cancel the reservation?”
“I can, but I think we can’t cancel it for a single person.”
“Oh, fine. So we don’t have any choice left now?”
“Yeah, anyway be ready by 12.”
“Sure.”
We went for lunch, but I wasn't happy. I was expecting Varsha to be here with us. She asked me for a drink, I refused. But she was all drunk and started talking shit. Usually people talk truth when they are drunk. She said,” Akash you know what? You’re so cute.”
“Thank you. Can we leave now?”
“Wait, What’s the hurry?”
“You’re drunk.”
“So what?”
“Come on let’s leave”
“Are you planning to take advantage of me?”
“What advantage?”
“I’m sure, that you’ll not do it.”
“Why?”
“You’re a good guy, I like you.”
“Good, I have things to do. Will u please come?”
“Yeah! But why didn’t you tell me?”
“What?” she was unconscious.
Somehow I managed to bring her to my car. We reached her home, she was still unconscious. I took her in to my hands and started walking towards the door. I knocked the door and i was waiting for Varsha to come and open the door. I waited for a while but there was no response and the door was still close. I’m sure that someone is in the house, because I could smell someone cooking in the house.
This time I started banging the door hard, but still no one was opening the door. Finally, I shouted: “Varsha. Are you there?”. I heard the sound of payal(Indian anklet), the door opened.
The person at the door wasn’t Varsha, it was her maid Anna. I asked her why was she late. She said she was in Kitchen, so that’s why she didn’t hear. She took Megha from my hands and asked me to come in. She offered me Coffee, I asked her about Varsha. She said: " Varsha, will come tomorrow morning.”
I said: " Thank you for the coffee.”
“What happened to Megha?”
“She was a bit overdrunk.”
“Megha Drunk??”
“Yeah!”
“She ain't a drinker.”
“Is it true?”
“Yeah! It is.”
“Then why did she drink too much today?”
“I don’t know.”
“I gotta go."
I was trying to meet Varsha through Megha, but none of the attempts were successful. I was going to home, after the office as usual. It was a rainy day, Megha called and asked me to drop her and I agreed. This time Megha asked me to come inside and stay till the rain stops. I went in, Megha gave me a towel and offered me a hot cup of coffee. I could see some photo frames hanging on the wall in front of me, I stood up and started walking towards them. After seeing Varsha in those pics, my eyes got wet. Megha said: “The other girl who is with me is Varsha, my best friend.”
I replied: ” I know.”
“How do you know?’
I was caught, but I smartly said,” Do you remember that? We went for lunch, you had alcohol for the first time.”
“Holy shit.”
“How do you know all these things?”
“Anna told me.”
“Oh, Let me Introduce my friend to you.”
She called Varsha, my heartbeat started to raise for a second. She came down by steps, she hasn’t changed a bit in these two years...
Megha said: " Varsha this is Akash and Akash this is Varsha”.
Varsha moved her face towards me, she was thrilled. I can see happiness in her eyes, but she is sad for something too. The one thing which i read accurately are her eyes, seeing her eyes I can actually speak her mind.Varsha said: “Hi”
Me: “Hello”
Megha: “Can we eat something if your greetings are done?”
Me: “Yeah! Why not?” Megha walked into the kitchen.
Varsha: “How are you?”
Me: " I’m good”
Varsha: “Sorry, I don’t know that you’re coming.”
Me: " Why to say sorry for that?”
Varsha: " If I had known it before, I wouldn’t have been here.”
Me: " What are you talking? I came here for you.”
Megha entered the hall with a tray which has a few sandwiches and drinks and a bottle of wine. She poured wine into two glasses, and then she offered me one glass. I said: ” Did you ever saw me drinking?”
Megha: " Yeah, I did.”
Me: “When was the last time you saw me drinking?”
Megha: “Before five minutes.”
Me: “What?”
Megha: “You were drinking coffee a few minutes before.” and she started laughing.
Me: “Is it a joke? Do we need to laugh?”
Megha: " Of course it is.”
Me: " It was a good attempt, but the joke was lame.”
Megha: “Is it?”
Me: “Yeah! Varsha, what is your opinion?”
Varsha: “Same as yours.”
Megha: “I think I should improve.”
Me: " Don’t think, just get improved.”
Megha: “I think rain will not give up today, you can stay here till morning.”
I stood up and said: “Thank you, but I have to go.”
Megha: “Why do you want to go?”
Me: “I have things to do for tomorrow.”
Megha: " What is tomorrow?”
Me: " Nothing but I have to go to the office right.”
Megha: " It’s Friday today.”
Me: " But still”
Megha: " We mean no harm, you can stay here.”
Me: " No, I should leave.”
Megha: " Don’t you understand? It’s raining outside. Varsha can you also ask him to stay.”
Varsha: “Akash, please stay.”
That’s it, I sat down again on the couch. After seeing me staying, Megha said: “I have been asking you for a long time, but you didn’t listen. Varsha just asked once and you stayed. Wow, Varsha I think he is mad about you.”
Me: " It’s nothing like that and will you please allow me to make a call”.
Megha: " You’re Allowed.”
I went to the balcony and made a call to Pete and said I’ll be staying at my friend's place tonight. When I entered the hall again, there was an awkward silence.
"Is it your girlfriend?” asked Megha.
Me: "No, it was Pete”.
Megha: " Who is your girlfriend?”
Me: " I don’t have one.”
Megha: “You don’t have one now or you didn’t have one?”
I was silent, I didn’t know what to speak. Megha asked: " You have to answer this question?”. I was still silent.
Varsha: " If he ain’t speaking, then it’s not good to force him”.
Megha: " Why?”
Varsha: " Maybe it may have ended up wrong. Actually, we don’t know.”
Megha: " Yeah, What you are saying is true?”
Varsha: " Akash, you don’t need to share.”
Me: " Thank you.”
Megha: " Varsha, I think yours also ended up wrong?”
Varsha: " Yes.”
Megha took a sip of wine, and said: " Let me tell you what happened with her.”
Me: “Carry on.”
Megha: " She was into a guy when she was in her college in India. She did a small mistake, and her boyfriend utilized that reason to ditch her. But she thinks she did a great mistake that’s why they broke up.”
Varsha: “Megha, will you please shut your mouth.”
Megha:” Of course not.”
Varsha: “Fine, I'm leaving.”
Megha:” Don’t run from it”
Varsha:” I don’t need to.” and she left.
Me:” Why are we doing this?”
Megha: “I don’t want to but what else can I do?”
Me:” for??”
Megha: “To move on.”
Me:” I feel you’re rather hurting her, instead of helping her to move on.”
Megha:” oh is it???. Me hurting her is a small thing when compared to you hurting her”.
I assumed that she got to know everything, but I played safe. I replied:” Why will I do that?”
Megha:” I’m talking shit now, I think I’m a bit overdrunk.”
Me:” But you only took a sip.”
She finished the wine In the bottle. She said:” Now it isn’t a sip anymore.” and she stood, trying to balance herself and was about to fall. I quickly caught her before she even totally fell. She was still talking crap, she was singing some song. I made her stand again, and then she said:” Akash, you’re so cute.”
I said: “Please don’t start it again.”
“Okay, but I like you.”
“Stop it Megha.”
She said: “ I ” and went unconscious. Varsha helped me to take Megha till her room and we cleared all the mess in the hall. She asked me if I was told by Megha about where to sleep. I replied: “I don’t know, she didn’t tell me anything.”
“There are only two-bed rooms here, one is for Megha and another is for me.”
“Oh, then I’ll sleep on the couch or I’ll leave.”
“No, please don’t leave. Megha will feel bad.”
“Only Megha?”
“I have two beds in my room if you’re comfortable you can sleep in my room with me.”
“I don’t have any problem but I feel weird.”
“Okay, you can sleep in my room. I will make myself comfortable here.”
“No, please don’t do that.”
“So, what will you do now?”
“We will sleep in your room ……. On different beds.”
She said: “I know that.” with a coyly smile.
I too gave her a smile, we climbed almost all the steps and a strange sound came from the hall. Varsha was so scared, I was unable to recognize what caused that sound exactly. I asked Varsha to stay, but she said she also wanted to come with me. I was also scared but I dared that day, we started going down the stairs.
When we reached the hall, there was a bright violet bubble-like object in the air. It’s luminance filled the whole room, I went forward to touch it. Varsha screamed and said:” Don’t touch it, what if it is a ghost or a something which explodes when you touch it”.
I replied: “Varsha to bhi na, bohot daar thi hain yaar.”
“Whatever you do, please don’t touch it.”
“Okay, we both will try to touch it. If something happens as you think, then we both will die.”
“Okay.”
I didn’t expect that she is will agree so quickly. Then I said:” On the count of three.”
She started:” One.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
Chapter |||
Uncharted
At first, everything was dark, then we started walking towards a random direction. We were walking for hours, I don’t know the exact time and my legs almost went numb, but Varsha was Insane. She feels that we just started walking before a few minutes. We walked for some more time, then suddenly we could see the moonlight. We turned back and saw, there was cave kind of thing behind us. In the moonlight, the place looked like a desert.
As we were moving, the moon was getting bigger. My legs weren’t supporting me anymore, I kneeled and started sleeping on the sandbed. Suddenly an Enormous cloud covered the whole moon in the sky. It was black again.
The next thing I remember Is When I woke up the next day morning. I was sleeping with Varsha on her bed, slowly and quietly I got out her bed without waking her up. I went to another room and slept there again.
In the afternoon, Megha woke me up and asked me about yesterday’s night, I said: ”It was good, but.”
“Continue.”
“But I had a Nightmare.”
“Nightmare or dream??”
“Nightmare.”
“I can see that you struggled to sleep yesterday night.”
“Good.”
“But I’m not sure, that is because of Nightmare.” with a filthy smile.
“What do you want to hear from me ?”
“You were sleeping in Varsha’s room.”
“So, what?”
“You look tired too.”
“Yes, how do you know that?”
“Night is meant to sleep, not to do other things.”
“Megha, you bitch.”
“After yesterday’s thing, I thought Varsha will be sad and dull. But when I saw here she is overjoyed now.”
“Wow!”
“I don’t know. What magic have you done to her?”
“Megha, I think it’s the good time for me to leave.”
“No, best.”
As I reached home, Pete surprised me with his decision of getting married. Finally, he liked a girl to spend his life with. But the only sad part was, even this bastard got a girl to marry, but a gentle man like me is still single. I saw Pete, he was so much excited about his marriage. I asked him: “What made you think like this?”
“My heart," replied Pete.
“Really?”
“Yes. For the first time in my life, while dating a girl I felt that she Is the only person with whom I have to spend my whole life.”
“You can also be wrong.”
“Yes, I might be wrong. But she will keep me happy.”
“Good. By the way, what is her name?”
“Rhea.”
“Is she greek?”
“Nope, Indian.”
“Are you into an Indian?”
“Yes, you have to see her. She is exquisite.”
“Wow.”
“I bet you’ll fall in love when you see her.”
“Stop boasting.”
“Today you may feel I’m boosting, but tomorrow you’ll see her.”
“So, you’re bringing her home tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Then why did you mention it?”
“It’s a proverb.”
“But it didn’t sound like one.”
“It did.”
“Okay, leave it. When will you plight your troth?”
“On 3rd”
“We barely have a month before marriage.”
Pete nodded. I asked: “What’s the hurry?”
“I don’t want to waste more time.”
“Oh, God please save this child, he got drowned in love.”
Slowly buzz got created in the office about Pete's marriage, at first no one believed, because Pete was not that kind of a person. I don’t know what happened to Pete and why he wants to marry? if his girlfriend Rhea did it, she did a great job.
I was busy with his marriage preparations, basically, an American marriage doesn’t have anything to prepare much but this Idiot wants an Indian marriage. For which I was the only one to reach for help, and I too didn’t have a chance except that and on top of it he invited my parents without evening telling me and asked them to come before a week to help him to sort out things.
I had no time to meet Megha and Varsha, I was missing her so much. I took my mobile phone and called Megha after a few rings call got received. It wasn’t Megha who was on the call, it was Varsha. I asked Varsha: ”Hi, Varsha. Is Megha around?”
replied Varsha.:”Yeah, but she is sleeping.”
“Oh, then it’s good.”
“Good for what?”
“If she isn’t asleep, she will think that I’m trying to talk to you.”
“So, what’s in that?”
“That is a different story, we will talk about it later.”
“So, what was the call for? in midnight?”
“I want to talk to you.”
“What?”
“Something Important.”
“Please, now don’t bring it on.”
“No, it’s not about that.”
“Then, what is it about?”
“About that night.”
“Oh, the night you stayed with us.”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t worry, nothing happened that night. Megha was just pulling your leg.”
“I know that.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“We saw a strange light, in the hall.”
“Yeah, we touched it too.”
“Yeah, when we touched it. Have you seen anything?”
“No, after touching that light nothing happened, you became unconscious.”
“Then how come I was sleeping on the same bed on which you were sleeping?”
“From the hall, I lifted you, pulled you till my room and then I placed you on the bed. After some time I recognized that it was my bed. I tried to lift you again, but I was unable to. I can’t sleep on the other bed, because It was dark and I was afraid.”
“Okay, thank you for sharing all these things.”
“My pleasure.” and we ended the call with a smile on our faces.
Finally, the day arrived, Pete was getting married. The whole place was filled with people, but I was eagerly waiting for Megha and Varsha to arrive at the venue.
Suddenly someone pulled me from my back, and took me to the bungalow, behind the venue. It was Megha, she was a bit angry on me. ”Where were you all these days?” asked Megha.
I replied: “Here.”
“Yesterday, you saw me but you acted like you weren’t.”
“I didn’t act and you came yesterday??”
“Yeah”
“Okay, sorry for everything.”
“It’s okay.”
“Thank you.”
“I saw you waiting eagerly for someone.”
“Yeah, I was waiting for you.”
“Waiting for me? Or for Varsha?”
“For both.”
“Good.”
“Can we talk for some time?”
“We can but not now.”
“Why?”
“I’ll not answer for that.”
She was about to leave, I caught her hand and tried to stop her. She asked: ”What do you want?”
I replied: ”Hmm… Surprise me.”
She turned and started moving towards me, and I started moving backward. After a step, I reached the wall but still, she was coming closer to me. I was unable to speak anything, I sensed danger. She stood on her to toes to match my height and placed her lips on me, we smooched there for some time. Later, I realized that she was Megha, not Varsha. I released my lips from her. She asked: ”Is this surprise enough?”
We walked back to the Venue, I sat beside my mom. She started saying that she is seeing me happy again after so many days.
I replied: ”What happened to me?”
“Forget the past, You are happy now and that Is enough for me.”
“Good.”
“I know the reason behind Your happiness. That girl.”
“Which girl? Varsha?”
“She is the past, I‘m talking about the new one.”
“Who?? Megha??”
“Yes, Megha.”
“You’re wondering a lot these days.”
“I saw everything.”
“What did you see?”
“What you both did near bungalow?”
“Maa, you stalking your son now.”
“Whatever it may be. I like that girl.”
“Good.”
I got a message on my phone from an unknown number, In the message, it was written:
Ironman 3 released today, wanna watch tonight.
I made a call back to that number and it was Varsha. After the call, I made a plan and we were ready to watch it tonight. Myself, Varsha, Megha, Pete, and Rhea went to the Watch It and the worst thing which happened was, I was asked to sit in between Varsha and Megha. There is one who rarely talks and there is one who rarely stops and I’m sitting between them.
We were a bit early, the movie didn’t start yet. Megha started to chatter again. ”Do you want another surprise?” asked Megha.
I replied: ”I think that is enough for my whole life, Thank you.”
“It’s okay, you can have another.”
“Talk about this again and I will be out.”
“Sorry, please don’t go.”
“Okay”
“Your mom spoke to me today.”
“Oh. What did she speak?”
“Do you want me to tell you?”
“Yeah”
“We didn’t talk much, I hurried to leave for the movie. So I promised her that I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
“Good”
“You seemed to be curious about this thing?”
“I think the movie is about to start, can we stop our conversation and watch it.”
“Yeah, why not?”
As the movie started, I tried to talk to Varsha but my voice got lost in the sound of the movie. I placed my hand on Varsha’s hand, I thought she will remove her hand but she didn’t. When we were halfway into the movie, Varsha leaned her head on my shoulder holding my right hand with her while watching the movie. I was on Cloud nine, but Megha pulled me down from it.
Megha also leaned on my other shoulder and whispered: ”I want to be your Pepper Potts if you are Tony Stark”.
I whispered back: ”If you’re Pepper Potts, then I’m Thor”.
“Idiot”
Varsha asked me about our conversation, I replied: ”Megha said she is Pepper Potts and for that, I replied that I’m Thor.”
”If that is the case I’m Jane Foster,” Varsha responded.
“Really?”
The following day we all went for a picnic, where my mom started talking to Megha. I was seeing them both talking, but I acted as I ignored them, so that they shouldn’t doubt me. In the meanwhile I was with Varsha, we went walking to the nearby lake for some time. It was a nice experience. We returned back, but still, my mom was talking with Megha. I was dying with suspense, so I called Megha and asked her to meet me at the lake and said it was urgent. After a few minutes she came, I asked her about her conversation with my mom.
”I taught that you called me for the surprise," replied Megha.
I said: “Tell me? What did you both talk?”
“She likes me so much.”
“I know it, what else?”
“We talked about you for some time.”
“About me?? What did you talk??”
“She told me about your childhood things and memories.”
“What else did you talk except that?”
“We were talking for two hours, what do you want to know?”
“My mom’s Agenda behind this conversation.”
“Oh, she asked me that I like you or not?”
“You said you like me, next?”
“She asked my opinion on marrying you?”
“Okay, what did you say?”
“I said, I want to marry you.”
“Megha, are you out of your mind.”
“Nope, I just told my opinion. If you want we’ll marry or else not. What’s the big deal in that.”
“Megha, you don’t know what will be the impact of your opinion.”
“Whatever it may be? “
“Really? You want to marry me??”
“Yeah”
“Don't take the decision to quickly, take some time and think about it.”
“I already did it.”
“Try again, please.”
“I’m 100% sure.”
“Why do you want to marry a guy like me?”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
“What made you to like me?”
“Whatever you may be, you’re good at heart, you're a Teetotaler and you’re caring too.”
“That’s it.”
“No, the girl who marries you will be happy for the rest of her life and I want to be that girl.”
“I think this is not the person whom you’re talking about.”
“I know you Akash”. (I saw a gut feeling in her voice while saying this.)
“Good”
“I love you Akash, but don’t think about this now. Come on let’s enjoy.”
“I’ll join you, you can go.”
She came back, hugged me and gave me a kiss and said sorry and took me back to the picnic spot by holding my hands. I was having lunch with my mom and mom started talking to me slowly. She said: ”I talked to Megha, she is a lovely person. I asked her opinion on marriage and marrying you. She said she would love to marry you.”
“So, what are you doing next?”
“We talked with your father.”
“Father?? Is he here?”
“No, we did a Skype call.”
“Oh”
“He also liked Megha, We are ready for it and even Megha wants to marry you. We are waiting for your decision, don’t be in a hurry. Take your own time, this is your life, my son. Once done can’t be reverted back.”
“Thank you, mom. I really needed time.”
“For now forget all these things and enjoy the day.”
I thought I can use this time to convince Varsha to marry me, but wasn’t that smooth. After returning from the Picnic, I asked Megha to meet me on the terrace at night. As expected she came, I said that I want to talk something important to her.
She said: ”You’re talking so much with me nowadays.”
“Yeah, I have no choice.”
“Okay. Make it fast, I’m exhausted.”
“I want to tell you the truth.”
“What truth? Are you gay?”
“No, I would have been happy now if I was a gay.”
“Why? What happened to you?”
“Being hetero brought me these problems.”
“Leave it, now tell the truth.”
“We met in India five years back, at movie IRON MAN.”
“Oh is it?”
“Yeah, Me, You, Varsha were there that day.”
“Hey, don’t test my memory please I’m tired. Tell whatever you want to tell, don’t ask me please.”
“I was the person who ditched Varsha three years back.”
“So, is this what you wanted to tell me?”
“Yeah”
“I know it.”
“But still you love me?”
“Yeah, why what is the problem in it?”
“How can you love your friend’s lover?”
“I loved her ex-lover.”
“Varsha still loves me.”
“You’re wondering a lot these days and after hearing all these things I think you both were in Infatuation, not love.”
“No, It’s love.”
“Whatever. I’m going to sleep. Good night, Love you.”
“Good night”
“Do you want a good night surprise?”
“No, thanks for asking.”
I called Varsha and asked her to come to the same place, it took her 20 minutes but finally, she came. I told her everything that happened between me, Megha and Mom. I asked her to marry me before it gets too late.”Sorry, Akash. I can’t marry you," replied Varsha.
“Why?”
“You’re not my type.”
“I’m not your type? How did love happen between us then? We had a successful relationship for 2 years.”
“That was Infatuation.”
“What about the thing that happened in the movie theatre?”
“Immature Attraction. I got attracted to you before, I got attracted again.”
“Look Varsha, I’m serious about this.”
“I’m also serious about this, and I don’t want to marry a person who is mentally ill.”
“What the fuck?”
“Yeah, do you remember the last day we met in India?”
“I do.”
“You wanted to stop me that day, but you’re weren’t. You wanted to talk but weren’t able to do it.right?”
“Yeah, but how do you know this?”
“You’re suffering from anxiety disorder.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“I ain’t doing anything. I can’t spend my whole life with you in Infatuation and this illness.”
“Fuck you.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Get out of here, before I do something.”
“I’ll, but I think Megha is perfect for you.” and turned back and went downstairs.
While turning back, I saw tears in her eyes. I was not sure that she was crying because it was dark enough to see anything. I was angry. I went to my mom and said I was ready to marry Megha.
These typical Indian marriages are Insane, even for a small ceremony like engagement they shop like there is no tomorrow. My dad came to New York months before for shopping. My mom bought 5 sarees for her and two each for Megha and Varsha and she said that She wants to buy few more dresses for Megha because she wasn’t sure that whether she will wear saree for Engagement or not. My dad forced me to take 3 pairs of clothes and they bought a lot more things. While we were leaving the mall, my mom saw a Marriage Collection Section.
Again It took my parents two hours to select a dress, at the end of those two hours they finally selected a Dark blue suit and Cream colored saree. We walked out of the mall, my hands were full of shopping bags and my phone started ringing. I ran to the car, kept all the bags in the car and received the call. It was Megha she said that she is skeptical about our marriage. I said: ”What is it?”
”What is the reason for you to accept this marriage?” asked Megha.
“Nothing.”
“I was thinking that you accepted it because you were angry on Varsha.”
“No, it is different.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t marry the person whom I love, but I can let you marry the person who you love and I’m not sure that I’m worthy of your love.”
“You are Worthy, Akash.”
“You can keep me happy for the whole life.”
“Thank you, Akash.”
“I’m fortunate enough to get you.”
“Please stop, I can’t take this much.”
“Okay, see you. Bye.”
“Bye. Love you.”
“I don’t know that I can love you back.”
“You don’t need to.”
I hung up the call.
A few days later, I went to Megha’s place. I knocked two times on the door, Varsha opened the door. I said: ”Hi”.
"Hello” replied Varsha and climbed upstairs.
Megha was sitting in the hall, watching something on her mobile. I snatched her phone and got to know that she was seeing my pics. We both went into a small fight for the mobile, at the end of the story - a girl always wins a fight. Then she asked me to dance with her, I placed one hand around her waist and with another, I was holding her hands. We started moving slowly and after some time it became a beautiful romantic dance. Though I was dancing with Megha, my eyes were on Varsha’s room. Megha noticed me watching towards Varsha’s room, She said: ”Akash do you know that you’re going to marry me?”
“Yeah”
“Why are your eyes hunting for something on the Upstairs then?”
“Why is Varsha not around?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay”
“What will we do now?”
“I want to tell you about my illness?”
“Illness?? What is it?”
“I’m suffering from an anxiety disorder.”
“Be clear.”
“I can’t speak when I’m tensed or guilt even if I want to.”
“Oh, you’ll not be tensed or be guilt when you’re with me and I think we will not have time to talk once we get married.”
“Oh Is It?”
“Yeah”.
I waited a few more hours there to get a chance to meet Varsha, but I had hard luck.”You don’t want to leave?” asked Megha.
“I will.”
“It’s getting dark, I think it is good for you to leave.”
“Yeah, I’m leaving.”
“If you wanna stay for tonight, you can stay. You can sleep here, but this time in my room.”
“Thanks but I’m leaving.”
“Bye, take care. Love you.”
“No surprises today?”
“If you want surprise then stay here tonight.”
“No, I have to go.”
It was the morning of my engagement day, I was so much tensed, I want to marry Varsha and I don’t want to miss Megha too. But I can’t marry both of them. So I have to get down to one. I asked Pete to help me in this case, but he was not aware of my Indian flashback. So I told him everything happened, and he said he would have run away from these people If he was me.
There were only a few minutes left for Ceremony, I called Varsha. She didn’t receive the call, but I got a message from her in which it was written: ”Fuck Off”.So I decided that I’ll go with Megha, we exchanged our rings. Megha kissed me in front of everyone, I thought my mom will scold me because these things are not meant to be done in public in India, but instead, everyone who came to ceremony clapped and my mom joined them too. I asked my mom, is it okay to do these things in public, she said It’s America, not India.
Varsha did attend the ceremony, when I saw her I felt like I should go And hug her. But these feelings made me feel like I’m cheating Megha. So I just gave a look and ignored Varsha. If I had known that, that will be the last time I’ll see Varsha, then I wouldn’t have wasted that chance to meet her or at least try to convince her.
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