She was sitting in front me listening to an old Bryan Adams number (Cuts like a Knife). It was our favorite song. HE was playing with her hair and cuddling her. I think HE cracked one of his stupid jokes; I could make that out by her trademark giggle. She was very happy. And that was for the first time I realized that I was in LOVE with her.
I knew Nikita from the past six months. We happened to be classmates. Since then we have turned out to become great friends. Those kinds when, last night, you pick up a strong abusive verbal fight in front of the whole college where she calls you a whore and swears to God that she is breaking up your friendship and the next morning she gives you a call and says, ‘Dude, where the FUCK are you? The class is about to start.’ You end up having dinner in the same plate because she is lazy enough to get herself a plate. Or the other time when you are invited to a boring party at your friend’s place and you have his whole house to sleep yet you prefer to hold her hand and keep you head on her shoulder and sleep.
She was the perfect friend you could ask for and I never wanted anything more than that. It was simply PERFECT. But then I don’t know why I was feeling so hard to digest the way HE was playing with her hair. It was not that he was her special one. He was just another friend of hers. Her school-mate and yet I was not comfortable.
And may be because I loved her so much, I was feeling so irritated with his behavior. As they say, ‘You don’t need time to love someone, you just need a moment.’ This was my MOMENT. And I was so floating in my moment that I blurted out loud, ‘NIKI (a second pause), I LOVE YOU.’ Before I could realize what I had done, she turns back with a *Fuck you Bastard, you needed so long to tell this* expression and gives a tight hug and says, ‘I LOVE YOU TOO BABY’ and gives a kiss on my cheek.
Happies Endings.
Well not actually. Because that is when I remembered that I had said the exact same line for the second time in the past 15 hours to a girl. I mean two different girls.
RHEA. That was her name.
INTERMISSION…
Well life was in an Intermission Mode now. The mode when the screen goes blank and you wonder what’s going to happen next.
Back to RHEA. Rhea was my Deepika of Break ke Baad. We knew each other since we were 3 years old. We went to the same school, same class, same tuitions, same painting classes, same, well you get the picture right. For almost 17 years we lived the same lives. Then I was couriered to this business school while she went to a Film school in Pune. And that was when we became conscious of what we shared between us. We were so used to each other that we didn’t even have time to realize that we loved each other.
I still remember when she was 10 she tripped over the 18 foot slide and ended up fracturing her hand. And the best part which I got to know later was when she smiled. Six of her teeth were broken completely. I used to run to the hospital after the school and stayed there till my mom use to drag me back home for almost a week. And then once when we were in tenth grade she didn’t come home till 9 in the night. So I had to take my cycle and stray almost half the city, going to all her friend’s places (Damn, Mobiles were not there then). But later found out that she had fallen asleep in her cupboard. The smile on her face while she was sleeping spit upon the fire of my anger. Angel.
Last night we were sitting on my terrace for the first time in six months. She was in my arms eating the last piece of a home baked cake (I had baked it). It was simply PERFECT (I know I said it with Nikita also but it actually was). I didn’t want to lose her and I was GODDAMN sure even she felt the same. I saw a curtain holder clip next to me and I knew if not now then never. I picked it up, took her hand in mine, put that thing through her finger and said ‘RHEA (a second pause), I LOVE YOU’. She said nothing. She looked into my eyes for a little more than a couple of seconds and then she moved her head upwards and the next thing I know was that we were kissing.
So now I was still struck in Nikita’s arms thinking what I am going to do next. I didn’t want to lie to any of them. But I knew that the truth would take them both away from me.
Lot of people may now say it is just an INFATUATION. You will get over one of them soon. Probably you wouldn’t cycle half the city at 10 in the night or abuse someone in front of the whole college and end up in each other’s arms the next morning if you are infatuated to someone. I was dead sure that I loved them both. I was sure it would be impossible for me to live with losing either of them.
They say every rule has an exception. I believe this was my EXCEPTION.
Dedicated to Sithara Ramesh (The Girl who always snatches away my book to read what I'm writing).
Eat well sleep safe.. Take care.. Have a Nice Day.. Sayonara.. =)
