Truly Madly Deeply (9 page)

“She's a bit over sensitive and easily believes people she knows, so she believed me and now would believe you and the conclusion would be the same. Correct your mistake soon if that is the
case. You are the first guy she is truly into. I can tell that by looking at her face. Go for it, friend. Good luck!” Asif half confessed,
half advised.

“Shit!” Rahul cussed before picking up his bag and running along Seema's route but he did not discover her essence anywhere near.

After going home that day, he called her for the first time on her landline. Her mother answered the ringing of the phone.

“Hello.” Her mother's voice sounded heavy and dominating.

“Hello aunty, this is Sapna here. Can you please call on Seema? I have some doubts regarding today's homework.” Rahul chose the exact opposite voice to counter his prospective mother-in-law.

“She's sleeping.” The gruff voice answered.

“Can't you wake her up?” Rahul was determined not to give up.

There was no answer. For a moment, Rahul thought that Seema's mother had disconnected but he held on as there was no dial tone at his end.

After what seemed like ages, a soft, sleepy voice answered
the phone.

“Yes Sapna, it's me,” Seema said stifling a yawn.

“Hi Seema, it's me,” Rahul greeted.

Seema's yawn lost itself mid-way and she looked around her to see if anyone was listening. Her jaw dropped open in surprise and her heart-beats started their race.

“Why are you calling me on my landline?” she asked softly in an irritated manner.

“You have not given me your cell number,” Rahul justified.

“I don't have one,” she said.

“Then this was the only way I could contact you and sort it out,” he admitted.

“Where did you get this number from?” she questioned.

“I have my own trusted sources. Don't worry your number is safe with me, none of your other fans will disturb you,” he promised.

“What sorting do you want to do now?” Seema asked in a
hush-hush tone, looking over her shoulder to check on her
crowded household.

“I just wanted to apologise; I really did not have a clue about what you were talking, trust me,” he confessed.

“And now you do?” she asked softly, her hold on the receiver tightening with her breath.

“Yes, I had a talk with Asif; he told me what I had not told him and what he had told you but what I did not know that you had been told,” Rahul tried to put it forward.

“You are confusing me,” Seema said.

“I'm sorry. I just meant that Asif told you that I told him I like you, which I never did,” he said truthfully.

“Ok,” Seema said in a low voice, her grip on the receiver
loosening again.

“I mean…”

“It's ok, I understand,” Seema said.

“No, No… Listen, I do like you but I won't be telling Asif about anything. Trust me on that, please!” Rahul said in a rush of breath.

Seema stayed silent for two seconds, slowly regaining the firm hold on the receiver.

“You like me?” she asked in a hush-tone.

Rahul swallowed the nervousness gaining on him. He willed for the knots in his throat to disappear. They didn't seem to exist in his dream when he would rattle of romantic dialogues on her face, just by gazing in her eyes.

“Yes, I do,” he gushed.

“In what sense?” she asked immediately.

“As a friend…” he replied, after thinking for a long time.

Seema did not reply to that.

“A bit more than a friend actually, something like… a very special friend… a very, very special person whom I value and trust a lot,” Rahul sensed the words come out.

He wanted to say more but he suddenly seemed to forget all the vocabulary he had learnt in his life. He could feel the heat of her breath on his earphone or was it just his ears turning red again?

“I wanted to know that,” Seema answered after what seemed like ages.

“And why would that be?” it was Rahul's turn to prod.

“Hmm… just, just like that,” Seema faltered.

“That's unfair; you too owe me an explanation,” Rahul insisted.

“Maybe some other time, Mr. Rahul Kapoor,” Seema teased.

“So, back to being friends?” Rahul asked, almost extending his hand into the receiver.

“We always were,” Seema replied, doubling his happiness.

“Can... Can we go out somewhere again? Just the two of us. I mean, if you don't' mind,” Rahul closed his eyes and crossed his fingers.

“I... I...” Seema was trying to frame something in her thoughts.

“IF YOU ARE DONE HELPING YOUR FRIEND, PLEASE LEAVE THE PHONE ALONE. POOR MANJU CHACHI IS WAITING SINCE LONG TO MAKE A CALL TO HER
IN-LAWS AND YOU WON'T BUDGE. 15 MINUTES ON THE PHONE!” Rahul could hear Seema's mother in the background.

“I'm sorry for this but I had to, I won't be seeing you for
four days and I didn't want the misunderstanding to linger on,” Rahul explained.

“It's ok. I got to keep the phone down, sorry!” Seema replied in an even more hushed manner.

“Hey, no sorries from you. Angels are pardoned the three magic words and you are the queen of all angels, so you should be setting examples,” Rahul quoted his heart out of the blue.

‘You could make do with some other three words though and I would gladly accept them,' Rahul said in his thoughts.

“SEEMA, KEEP DOWN THE RECEIVER NOW!” her
mom bellowed.

“Ok Sapna, thank you, sorry, please take care,” she shot the words into the microphone.

Rahul sensed the line go blank and disconnected the call from his end, a happy smile setting on his lips, a euphonic melody playing in his heart.

***

NEVER ‘KISS' GOODBYE

Rahul twirled the loose end of the curtain with one hand while holding a book, he had been trying to read since the last month, in the other. His roommates were away for a date with their respective girlfriends in this pleasant warm weather, as the next two days were public holidays. Sometimes he would hear them, near the hostel's common washroom, discussing their escapades at the green Fairmount Park near the Schyulkill River. Beyond
it was Philadelphia's museum of art, a treat to true connoisseurs of art and he personally wanted to visit it to see the works of
Van-Gogh but he just could not bring his mind to drag his disinterested heart into things. He would try to struggle with his own, to get away from the onslaught of his past but it was glued to him. He searched for ways which could undo his earlier life altogether, if not correct it.

He wished he could start his life all over again or at least relive
some moments and correct those mistakes which he so regretted now, which had cost him his love. He just thought that
sometimes even if a person would want to take a relation
forward, circumstances might fail him; but in this case, he had failed himself.

Today, he thought he had seen the love in her eyes for him back then but what had happened? Where did it disappear?

Rahul saw images moving in the skies he was staring into. The projector was in his mind and the pictures appeared to their solitary audience as the projector played the scenes from the mid-monsoon period, when he had just started his tenth grade. He hit the PLAY button and the clouds began their telecast as if they were just waiting for his command.

Since there's not help, come let us kiss and part;

Nay, I am done, you get no more of me;

And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart,

That thus so cleanly I myself can free;

Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,

And when we meet at any time again,

Be it not seen in either of our brows

That we, one jot of former love retain.

-Farewell to Love, Michael Drayton.

It seemed that she had loved him; at least by the looks of her constant turning back from her classroom to catch each his eye. It seemed so true to his mind that she had loved him, at least when she allowed herself to be escorted to a certain safe area near her locality by him after school. There she would be, right below the school gate, followed by a long line of admirers. She would be waiting under some stupid pretext and a lame excuse in order to be with him. It seemed that she had loved him, noticing how she had pleasantly reacted when Asif had easily broken the ‘secret' that Rahul liked her. And so it did seem that she indeed loved him, when they had nearly kissed each other in the school laboratory.

Rahul still remembered that day vividly in his memory. It was etched in his cerebrum, as fresh as ever and whenever he thought of it, he did not know why, he got those funnygoosebumps all over his body! School had just reopened after the long vacations and the fresh smiles and expressions on their faces openly showed how much they had missed each other.

Rahul, Seema and Jess were preparing their respective projects for the upcoming inter-school science exhibition, which had been scheduled earlier for that academic year. Being the Science committee head, Rahul was required to inspect each project personally and highlight its importance to their laboratory staff. The ideas that they had conceptualised in the vacations began to take shape in the school laboratory. The lab assistant was away for his lunch, leaving the lab in the hands of these responsible students.

“Hey, does anyone have some glue?” Jess asked from the corner table.

“What do you need glue for?” Rahul questioned from the opposite end.

“I need to put a layer over the thermocol to paste other objects,” Jess said.

“Try looking for it in the cupboard behind sir's desk,” Rahul pointed towards the opposite end.

Jess hurriedly walked forward with her hips swaying dangerously close to all the things on either side.

“Hey Rahul, there's nothing here that resembles glue,” Jess shouted from the opposite end.

“In that case, you might as well look somewhere else,” Rahul replied without looking up from his table.

“Go and borrow it from someone in class,” Seema, who was working in diligent silence, advised.

“Oh, that's a good idea! Come, we'll go,” Jess invited, moving towards the door.

“No, you go ahead and get the glue. I'm realigning some objects in the layout,” Seema said.

Rahul looked up from the corner of his eyes. Jess had left in a frown and Seema was looking at him from his right. She turned a vivid scarlet as he caught her glancing at him, working away on his industrial waste project. For some unknown reason, it made Rahul's concentration fade away from his project. Whenever he managed to take surreptitious glances above, he would find Seema doing the same. It was as if they were going through the same tumultuous emotions inside. A harmless game of hide and seek – where none could hide their feelings for each other – was in motion.

“Hmmm...” a voice very close to Rahul hummed.

He looked up to notice Seema with her downcast eyes
moving awkwardly.

“Yes, how may I help you?” he mocked.

“I have attached this dummy windmill that works on the motor and it's not starting,” Seema said.

“Did you switch on the power?” Rahul asked.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“Ok, I'll have a look ,” Rahul said, shutting down the idea of fixing the discharge pipe he was trying to work on and moving to his right with Seema behind him.

He took her seat to inspect the connections and ran his fingers over the wires, checking and rechecking their twists and turns. He made some basic corrections to the positioning of the wires and all this while, Seema kept peering over his shoulder to look down upon the connections. Rahul bent down to switch on the power supply and the windmill whirled in the clockwise direction. That done, Rahul smiled in content and suddenly got up, in the process his head bumped into Seema's jaw.

“Oww!” Seema screamed.

Rahul's hand immediately flew to the area of concern.

“I'm so sorry, Seema. How stupid of me! I should have looked up before getting up so suddenly. I'm really sorry...” he said.

“It's ok, it's ok,” she replied.

Rahul tried to rub away the small swollen area and at that time, Seema looked upto him with her hazel eyes that were filled to the core. They seemed to be lit with a golden glow. Wispy
bangs fell across her forehead and Rahul felt himself melting like an ice-cream in the sun. Rahul too looked up, sensing her discomfiture; and their gazes were locked like that for what seemed like an eternity.

Rahul did not realise the fluttering of the pigeons that so often disturbed everyone in the lab, by darting in and out of the ventilators. He did not realise the long, loud bell that went off, signalling the end of the last lecture, nor did she! They were living in the same moment, the same time, the same feeling, the same thought. Everything had slowed down to that moment. It was as if everything had stopped and all that existed were two people
bound to each other by a string of their feelings, two young people finally realising what life really meant and what they were supposed to do – love as one!