Memories of her - II/Deux

"Ouch!" He turned around to glare at whoever had poked him in the ribs.

She smiled and said "C'mon! Don't tell me that hurt that badly! Or are you particularly ticklish over there?"

All he could do was grin sheepishly and try not to blush too much. "So, what did I do to deserve that nasty jab?"

"Just need your help with a little bit of math. Can't figure out these by myself"

He turned around and started scribbling and explaining.

Christmas that year: "Hey, gimme your address" "Why? Are you gonna come home?" she asked. "I might..." he said with a hint in his voice that belied the casual tone. "I'll give it to you. But only on one condition...that you gimme yours as well."

Class begins again after the hols but she doesn't speak to him much the first day. He is puzzled, but doesn't give it too much thought.

"Did you give R. my address?" he looks up, startled and sees her. "No. I didn't give it to anybody! And why him of all people! You know that we are not even friends!"

"Yeah, but I got a card that said things like - I trust you and like you a lot etc etc. - and it wasn't signed. I knew it wasn't you because I got another card from you. Got into trouble at home over that. I hid your card and told Dad that this was from you"

"What! Why did you ever do that! How can I come over now! What'll he think! I've always treated you as a buddy haven't I?"

"I don't know why I did that. But you were the only one who had my address..."

An year later, they are in different classes. And different worlds. She wonders what happened to the nice geeky guy that she had known. And he wonders why they weren't close friends anymore. But adolescence angst reigns supreme and booze and rebellion are all that he cares about while mooning over love that seems fated to be unrequited - and no, he wasn't in love with her but someone else!

Graduation day: He doesn't turn up because he has screwed up so bad that he doesn't feel like he has anything to celebrate. And she - she's gone from seeking help in math homework to topping the school.

1st reunion: He spots her immediately and moves his way through the crowd. She turns around and catches his eye and breaks into such a wide smile that all his doubts disappear. They chat like the old friends they were and the party seems to end all too soon. As he leaves, he realizes that he hardly spoke to anyone else at the party. And being an age before cell phones and email, all that he has to contact her is her hostel phone. And she doesn't have even that!

Four years later: He sits down for breakfast and glares at the other people chatting around him and wonders how he could have ended up here in the midst of such overwhelming mediocrity - barring a few exceptions like him of course! Life wasn't supposed to be this way! He was supposed to be succesful, goddammit!!! Why didn't the world get it!

Beep goes his phone and he reads a message that just says "Hey, remember me!" and wonders who it could be. Another beep and now it is "An old friend". He hates practical jokes and decides that enough is enough on a day already leaden with monday morning blues. He calls up and hears her voice and almost drops the phone in surprise!

Three months later: Chatting with her on the phone late at night as has become usual, he wonders whether he is falling in love with her. And for the first time, he wonders how she feels about him. He decides that he'll go meet her that weekend to find out.

Next day morning: As always, he is late to work and the phone chooses to ring. It is her - "Don't tell anybody yet, but I'm getting engaged!" He wonders if he'll ever be on time for anything!

Three years later: He is getting engaged in a week's time and has developed a rather serious case of cold feet. He hasn't heard from her since her wedding. He wonders how she is and wishes that things had turned out differently. Logging on to blog, he idly checks mail and finds a familiar name that he hasn't seen for years now. Reading through her mail he suddenly realizes that he can't afford to get married to someone for whom he doesn't have anything close to the affection that he still has for her. She is happily married and he'd rather go through life alone if it couldn't be with someone like her.

Sometime later: Excited, he is setting out on the first day of his new job. He has no idea if he is late or when office starts! But sitting in a cab on the way to work, he feels certain that life has started becoming better. It definitely couldn't take a turn for the worse ;-) The phone rings and it is her. She can hear the pleasure in his voice as he exclaims "Oh! You remembered!!!" and says "Of course I did!"

Well, even if they were never lovers, they certainly are best friends. Perhaps because they never were lovers.

ubergeek, the