The Fluke

Photo Credits: My Moto G. ;)

 
     After million advises and a full list of Do's and Don't, I was able to get away from that elderly concern! And I had a prescription of only pain-killer, which even I could have taken by myself, but still it was a relief to get away. When I went out, I was surprised to see her outside as it was little unexpected, even though deep down I was very glad to see her. As I came out of the examination room, she asked me-"Do you know any medical store around here?". The question was so abrupt as if she didn't want me to ask anything about why was she waiting outside. So I simply replied-"It's further down the road. I have to buy my prescription too. We can walk there together".

The medical store was only at two minutes walking distance, but those two minutes felt like an hour. No one spoke at all while we were walking. They were the most silent 2 minutes that we ever had in our relationship. It was like we both were thinking what would be appropriate to talk about and could not find anything. The silence was broken when she asked for her prescription at the shop. She was very adamant about checking out whether the medicine was same as the prescription or not. After that I asked for my prescription. When the time came to pay, I realized that I forgot my wallet. The thing was, normally Mukesh uncle keep sample of medicines, given to him by MD's. And he would give them whenever I would go to see him, so I didn't think of bringing any money. But this time he didn't had any, so I had to buy them. So I told the shopkeeper that I will pay him within few minutes as my residence was nearby. I was about to go, but just then Shanti said- "I can lend you some money."

I thought since it was only matter of Rs. 15 and it was much better than walking home and coming back, so I said fine. After paying the money to shopkeeper, we started walking back. But this time she broke the silence by a taunt - "You can return the money some other time." That's when I realized, that I even had to somehow return her money back. Just then, I heard myself saying - "Would you like to have a cup of coffee?". I had never done that before, that is asking a stranger out.  It was simply on an impulse and was feeling a little awkward, so after few seconds I added, "I can return your money then." She waited for a moment and said, "But I don't know any coffee place around here". I hastily replied, "There is a coffee house, 5 blocks away from here on the main road". But when I saw the amusing look on her face I realized that she had indirectly said yes to the invite and I was too childish to even realize it. In return I had nothing to give other than an embarrassing smile. After a few moments of dooming silence, she spoke again, "I can't come right now." It was much more embarrassing than earlier. I had invited her out, but it was like she was leading the whole time. To cover up I said, " It's fine. It is near 4 now. We can meet around 5.30. The coffee house is right around the 

corner on the main road."  It was quite coincidental that at the time of departing, instead of bidding goodbye we both simultaneously said "Thanks". It was like thanking a friend.

    I was a bit late in the evening. It was 5.30 already and I had just took off from home. But getting away from the odd household chores with a pathetic reason as "meeting an old school friend", when even your mom knows that most of your best buddies are off to college, was quite hard. At last, instead of giving any more lame excuses, I just snuck out. When I reached the coffee shop, I could see her from outside. She was sitting near a table in the middle of the cafe and had a pretty grim look on her face. I thought she was angry with me for being late and so I started concocting reasons in my mind for being late, to persuade her.

    Now just a pause. Sorry, I forgot to tell you about Kota. It's a necessary information that you need to follow. For all those people who don't know about Kota, it is a city in the state of Rajasthan in India. It is considered as the most prominent hub of coaching institutions for preparation of entrance exams of premiere colleges in India. A large number of students from northern, western, and a few from other parts of India come every year here to prepare for the entrance exams, while doing their high school. The city offers a vast opportunities to work hard and achieve success in various exams. But as there are always two sides of every coin, Kota also has numerous distractions which can lead to the downfall of even a good student. It all depends on the devotion and commitment of the student. With enormous number of girls and boys studying together, there are a lot stories that happen. A very few of them turn out to be very infamous and rest of the damage is done by rumors. The malevolence of few immoral guys is attributed to the whole gender.

    Now since you are full of general knowledge, lets get the horse back on carriage. Just as I sat down on the table, she started speaking harshly. Her voice was not high enough to call it yelling, but enough to get attention from other people and waiters. She was blustering on how she was not naive, she would never have believed me. Her sister had told her that how guys of Kota are simply jerks. The waiter at the counter had become a little suspicious, and even a few people were looking at us because of her loud voice. She said, "I would never have trust you. I don't even know your name. Were you thinking of taking advantage of me? What do you want?". "That's it". I stood up and said, "Shut up". I probably had said that loud as everybody in the cafe was looking towards me and the waiter too was walking towards us. I didn't know what to say next. The first thing that came to my mind was, "I just want to make a new friend". It felt very stupid saying that but nothing else came to my mind. The waiter was standing just beside our table glaring at her expectantly. For a moment she was very silent. I thought she was going to leave, but just then her expressions changed. She looked at waiter and said, "What are you looking at? Am I a superstar or what? Go bring me a coffee". She said it so satirically that the waiter was perplexed and scattered in a hurry. Watching all of this, a girl sitting behind our table started giggling. Even I was trying to hide my grin.

     After that everthing calmed down. I sat down again and said, "And by the way my name is Saraansh." This brought back a smile on her face. After that I introduced myself. Then we got into conversation regarding something that I don't remember but after that it flowed like a river. And this time I too made a significant contribution. It was when she asked what time it is, I saw that its past 2 hours. It was getting late and I knew that by now, someone will come to know that I am missing from home and it's matter of time they start calling. The problem was I still didn't want to leave. But she said, "Shit, it's very late. I have to go." She started leaving in so much hurry, that I was lagging behind and followed her outside. When we reached out of the cafe, I bluntly asked, "Can I have your number?" She turned around and looked back with such calculative eyes that for a moment I thought that i was going to be slapped. But after a thought she said, "Give me yours." She wrote my digits in some kind of a notebook and left. Just like that, she left. No parting words, no good bye or anything. She even rejected my request for her phone number. The whole way to my house, I was thinking that it was just a fluke. It was one of those random event in this more odd and unusual world.

           But then I heard her voice. "Hey Ansh, what are  you doing?" She was standing in front of me and there was such a musing look on her face that I had to take a moment to realize where I was. "You know I brought her here to company you." Then I saw her friend dancing on the disc with some guy. She was completely drunk. "Yeah, I know. But I think she is enjoying even without my company." Just then the guy started groping her friend. She said, "I need to help her." I looked at my watch and said, "Well, we need to get going." We carried her friend together, by holding a shoulder from either side. We left her car there and I dropped them to Shanti's house. Her friend was completely out by now. So I had to take her to the bedroom in my arms. Shanti walked me out on my way back. When I was at the front door, she said, " I will come by your house tomorrow to help you clean." I said, "It's already clean." Her response was, "I know." Her reply was very rhetorical and by the look on her face I knew there is no point in arguing with her. We both said 'Thanks' to each other. It was just like when we met for the first time. On my way to the car I knew for sure it was far from over then. I have heard that 'Thanks' hundreds of times after we met at the cafe. It was not just any fluke. It was 'The Fluke'.

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