Kavya Janani U.'s Blog, page 10

Diya Rai – Just Hanging Out

“Well, that would have freaked you out. I am sorry, I never knew he was Brian. He just told me his name as Josh.” Karan apologized. He and Diya were taking a walk in the lawn of Quest Grand Hotel.

“That’s okay. You need not feel sorry for this. It wasn’t your fault. The only reason I am so bugged up is I just can’t believe that I always bump into Brian, even though I want to get over him.”

“Sometimes, destiny can be strange, Diya.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“So, you wanna continue the walk or come up to my room for a drink?”

“No, thanks. I would rather not drink now. I’ll get back to my apartment.”

“Hmmm, shall I walk you home at least?”

“No, I can take care, Karan.”

“Okay, fine. Are we all hanging out tomorrow? Or will you find it awkward for Brian to hang out with us?”

“I think I’ll be all right with Brian hanging out with us. It’s just hanging out. Nothing else. I am not gonna share a deep bond or something like that.”

“Okay, okay, cool. So, tomorrow evening at Star Observation Wheel. We can have dinner at KFC, if you like.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be there. Goodnight, Karan.”

“Goodnight.”

Flashing a warm smile at Diya, Karan turned and jogged up to the elevator. Diya started walking on the road. Being November, it was too cold and her cardigan did little to keep her warm. She brought her arms together and hugged herself.

“Think you need some help in doing that.” A voice behind her called out to her. She stirred and turned around.

“Br..Brian, what are you doing here?” She asked, rather disgustedly.

“I was just walking back to my room, when I noticed you coming out from the hotel. So I thought I could walk you till your apartment.”

“Look, I had just now refused Karan to walk me home. How will I even let you do it?”

“Coz, I know you more than he knows you.”

“That’s right, but are you just going to forget the horrible things that you’d done to me and be normal with me? If so, don’t even try. I can never be friends with you.”

“Diya, it’s just your mindset. You know you can forgive me, but you aren’t giving a chance.”

Diya stopped in her tracks and glared at Brian. “Oh! So, when did you apologize to me? In your dreams, eh?”

“Best friends don’t need to apologize, Diya. Everything just happens between them. It’s an understanding.”

“We. Are. Not. Best. Friends. At least I didn’t consider you as my best friend. You were more than that. You just spoiled everything.”

Diya broke down. Though she was out of the heartbreak, Brian’s reappearance brought back every ounce of painful memory. Brian gently held her hands and pulled her into an embrace.

“Diya, I am sorry. I am really sorry.” His voice turned raspy.

“Leave me, Brian!” Diya yelled and swayed from his grip. “I don’t want you to act. Just because you broke up with Monali doesn’t mean that you can use me as a replacement.”

“I am not using you, Diya. Promise. I never used you. I told you, right? I was almost falling in love with you. But-“

“Enough of your almost-falling-in-love theory, Brian. It just doesn’t work with me. Yes, you can hang out with my group of friends, but make sure you stay away from me. And I don’t want you to attack me when I’m alone. I don’t need you in my life. I took up this writing assignment to get over you, not to meet you again.”

“Diya, I-“

“Shhhh! Go away!”

She briskly walked away from him. Brian shrugged his shoulders and watched her retreating back.

‘I am never gonna leave you, Diya. You complete me. You should know that.’ He thought.

*****

Diya’s gang arrived at the Star Observation Wheel at 6 p.m pronto. Everyone had their winter clothes on, since the temperature had dropped by several degrees. 

“Who would like to go for a ride in the Wheel?” asked Karan enthusiastically.

“I am sorry. I dread the wheel.” Hannah put forth.

“What about others?”

“I kinda feel dizzy. I don’t want to go. You guys can carry on.” Diya replied.

“What fun would it be without the ladies?” questioned Mike.

“Yeah, boring.” Brian added.

“Okay, okay, we can stay here and watch the wheel for sometime. Then we can walk till KFC for dinner. Is that okay?” Karan asked.

“Yeah.” The others chorused in unison.

They watched the wheel going around with the passengers and marvelled at the psychedelic colours that the wheel emitted. They even clicked groupfies and posted on their respective social media profiles. After a few minutes, Diya’s phone pinged with a WhatsApp message. Diya swiped up her lock screen and read the message.

Mahi: Diya, idiot! What are you doing with Brian in Australia?

Diya: Just met coincidentally. Well, I didn’t meet him. I met Karan in the plane. Brian stays next to Karan’s room and they became friends. I met Hannah and Mike at my workplace. We ganged up together. That’s it.

Mahi: Phew! I thought that you both are back together.

Diya: Not even in dreams we would be together.

Mahi: Well, have you talked to him?

Diya: He tried talking to me, but I scoffed him.

Mahi: That’s good. I see, except Brian, you have tagged everyone else in that photo.

Diya: That’s because Brian is still blocked from my profile.

Mahi: Good for both of you. By the way, Mike looks hot. Why don’t you end up with him?

Diya: Nonsense!

Mahi: Ha ha ha. Anyway, keep away from Karan, too. I know, his love for you the second time was true. But he might take advantage of your friendship.

Diya: I know, Mahi. I am staying within my limits. How’s Ronnie? Have you been in touch with him?

Mahi: We are actually going out, you know.

Diya Rai – Coincidence

Diya sipped some water from her bottle and sat down on the stone bench situated beside the lake. Her workout clothes stuck to her damp skin, making her all the more ravishing. She was soon joined by Karan, who had also jogged for a kilometer along with her. He plopped down beside her with a huge sigh.

“That was an energetic performance, Diya.” He chuckled.

“That was shit, actually. I can do much better. I am just out of touch. Should get back to the routine.” She was still panting.

“What made you stop jogging?”

“I thought life was becoming happier and I needn’t care much about my looks, since I had found a person who would accept me as I am. But then everything turned upside down. Hence, I am here, again. Back to square one. Also, it feels good to jog again. It’s like I am pushing all the toxins out.”

“Can we jog together daily?”

“Sure. Okay, what about breakfast?”

“There’s a restaurant named Bhoj, which serves Indian food. It’s just been three days and I am already craving for our food. Can we go there?”

“How far is it?”

“Just a two-minute walk from here.”

“Okay, jog on!”

“Oh, no! Enough with jogging. Let’s walk.”

“Ha ha ha. I was just kidding, Karan.”

The duo reached Bhoj after a five-minute leisurely walk. They ordered Garlic Naan with Malai Panneer Kofta.

“So, when should you go to work?”

“I’ll start by ten. You know, I can work leisurely. This assignment requires me to write about Docklands culture. So, I can even head out in the name of research and observation.”

“That’s cool. Where do you stay?”

“In a posh apartment in Newquay Promenade. My newspaper has bore all the expenses.”

“Wow! How’s the apartment like?”

“Elegant is an understatement. It’s fit for a queen, actually.”

“Well, you are a queen. I mean, all the women are queens in this world.”

“So cheesy, Karan. Anyway, thank you.” Diya blushed. “Well, what’s your plan for today?” she continued.

“I am gonna go kayaking in Yarra and then I’ll be just visiting the Royal Botanic Gardens. If I have time, I might also visit the National Gallery of Victoria.”

“That’s quite a plan, Karan. I’ll see if I can join you. Anyhow, I’ll be out and interacting with some Australians in the park. Where do you stay?”

“I stay in the prestigious Quest Grand Hotel in Spencer Street. Drop in if you have time. We can talk over some wine.”

“Sure. Have you made any buddies over there?”

“Not yet. I think there’s an Indian in the room next to mine. He keeps to himself most of the day. I should talk to him today. He seems to be touring alone.”

“Well, it’s good if you can hang out with him, since I won’t be available.”

Karan flashed a wide smile. Then they shared the breakfast fare and left the restaurant.

*****

“Hey, I think you stay in the room next to mine. Am I right?” Karan asked jubilantly.

“Room next to yours? Where do you stay?” The other guy asked rather blandly.

“Quest Grand Hotel. Arey, I have seen you entering the room next to mine. So I thought you’d be staying there.”

“Yes, of course, I am staying there. But I have never seen you.”

“That’s because you are too absorbed with yourself.”

“And who are you to say that?”

“Just a lad who is trying to strike a cordial friendship with you.”

“Oh! Well, I – I thought that you – well, never mind. I am Josh. And you are?”

“Karan Patel. I work in Bangalore. My native is Surat.”

“Wow! This is a coincidence. I work in Bangalore, too.”

“Hi-five!”

“I am here on a holiday. What about you?”

“The same. You know, I have another coincidence, too. An old flame of mine has also come to Melbourne on a writing assignment. We are now on good terms with each other. She is working in Waterfront City. I’ll be meeting her in the evening. You can join, too. I think we can hang out as a trio from tomorrow.”

“That sounds great! Okay, what’s your next plan?”

“Royal Botanic Gardens. Care to join?”

“Sure, buddy.”

For the rest of the day, Josh and Karan stuck together. They even tried out some street delicacies and joined some games by the bank of Yarra river.

“You know, this is so much fun, Karan. I thought that vacationing alone is the best thing. Glad that I found a good company.”

“I am enjoying this, too. Wait till you meet my friend. She is more fun.”

“Can’t wait!”

*****

Diya sipped her third cup of coffee. She had been typing for more than two hours, rewriting and editing the paragraphs that she’d already written. Hannah Bach, her colleague, peeped from the next desk. She was a radiant Australian beauty, with slightly plump cheeks, well-arched eyebrows, blonde tresses, and a smile to die for.

“You are getting too worked up, Diya. I think you need to chill.” She spoke with a crystal-clear Australian accent.

“I know, Hannah, but I want to excel. This is my magnum opus. My newspaper’s gonna pay me lots of bucks for this assignment. Who doesn’t want some extra bucks?”

“That’s perfectly okay. However, you need some refreshment, too. You can take a walk, talk to other people, and make new friends.”

“I do relax, Hannah. And I am in the process of making new friends. You are already my friend. I had a friend coming to Melbourne along with me in the flight. He has taken a room in Quest Grand. We hang out together.”

“Sounds exciting!”

“Hey, why don’t you join us? I mean, if you are free in the evening, you can join us for some refreshing walk.”

“Sure. Just text me the place, okay? I’ll be there.”

“Okay.” Diya beamed at her.

After Hannah left the desk, she heaved a huge sigh and thought, ‘I think I should go out now and meet an Australian to provide me an insight of shopping in Waterfront City.’

A few minutes later, Diya visited the The Coffee Club Cafe and ordered Potato Wedges with Cheese & Bacon toppings. As she was gorging on her snack, a young lad in his late twenties, seated opposite to her and flashed a warm smile at her. Diya returned the smile. He was sturdily built with wonderful facial features – honey-brown eyes, rich black hair, and perfectly aligned jawline. Diya decided that the newcomer would be a perfect person to speak about shopping in Waterfront City.

“I need a Steak Sandwich with Chips,” he ordered to the waiter and turned towards her.

“Hey, I am Diya. Diya Rai from India. And you?”

“Michael Peterson from Melbourne, of course.” He chortled.

“Well, I am new here. I am gonna stay here for a month as a part of my writing assignment. I am writing about the culture of Melbourne Docklands. So I thought I could speak to someone about shopping in Waterfront City. Can you throw some light on the topic?”

“Yeah, sure. Waterfront City is THE best place for shopping in the entire Melbourne, I must say. You have the Harbour Town shopping centre, where you can shop for almost anything in the world. Accessories, jewels, food, entertainment – you name anything, it’s available in that shopping mall.”

“Wow! Are you free now? Can you just take me there and show me around?”

“Sure. I am free now.”

“By the way, what do you do?”

“I work as a real estate agent in Newquay.”

“Oh! I stay in one of the Newquay Promenade apartments.”

“That’s cool! Tremendously beautiful apartments they are.”

“Yeah, right. Shall we move now?”

“Sure, babe.”

Soon, Diya and Michael were in the Harbour Town shopping centre, going around the various shops and getting to know more about them. As they visited the shops randomly, Diya noted down some crucial points about them in her iPad. Michael spoke endlessly about the shopping trend in Melbourne and she was deeply impressed.

“You are so knowledgeable, Michael. Thanks for your inputs. I am gonna bring out a top-class assignment.”

“My pleasure, Diya. Have you come alone or with friends?”

“Actually, I met an old friend of mine on the flight to Melbourne, coincidentally. He is staying in a hotel. We hang out together in the mornings and evenings.”

“Hmmm, nice. I don’t have much friends here. Just two of them. We hang out rarely. They are busy guys and they wouldn’t show up much. I live a rather lonely life.”

“Hey, don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“I don’t. I just went through a painful breakup. I am healing my wounds by myself.”

“I am so sorry, Michael.” Diya held his right hand in hers. 

“That’s okay. I feel better now. Thanks for the touch.”

Diya withdrew her hand and continued, “Well, if you wish, you can join us in the evenings. We can hang out together. I have also invited a colleague from work. We can have a helluva time. You’d feel even better.”

“Thank you! Take my number. Call or text me the place. Okay?”

“Sure.”

The duo exchanged numbers and chatted for some more time. Besides his knowledge, Diya was also impressed by his kind attitude. She wondered if someone could breakup with a good guy like him. However, her rational mind had other thoughts.

‘Who knows? He might have some sleeping demons inside him. Only if I get to know him better, I can know his flaws. Only if I strike a friendship with him, I can know whether his flaws are manageable or not.’ She thought.

“Okay, I have some work now, Diya. A client meeting. Call me in the evening. I’ll come to the place where you want me to come.”

“I’ll surely call you, Mike.”

After they parted ways, Diya went back to her office. She found Hannah to be in a deep conversation with someone on the phone. Hence, she silently plopped down on her chair and began working on her assignment with renewed vigour.

*****

“Hannah, this is Michael. Michael, this is Hannah.” Diya introduced the two Australians to each other.

“Hey, Australians don’t name their daughters Hannah. How is it that you are named with a Russian name?”

“My father is a Russian, Mike.” Hannah replied with a smile. At once, Diya knew that the two would get on well with each other. 

“Oh, how I love making new friends! You guys are really amazing. I am sure I wouldn’t have a boring stay here.” Diya said, happiness dancing in her voice.

“Yes, we’ll make sure that you have the most wonderful time of your life.” Hannah put forth.

“Diya, where is your other friend?” asked Mike.

“He is on his way. He’s bringing someone with him. So that would make five of us.”

“Voila! This is so exciting!” Mike hollered.

The trio entered Pok Pok, a Thai street food restaurant. They seated in the open space which provided an eye-candy lakeside view. As they munched on some fried chicken ribs and prawn crackers, someone patted on Diya’s shoulder. 

“Hey, Diya.” It was Karan. She stood up to introduce him to Hannah and Mike. In turn, Karan beckoned to someone to come up to their table. The guy was admiring an artist painting in the open space.

“Diya, this is Josh.”

At the next instant, Diya’s mobile phone slipped from her hands and fell headlong on the floor. Her hands turned shaky as she stared at the so-called Josh. Sweat beads appeared on her forehead. She hastily wiped them away with her handkerchief and smiled uneasily.

“Diya, are you okay?” asked Karan, taken aback by her reactions.

‘Yeah, I..I am okay. Hi, Josh.” She extended a shaky hand for a handshake. Josh held it firmly and replied in his sonorous voice, “Hi, Diya.” A million shudders passed through Diya’s spine before she could regain her composure.

Karan and Josh seated themselves and ordered some fish cakes. All the while, Diya avoided Josh’s unabashed stares. She never knew that things could take such a dramatic turn. Finally, she mustered up some courage and asked him, “So, why are you in Melbourne, Josh?” Her voice was deadpan.

“I just needed a break from my monotonous life. So, I am here on a vacation for a month.” Josh replied nonchalantly, oblivious to Diya’s questioning expression.

“Well, is Josh your full name?” She raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“No. Josh is my second name.”

“Hey, why didn’t you tell me your full name?” Karan popped in.

“Just didn’t feel like it, Karan. Anyhow, what’s in a name?”

“Yeah, what’s in a name? Nothing. But we’d all like to know your full name.”

Even Hannah and Mike looked at him eagerly, as if his revelation will be next day’s headlines.

“I – I am Brian Josh. You can call me Brian, if you like.”

“Brian Josh?” Karan asked quizzically. 

Suddenly, a worried expression climbed over his face, as realization dawned upon him.

**********

Diya Rai – It’s Karan Again

“Good morning, ma’am,” said a richly-dressed airhostess to Diya. Diya smiled at her, returned the wish, and walked on the aisle towards her seat. Muttering excuses to people who blocked her way, she found her seat and plopped on it. She then rummaged through her backpack and fished out her mobile phone.

“Haan Ma, I reached. And I have boarded, too.” She said to the person on the other end.

“Excuse me!” 

Someone patted on her shoulder. She looked up instantly and let out a shocked gasp. Her phone almost tumbled out of her hand. 

“Karan!” She hollered, much to the dismay of other passengers.

“Holy cow! It’s Diya. Diya Rai!” Karan screamed, too.

“Please be seated, sir, so that the other passengers can move freely.” It was one of the so-called beautiful airhostesses.

“What a surprise, Karan! Wait a minute. Ma, I have met a friend here and he is surprisingly seated beside me. I’ll call you back later.” She hung up and turned towards him.

“I..I never even dreamt that I’d meet you again, Diya. And I am so sorry for this. I can’t help it. We seriously wouldn’t know who would sit beside us during our journey.”

“It’s the same for me too, Karan.” Diya flashed a smile.

“Yeah. And it’s been nine fucking years since we have met. And, boy, you gave such a blow to me on that day in the supermarket.”

Diya reminisced to the day when she had taken revenge on Karan with a downright and a rather humiliating rejection of his proposal.

“Oh! Seriously, I don’t feel sorry for what I did. I was burning with vengeance. And you deserved it, okay?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Karan chuckled. Diya, too, joined in the laughter.

“You know, it’s so good to see you again, actually.”

“Is it so? Voila! Am I imagining things? Diya Rai tells me that she feels good to see me again!” Karan thumped his fists together triumphantly.

“Ha ha! Well, that’s true. I do feel happy that I took revenge on you. But now that we have grown up, it’s been put on the backburner. And I haven’t even thought about it for a long time.”

“So, we are equal-equal now. I left you unapologetically. You took revenge on me. So, that’s over. And now we are friends again. Right?”

“Of course, we are.” Diya replied jubilantly. “Maybe being 26 makes me talk like this. I feel so matured, too.”

“You are matured. And so am I.”

“You are 28, right?”

“Yes.”

“Are you married?”

“Never been. What about you?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Oh! So, you are still that love-hating, marriage-loathing Diya?”

“Hmmm…no, I am not. But I won’t get married now.”

“You are being mysterious. Something has happened in your life. Tell me. It would be interesting to listen to that story in this 17-hour vapid journey.”

“Yeah, something happened. I wish that hadn’t happened.”

“Tell me. I am all ears.”

“No! I can’t. How can I trust you, Karan? You are not my best friend. You are nothing, actually. A mere acquaintance as of now. Don’t act as if you know me for ages. You don’t even know me that well.”

“Okay, I am sorry for taking things too fast.”

“That’s okay. So, tell me, why aren’t you married yet?”

“Never felt like it. I loved a girl so deeply. And she left me down in the dumps. Some scars don’t go away, Diya. No amount of comfort or love from another girl can make it go away. These scars are like that black mark which people stamp on us after a wrongdoing of ours.”

“Wow, Karan! This is so painful.”

“Why do you say ‘wow’ for that?”

“I mean, you actually fell in true love with someone. Karan, the playboy, fell in true love? That’s surprising!”

“Isn’t it?” But Karan’s tone was filled with such agony that Diya couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.

“Who was that girl?”

“Never mind. She still says that I deserve this.”

“What?”

“Yeah, she says I deserve this pain.”

“When did she say?”

“Just now.”

And it took a few moments for Diya to process that. Before she could reply, the crew members asked them to wear their seat belt as they were about to take off. After securing the belt tightly, Diya turned towards Karan and asked, “Karan, was that true?”

“What was true?”

“Your love for me? The second time?”

“Of course it was.” Diya could see that Karan was almost on the verge on tears.

“Can you explain me please?”

But Karan kept mum. The plane sped fiercely on the runway and took off smoothly. As they were floating in the air, Karan took out the in-flight magazine and started flipping through the pages, ignoring Diya.

“Karan, I asked you something. And I should know the answer.”

“You know the answer already, Diya. I shouldn’t go back to any of it.”

“Why…Why did you stay in love with me, Karan, knowing that I wouldn’t even look back at you?”

“I couldn’t help it, Diya. Even before I could make you realize that I’d finally fallen in true love with you, you humiliated me and moved away. My heart broke at that moment and I couldn’t mend it at all. I felt betrayed, actually. The previous night you were oh-so lovey-dovey, that I thought I would have a happy life with you. I cherished so many dreams for us, together. But you spoiled everything, Diya. I came to know that you wanted only revenge and you didn’t even have an iota of love for me. And, seriously, I couldn’t love any other girl in my life. Yeah, it’s been nine years, dammit! Nine years of pain!”

“I..I don’t believe you, Karan. If you had stayed in love with me, you’d have tried to contact me and prove your love.”

“There’s a reason, Diya. You were of such an age where you wouldn’t understand anything. You were immature and I knew I wouldn’t be able to make you understand my true love for you. And before I could analyze that you have become mature enough, you moved too far away from me. I thought to reestablish my friendship with you four years ago, but you were a mini celebrity by then. I thought that you’d have fallen in love with someone else and I never contacted you. I used to stalk your Facebook profile N number of times in a day to keep a tab on your daily life and to know that you are hale, hearty and happy.”

Diya was stunned. She didn’t know what to reply. The revelation of Karan staying in love with her for nine long years was too much to bear for her. She felt helpless and ashamed of herself. That act of revenge which she had committed in haste seemed childish now.

“Ka..Karan, I..I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t need to say anything, Diya. Let’s begin our friendship again. I never meant this meeting to happen. But, you know, there’s something called destiny, which is beyond our control. Maybe we were destined to meet again. I don’t know what God has in store for us. But I promise, I would never talk with you with the intention of making you fall in love with me. Trust me, everything’s over. I have decided to stay single in my life and it’s your decision whether to marry someone else or not. We will be best friends. Okay?”

“Karan, I am really, really tired of this. First I meet you in my childhood and get infatuated by you, only to be rebuffed by you. Then I meet you again as an young adult, where you claim that you have fallen in love with me, only to be avenged by me. Now, we meet again. And I am afraid.”

“Don’t be afraid, Diya. Nothing will happen between us. We both have moved on, though I brooded over you secretly. Now I don’t have to do that, too. I can openly be in good terms with you, without spoiling our friendship. Are you ready to take the plunge?”

Diya was rendered silent. ‘I think I should be at least friends with him, for what I did to him in haste is something which cannot be forgiven. Though I have never regretted about my actions, this is something which would bug me for the rest of my life.’ 

“Okay, let’s be friends. But, always have in mind, we are never ever getting back together.”

“Hey, that’s a Taylor Swift song.”

“Ha ha! I meant it truly, Karan.”

The duo’s mood eased a bit with their light-hearted banter and they calmed down.

“By the way, I have to tell you something.”

“What’s that, lady?”

“I am in love. In love with a guy who would never love me.”

“Huh? What’s this? When did this headstrong Diya Rai fall in love?”

“Six months ago.”

“Six months ago? Care to explain?”

And so, Diya poured out her entire story to Karan. Something triggered within her. An unexplainable feeling. Well, she knew it immediately. It was regret. Her decision to move to Melbourne was already becoming a bad decision. There were two reasons for it. One: She met Karan, again. Two: Brian’s thoughts never left her.

**********

Diya Rai – Diya’s Departure

Diya switched on the gas stove and put on the tea kettle. As the delicious milk-tea brewed, she allowed her thoughts to wander.

‘Moving to Australia would be the best decision as of now. I cannot let this slip out of my hand. This writing project is going to change my life,’ she thought.

Absent-mindedly, she took the kettle out, filtered the tea into a cup and settled down on her cozy sofa. It was raining outside and so it was the perfect time for her to curl up with a book and some tea. She picked up Me Before You by Jojo Moyes from her home library. The story was so moving and lovely that she couldn’t stop herself from turning the pages. Books and tea made her relax, relieving her of stressful thoughts about work or Brian.

After reading a few pages, she closed the book, picked up her mobile, and dialled Mahima’s number. She desperately wanted to talk to her regarding certain issues.

“Hey, bae, what’s up?” Mahima’s silky voice boomed over the phone.

“Nothing. Just thinking about the Australia project.”

“Are you leaving or not? My advice would be to leave asap.”

“Of course, I am leaving. But I will be so lonely over there. No Mahima. No Ronnie…”

“No Brian.”

“What?” Diya spat.

“I know you would have completed the sentence with a reference to him.”

Diya heaved a huge sigh and replied, “What to do? I am unable to forget him. He clings on to my thoughts like a leech. Whatever I try to do to forget him, it just doesn’t work out. Now I know how it feels to be in true love. How it feels to be spurned.” Diya’s eyes filled with tears, as she thought about all those boys whom she had spurned.

“Why don’t you speak to Brian directly and sort out your problems? Just go, scold him, beat him, and ask for justice to be given.”

“Are you mad, Mahi? How can I confront him regarding my stupid mushy-mushy feelings for him? He’s already in love with Monali.”

“He broke up with her.”

“But he still loves her.”

“How the hell do you know that, Diya?”

“I know. Even in his absence, I can sense his presence, but I also can sense another female energy surrounding him. So, it is clear that he still loves Monali.”

“Oh, cut the crap, Diya. You and your spiritual talk!”

“Okay, let’s leave about Brian. What are you up to? Are you gonna marry or stay single?”

“I am thinking of moving in with someone.”

“Who? That idiotic crappy boyfriend of yours?”

“Oh no! I would rather die than live in with him.”

“So? Who else?”

“I am gonna move in with myself.”

“Woah! You got an apartment?”

“Yeah, sweetie. I was about to call and tell you.”

“This is great, bae! I think I can pay a visit before moving to Australia.”

“You don’t even need to tell me that. Just drop in anytime you want.”

So, a plan was made for Diya to visit Mahima’s new apartment. After a few more minutes of girlie chat, the best friends hung up. Soon, Diya went into her introspective mode, thinking about Brian over and over, until she cried herself to sleep.

*****

Life resumed as usual for Brian. After his breakup with Monali, he moved on with his monotonous routine of lecturing sleepy-headed students in college. Due to working overtime, he vacationed in the weekends to nearby getaways, though he longed for a long tour to a place abroad. But he had to postpone that crazy wish of his, for he never got time to even eat properly. Sometimes, Diya’s thoughts would come to him. He’d think about patching up with her, but even that idea would go down in drains, as he would never muster the courage to face her. Also, he sworn to himself that he’d never meet any more girls or think about marriage. He hated himself for falling in love with a cheat and breaking the heart of an innocent girl. He had had enough of women in his life.

“Dostoyevsky’s works predominantly focus on human psychology that….” He was taking rather a boring class on Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the great Russian novelist, when he was interrupted by a girl in the front bench.

“Sir, when you say human psychology, did Dostoyevsky focus on the love angle of human beings?”

“Why do you think that human psychology means to deal with issues of love?”

“I just had that thought, sir. Maybe I am wrong.”

“Oh, you’re just eighteen and it makes you have these ideas. But, Dostoyevsky focused on the social and political angle of human psychology. He was known to be an expert in existential literature. Love doesn’t play a role here.”

“Okay, thank you, sir. One more question. Has love played a role in your life?”

“Of course, it has. Now, would you like to date me?”

The girl blushed from cheek to cheek. Face reddening, she stopped asking questions and focused on her textbook.

On his way back home, Brian thought about love in general. As he progressed, he got fantastic ideas to pen a fictional love story that would emotionally drive people to not fall in the burning abyss called love.

‘I am gonna try my hand at writing. Let me start outlining the story. It would take at least a year for me to complete it. ‘

“Hey, Ma, you know what, I am gonna start writing a novel,” he said over a Skype call to his mom.

“What is this new hobby, beta?”

“I don’t know, Ma. It just occurred to me. I have such an amazing plot line running in my mind. So, I should start weaving the tale.”

“Whatever, beta. If you get money from it, it’d be worth.”

Brian rolled his eyes.

“Ma, writing is creating something from the scratch. Writing is not about money. It’s about self-satisfaction. I am so distressed to know that money is everything to you.”

“Ha, don’t get angry, beta. Money isn’t everything to me. But if you earn money from that book of yours, won’t you feel happy?”

“Yeah, of course. But that’s not everything, Ma. The positive reviews, the recognition, and people telling me that they liked my story will provide the best feeling in the world.”

“Whatever, beta. Okay, what are you going to make for dinner?”

“I think I’ll have mac and cheese.”

“What’s that, beta?”

“I meant – upma. Okay, I have a call from one of my colleagues. Will call you later, Ma. Take care, okay? Good night. Sleep well.”

“Good night, beta. Sleep well. Take care.”

Logging off, he began talking to his colleague. After a few minutes, he made himself some mac and cheese and indulged in it for half an hour. It was only when he had curled up in bed, his thoughts strayed to Diya.

‘Should I talk to her and apologize for everything that has happened? Should I be friends with her again?’

Thinking so, he placed a call to her. And he received “The number you have called is unreachable at the moment”. Diya had blocked him yet again.

*****

Diya fell in love at first sight. Yes, with Mahima’s new apartment. The walls were done up in pastel browns and creams. The Victorian furniture, the artworks on the walls, the aesthetically done up bedrooms, and the bathrooms fit for a queen, everything made Diya go nuts. She squealed, gasped, and gesticulated at the right places. What attracted her most was the beautiful Tibetan singing bowl, which was placed in Mahima’s reading desk. Mahima gently hit the rim with the gong and the bowl produced such harmonious music that Diya’s senses began relaxing. 

“Wow! That’s so meditative, Mahi. Love it so much. Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“After I finish my stint in Australia, shall I move in here with you?”

“What do you mean, Diya?”

“I mean…Hey, wait, are you afraid that people would start speaking about us?”

“Hey, nothing like that. I just…Your sudden proposal seemed so strange.”

“Nothing strange in it. Are you okay with it?”

“Of..Of course, sweetie. I would love to have you here. Feel at home.”

“Yeah, it feels like home. That’s why I wanna move in.”

“What will you tell your parents?”

“Ha, they will understand. Or I’ll make them understand.”

“Sassy you!”

“Ha ha ha…”

“When are you leaving?” There was a dash of sadness in Mahima’s voice.

“21st of this month. Melbourne.”

“I am gonna miss you.”

“Me too.”

After a quick hug, Diya took leave.

*****

October 21st of 2016 arrived too soon. The first thing that Diya thought after waking up was Brian. It was the same date they had met the previous year in the LitFest. It was such a bad coincidence that she should leave to Melbourne on the same day. Dragging herself up from her bed, she went on to do her morning chores. An hour later, she was all dolled up to leave for the airport. Mahima and Ronnie (who was surprisingly on a holiday) would come to see her off.

“Have you taken the first-aid kit?” asked Mamta Rai with her usual mommy concern.

“Of course, Ma, bye. Bye Papa. Bye Anjali.”

“When will you return?” asked Anjali morosely.

“It’s just six months. Cheer up. Be a good girl.”

“Hmmm, I’ll miss you. And, you know, mom’ll probably start groom hunting for me before you return.”

“Rubbish! You’re just 22.”

“What did you think, Diya? That I would leave her just like I left you. At least she obeys me.” Mamta Rai put forth.

“Ma, you know what, this is what makes me want to move out of this home. Anyway, I don’t wanna create a bad scene and leave to Melbourne. Goodbye!”

Diya stormed out, after muttering goodbyes to Rohit Rai and Anjali. Sometimes, it was her mom, who was the prime cause of her worries.

*****

“Promise me that you won’t marry an Australian.” Ronnie said in a serious tone. Diya hit his hand playfully and embraced him in a friendly hug. She then hugged Mahima.

“Just break up with that moron, Mahi. Why are you hanging on to him?” She asked, relating to Mahima’s torturous boyfriend.

“I will. Soon. You come back and you’ll find me single.”

“That’s better than finding you married. It would be a nightmare and my dreams of staying in that beautiful house would get shattered.”

The girls chuckled, while Ronnie watched on. By the way he was looking, he seemed to be smitten by Mahima. Diya noticed it and looked at him quizzically.

“Hey, have you got an eye for her?” She almost whispered.

“I think I can try.” He whispered back.

“Mind you. She is my best friend. Don’t spoil anything between us.”

“I won’t.”

With teary smiles and a final goodbye, Diya moved on to board the flight to Melbourne. 

**********

Diya Rai – The Thief’s Boyfriend Realizes

“What the fuck! I can’t believe this!” Brian screamed at the top of his lungs. Sweat beads broke on his forehead as he watched the video of Monali explaining about how she had picked the pocket of Mr. Sundarnathan and stole his wallet.

“You have to believe this, Brian,” Diya replied calmly.

They were seated in their usual retreat ‘Coffee Exotica’, sipping cappuccinos. Though Diya wasn’t speaking anything other than exposing Monali, deep inside she felt that she must open up to him and ask him about his life without her or her friendship, but she refrained, thinking that that would bring back bad memories and spoil the good aura around them.

“Oh my God! My day is full of surprises. First, it was your unexpected call. And now, it’s this video. How did you get down to this?”

“I don’t know. It just happened. Maybe, this is what I call as destiny. God wanted me to meet Sundarnathan again and help him out with this pickpocket issue. I just solved it, without knowing how it would end. And it led me here. Again to you.”

There was a tinge of sadness in Diya’s voice. But Brian cleverly ignored it and continued, “Thank you, Diya. I mean, thank you for letting me know that I am in a relationship with a thief and a cheat.”

“Actually, it’s a perfect match, Brian. Cheat and cheat. Made for each other.” Diya hissed.

“What do you mean?” Brian raised an eyebrow.

“You know what I mean.”

With those words, she stood up, paid for her bill, waved to Brian, and left the cafe. Brian was left all alone to himself. He began planning his next move, ignoring Diya’s hastened exit. He still didn’t want to believe that his Monali was a professional thief. And he was also ashamed that it was Diya who found this out.

*****

“Brian, I seriously did not want to hide this from you. I have been planning to tell you….”

“Shut up!”

Monali shuddered at Brian’s yell. She felt uneasy in front of him. And also she was confused as to how Brian found out about she being a thief.

“How..How can you just say by listening to someone else’s words, Brian? I..I am not a thief.”

“You are. A professional one, that too. I have proof.”

“Proof?”

Now, this was a definite blow to her. Though she was terrified about the entire discovery, the idea of Brian exposing her with proof was almost equal to suicide. She fidgeted and waited for Brian to show the proof.

“This.” He fished out his mobile phone, selected the video and showed it to her.

With each passing second of the video, Monali felt faint. She thought she would collapse at any moment.

‘That bitch! She wasn’t a trainee. She was an investigator.’ Monali thought and cursed under her breath. Her crooked mind found ways to snatch the mobile from Brian’s hand and delete the video. But she couldn’t, as he had a firm grip on his mobile.

“Now, what do you tell to this?” He asked rather sardonically.

Monali chose not to reply. She bent her head down and stared at the floor. She felt too ashamed beyond words.

“And, don’t try to steal my mobile to delete the video. Just look!”

Saying so, he deleted the video in the next instant. Monali looked at him quizzically.

“Brian, are you that humane to not report me to the police?” Her voice quivered with a mild excitement, thinking that Brian would forgive her. She already planned to repent her ways just few minutes ago. She thought she could leave everything and lead a happy and truthful life with Brian.

“Tch! Tch! I am not, my dear jaaneman. The video is in some other safe place. And, no, it’s not with Mahima. She deleted it, too. It’s somewhere else.”

A scared expression climbed over Monali’s face. She stuttered,”Br..Brian, pl..please forgive me. I will re..repent my ways and le..lead a good life. Please do..don’t report to police.”

“I won’t do that either, jaaneman.“

The way he said the word ‘jaaneman’ irritated Monali. It wasn’t out of love. It was pure wrath.

“I am sorry, Brian.”

And then she broke into tears. Streams and streams poured down from her eyes.

“There’s something worse than reporting this to police, Monali.”

“What’s that? Do..Don’t tell me you’ll leave me.” She pleaded him.

“Exactly. That was what I was about to tell. I am leaving you, Monali.”

“Br..Brian, no, you don’t mean that. You..You won’t leave me for this.”

“Why can’t I? Am I obliged to listen to your words? Am I your slave? In fact, I was a slave. I gave in to all your requests. I changed myself a lot according to your wishes. I bore with all your nagging and tantrums, just because I loved you so much, dammit! But now I have realized. I don’t need you anymore.”

Monali was dumbfounded. She moved not a muscle of hers. She just couldn’t digest the fact that Brian was leaving her. This was more painful than being arrested by police. After a few minutes of inner struggle, she found her voice, “Brian, I am really really sorry. I won’t repeat this again. You can report this to police, but please don’t leave me. I just cannot live without you.”

“Didn’t you think about me while you were happily robbing? Didn’t your conscience prick when you cheated me with this crime of yours?”

“I AM SORRY, BRIAN!” Monali couldn’t take it anymore and she collapsed on a chair beside her. But Brian did not move from his place. He just kept gazing at her angrily.

“Monali, stop crying. It is I who should cry over this.”

“But you can’t do this to me, Brian. How can you say that you’ll leave me, when you still love me?”

That hit Brian. Though he was angry at her for her horrendous crime, he was still in love with her. He couldn’t refuse that. He just kept mum.

“Why are you silent, Brian? Speak up.”

“I cheated you, Monali. I had sex with someone else.” He replied bluntly.

“What?” Monali spat out.

“Yes, I had sex with someone else. I cheated you.”

“What do you mean, Brian?”

“What should I mean anymore? You know, our relationship was all rosy at the beginning. We were so much head over heels in love that we never cared about compatibility and compromises. We just went with the flow. And then when reality hit, we started fighting. You never compromised with me on anything. You wanted me to change according to your whims and fancies. And above all this, you were thieving around and concealing that from me. This is the last straw, Monali. It will never work out between us. We have gone through so many rough patches that we don’t even realize we have individual lives. We, mostly I, have lost my identity. Actually, this relationship is exhausting me of all the energy I have. I feel that I have only negativity in my life. So, I really don’t want to take this forward, Monali. Please leave me.”

Brian folded his hands and almost begged Monali. She was rendered silent and she did not open her mouth for one whole minute. The intensity of the situation slowly dawned upon her. She realized how toxic she had been in Brian’s life. More tears streamed from her eyes. But this time they were tears of regret and helplessness.

“I am genuinely sorry, Brian. Like you said, it’s better we break up.”

“Say that again.” There was mild excitement in his voice.

“Let’s move away from each other.”

“Monali, I know it’s gonna be painful. But some things are better left behind than take them with you and suffer because of them. If we continue this relationship, I will suffer due to your nagging and possessiveness and you will suffer due to my free-spirited nature. Instead, it would be better if we mutually conclude this on a good note.”

“How can this be an ending on a good note, Brian? We have it worse than other couples.”

“See, there you go again. I said I don’t want to end this on an argument or with negativity hovering around us.”

“Okay, Brian. Whatever, we were good friends before getting besotted with each other. So, why don’t we part as friends? I am not nagging you or dying to stay in touch with you. But, someday if we meet accidentally, we shouldn’t have any awkwardness between us. We should be able to amicably say a hi and be able to speak a few words to each other. And, yeah, I am not that much hurt on your cheating confession. I don’t know how much of it is truth. I don’t have any proof to accuse you and break up with you. It was your downright confession that made me believe you. But, it is still a partial belief. I think you made that up to break up with me. However, don’t need of all those make-believe stories. The things which you spoke after that literally broke my heart. I didn’t knew that you were so suffocated in this relationship.”

“Thank god, you understand at least now, Monali. Anyway, I cannot tell that I fell out of love with you. I always care about you. My only advice is, please stop this robbing of yours. It’s a sin, actually. Surely, karma will hit back at you one or the other day. Please stop it. And, please change your attitude of nagging and possessiveness. It will save your next relationship, if you do change.”

“Thank you, Brian. For everything. I..I think I will break down, if I stay any longer. So, bye. I am leaving.”

Monali scurried off, taking her handbag from the table and moving out of Brian’s life, forever.

Meanwhile, Brian stood like a statue, unable to comprehend what was happening. And then after a whole minute, he burst into tears.

He sobbed for an hour. His tears were a mixture of love, realization, pain, and everything related to traumatic emotions.

***********

Diya Rai – Mahima Does It

“Hi!”

“Hi, do I know you?”

“No, you don’t know me. But I know you. You – you are Monali. And, I am Mahima.”

The girls exchanged a warm handshake. They were in a supermarket in Koramangala, which Monali was said to frequent. Sleuthing behind her for a few days, Diya managed to gather this information and passed it on to Mahima.

“So, how do you know me?”

“Well, this is an inside business. Can you meet me in Coffee Exotica in another ten minutes?”

“And why should I agree to a meeting with a complete stranger?” Monali raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“What if I say it is to talk about – ” Mahima lowered her voice to a whisper, “Pickpocket.”

“What the hell!” Monali hollered.

“Hey, cool down. I know every fucking thing about you. And trust me, I am not from the police department. I just need to learn that art. Come to Coffee Exotica to talk further. And if you don’t, I’ll keep pestering you till you agree to meet me in private.”

With those words, Mahima walked away, leaving behind a stunned Monali. She didn’t know what to do. She just fidgeted with her fingers and looked around to see whether anybody had noticed what Mahima had said. But everyone were busy with their own shopping. Sweat beads broke on Monali’s forehead as she contemplated about meeting Mahima. Finally, she made up her mind to meet her. Her inquisitiveness reached its pinnacle.

Ten minutes later, the girls were sipping chocolate milkshake in Coffee Exotica. Mahima initiated an interesting conversation on the art of picking pockets and Monali was drawn to it.

“It’s quite easy, if you believe that you can get away with it.” She said excitedly.

“What makes you pick pockets?”

“My dire need for money.”

“Can’t you earn in some other way?”

“Nah! Actually I couldn’t complete my under graduation. It’s been two years since I have left college and I have still not cleared my arrears. My parents in Mumbai don’t know about this. They think that I have joined some kind of course after my under graduation. I cannot pay fees for the arrears. Hence, I pick pockets and save money for the exams. Only my boyfriend knows that I haven’t completed my under graduation, but he doesn’t know that I steal to pay the fees. He just knows that I work part-time in a footwear shop in Whitefield. Thank God! He has never visited the shop and hence he doesn’t know the truth.”

Mahima patiently listened to Monali’s rigmarole and thought, ‘How foolish she is! Blurting everything out to a complete stranger.’

“Okay, so you have been picking pockets for the past two years. Have you met with any failures? Say, have you been caught by your targets? Or have you landed up in the police station?”

“Luckily, I have escaped everything. Just a week ago I had a narrow escape. But the wallet was worth it. There was much money in it.”

“Oh! I would like to see some of the wallets that you have picked, so that I can get to know what kind of wallets I should steal and how to determine whether there is some catch in it or not.”

Mahima chuckled to herself. Monali too joined in the laughter.

*****

Monali’s hostel room looked cramped. Books and clothes were strewn hither and thither. Chocolate wrappers and Lays covers were carelessly thrown around. Mahima had not seen such an ugly room before. Apart from thieving and robbing, Monali also had the bad habit of being unclean. She cleared up some food particles from her bed and made Mahima to sit. 

“Have this!” She handed a Dairy Milk bar to her.

“Thanks. Show me the wallets.”

“Yeah, here they are.”

Monali brought out lots of wallets from a black backpack. There were even a few purses in it. Mahima gaped at everything.

‘Oh my God! She is such a professional. She must be handed to the police immediately,’ she thought.

One by one, Monali showed and explained how she had stole from its owner. On the pretext of seeing a message, Mahima fished out her mobile phone and looked at the message Diya had sent regarding Sundarnathan’s wallet descriptions. It was a navy blue wallet with a Lord Ganesha carving in it. Immediately her roving eyes wandered around the strewn wallets and spotted the navy blue one.

“Hey, this wallet looks good! You seem to have some taste, Monali,” she faked an appreciation, while picking up the wallet.

“Oh that! That was actually a narrow escape two months ago. I was on my way to board the Nilgiris Express from Chennai Central. I found this man’s bulging back pocket. Immediately I took an aim for it, but it went all wrong. He almost caught me, but I was clever enough to flee at the nick of the moment. He shouted ‘Oi, oi, stop!’. I was too fast for the poor old man.” Monali let out a wicked chortle. Mahima winced in her place.

“There wasn’t much money in it. Not as I expected. The loot was around Rs.2000. There was also an old photograph of the man and his wife.”

‘Exactly what I need,’ thought Mahima.

“Ummm..If you don’t mind, shall I have this wallet to myself?” Mahima put forth the question carefully.

“Of course, you can. It’s no more needed. Take it. It’s common for thieves to get attracted to the wallets they steal. But I didn’t find that one too fascinating. You can have it. And tear that photograph.”

“No, let it be. I will tuck it away in one of my old diaries.”

Monali nodded uneasily. Though she turned suspicious, she couldn’t ask anymore questions.

Meanwhile, after checking out Diya’s message, Mahima had placed her mobile phone in such a way that the whole sequence was recorded. She stealthily switched off the video mode and slipped the phone back in her handbag. She smiled at Monali and said, “Monali, I have to leave. I’ll come back for training the day after tomorrow. Thank you for today’s lessons!”

“Okay, Mahima. It’s pleasure to have a partner in this business. Thank you for joining me.” She chuckled.

Mahima hurried away from the dingy place.

*****

“THIS IS MARVELLOUS!” Diya screamed.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes.” Mahima said. Diya pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Thank you soooo much, darling. It was you who guessed it to be Monali. Otherwise I wouldn’t have reached the conclusion.”

“No, it was your initiative that started all this and now we are going to handover that wretch to police.”

“Huh? No! We shouldn’t do that now. First, we should meet Brian and show him this video. It’s not to show that I have done something to put Monali in a bad position and find a way to his heart. It’s just to show that he has been with the wrong girl all the time. A top-class cheat and a professional thief.”

“That sounds good. After Brian, we’ll go to Sundarnathan to return the wallet. Then we’ll ask Brian if we should take this to police. We just cannot hand her over. What if Brian wishes to teach her a lesson in some other way?” said Mahima.

“Yeah, we must surely ask him about the police thing. Just imagine how much of a shock this is going to be for him.” Diya smiled lopsidedly.

“When are we going to meet him?”

“Tomorrow morning. I have to first unblock his number to call him.”

Diya Rai unblocked Brian’s number via Truecaller app and immediately dialled to arrange a meeting with him.

**********

Diya Rai – Sleuthing Around

Two months elapsed since that fateful day. Diya resumed her normal life of curating and editing articles in TOI, writing articles for ScoopWhoop, and penning poems for The Trope. Sans Brian, it was rather difficult, but it was quite manageable. She had blocked his number, blocked him on Facebook, and almost blocked him from her life, yet a few memories lingered. Brian too felt bad without Diya in his life. He felt so repented, that at times he thought to land at Diya’s doorstep and apologize for his mistakes. But he couldn’t bring himself to do that. He had Monali to take care of, his college duties to attend to, and his new travel blog to update regularly. Hence, the pair never felt that they should meet and sort their problems out.

Diya was arranging the books on her shelf, when Ronnie called her.

“Hey, Diya, care for coffee in the evening?” His sonorous voice boomed over the phone.

“Where?” She asked rather blandly.

“Coffee Exotica?”

The very word ‘Coffee Exotica’ brought a thousand painful memories and hence she immediately blurted out ‘no’.

“Why not? It’s a beautiful and calm place.”

“I know that, but I don’t want to have coffee at a place where I have some bitter memories.”

“Bitter memories? Care to explain?”

Diya hadn’t breathed a word about Brian to Ronnie, especially after his irritated actions at the hospital, but she thought that she should vent out her pent up frustrated feelings. Hence, she began…

Half an hour later, she stood sobbing into her phone and Ronnie kept consoling her.

“It’s okay, Diya. It’s perfectly okay to feel this. Don’t feel bad that you have to undergo this pain. Brian is an asshole. Let go of him. Let go of his memories. He doesn’t deserve you. He actually used you for one night. And I am sure that his statement ‘I was on the verge of falling in love with you’ was just an excuse to make up to you. But, no, it sounds absurd, Diya. Just let go of him! I know you have returned to your normal life, but that isn’t enough. Go out, enjoy with your friends, take your family out to dinner, and take up dancing. These can completely erase his thoughts out of your mind. Or just take a trip to somewhere else, somewhere you have never been.”

“Oh my God! Thank you so much, Ronnie. This is what I needed. And when did you come back from Delhi? Is the cardiologist that free to take me out for coffee?” She chuckled to herself.

“Of course, sweetie. Come na?”

“Yeah, I will.”

*****

“Where the hell would she have gone, Brian?” asked Monali, probably for the 100th time since Diya’s mysterious disappearance from the hotel room.

“If you ask that again, I’ll make sure you end up dead!” Brian fumed.

“What’s wrong in pondering upon that? She was your best friend, right? How can she disappear suddenly without even informing you? And she has blocked you from everything. What did you do to her?”

“That’s none of your business!”

“I have the right to know, Brian. Don’t be such a misogynist, thinking that I don’t have the right to ask you anything and you can boss me around.”

“Oh, shut up! Do you even know the meaning of ‘misogynist’? Don’t use words just because you’re expanding your vocabulary.”

“Then why don’t you tell me?”

“This is what I despise in you. Can’t you just leave me alone in this issue? I seriously don’t like to share this with you. When someone begs you to not ask them about something that bothers them, you should keep quiet and let them be. Don’t nag like this!”

“I – I am sorry.”

“Hmmm.”

“Do you love me, Brian?”

“There you go again!”

“I am not nagging you this time. I am genuinely asking you. Of late, I have a mild fear that you might leave me because of my irritable behavior.”

Brian’s mood softened on listening to those words. He turned around and looked at her with love-filled eyes.

“I’ll never ever leave you, darling. Don’t worry!”

He kissed her on her forehead.

*****

“Then why should he make love to me? And why is he so helpless to leave her? If she irritates him that much, he can break up with her, right? Why is he hanging on to her?” Diya was ranting on and on, while sipping Irish cappuccino in Coffee Exotica along with Ronnie.

“I will you buy you a dozen cupcakes, if you stop bitching about him.” Ronnie hissed.

“Oops! I am sorry. And, yeah, a dozen cupcakes can surely enliven me.” She flashed a toothy grin at him. He heaved a sigh and smiled at her.

“Thank God! I thought you’re going to sulk about him the entire time, but I can easily zap you out with offers for coffee and food. I think you should hang out with me more.”

“Arey, you’re in Delhi and I am caught up here. How can we meet frequently?”

“I promise you, whenever I visit Bangalore, I will make it a point to spend everyday with you.”

“Since when did you start caring for me so much, Ronnie?”

“Since my birth…”

The friends broke into peals of laughter. Diya was finally relieved that someone could make her feel happy.

“You know, though I feel happy now, I am kind of filled with regret,” she said.

“Regretting what?”

“Throughout my life, I have always spurned boys. I have turned down N number of proposals. Now I know how it feels to be in love and how it hurts to get rejected. I should have politely turned all the proposals down instead of being downright rude. Maybe I should apologize to all of them – Akshay, Himanshu, Karthik, Dhruv and Preyosh.”

“What the hell! Are you going to launch a search, track them down, land at their doorsteps, and apologize to them?”

“Ha ha ha! I don’t need to do that. Maybe I can find them on Facebook and apologize to them via simple messages.”

“Why do you regret all those? They are your past. And they wouldn’t even remember you. Just think about that Akshay. He was 9 when he fell in love with you. And he would be 24 now. That’s fifteen fucking years. He wouldn’t even recognize you. The same goes with others. They all would have forgotten you and moved on with their life, Diya. Instead of brooding over all those, try to do something new that would make you less regretful. As I said, take up a new hobby. It will be really refreshing.”

“I’ll try, Ronnie. But I must really do something else. Merely writing articles and poems doesn’t uplift me anymore. I should do something really thrilling. Maybe I would ask Mahima to join me on an adventurous trek.”

“That sounds marvellous!”

Diya flashed a happy smile, that told that she was finally up to something.

*****

“Hello, Mr.Sundarnathan. Do you remember me?” Diya held her hand out and beamed at Sundarnathan. She was in Rocky Tours & Travels, a travel agency which specialized in adventurous treks. Her jaw almost dropped when she saw that it was Sundarnathan’s agency.

“Oh, you’re Diya Rai. How can I forget you, child? You were that kind soul who helped me out in Ooty.”

“How are you, Sir?”

“I am doing good. You?”

“I am good, too. I never knew you had a travel agency.”

“Hey, this is not mine. I just work here. If I had a travel agency, I would not have required your help in Ooty.”

“Yeah, right!”

“So, what makes you come here? Planning for something adventurous?”

“Ummm..yes, I need to have a look at the best destinations for trekking. I am planning to go on one with my best friend Mahima.”

“We have got lots of good destinations. Here, take a look at this brochure.” He handed her a brochure which contained the best destinations for trekking and the packages offered by the agency.

“Sounds interesting, sir. By the way, what happened to your wallet? Did you get it back? Did you lodge a missing complaint with the police?”

“That would have been a foolish thing to do, Diya. The world is filled with pickpocketers. If I had filed a complaint, the police would have trashed my complaint in the dustbin. Even if I had described the thief, they wouldn’t have made any progress. There wasn’t much in the wallet, but I lost a rare photograph of me and my deceased wife. It was such a beautiful photo which I admired a lot. It was precious to me. I still feel sad that I lost it.”

Diya looked at him with a pity face and said, “I am sorry to hear about that. But, if the police can’t find the thief, I can find her for you. Just tell me how she looked like.”

Mr. Sundarnathan’s heart did a double take.

“Are you joking? It’s been two months. She would have thrown my wallet away. How can you expect her to have it? And how can you even find her?”

“I can. Trust me, sir. I want to do something. Maybe I can cancel this trek and get down to finding the thief.”

“Di..Diya, this is really surprising. You cannot find her.”

“I can, sir. Describe her.”

“Hmmm, she was wearing navy blue jeans and a chartreuse body-hugging sleeveless top. She had a backpack. Black color it was. She had left her hair loose. Wait, I have a sketch of her. I just made it, so that it can come handy, if I ever need it.”

“That’s so brilliant of you! Show me that sketch.”

Sundarnathan pulled a drawer out and took a dirty-looking A4 sheet from it. He dusted it and handed it to Diya. Since he had seen only the back view of the thief, he had sketched it the exact way in which she had fled.

“Wow! That’s a perfect sketch. You have rendered all the colours perfectly. This can really help me in finding her. The hair looks wavy and there’s a ring in her right hand which she had flailed while running. Hmmm…The thing is, the girl looks familiar to me.”

“What?”

“Yes, sir. I think I have seen someone wearing this top.”

“Where did you see?”

“I have to think. Let me take this to Mahi and discuss with her.”

“Okay, Diya. Thank you for this tremendous help.”

“I am not doing this for my thirst for adventure, sir. I want you to have that precious photo back. I want to see you smile.”

Mr. Sundarnathan was at a loss of words. He just smiled at her.

“By the way, what happened to that friend of yours? Brian, right?”

“He is dead, sir.”

She flashed a wicked smiled and moved out, leaving a bewildered Sundarnathan behind.

*****

“This is really, really interesting. When did you plunge into this?” asked Mahima excitedly.

“When I decided that I must really do something adventurous to get over Brian’s thoughts,” replied Diya happily.

“That douchebag! He doesn’t even deserve your friendship, Diya.”

“I think he doesn’t even deserve to love anyone. He actually cheated on Monali and he justified his actions by telling that he was on the brink of falling in love with me and that’s what made him have sex with me.”

“That’s disgusting!”

“I know, right? Can we get down to business?”

“Sure. Where have you seen this chartreuse body-hugging top?”

“I have seen all around Bangalore. It’s not the top, Mahi. It’s the entire figure. I have  seen her somewhere.”

“How can you be so sure? The sketch is not a frontal view.”

“I am sure. I have observed this person’s back view also. That’s why it is familiar. But when did I keenly observe someone’s back?”

“Think, think, think.”

“What is bizarre is the fact that some random thief is familiar to me. TO ME! I wasn’t even connected to Mr. Sundarnathan at that time. How can this thief be familiar to me?”

“Intrigues me, too. Hey, where was this wallet stolen?”

“Chennai Central Station.”

“Oh! How can a girl from Chennai be familiar to you? Have you been to Chennai?”

“No. What about this? The girl might have known me. She followed me for some unknown reason. She might be a friend of mine, who was a petty thief, too. Brian and I waited for Nilgiris Express in Chennai Central. Before she could reach me, she would have thought to stealthily pickpocket someone. Maybe she would have been in dire need of money. So she pickpocketed Mr. Sundarnathan, but ended up being seen by him. Hence, she fled. So, she never got to meet me. Now I have to find out who in the world would have been so desperate to follow me.”

“Hey, Brian was with you, right? What if the girl was following him?”

“Him? Oh……….” Diya’s eyes bulged as realization struck her like a thunderbolt.

“Oh my God! Mahi, YOU HAVE SOLVED THE MYSTERY!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.

“What? I can’t understand.”

“That thief is none other than Monali. I – I saw her in Ooty the second day. She was wearing that same chartreuse body-hugging sleeveless top with navy blue jeans. And she was wearing a backpack!”

“Diya, you are insane. You are so obsessed with Brian, that you are linking this totally unrelated mystery to him.”

“No way! It was her. I observed her back view, when she held hands with Brian and walked out of Rose Garden. Holy fuck! How can this be possible? And why should this so-called adventure end up with Brian? It’s always him. Again and again.” Diya spoke, frustrated.

“Okay, what should we do now?”

“I have a plan for that. You should execute it. Monali knows me well. So I can’t.”

“Okay, I will. Tell me what to do.”

**********

Diya Rai – Heartbreak

Diya woke up to the sun rays penetrating through the room’s windows. She rubbed her eyes and turned to face Brian, who was still sleeping with punctuated snores. She smiled at him and pecked on his cheek slightly, to which he stirred and opened his eyes.

“Happy morning, babyyyyy!” Diya wished in a singsong voice.

“Good morning, Diyaaaa!” He replied, though his tone was not as love-filled as hers.

“Hmmm..I will make some tea for us.”

She got up from the pristine white bed, tied her disheveled hair into a bun and dressed up. After finishing her bathroom chores, she switched on the kettle, heated up the water, and poured it into two cups. She emptied two sachets of milk powder into hers and dipped a teabag, and left Brian’s tea black with two sachets of sugar in it, as he wouldn’t prefer milk. She moved towards the bed, made him sit up, and handed over his cup. Strangely, Brian wasn’t meeting Diya’s eyes. Something was bothering him. His gaze lingered on the bed covers, instead.

“Brian, are you okay?” Diya asked.

“Yeah, I..I am okay.” He replied rather feebly.

“How’s the tea? You need more sugar?”

“No, it’s fine.”

She was met with yet another blunt reply. Slowly, she held his right hand and caressed it. This made him look up at her. He turned away quickly, as soon as she saw him.

“Brian! What’s up? You’re acting odd.”

“Noth..Nothing. I just have a bad headache.”

“I have some tablets in my handbag.”

She fetched her handbag from the table, rummaged through its contents, and placed a tablet on his palm.

“Take this after breakfast.”

He just nodded.

After they took bath, they dressed up and went to the restaurant to grab a quick breakfast. The silence between them was unbearable for Diya. She was almost on the verge of tears, when Brian replied coldly to her questions.

“Brian, will you please tell me what’s bothering you?!” She hollered. A few guests from the other table looked at them.

“Huh? Sorry Diya, I didn’t mean to hurt you. But, you know, my headache is so bad that I am unable to speak anything.”

“No. You’re acting. Okay, you do have a headache, but it isn’t that bad that you would refuse to speak with me.” Diya snarled.

“Diya, please don’t get angry…”

“Why the hell are you sounding formal? What happened to you? We’re different, right? We..We don’t speak like this, Brian.” Her voice broke and her eyes filled up with tears.

“Diyaaaa, what is this? Don’t cry. Take this.” He handed her a kerchief, into which she blew her nose. He placed his hand on hers, which was soothing to her.

“Thanks for that touch, Brian. I have been longing for it.”

However, he did not let his hand linger on hers. He removed it, once she returned to normalcy. The rest of their breakfast was consumed in silence, though Diya knew that something was seriously troubling Brian.

*****

The Pykara lake was an ethereal green, spreading its tranquility all over the place. The gentle waves on the lake made the lake shimmer in its entire glory. Row boats and motor boats were ready to take off on rides, with people thronging to buy tickets and experience the beauty of Pykara. Diya and Brian got on to a motor boat along with other tourists. The gentle, yet chilly breeze, made Diya shiver. Though she wore a sweater, the cold permeated through the layers of wool and created goosebumps on her skin. However, she knew that the goosebumps were because of Brian’s indifference. He hadn’t spoken properly to her right from the breakfast. He rather engaged in one-word replies.

“Brian, how do you feel about this place?” Diya felt so awkward after asking the question. It sounded formal, but she couldn’t help it. She badly wanted to engage Brian in a lively conversation.

“Beautiful it is.” The motor boat started and they began riding towards the centre of the lake.

“Brian, c’mon, you are a travel blogger. You know how to put this scene into better words.”

“I was a travel blogger, Diya. I don’t do that now. And it’s just now I have started traveling again, after a long hiatus. I have run out of words. It would really take time to pen this experience.”

“Has Ooty fascinated you that much, that you must ponder and delve in your thoughts before putting them on paper?” asked Diya, mildly relieved that she had brought Brian into a meaningful conversation.

“Ooty. And you, too.”

“What? In what way did I fascinate you?”

“Your pragmatism, your attitude and everything else is just mind-blowing!” He winked at her naughtily.

“Oh my God! You’re back to normalcy, Brian. I was worried that you were drifting away for some unknown reason.”

“Yeah, I was. Kind of. But my personal problems shouldn’t affect our day, right?”

“That’s right! But what is the problem? I think I can provide solutions, if you like.”

“I don’t think I can share it with you right now. I will, when the right time comes.”

“Okay, Brian. I won’t force you to tell me anything. I am happy that you’re back as the bubbly Brian and not the one to whom I woke up today morning.”

Brian smiled once again.

The motor boat took a sharp U-turn and started steering towards the entrance.

“I really love this. Boating calms my senses,” said Brian.

“Hmmm.” That was all Diya could reply. She was deeply engrossed in some introspective thinking regarding her feelings for Brian. She made up her mind that it was too soon to figure anything out, though she had spoken her heart out the previous night. She knew that what happened the previous night was a result of their intoxication and a strong lust for each other, which could have culminated in a speech about taking the relationship further, if Brian hadn’t behaved oddly in the morning.

*****

Their next stop for the day was at Doddabetta peak, which is dubbed as the Highest Peak of South India. The way to the peak was laid with different shops – corn, carrots, hats, sweaters, scarfs, toys and what not. Diya and Brian bought a cone of karapori each, which is an equivalent to bhelpuri. Munching on the crunchy and tasty puffed rice, they made their way to the peak along with other tourists. Doddabetta Peak is one of the few rare peaks that have eyecandy picturesque spots to take perfect photos. But one must be really careful with the rocks over there. Especially if you have small children. One slip and you’d go all way down. Diya and Brian carefully stepped over the rocks and clicked lots of selfies. Then they rested on a log and continued eating their karapori.

After half an hour, they moved on to Tea Factory – the highest elevated tea factory of India. The aroma of freshly ground tea leaves welcomed them. Inside the factory, they were introduced to the different equipment used in the process of making tea powder. They were shown the entire process step-by-step. In the end, they were given a cup of free tea to taste. Then they moved on to the store within the factory which sold different kinds of tea powders. They bought a packet from each category – Strong Tea, Green Tea, Chocolate Tea and White Tea.

“Wow! These statues look so real!” exclaimed Brian, gaping at the perfectly sculpted wax statues in the Wax World Museum.

“I always make it a point to visit this museum, whenever I come to Ooty,” said Diya.

Rose Garden was their next stop. 17,000 odd varieties of roses adorned the entire garden. The duo had a leisurely walk, making some inane talk and gazing at the scenic view around them. It took a few minutes for Diya to realize that Brian was simultaneously messaging to someone on his phone, while talking to her.

“With whom are you chatting?” She asked out of sheer curiosity.

“Huh, a friend of mine.”

“Is it too important to chat now? I mean, who would want to dig their face in their phone, when there is candyfloss all around them?”

“Well, this is important. That’s why.” But Brian slipped the phone into his pocket and continued talking with Diya.

“Brian, I have been longing to tell you this. Right from the moment when we met in Coffee Exotica, I have been wishing to talk to you about this.” She blushed mildly.

“About what?”

“Of course, about our relationship. I confessed to you yesterday, right?”

“What about our relationship?” He replied, ignoring the ‘confession’ part.

“Don’t you think that we should take this to the next level? I was so confused in the morning. I thought I could put off this discussion for later, but I just couldn’t control.”

“What do you mean, Diya? We are best friends, right?”

Diya glowered at him. “And do best friends have sex on a vacation?” She snapped.

“Look, I am so sorry about the sex.”

“What do you mean by telling that you are sorry? You too wanted it, right? We both were consumed by such passion, that we couldn’t stop taking it further. In fact, it was you who initiated it.”

“Diya, please listen to me. I was so out of my mind, that I couldn’t control myself yesterday. But it was a mistake. I seriously regret having sex with you. I shouldn’t have planted something wrong inside your mind.”

That hurt Diya a lot. Tears instantly streamed down from her eyes.

“Br..Brian..why..why do you re..regret it? You..you too hold feelings for me, ri..right?” Diya began stammering through her choked tears.

“Yes, I do. But not the kind of feeling which you mean. I like you, Diya. I want you to stay as my best friend forever.”

“DON’T YOU LOVE ME, BRIAN?” Diya hollered, forgetting that she was in a tourist spot.

“I wish I could, Diya, but I can’t.”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“I..I am already in love with someone else.”

That was a straight punch. Diya could literally hear her heart breaking.

“Her name is Monali. You have already met her in the hospital. Actually we share an on and off relationship. We break up a lot due to misunderstandings, but we seek out to each other days later. The reason why I agreed on a trip with you was to get over my frustration. She was being such a pain in the ass a day before and I couldn’t bear. That’s why I decided on a trip with you.”

“How dare you?” Diya hissed under her breath. Her eyes were filled with murderous rage.

“Diya, please…”

“You cheated on Monali, Brian. And you cheated on me, too.”

“Hey, how is that possible? Yes, I cheated on Monali. I shouldn’t have made love to you. But, as I said, I couldn’t control myself. I can even tell that I was on the verge of having feelings for you, but I can never betray Monali wholeheartedly. Sex is only about body, but to fall completely in love with you is a sureshot betrayal. I can’t do that to Monali. In what way did I cheat you?”

“I love you, Brian. I fell in love with you, dammit!”

Diya broke down. She sat on a stone bench and buried her face in her hands. Her second confession hit Brian hard at his heart. He couldn’t believe himself that he had led a girl to this painful level. He sat beside her and put an arm around her.

“Diya, please stop crying. I can’t bear to see you crying. Whatever be my feelings for Monali, I still like you a lot. I was about to fall in love with you, but I restrained myself. I just cannot take this further, Diya. It will be a sin. Please, let us be friends.”

“How can you be so cool about this, Brian? You have just broken my heart and you want to continue your stupid friendship with me?”

“It’s not like that, Diya. Remember, we were best friends, till we had sex. However, I thought you would have taken that lightly and continue the friendship. I seriously didn’t know that you had fallen in love with me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this girlfriend earlier?”

“We never delved into talking about our love lives. Hence, I never had a chance.”

“Lame reasons.”

“I don’t know how to console you, Diya. But I feel so bad to have led you on. I shouldn’t have. I sincerely apologize for that. Sorry, Diya.”

“Sorry cannot mend my broken heart, Brian.”

“I am sorry, Diya. But Monali has come to Ooty. And she will be here in a few minutes. She knows that I have come with you. I told that you were a friend.”

“Fuck! What have I got to do with meeting her?” Diya’s rebellious attitude came to the fore.

Brian had no time to answer, for Monali had already entered the Rose Garden and was making her way towards them. He welcomed her with a tight hug. Diya winced and turned away.

“Meet Diya, Monali.”

“Hi Diya.” The impeccably fair-skinned girl extended her hand for a handshake.

“Hi Monali,” Diya replied meekly and did a feeble handshake.

“Ummm…Diya, I think Monali is hungry. Let me take her to a nearby restaurant. You wait here. After we come, we’ll go together to our room.”

Diya just nodded and watched painfully as Brian and Monali held hands and walked away.

An hour later, they returned to find the stone bench empty. Brian tried calling to Diya’s number, but he received the ‘unreachable’ message. He then reached the hotel along with Monali, only to find the room unlocked and Diya gone. Not even a single belonging of hers was to be seen inside the room.

“Where did she go?” asked Monali.

“I don’t know.” Brian replied.

“Why did she go suddenly without even informing you?”

Brian couldn’t reply to that, but his heart knew the answer.

**********

Diya Rai – Touring Together 3

“Briannn! Have you taken out my sweater? I am gonna step out of the bathroom,” yelled Diya.

“Shit!” Brian murmured under his breath and replied, “A minute, Diya.”

He opened her suitcase and rummaged through it for her sweater. He took out the crimson pink sweater and called out to her. As said by her, she was in complete jitters when she came out. Immediately Brian went over to her and helped her wear the sweater.

“You look hot in this jumpsuit, you know!”

“Really? Oh, I thought I would look more hot in a bikini.” Diya winked at him.

“Is it so? If you allow me to gape at you in that, then I would tell whether you’re hot or not.”

“Shut up, Brian!” Diya let out a giggle and threw a pillow at him.

“Okay, let’s go to Botanical Garden. That’s near. We can spend a quiet evening there.”

“Okay.”

The duo set out on a walk to the garden. It was refreshing, as they took in the cool breeze into their souls. Soon, they reached their spot and paid for the entrance tickets. As soon as they entered, they were surrounded by colours of different shades. Yes, the flowers. As their eyes wandered around, they could only see greenery and flowers everywhere. Flowers of different shapes and fragrance. It was like their dull grey life had suddenly sprung to colours. They read about each and every plant they passed. Needless to say, The Botanical Garden was one of the largest gardens in India. They walked on and on through pathways, gaping at every little flower which they came across.

“This is sooooo beautiful!” exclaimed Brian, admiring the fern art which adorned the entire garden.

“I know, right?” replied Diya absentmindedly.

Soon, they entered a glass house which contained lots of ferns. They also found some good spots to take pictures. After an hour of walking through the garden, a huge spread of fresh grass beckoned their tired legs. It was a spacious picnic spot and many people were enjoying their private time. They seated themselves and enjoyed the psychedelic view around them. On their way to the garden, they’d grabbed a few sandwiches from a roadside shop. Since their stomachs felt hungry due to the long walk, they immediately gobbled on them. They didn’t speak much, as the nature engulfed them in its resplendence. After resting for 20 minutes, they got up to move.

Since they’d some more time to spend, they look a leisure walk around the streets of Ooty and shopped for some home-made chocolates. It was 8 PM when they reached their hotel. They reached Toda Cafe which was located on Level 5 of the hotel. The quaint little restaurant served Indian, Chinese, Continental and Mughalai cuisines. Diya ordered some Shangai Chicken Fried Rice with Dragon Chicken, while Brian ordered Pan Fried Noodles with Finger Fish. While they waited for the food, they conversed about the ambiance and the soft instrumental music which calmed their senses. Once the food arrived, they bent down their heads to gorge upon them. After the main course, they entered the Valley Bar and ordered cocktails for themselves. While Diya went in for Blue Lagoon, Brian ordered Elimary’s Cocktail. Finally, they retired to their room, completely satisfied with their outing.

Once inside the room, neither of them felt sleepy.

“Hmmm…Can we do something crazy?” asked Brian out of the blue.

“Crazy what?” Diya raised an eyebrow.

“Like speaking about our fantasies?” Brian winked at her naughtily.

“Fantasies in the sense?”

“Oh, c’mon Diya, why do you keep questioning me back? I am utterly bored.”

“Even I am. Okay, shall we watch a movie in my laptop?”

“Ooooooo! That’ll be even more boring. Can we play a game?”

“Okay, what game?”

“What about I feed you some chocolate without using my hands?”

“Jeez! How would you do that?”

“Watch this…” Brian trailed off, as he opened a home-made chocolate bar, broke a piece of it and threw it inside his mouth. All the while, Diya eyed him with suspicion.

“What are you trying to do, Brian?”

“Wait! Now I come closer to you. I should feed the chocolate to you. So, I bring my mouth closer to yours….”

“Brian! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Get away from me.” Diya hollered.

“I am just demonstrating, Diya. Let me feed you. If it doesn’t go down well, then we’ll drop the game.”

“Brian, I..I don’t want this demonstration. Let’s just….”

But Brian was already so close to her that Diya could feel his warm breath. Her insides tingled and she felt goosebumps break out in every part of her body. Even before she could protest, his lips were on hers. Slowly, he parted his to transfer the chocolate to hers. With no other go, she too opened her mouth and received the chocolate. The moment was soooo mushy and romantic that Diya didn’t want to break the contact. Unbeknownst to her, she held him closer and her grip on his shoulders increased. And then, they began smooching wildly. A passionate make-out session commenced. Soon, Brian moved away from Diya’s lips and started kissing all over her neck and shoulders. Diya let out muffled moans in response. Their burning rage to take that forward was evident from their loud smooches.

Brian made her lie down completely on the bed and pulled out her top in one go. With lust-filled eyes, he hungrily gaped at her bra which had red polka dots on it.

“Why are you staring like that?” Diya asked, almost in a whisper.

In response, Brian pinned himself completely on top of her. It was then that Diya felt his bulge. It was rock hard. At that moment, she began having apprehensions about what was about to happen. She looked hard into his eyes and finally realized….that she was in love with him! Not just a passing love, but a deep, strong, and compassionate one that would last for a lifetime. ‘Wow! What’s happening to me? I am in love! Oh God! I never expected this to happen. Why would I allow him to make love to me, if this isn’t love? But, does he love me? We didn’t even confess to each other, yet here we are in the brink of having sex.’ Grinning to herself, she asked, “Brian, do you have a condom?”

“Of course, baby, I would never forget that.” He replied in an erotic tone.

“So, you preconceived this to happen?” Diya asked, rather naughtily.

“Maybe.”

“Ahaan!”

But there were no more words exchanged, as Brian had already unclasped Diya’s bra. He hungrily went down on her milk globes and sucked on each of her nipples. Diya’s uninterrupted moans increased his mood even more. After half an hour of foreplay and tasting each other, Brian entered her. What followed next was an intense union of two souls, as they rocked each other. And when they came together, it was Diya who spoke first.

“I love you, Brian.” It was a heartfelt confession. Brian was lying on her chest with his face buried in her bosom.

Surprisingly, he did not respond. She was taken aback.

“Brian, I said something to you.”

“Yeah, I heard it. And I also know that it is the heat of the moment which made you say that.”

“No! It wasn’t. I am serious, Brian.”

The urgency in her tone made him look up at her.

“What? You don’t mean that, right?”

“I do mean it, Brian. I am in love with you.” A sheet of tears formed in Diya’s eyes. She couldn’t fathom whether it was the intensity of her love for him or whether it was his ignorance of her feelings.

“Oh! I am sorry. I thought that you were playful. I didn’t mean to hurt….”

“Shhhh! I am crazily in love with you. I don’t know about your feelings, but you’re the first serious love of my life. I have spurned N number of boys in my life. I never did that with you. Your aura was magnetic, Brian. And I was always the iron-hearted. You attracted me easily. No other guy could do that. Now, I have fallen head over heels in love with you. Even more than the love I had for Karan.”

“Karan? Is that the guy with whom you had a puppy love relationship?”

“Yes.”

“Hmmm, so you love me?”

“Yes. What about you?”

As a response, Brian sealed his lips to hers. Diya too responded promptly. She could never refuse him. He was everything to her. At the spur of the moment, she forgot that she was the rough and tough Diya who used to scorn boys, evade them and turn down their sweet love proposals with harsh words. She had changed herself. Or rather Brian had changed her.

She thought that it was love for Brian too, ignoring the vibrating calls from his mobile phone, which displayed ‘Monali’.

**********

Diya Rai – Touring Together 2

Alighting at Mettupalayam Railway Station, Diya and Brian straightened themselves. They had slept peacefully, since they opted for an AC coach in Cheran Express. They headed straight towards a tea stall to refresh themselves.

“Wowww! Just look at the Nilgiri Hills from here. It..it looks resplendent!” exclaimed Diya, as she admired the mindblowing backdrop of Nilgiri Hills from the railway station. The hills were peppered with a few houses here and there, which made them even more amazing. Shavings of mist were gently caressing the bright green trees.

“Yeah! They are awesome, Diya. They look almost romantic.” Brian quipped in, while ordering two teas for both of them.

“Oh, dork! Everything is romantic for you. That day you said the rain to be romantic. And the other day you said the sunset to be romantic. And, now the hills are romantic, right? Don’t you have any other adjectives?”

“Ha ha haaaa! You know, I am always romantic. That’s why….” His voice turned passionate as he mouthed those words. He then winked at her. She slapped her forehead and proceeded to receive the tea from the chaiwala.

After brushing their teeth and washing their face in the platform washroom, they settled down on a bench and waited for the steam locomotive. Since they had spoken much during the entire travel, there was nothing much to speak. So, they began fiddling with their Smartphones, liking on their friends’ photos, posting status updates like ‘travelling to Ooty’, clicking selfies and posting on Instagram, and randomly tweeting about the current issues. Soon, a locomotive arrived and they stood up to join the queue. Just then they overheard someone speaking on the phone, “Oiiii! People here say that the train takes five hours to reach Ooty. I am in a fix now. I don’t know what to do. I don’t have enough money to pay for a taxi. I don’t want to miss the meeting too….”

“Fuck!” Brian swore under his breathe.

“What shall we do? We don’t want another five hours of travel, right?” asked Diya dolefully.

“Yeah, of course. Can we hail a taxi?”

“Yeah, c’mon.”

The duo moved towards the taxi stand and bargained for a pretty good amount to reach the hill station. As they loaded their luggage into the trunk, Diya remembered something and said, “Wait a minute! Why don’t we ask that man to join us?”

“Which man?” asked Brian, raising his eyebrow.

“That man who told that he wants to attend the meeting and also he doesn’t have enough money to book a taxi….”

“Are you mad, Diya? You don’t even know what meeting he was referring to. What if he is a criminal? You would be helping someone who isn’t worth the help. Why don’t you just get in? He can find his way if he wants.”

“Shit! Why are you so cruel, Brian? Don’t judge people before you get to know them. Let me speak with him and ask him where he is up to. If he is genuine, I can find out easily. You know, I have the mind of Sherlock. Trust me.”

“Yeah, mind of Sherlock and heart of Mother Teresa,” mocked Brian.

“Ha ha! That’s true.”

With those words, she moved away to meet that man, while Brian admired her retreating figure. ‘What a kind-hearted girl! I never thought she would be the one who helps strangers.’ He thought.

After a while, Diya came back with that man and secretly winked at Brian.

“Well, Brian, meet Mr.Sundarnathan. He has a meeting with the CEO of Rakesh Tea Estate in Ooty. The meeting is scheduled at 12.30 AM. If he takes the train, he wouldn’t reach on time. So, let’s take him on.”

“Hi, Mr.Sundarnathan. I am Brian Josh.” Brian extended his hand for a shake. Mr.Sundarnathan amicably returned it and seated himself on the front seat. He was a man in his 50s. He looked burly, with his hair turned partially grey. He wore a old-fashioned formal shirt with khaki colored pants which showed off his beer belly.

“Thank you so much for the help, Diya,” he said in his sonorous voice, as soon as she seated herself in the back seat along with Brian.

“Oh, that’s okay, uncle. I knew that you were in dire need of help.”

“Yes, Diya. I had less money with me, since my wallet was stolen yesterday night at Chennai Central Station.”

“Oh my God! Did you raise an alarm? The police would have easily caught him.” Brian quipped in.

“No, Brian. The girl had run away before I could even comprehend what had happened.”

“Girl? Did a girl pick your pocket?” asked Diya, horrified.

“Yes, it was a girl. You know what, she looked well-to-do when I saw her running. She was dressed in navy blue jeans with a chartreuse body-hugging sleeveless top. She also had a backpack. But she ran away as if she was a marathon runner. A few people chased her. I alerted the police too, but nobody could trace her after a few minutes. I think she knew her way out. Or she might have already decided on a hiding place.”

“That’s so saddening to hear, uncle. I hope she rots in hell,” said Diya.

“Oh, don’t feel for it, Diya. Every thief would learn his or her lesson sometime later in life.” Mr.Sundarnathan said in a humble tone.

As soon as the convo ended, Brian took out his phone and typed a message to Diya in WhatsApp.

Brian: Don’t you think he is lying?

PING! Diya almost jumped up as soon as her mobile beeped. A smile curved on her lips as she read the message.

Diya: Idiot! He wasn’t lying.

Brian: But how could he notice the girl’s dressing so accurately?

Diya: He has an observant eyes. Wouldn’t you make out someone’s dressing even if they’re running?

Brian: No, I wouldn’t.

Diya: Then you must hone your observation skills.

Brian: Okay, Ms. Marple.