Complicated..Part IX

The following day

Priyanka and Rishab were at Rishab's place for the lab assignment.No one else was home,so Rishab was in the kitchen preparing snacks for them.While he was away,she casually picked up a notebook lying on his bed.

As she glanced through it,she noticed it contained a lot of  unintelligible scribblings.
Just so characteristic of Rishab,Priyanka thought amused.
But a few scribblings caught her eye.She squinted her eyes to make out what they said.Those were enough to handcuff her attention and put it under arrest.

"Why does it feel like a million stars exploding whenever she smiles..."


"Love must be an architect dotting my mind's skyline with skyscrapers of sweet dreams...Dreams all about her..."


"The earth always starts moving slowly as I  talk to her lovely eyes...and as her black round baby-eyes talk back to me..."


"She giggled spontaneously at my silly joke.And suddenly I felt my world  being drowned in a cotton candy avalanche.....sweet,creamy and delicious...It was crashing all over me...Crushing me....do I have a crush on her????My throbbing heart-chambers tell me I do!!!!"

Priyanka wondered who all these lines were about.She continued flipping through the pages of Rishab's notebook.

Who is this idiot gushing and blushing about?Is it just one gal or several?Megha,maybe?
Or..by any chance,could it be...?????.Noooooo waaay!!!!

"Hey Pri!!!!Would you like some tomato on that sandwich?"Rishab's voice interrupted her thoughts."It would take a little more time."

"Yes,please!!"Priyanka hollered back."No need to hurry,Rishab.We've plenty of time." She needed more time to see the rest of the notebook,dammit!!!Maybe that way she could figure out who the lines were for.

She impatiently flipped to the last written page to see what it contained.

"I stared at it.I stared at her teardrop as it stood at the edge of her eyelashes,reluctant to leave its beautiful yet sad cradle.Finally it gathered enough courage to take the plunge.It trickled down the side of her face,and hung for dear life when it reached her cheeks.I stared at it.A crystal clear salty pearl,yet so unmistakably full of pain and mourning.Its journey resumed,it slid down to her chin and with a heavy sigh let itself fall to the hard floor beneath.I wished so deperately to could catch it.Hold it and see the pain enclosed within its tiny form.


Damn you,Suyash!!Why did you have to make her cry so much??


But the little teardrop is not alone.It would soon join hundreds more like it.They would accept it into their ranks with open arms.The little teardrop would ask them who they were and where they came from.They would reply that they belonged to a guy.A guy who still loves his best friend and hates himself for it.A guy who wished he could hold the little teardrop and lock it away forever in someplace safe."

Priyanka could feel her cheeks tingle with a delightfully warm red sensation.She was starting to blush.All these....written for her?Her heart rejoiced in the knowledge that someone could think of her as so important.

But almost immediately,a sense of alarm spiked in her.This would automatically complicate things so much.How would she handle it?She didn't love him.Did she?

"Hey Pri,here is your sandwich." Rishab called out as he was about to enter the room with her sandwich."Took some sweat making it.I most certainly deserve a tip when you're finished eating and licking your fingers like a satisfied.."Rishab stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Priyanka reading his notebook.

His notebook.It contained everything he felt about Priyanka which was worth writing down.Goddamn everything.

An uncomfortable silence descended.Rishab's nervousness rose sharply like the mercury of a thermometer which has just thrown into boiling water.His mercury was threatening to smash  through the roof of his thermometer tube.The silence was beginning to boil all around him.He couldn't keep it together any longer.

And mercury is poisonous.

"Umm....so you read all that stuff,huh??" It was the dumbest and silliest thing to ask.But it was all he could come up with to prick the ever expanding balloon of soundlessness threatening to fill the entire room.

She just stared at him silently,the speech centres of her brain having shut themselves off.What should she say?What could she say?

Things seemed to be playing out in a TV set whose speakers had gone bust.He wished desperately for her to say something.Anything.
Say you found all what I wrote just a damn big joke!!!Say you found it awesome!!!Say you are touched beyond words!!Say you love me.Say you hate me.Say something,dammit.

She looked at him.A black mop of hair carelessly combed.A boyish face with soft features.Big bright eyes pleading her to speak.Arms with a noticeable muscle tone.A modest height of 5'7''.Could she decide to love him?

"Why won't you say something,Pri??!!!For chrissakes,say something....pleeeeez!!Don't make me mad this way!!"He cried out in agony.

She wasn't done staring at him.Rishab,the guy who had been so desperate to get a gf.Rishab,the guy who filled page after page with lines of sweet passion for her.Rishab,the guy who saved her hide during second semester.Rishab,the guy who pleaded her to be his fake gf so he could score popularity points among women.Rishab,just a regular,average looking guy.Rishab, with no substantial confidence or charisma to set himself apart.Rishab, who saved her from burning her heart at the hands of Suyash.Could she fall in love with him?

She couldn't.


Or could she?Shit!!!It was so damn confusing!!!!

"Rishab,I have to go now."She finally managed to say as she proceeded to leave the room.

He didn't try to stop her.He had been rejected even without proposing to her.While that was what he had fearfully expected all along,it still hurt.

He walked her to the door."Goodbye,Rishab."She mumbled without even looking at him.He couldn't bring himself to wish her goodbye.It just hurt too much.

He started closing the door ,sighing heavily,when  he saw her coming back.His heart soared.She was coming back to say she loved him.She loved him.She would hug him and everything would be alright!!Life wasn't so painful after all.Thank heavens!!!!

"Rishab,I forgot my bag."She said,standing at the door,refusing to come in.

"Huh???Ok.I'll get it." Rishab retreated into his study room heart-broken as Priyanka waited.
"Here!!"said Rishab handing back the back to her."And I am sorry,Pri.Sorry for all this.I really am.I never meant for you to know.I.."

"It's ok,Rishab."She interrupted and just left.

Rishab blinked back a tear.

***

At her home,that afternoon,Priyanka was unpacking her bag when she noticed a diary among her belongings.She immediately realized how it must have got there.
Damn you,Rishab!What did you put a diary in here for??????

She picked it up.She flipped through the pages,not reading,just to see what all was in there.

It was all about her.And Rishab.It was their story.They were everything that they went through.Everything that had happened was right there,in her hands.Rishab had written it all.It was their life together .On paper.

The contents had her at the edge of her bed and transported her to the times they were set in.Events got restored from her memory's archives and started happening again.She watched everything go by.She and Rishab becoming lab partners because of their consecutive roll numbers,their first bunking of college together to catch a movie,the card which he took 5 hours to pick for her 19th birthday,his taking the fall for her during second semester, Suyash and everything about him,everything.It all came back.She was dumbstruck.

Some of the words jumped out of the pages and onto the center-stage of her attention.They were all either said by her or written by her during chats with Rishab.Sometime or the other.Each one of them.Rishab had strung it all together.

She was trembling as she turned the first page to read.It was Rishab,with the most beautiful handwriting he could manage.

"I honestly don't know what I feel about her.
Earlier it used to be simple.I was crazy about her and just had to have her!
But now,I just don't know.
I don't want her by my side,I just want her beside me.
Her company is the best gift life has ever given me.
I can't see her sad.
I could give up an arm just to turn her frown upside down into a beautiful smile.
Her smile.It could light up an entire town and the hearts of all inhabitants within it.I wish I could clone myself into several copies and occupy that entire town.
I know I can never hope to win her heart.And so I search for her in others.Desperately.
So far my search hasn't turned up anyone,I doubt if it ever will.Not that I'm that successful with women.But it doesn't matter.No one can match up to her anyway."

She still hadn't come out of the shock it had sent her in.It was the best thing anyone had ever done for her.

Her eyes welled up as she started reading everything the diary contained.Everything she had ever told him was in it.He remembered everything,every thought,every word,and every sentence.She started losing herself in those moments from the past.He had hung onto every word,everything that she told him.Everything that she ever loved,ever wanted,ever hated,ever felt.Her most cherished dreams.Her deepest insecurities.They were right there,in front of her.Rishab was beyond her best friend.She would not give him up for a thousand hunks and studs.

She was on the last chapter.It had been five hours since she was reading it,never looking up unless it was for rubbing her tears away.He didn't miss a single thing she had told him,often reminding her of things she didn't remember herself.He had brought the glittering golden moments back.

She finished the last page.She read the last line.Priyanka,please let me remain your friend.

Rishab must have scribbled it at the last moment,before tucking the diary into her bag.She cried a little more,thought a little more about Rishab and thanked her stars for having given him.

She switched on her phone and called him up.Rishab picked it up instantly.
"How did you do what you  did with that diary???"She squealed delightedly into the phone."You gotta be gay or a girl for doing that kinda stuff!!!!"

"If you were a dude,I would happily be either one of them."Rishab smiled.

"Hah!But how did you do it?When did you start?"Priyanka asked incredulously.

"Eight months back.I thought I would give it to you on the last day of college.As a parting gift.The diary would be more filled out by then.But everything seemed to be getting over today.I just had to do something.I couldn't let you go away.So I slipped in that diary into your bag when you asked me to get it from my room."

"I soooo freaking love you Rishab!!!!!!!!!"Priyanka crooned in a voice which made Rishab's testosterone levels shoot through the roof.

"I love you too,Pri.Always have.Always will."

"Say something insanely romantic to me right now!!I demand it.I know you can come up with something.Cmon now!!!!!!"

Rishab suddenly realized with a growing horror that his creativity's assembly line has suddenly come to a grinding halt.He couldn't come up with anything!!!!


He cleared his throat."All I can say right now is something insanely silly.The heart has four chambers.2 ventricles and 2 auricles.Every quarter of a year,I will keep one chamber of my heart with you.And keep the rest three with myself.That way,by the end of the year,the whole of my heart will have lived beside you.My heart can't bear to stay away from you,Pri.Some part of it just has to be with you.All the time."

"That was so silly!!!" She squealed again."But I loved it.I love you.Will you love me too??"

"Till the next hundred years!!!!"He said happily.

The End

Read More

Complicated..Part VIII

You could just stare at her and fall in love.Perfectly full pink lips.A cute nose which was just a tad too big for her face.Her complexion was like golden-yellow cream with a pinkish strawberry tinge.The top of her nose merged beautifully into her forehead and spread its wings in the form of long perfectly formed black eyebrows.They seemed to have been painted by an artist with undying love and patience.And just below her eyebrows was the exquisite set of eyes which surpassed the artist's delightful creations in their beauty.Two black pearls,two deep pools of magic-protected by delicate long eyelashes.You would want to be transformed into tiny crystal-clear drops of water,so that you could rest on those eyelashes and never want to leave.She had that big smooth forehead that one's mom would just love to kiss before putting her baby to sleep.

It was just too easy to fall in love with Priyanka.

And there she was in Suyash's car;in a glittery pink salwar with a white dupatta.Her kohl-lined eyes gave Suyash a high which he  never got even after downing 3 bottles of beer.The soft pink lipstick beautifully accentuated the natural pristine pinkness of her lips.The sensual fragrance of her apple-scented shampoo and Davidoff  perfume turned him on in a way he had experienced rarely with other women,if at all.He just felt her curling into a ball and laying in her lap all night.Her fingers could be caressing his hair .He could be looking mesmerized at the pale moonlight being reflected off her smooth face,and it could light up his whole night!

He just had to get that kiss today,dammit.

They were passing a McDonalds' outlet when Priyanka spoke."Suyash,pull over.I am famished.I think I could use some McVeggie."

"Of course."smiled Suyash and started to pull over into the driving lot."You want to go inside or would you like it in the car itself?"

"I don't feel like getting out of the car now,"she moaned.

"No problem, sugar!!!!!"Suyash said as he sprinted out of the car to place Priyanka's order.

Fifteen minutes later Suyash was back with a Coke and McVeggie,expecting to see a big smile on Pri's face.What he saw knocked the wind out of his lungs.

On his windshield,the word screamed in big letters!!!"SUY-ASS"!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There was no sign of Priyanka.

With a sinking feeling in his gut,he came closer to his dad's car.The seats had been scrawled on too.With the choicest abuses.
"YOU UGLY FILTHY TWO-TIMING DIPSHIT!!" was the most respectable among them.

What the .....??
Suyash,on instinct,started trying to rub them off.Damn!!!!!!!Permanent ink!!!!!

Heaven was witness to the amount of coaxing and cajoling it had taken him to wrest the keys to the Lancer from his father's hands.He had made all the routine promises of how he wouldn't let a scratch fall on his car.How the hell was he gonna explain THIS??!!!!!Life had just scrambled the letters of the word THIS to hand him SHIT!!!!Serious big-time SHIT!!!

He must have been sitting dazed and clueless in the car for about five minutes,when his cellphone beeped.It was a text from Priyanka.
"Hi Suy-Ass,I hope u lykd the new interior decoration of ur car.It certainly luks a lot jazzier nw,dsnt it?U chose to 2-tym wid the wrong gal,shithead!!!!This is sumthin 4 u 2 remember me by.And dnt try 2 do nythin nasty or stupid with me or Rishab.Or else,a breakup betwn u and Shruti is just a phone call away.GN and gudby,Suy-Ass.Lots of luv..muaaaaahs!!!"

How the hell did Pri find out?And no way could he let her open her mouth to Shruti.His birthday was just round the corner.And Shruti had promised him a Christian Dior limited edition watch.No way could he allow himself to lose out on that.


Shruti suddenly started seeming a whole lot closer to the ideal gf as the prospect of losing her started looming large in his mind.He paused and looked at the sms one more time before deleting it.He just had to accept it.That witch had knocked him out cold.
***
One hour ago
Priyanka was all dressed and waiting for Suyash to pick her up,when Rishab's sms arrived.
"I know u r mad@me.But for chrissakes,plz check ur mail.U'l undrstnd evrythin."
She wondered what Rishab meant as she logged into her Gmail.The very first item in her Inbox was a mail from Rishab,with a video attachment.
She clicked on the attachment and her eyes grew wide with wonder as she saw Suyash's face in it and heard what his face was saying.
"Hey Rishab,I heard you and Priyanka had a misunderstanding or something?Tch..Tch.Too bad.Hey,can I be of any help to you?You know,like,convincing her you ain't the bad guy?Telling her it's me who to watch out for????"
.....Snatches of the conversation between Rishab and Suyash that morning followed.

Rishab's voice could be heard saying-"Listen to me,Suyash!!!!Priyanka is a damn sensitive girl!!Can't you imagine what she'll go through when she learns the truth?It's gonna shatter her.She loves you like hell.Thinks the world of you.She doesn't deserve this.You know that.So I'm begging you,just stop playing..."

Suyash interrupted-"Life isn't fair and life's no fairy-tale,partner!!!I will get rid of her when I'm done with her,do you hear?Until then you can keep your moral science lectures to yourself." Suyash's face turned away for a second,then turned back,his smirk back on his face.
"And besides,look at the bright side." he continued."When I'm finished with her,she is gonna be needing a shoulder to cry on.You can then just sneak your butt in and do the needful.You can be her rebound guy.I'm actually doing you a favour,hot-shot!And yeah,you are welcome!!"

Rishab had switched on the camera of his phone after getting off the call with Megha.He had put the cellphone in his shirt pocket,with the camera side facing Suyash so that it could capture all what he was saying.Rishab had known the moment he had seen Suyash approaching him that Suyash would probably say something which would blow his cover.And he hadn't been wrong!!!!!

Priyanka was aghast at what she had just witnessed on her computer screen.Just then her cell beeped again.It was Rishab's text again.
"Hey hav u seen it yet?If not,plz do @ d earliest.It's really important!!!U'll see dat I wasn't lying about Suyash."

Her eyes started stinging.But she fought her tears back.There would be time for that later.Now wasn't the time to get mad.Now was the time to get even.
She texted back."I'm so sorry Rishab.I shud hav blived u.Plz 4give me.N dont worry abt me.I'm alrite.But very soon Suyass is not gonna be.Dis I prmise u."
***

Priyanka was sitting with her knees close to her chest,arms curled around her legs.A blank stare sat in her swollen,red eyes.Getting over Suyash was more painful than she had ever imagined.The wet pillows and the crumpled bedsheets had been her sole companions as she had cried herself to sleep last night.

She loved him so much that she never wanted the smile on his face to disappear.Seeing him happy made her so happy.She had been desperately trying to save money for buying a birthday gift for Suyash.Besides skipping lunches and evening snacks,she had been walking daily 5 kms from college to her home to save on the auto charges.Bit by bit she had accumulated the three grands necessary to buy the Titan white dial leather band watch which she had caught Suyash stare longingly at,while they had been to the mall once.

And whenever Suyash had been sad,it made her so,so sad.Every emotion in him was amplified in her several times,because she loved him.He didn't deserve her love and she didn't deserve to be put in overwhelming emotions of pain because of him.Her heart literally felt as if it had disappeared.Just an empty black hole existed.Sucking up her entire existence.

Several emotions were flooding her mind now.Anger,regret,bitterness.But the biggest one was sadness.She again felt herself on the verge of crying.Tears started brimming at the corners of her eyes.She even started to shake a little.She felt nervous lest someone should catch her crying.

"Now we can't have you dying of dehydration,can we now?"A voice called out from above her.
She looked up to see Rishab looking down at her with his characteristic silly grin on his face."Let's see,you must have shed 20 gallons of ears already!!!"Rishab continued."It would be such a shame to see tomorrow's news carrying the headlines of 'Girl cries and dies of dehydration after being betrayed by a loser'."

A silent tear rolled down her cheek.Rishab racked his brains to come up with something funny or outright silly to say.But all the swiping of his ingenuity card at his brain's ATM resulted in just invalid transactions."Still thinking about that shit-head Suyass?" was all he could come up with.Why his wit and inventiveness always took unannounced leaves in these kind of situations was something he could never fathom.

Just something insanely smart or freakishly silly to crack those beautiful pink lips into a smile,dammit!!!!!

She sat quiet for about ten seconds before she finally managed to speak between sobs."I've been so crazy,Rishab.And stupid.I should have seen where he was taking me,but I just chose to be blind.I should have believed you.I should never have let him talk me into this.But I just screwed things up!!All I can do is screw things up!!!"

"Well,you managed to screw that ass as well!!"Rishab quipped,and then immediately realising the literal meaning of what he just said,added with a sheepish grin,"In a strictly figurative sense,I mean!"

Rishab saw the corners of Priyanka's lips twitch a bit.She was beginning to smile.It was working,dammit!!!!

"He had it coming,don't you think??"

"Hell,yeah!!!"Rishab grinned a grin of satisfaction."Now he'll think twice before pulling his cheap shit on other gals."

"But none of this would have happened had I not stupidly believed every word he said.I just can't even begin to explain how he made me feel.Cheated.And used.Gaawd!!!!Can't I just do anything right???"She cried out in frustration.Rishab noted with dismay that her smile had evaporated.

He sat down next to her,wondering what to say.He was quickly beginning to realize that nursing a girl's heart back to health after it has been bruised and fractured wasn't exactly his cup of tea.It was a mighty difficult thing to understand what to say which could provide her any semblance of comfort.And he used to think understanding Quantum Mechanics derivations was tough.

"Actually,you do a plenty of things right.You get more marks than I do,you have friends who adore you and..And you pulled off the lie about our fake relationship perfectly.Thanks to you,I got Megha.And no thanks to you,I broke up with her."

"Whhaa...at?" She looked at him,her big teary eyes now surprised."Why?I thought you liked her."

"Yeah.I figured if a lie is what is needed to get me close to a woman,I'm better off without her.I mean,I'm no better than Suyash,if I stick around with her,having to depend on the crutch of a fake fling with you to keep her interested in me."

"You could have told her the truth.And seen if she still likes you."

"I couldn't have told her the truth without making me look like a monumental loser,could I now?I mean which chic would hang out with a guy who asks his best friend to pretend to be his gf?Just so that he could hook up with other women.Definitely  not Megha."

"No.Rishab.You are much more than that!"She said in a sweet affectionate voice which made Rishab's heart soar."You look out for your friends.I got hurt before.Another stupid loser had ditched me when I was fifteen.I was crushed then.Do you know why?Because then I didn't have you to watch my back.But now I do."Saying this,she reached out,took his hand in hers and squeezed it tightly.Rishab felt like having just reached dizzying heights in a hormonal roller-coaster ride.

"He he.Thanks."He somehow managed to blurt out."So you coming down to my place tomorrow?"

They were supposed to complete their Digital Electronics lab assignment tomorrow at Rishab's home.

"Sure,I'll be there."She forced a smile.

To be continued...

Read More

Complicated..Part VII

Bad stuff has gotta be magnetic in nature.It attracts others like itself.The upsetting result of its magnetic charm is that too many unpleasant things gather together to knock on one's door all at once.And right now,Rishab's door was almost being knocked off from its hinges.

As if all the mess concerning Priyanka and Suyash was not enough to keep his hands full!!To top that,Megha was starting to wonder why Rishab was suddenly growing so concerned about his "former girlfriend".

Megha had a very simple approach to the problems of her fellow-beings.Leave and let leave.
She firmly believed problems should be left to be tackled only by the people to whom they belong.The only exceptions,of course, were her own problems.
So,Rishab's poking his nose into Priyanka's problems was nothing but an unnecessary annoyance to her.And a source of nervous tension.You can never be too careful with ex-flames around.These old flames never get fully extinguished and if time and circumstances conspire,they can pretty well get the current ones packing their bags and leaving.

She was having a phone tiff about this with Rishab on this very day,when Rishab spotted Suyash walking towards him with a smirk on his face.Just my luck,groaned Rishab to himself.That Suyash wasn't coming towards him with the intent of bestowing brotherly affection  wasn't lost on him.

"I'll call you back!" Rishab mumbled into the phone to Megha,and put it away in his shirt pocket.

"Hey Rishab,I heard you and Priyanka had a misunderstanding or something?Tch..Tch.Too bad.Hey,can I be of any help to you?You know,like,convincing her you ain't the bad guy?Telling her it's me who to watch out for????" Suyash chuckled."Hey,don't be so pissed man!!!Just tell me.....I'll take care of everything!!!!!"Suyash mocked and started laughing.
It made Rishab sick to the stomach.

"Why are you doing this to her,Suyash?She's such a nice kid.What has she ever done to deserve what you are putting her through?"Rishab asked indignantly.

"I ain't putting her through anything,punk!!!You are.She was on cloud nine till you poked your meddlesome nose into our business,you sick piece of shit!!!!Why didn't you just mind your own business?Megha is a cute thing.Just concentrate on her and let me take care of your lab-babe,alright?Or else,you've just seen a teaser of what I am capable of.I can destroy you,Rishab!!!!Just imagine what will happen if I make Priyanka blabber about that little secret pact you two had?"

"Listen to me,Suyash!!!!Priyanka is a damn sensitive girl!!Can't you imagine what she'll go through when she learns the truth?It's gonna shatter her.She loves you like hell.Thinks the world of you.She doesn't deserve this.You know that.So I'm begging you,just stop playing..."

"Life isn't fair and life's no fairy-tale,partner!!!" Suyash retorted."I will get rid of her when I'm done with her,do you hear?Until then you can keep your moral science lectures to yourself." He started to turn away,then turned back,his smirk back on his face.
"And besides,look at the bright side." he continued."When I'm finished with her,she is gonna be needing a shoulder to cry on.You can then just sneak your butt in and do the needful.You can be her rebound guy.I'm actually doing you a favour,hot-shot!And yeah,you are welcome!!"

Rishab's blood boiled.
Suyash just smiled to himself and walked away.That will teach that ass to stay out of my way!!!!!!!!!!!
***
Guitar strings and women.Suyash was good at picking them both.As if classical good looks weren't enough to make female hearts melt,he was also the lead guitarist of the college band.For him,women came easy.They were to him what bundles of hundred rupee notes are to that fat rich kid who gets chauffered around everywhere in a luxury car.Easily available.And hence disposable.

Very early in the first year he struck the jackpot.Shruti Mehta.One of the hottest babes in his year.And the richest.Branded clothes,Playstation,smartphone were the perks.Shruti was a gift factory,and Suyash was one lucky dawg.

But one woman simply wouldn't have sufficed.It would have been a criminal wastage of his prodigious womanizing skills.And so he sought out more.He couldn't afford to hook up with anyone from the same college.Shruti just had too many golden eggs to lay for him.He couldn't afford pissing her off.And so it was with chics outside the college,that his trysts with two-timing commenced.And flourished.

It was a pity,though.Priyanka had always been Rank One on his "Top Three Gals To Hook Up With Had I Not Been Committed" list.He often found himself wishing Priyanka hadn't been in the same college as his.Getting together with any of those three chics in that list had been his primary mission and vision statement for the entire duration of the first year. Only thing was-women ain't particulary good at keeping secrets.Especially concerning their romantic lives.If he had to have someone from his own college,he needed someone who would hang around with him and who would still keep her mouth shut about the entire thing.But he had learnt with dismay that such women are hard,if not impossible,to come by.

He had almost given up hope,but then that the gossip concerning Rishab and Priyanka happened.
A ravishing beauty who could keep a love affair all hushed up.It was just...too good to be true.


Suyash always knew how Priyanka felt about him.That much was easy to guess from the way he had caught her looking at him sometimes.They had been close too.With her,he had always managed to play the 'poor little charming guy facing a whole lot of shit from his possessive gf' routine to perfection. And finally some cooked up bullshit about Shruti's psychological problems was all he needed to get unrestricted admin access to her heart.

Of course,then Priyanka had told him that the thing between her and Rishab was nothing but a made-up baloney.This was an unexpected setback to how Suyash had envisioned everything.His core assumption regarding her ability to keep her love life all hushed up had been proved wrong.There had been no love-life to be all quiet about in the first place!But on deeper thought,it didn't matter.She was still doing a damn good job keeping that lie between her and Rishab a secret from others.And Suyash was confident she would keep the reality between her and himself a secret from others too.

Shruti was a delicious dish.And her gifts were the desserts which surpassed even that dish in titillating his taste-buds.But still,Suyash was beginning to get tired of her spoilt rich brat attitude.Weathering the storms of her tantrums and mood-swings sometimes seemed too high a price to pay even for the goodies she showered on him.

He had three months in hand.
He had made up another story as to how Shruti's therapy would be over within three months.So as a dutiful ex-bf,he would just have to stick around with Shruti till that time ;he and Pri would go 'official' only after that.
Priyanka had bought all that crap.

THREE MONTHS.Plenty of time to decide whether Priyanka was really worth having around.Or whether he should just stick with the tried and tested gift-showering extravagance of Shruti.
He was pretty sure if the need arose,he could construct another lie about Shruti's not being able to get over him or something on those lines,and break up with Priyanka on that pretext.He would have to be a little crafty;he would still have to convince her to keep mum about their entire affair.But he was sure he would be able to come up with something.Making a fool out of a chic who thinks the world of you ain't as hard as solving complex Fourier Transform problems.Of that,he was sure.

And who knew?Maybe the thought of losing him would be so painful for Priyanka to bear,that she might just agree to continue the little arrangement they had even after those three months.He could continue to be with Shruti and Priyanka both for sometime more,till maybe Priyanka got tired of it all.Wishful thinking,no doubt.And ultra-ambitious.But then again,Suyash lived in a world of colourful possibilities.Where women were concerned,his wishes were horses which he rode with manic glee.

Of course,it would take only peering a little deeper into his shallow soul to figure out that Suyash didn't care for having either Priyanka or Shruti around.Or any girl for that matter.It was all about feeding his gigantic,massive ego.The chance to brag about his conquests of women to his envious buddies over a bottle of beer.It was like rocket fuel to the engine of his self-esteem.He was walking on dangerous territory,he knew.All his grand schemes and designs might anytime blow up in his face and he would be left with no one to call his gf.Rishab had come pretty close to doing that!But it was cool.He could afford to lose Pri and Shruti both.He would always manage to pick up someone else later.But that dumba** Rishab had thrown a frigging challenge at his face.Hurt that precious ego of his.Stirred the hornet's nest.
He just had to pay.That fool!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now he had to get ready.He finally had the keys to his dad's car in his hands.He had promised Priyanka that they would be going out tonight in his father's car.Hearing that,she had teased him saying that she would be dressed appropriately for the occasion.Suyash smiled to himself as he lay in his bed thinking about this conversation.
Finally, a car with a chic to grace its seats!!!!!!!I wonder if I can get lucky tonight!!A kiss shouldn't be too difficult right now,should it?

To be continued....

Read More

Complicated..Part VI

"Suyash,a word with you!"Rishab was deadly earnest as he approached Suyash in the canteen,on the Monday afternoon following the events at the multiplex on Friday.

"Yeah?"Suyash raised his eyebrow.It  made Rishab's skin crawl.

"Lay your f**king hands off Priyanka,do you hear me?"cried out Rishab as he pointed an angry finger at him."I heard all about the two-timing shit you are trying to pull on her at the multiplex that day.Yeah.I was there too.Now listen to me damn seriously.Just stay the f**k out of her life.Or else.." Rishab's pointed finger withdrew to form a fist.

Suyash's eyes squinted."Or else what?" He almost sneered.

"I as sure as hell am gonna Priyanka tell all about you and your filthy game.And then we are gonna spill the beans to Shruti.It would be fun to see you returned to the place you deserved from the very start.From a two-timer to a zero-timer." Rishab's eyes and voice mocked Suyash as the words left his mouth.

It came out of nowhere.Suyash's fist hammered into Rishab's face as Suyash brought the entire weight of his broad shoulders behind that blow.Rishab staggered back from the impact,clutching his nose.It hurt bad.He brought his right hand out to see it smeared with blood.Damn it!!His nose was bleeding like a leaky faucet.

Rishab saw Suyash lunge for him.But this time he was ready.He brought his knees down in a squatting position and then rose up with as much velocity he could manage,just as Suyash was inches from him.He balled his right hand into a fist as he shot up and caught Suyash in his chin followed by his nose.Suyash toppled backwards,holding his nose just as Rishab had done a few seconds earlier.Rishab saw with some satisfaction that his nose had started to bleed too.

A crowd had started gathering in the canteen to grab a piece of the action.
"This isn't over punk!!!" Suyash growled as he stormed off from the canteen,leaving quite a few questioning looks staring in his direction.

"You can bet your life on that.Punk!!!" Rishab muttered under his breath.
***
Rishab had called up Priyanka at least five times the day he had been at the multiplex.It was then that he had recalled that Priyanka was supposed to be out of station at her grandma's place for the weekend.She must have switched off her phone to avoid roaming charges.She wasn't supposed to be back to college before Tuesday.

It was Monday evening and Rishab figured she should be back home by now.Now was the time to call her up and spill everything.

Pri:Hello.
Priyanka's voice sounded a little gruff.
Rish:Hi Pri,this is important.You have to get the hell away from that Suyash character.He is a two-timing spineless cheater.He is one sick bastard.He..
Pri:Just shut the hell up,will you?
Rish:Whaa..??
Pri:Suyash was right.You're one filthy goofball.So this is how you repay what your friends have done for you,huh?No wonder you don't have any friends.And no wonder you can't attract any gal on your own.
Rish:Just what the hell are you...
Pri:Oh,just shut the F up!And I'm never gonna tell anything about me and Suyash to Shruti,do you hear?If you think you can just come up and say anything about Suyash and I'll believe you,you are dead wrong.And never ever call me again.And just hear me out,if you again so much as dare to butt your sorry butt between me and Suyash,I promise you there'll be hell to pay.
Rishab was aghast as Priyanka angrily disconnected her phone.

***
Forty minutes ago
Suyash[on phone]:Hi Pri,something happened today at college.Something really ugly.I just had to ask.Is everything all right between you and that lab-partner of yours?

Pri,surprised:Why?

Suyash made no effort to conceal his irritation."Just what on earth am I supposed to make out if a guy barges up to me and threatens me to stay the f*** out of your life.So I had to ask.You told me you two cooked up this shit about you two being together and all.Was it really all just fake?Or did you two really have something going together?"

Pri's agitation-meter recorded a sharp rise."How can you say that,Suyash?We had nothing between us.I have no clue why Rishab did what he did to you."Inside herself,Pri was racking her brains trying to come up with a decent explanation as to why Rishab would do anything like that.

"Hell.I told that jackass to mind his own business.And do you know what he did next?He punched me in the face.Just out of nowhere.Made my nose bleed.I swear I would have torn him to pieces had he not been your friend,Pri."Suyash said,gritting his teeth.

"He did what?" exclaimed a shell-shocked Priyanka.

"Yeah.And not only that.He threatened that he would spill everything to Shruti.And he even went on to say,he would convince YOU to do that for him.Said you would believe anything he said.That ass!!!!"

"I just don't get it.W-why?" Priyanka's mind was in a haze by now.

"Ain't it obvious,Pri?That guy has the hots for you.You said how he took the blame for you during the second-semester lab assignment episode.Why should any guy do something like that for a gal?Until and unless,he is downright desperate to impress her.Hell,I think he even assumed you would come running into his arms after that.I have seen a lot of desperate shit-heads in my time,Pri.And this filthy goofball,Rishab,seems to be the king of that pack.Now that he has seen us going out together,he is probably eating his balls up in jealousy."

Priyanka bit her lip.She obviously knew Rishab had once been really into her.And what Suyash was saying had occurred to her before.But she had thought,Rishab had outgrown all that.He never tried to hit on her after first semester.Even after that second-semester episode,he never expressed any desire to have her in his life in any other capacity than just a friend.But now,all this.
Damn you,Rishab.Just why are you so hell bent on putting me in such f**ked up situations all the time?
"B-But,he's going out with Megha,Suyash.Why should he be jealous NOW?"She asked this more to herself than to Suyash.

"We don't really know anything about what's going on between the two of them,do we now?"Suyash argued persuasively."Maybe she's just not his type.And things ain't working out between them.And on top of that,he sees me with you at the multiplex on Friday.That shit-head must  have got fired up with envy then and there."

"And you know what?" Suyash's bitter voice continued its onslaught."I'm willing to bet my life that he will come to you with some cooked up shit regarding how I'm a two-timing jerk who is playing you and Shruti at the same time.The way he talked to me made it pretty clear what was on his mind."

"Hmm." was all Priyanka could manage her lips and tongue to spell out.

"Priyanka,you love me,right?"His husky voice was suddenly dripping with wet emotion.

"Of course,I do,Suyash.You know that as well as I do."Priyanka's heart skipped a beat whenever she heard herself reaffirm her love to him.Even after one month since they Suyash declared his love for her.

"Then promise me you won't let Rishab come between us.It'll hurt me too much,if you do.I think I'll die without you.After what happened today,it's either him or me,Pri.You have to choose,and you have to choose now."The intensity in Suyash's voice pierced through the soft corners of her heart.The corners which harboured sweet,love-filled thoughts of him and only him.

"I promise,Suyash."She said solemnly."If Rishab does anything nasty,I promise I'll make him pay."
***
It wasn't hard for Rishab to construct what must have happened between Priyanka and Suyash to make her react to him in that fashion.
Why,that slimy sonofa....Priyanka was falling into that scoundrel's trap and he couldn't come up with anything to stop him.Shit was happening!!Deeeep shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To be continued...

Read More

Complicated..Part V

One month later
Rishab was wondering for the tenth time that month if having someone to call your girlfriend was really worth it.The financial implications seemed pretty disheartening.He had been going out with Megha for roughly four and a half weeks and he was already down one grand.He was only a computer engineering student,damn it,not a computer engineer.Yet.

Multiplex Silver Class had already eaten away 240 rupees from his wallet.Plus popcorn.And the movie wasn't making it any easier.Just why on earth should someone shell out 120 rupees per head to catch a no-brainer like Ready eluded Rishab's powers of reasoning.And yet here he was,on Megha's behest,who like thousands of gals around were suddenly swooning over Salman.Halfway through the movie,Rishab started feeling that his brain cells were about to die a slow painful death.And he was paying for it.

After their packet of popcorn got over,Rishab had desperately hoped she wouldn't beg for one more.But her "Baby the popcorn is finished" and the baby face she made while saying it,forced him to rise to  the call of duty once again.Rishab wondered for the eleventh time that month if having someone to call your girlfriend was really worth it.

As Rishab stood in the popcorn line,voices fleeted from behind.
"She's a 9,man!!A cute face with a hot body to go along with it.You're one lucky sonofa..."
"Luck has got nothing to do with it,"a second voice said smugly.
"Two chics to fool around with,and you don't call yourself lucky??You ass!!!!"

Two chics?Rishab cursed under his breath.Here he was almost being bled dry having one around.Sure must have a lot of dad's cash to burn.Lucky sonofa...

"So how long is it gonna be with this one?" The first voice asked.

"You speak as if she's gonna let you pick her up after I'm done with her," the second voice joked.

Yeah sure you pompous ass,Rishab thought.You are the only bar of dark chocolate existing in the candy shop ,aren't you?
Rishab had always hated these kinda guys.90% of guys hate these kinda guys.Coz these guys could do what the rest 90% wish they could,but couldn't and still get away with it.

"Doesn't hate to ask,does it?" The first voice answered a bit sheepishly."Hey look,she is back.Let's get our asses inside now,shall we?Interval should be over by now,I guess."

Rishab loathed hearing the conversation,and he loathed hearing the second voice even more.Guys like that had always made him feel like a socially inequipped loser.Boys with looks to die for,and charms to make women go weak in the knees.Flaunting a score of 2 or 3 girlfriends,all of them absolute knock-outs.Till now,Rishab had felt grossly inferior to them.Now at least he could boast of a score of 1.A saving grace.

Rishab suddenly started feeling that maybe the money burnt that month wasn't such a bad investment after all.Few things gave a guy as good a high as a sexy face and sexy legs.And Megha had both.

Rishab had ordered the regular popcorn before.He changed his mind."Boss,please make that chocolate flavored." 50 bucks extra but hell,it was worth it.

He wasn't wrong.The sugary warm "I sooo love my baby" he got after Megha saw her favourite flavored popcorn,made his heart shoot through 6 levels of heaven and finally get deposited in the seventh.Somehow,the second half of the movie suddenly didn't seem so bad.This one time,Megha's cheek accidentally(but who really knows?) brushed against his.Megha just smiled coyly.Rishab's heart did a triple somersault.

As the audience scurried out of the hall after the movie,Rishab heard the second voice again."Bye Vineet.See you at CCD tomorrow!!"
A female voice crooned,"Byeeeee Vineet!!!Drive safely!!"

Rishab turned around when he heard that voice.He just had to.He knew that voice.He gaped in amazement as Suyash walked towards the exit,holding Priyanka's hand.

He should have recognised Suyash's voice too.But he must have caught cold or something.His voice had sounded different.

Suyash was two-timing his best friend!!F**k!!!!

To be continued....

Read More

Complicated..Part VI

Read More

Complicated-Part IV

Author's note:Please read Parts 1 to 3 before reading this.....Thanks:-)

There are two kinds of guys in college.The ones women notice and the ones they don't.Till last Monday,Rishab used to occupy the last benches of female attention.But he was now steadily moving to the front-row.Just as planned,Gayatri had ensured that the breaking news concerning him and Pri had become the talk of the college.Gals were starting to wonder what Pri had seen in him,and Pri was disseminating that information after only a slight prodding to anybody who asked. She studded Rishab's character certificate with pearls like these:

"He was so sweet and sensitive.I can't recall a single instance when I needed him and he wasn't there for me."

"Yeah,he could be goofy and outright dumb sometimes.But,you know what,no matter how mad I got at him,his cool never left him.There have so many instances I've vented my frustrations on him,but he always soothed me back."

"Yup,it's sad we broke up.And to tell you the truth,I'm still a bit mad at him.But I was starting to lean on him a bit too much.It's hard not having him around,but life goes on,right?"

Female interest in Rishab was shooting skywards.Thanks to a profound concept of human psychology-the concept of Social Proof.

Two weeks after that Monday,Rishab even managed to fix up a movie date with a cute chic named Megha.Things sure were looking good.Rishab happily wondered how he would ever make it up to Pri for all that she's done for him.He wished desperately for something to happen in her life as well.Something really good.
***
Friday
It was raining that day but the air was warm. Pri was staring at how the droplets of water magically disappear upon kissing the floor and leaving the floor's lips wet when she saw him. Suyash was walking slowly to his class.

His hair was completely wet and jet black. It gave her the urge to pass her fingers through his curly hair. He was tall at five feet eleven and had broad shoulders that made him look very athletic.His face had a complexion that just turned women on, an angular masculine face with a thin  nose and full cherry red lips. His eyebrows were thickly arched and dark, which contrasted with his pale skin. He had smouldering black eyes which made her heart beat faster and caused her blood to rush through the veins and explode in the cheeks.

Priyanka heard the first bell for class go off.She was starting to gather her stuff when she noticed someone standing beside her.
"Pri,I need to have a word with you.It's kinda important." Pri could recognise that voice anywhere.Suyash's light husky voice and a slight Punjabi accent gave her goose bumps.
"Umm... Yeah." Pri said looking at her watch, clearly nervous.
"Not now,can I call you up today in the evening?It concerns you and me," He asked and smiled, displaying his dimples.
Blood rushed to her cheeks and she was reminded of how she hated her pinkish light-colored skin which made her blushing very noticeable.
"Sure..why not?" Pri smiled,wondering what Suyash meant by his statement.Well,she'd soon find out.
***

"But you two seemed so perfect together and you want to break up with Shruti?WHY???" Pri asked Suyash incredulously over the phone.

"I'm gonna tell u,but u have to promise me something.I don't expect you to understand me or my situation fully.Just promise that you won't judge me after hearing this through,ok?I have kept all this to myself for too long now.And you're the only one I can think of who can even begin to understand what I'm going through right now.So,just promise me,all right?"
She could sense the desperation in his voice.

"I promise,Suyash."She said solemnly.
Suyash paused for a few seconds,with each passing second raising Priyanka's curiosity up by several notches.
"I could never really figure her out," Suyash began,bitterness creeping into his voice."She is emotionally very unstable. At least twice a week,I have to stay up nights quelling her tantrums.She goes shit-crazy on me if some random gal texts me twice on some random day.Maybe all she needed were a few notes,but that's be enuf to make Shruti ask me 20 questions about her.If I so much as smile and chat  with some gal for a couple of minutes,she assumes I'm having a fling with her.She is so damn possessive,it scares the shit out of me sometimes."

"That does sound a little extreme.But she seemed so nice and friendly the few times I hung out with her."

"Ahh,yes.The theatre where her freakishness gets screened..I've the sole pass to that," he said sourly."With others,she is as sweet and warm as a cotton candy.Her double standards make me so miserable sometimes.There's not a single soul in college who'd believe what I've to go through because of her."

"And she can be sooo unpredictable," he continued in a heart-broken tone."One day she behaves as if I am the best thing that ever happened to her.You rock my world,baby,she says.And another day,she treats me like trash.Doesn't pick up my calls.Doesn't reply to my sms-es.I'm not even sure if she reads them or just deletes them."

Memories sprung up sharply onto the centre-stage of Priyanka's mind.Old,painful memories.The kind of memories which lurk in the backstage,mostly unrecalled in day-to-day life but which you know will always be there.The events which had fathered these memories had been of such overwhelming emotional relevance,that their fossilized remains would forever remain etched on the brain cells.
She had been 14 then and so much in love.And yet the object of her affections had treated her with the same aloofness which Shruti was now doling out to Suyash.Suyash didn't deserve this,she thought.She wished she could take him in her arms,hug him and comfort him then and there.

"I-I'm so sorry to hear all that Suyash.But why did you put up with it for so long??"

"I tried walking out of her life before.But she had this bottle of sleeping pills stashed away in her room and she popped half the bottle into herself.She had to be admitted in a hospital.You remember,right??.First year.Second semester??She was admitted for kidney stones.Well,it wasn't kidney stones.She had tried to kill herself."

"Oh my god!!!!" Pri exclaimed,shocked beyond words.

"Yeah.Her mom even took her to a psychologist after that for counselling.The shrink advised that I should stay on in her life,and her mom almost begged me to.Until her therapy was over.I was feeling so messed up and guilty,I said yes."

"I-I...don't know what to say,this is just so...."

"Freaking unbelievable,right?Like one of those things people would love to gossip about in the canteen.Until and unless it happens to you."

"I feel really sorry for you,Suyash.I really do."

"My life sucks.But that is not what I wanted to tell you tonight."

"What did you want to tell me?"

"That I love you."

"Whhaaaaaaaat???"

"I've admitted it to myself long ago.I love you.With Shruti it just wasn't so.It wasn't love.Love is what I feel for you.With you,I feel different,I feel special,I feel wanted,I feel loved and I long to make you feel the same."

Priyanka was at a loss for words.Somehow her mouth just managed to form the words to ask,"Why are you telling all this to me now?"

"When I heard about you and Rishab being together,I realised something.I realised I might lose you any day to someone else.Without your even knowing what I feel for you.I just had to let you know.I hope you understand."

So many emotions were colliding simultaneously in her brain that it was a miracle her senses still remained alive amidst that frenzy.For a moment,she thought she would faint.

Here he was.The man she had loved since probably the first day that she had met him.The man who she had thought just regarded her as a friend.And yet,here he was.Confessing his true feelings for her.She had been swept off her feet and right now she was having the feeling that maybe her feet would perpetually remain a few inches above the ground.

And to think,a lie had triggered his startling confession of love.A lie about a fabricated relationship between her and RIshab.Priyanka just couldn't wrap her head around what to make of it.This was all happening...just too fast.

"I know it's all a bit too hard to take in for one single phone call," Suyash continued in his light husky voice which made Priyanka shiver with delight."But I had to tell you.Couldn't keep all this bottled up any longer.And now I must ask you.Do you love me too?"

"YES!I DO!!!I HAVE LOVED YOU FROM THE VERY FIRST MOMENT I SAW YOU,YOU DIMWIT!!!!NOW JUST COME AND HUG ME,WILL YOU?" Priyanka wanted to scream into the phone.But a whispered "Yes.I do." was all that escaped her lips.

To be continued....

Read More

Complicated-Part III

Images were flashing through Priyanka's mind.

First semester
She was down with jaundice and Rishab completed all the lab assignments for her.Without her even asking him to.

Second semester
"I can't believe you'd stoop to this,Rishab." The Engineering Graphics professor stared at him angrily.

"I'm extremely sorry,sir," Rishab said in an apologetic tone,his head hung down.'It'll never happen again."

"There will be consequences,Rishab.Trying to pass someone else's assignments as your own is a serious misconduct," the professor said in a grave tone and then turned to Priyanka,who was just standing beside Rishab."I am sorry for doubting you,Priyanka.Don't worry.I'll see to it that Rishab is punished for this."

The professor,the gentle,merciful and considerate soul that he was,dragged the matter to the Dean.Further reprimand and humiliation for Rishab followed.But the Prof. wasn't done with showering his generosity on Rishab.With a single penstroke,he brought down his Engg. Graphics's internal assignment's marks from 40 to 0.But Rishab didn't reveal the truth.

The truth which only he and Priyanka knew.

2 days ago
"U gotta help me,Rish." Priyanka pleaded into the phone."This nasty bought of viral fever didn't allow me to complete any of my Graphics assignments.I don't know how I will complete them in time for Friday's submissions."

"O ye of little faith,ol Rish will take care of everything."Rishab had chucked."My assignments are done.You take them and get them signed.Afterwards,I will take them back,erase your name and put in mine.Simple."

"What if we get caught?" Priyanka sounded alarmed.

"Don't worry.I'll watch your back,"Rishab had said smiling.
***

Saying NO to Rishab was difficult for her.She was still riddled with guilt over what had happened to him in second semester because of her.
And now he had to mess her up by making such a desperate plea to her.
She deeply wished to help him somhow.How could she possibly say YES to him for such a request?
And it would be so damn awkward to face him now.
She wondered if she should stop talking to Rishab for sometime.

***
That was a Friday.On Monday classes resumed.

Gayatri Gupta was looking forward to going back to college after a dull weekend.A new day meant always new gossip.And Gayatri Gupta ate,slept and lived for gossip.It was her noble duty to ensure that any spicy news item, quickly and without fail,reached all four corners of the college.Maybe even beyond.Considering her initials,it shouldn't be a matter of surprise that she had quickly earned the honourable title of GG The Gossip Gal.

Classes had not yet started.Gayatri was in the canteen,getting ready for her class when Priyanka sat beside her.She kept her phone and other stuff beside her and started chatting with Gayatri.

Just then Rishab arrived.

"Pri,we need to have a word." Gayatri sensed a tense urgency in his voice.

"There's nothing to talk about," Pri said testily without even looking at him.Gayatri's gossip-sensors immediately sprung to high-alert.

"Pri,this is important.You never replied to my sms yesterday," said Rishab.Gayatri stole a quick look at Priyanka's phone.
"Just five mins,Pri,please," Rishab pleaded.

"Oh!!What the hell!!" Pri rolled her eyes."Could you look after my things for me,GG," Pri asked sweetly as she rose to accompany Rishab."This will be quick,I promise."

"Sure,Pri!!!!!" Gayatri crooned cheerfully."I'm right here."

Just as Priyanka and Rishab were out of sight,she lunged for Priyanka's phone.She quickly navigated her way to her Inbox.The very first sms was from Rishab.She quickly turned her head round in the direction Pri and Rishab had left.No sign of them.Good.Now she could read the sms with relish.

"It was gud whil it lasted Pri.But v gotta muv on nw.i dnt think it ll out wrk anymre.i still luv u.but u r almst bcumin addicted 2 me.plz dnt snd me smses lyk the one u sent just now.and plz try to 4giv me."

Gayatri's eyes grew wide with wonder.Just what was going on between those two?
Her excited fingers quickly moved to the Sent Items folder.The message with Rishab as the recipient was on top of the list.

"I can't beliv u r doin dis 2 me Rish.I still luv u lyk hell.I will die if u leave me.Plz don't go,I beg u."

Wait a min,Gayatri thought,elated beyond measure.Were these two in a super-secret hush hush relationship of some sorts?Man,this gossip was just too good to be true!!!!!!!!!She just had to get to the bottom of this!!!

From a corner out of sight of Gayatri,Rishab and Pri were watching her,with a smile on their lips.

"It seems to be working," Rishab said excitedly.

"Of course,it is MY plan after all," Pri smiled smugly.

Two days ago.Saturday morning.

"U'll do what?" Rishab sat up in his bed groggily,still unable to believe what he has just heard.

"I'll help you out,silly," Priyanka shouted cheerfully into the phone.

"U m-mean,u'll be my imaginary gf?"

"Not your gf,but your ex-gf.Just listen to me.I got this all figured out."
"I'm listening,"Rishab clutched the phone tightly to his ears,afraid to miss out on even a single syllable.

"Look,I think the basic idea is jut to make the other gals realise that someone can find you desirable,right?So this whole thing will work even if she has broken up with you.And I have JUST broken up with you.Since you are single now,you are available.Got it?"

"Ok.But a few questions,"Rishab interrupted."First,if we were a couple,why did we hide it from others?Second,why did we break up?"

"It started off very casually,we'll say.It started at the end of first year.We weren't sure enough about our feelings to make this official.Over a period of time,I became too emotionally dependent on you.I started imagining a future with you.But you weren't so sure about your own feelings.And you wanted to put a stop to this before I get hurt too much.So you decided to pull out.And I'll sneak in a little bit about how even you are not totally ready to pull yourself apart from me right now.But you're doing this for my sake.The gals are gonna lap this bit up,I promise," the excitement was growing in her voice.

"Ahh,a fancy self-sacrificing heroic twist to the tale,"Rishab grinned."Man,you're good."

"Recognised," Priyanka smiled proudly.

"Hmmm.But one more thing.Isn't it gonna sound odd if we kept this secret for so long and now after our break-up we are suddenly telling it to everybody?Are people gonna buy it?"

"They won't if we do the talking.But they will,if someone else does it for us."A wicked smile crept into Priyanka's lips."We'll get Gayatri to do it for us."

"Woaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!How???" Rishab asked amazed.

"Here's what we will do........"

***
Present time.Monday.Recess hours.


"Pri!!!!!Wait up!!!!" Gayatri called out to Priyanka from across the hall.Priyanka stared at her,trying to look surprised as Gayatri caught up with her,panting.

"Gayatri,is anything the matter?"

"Something's the matter all right," Gayatri said,between gasps."Between you and Rishab.You've gotta tell me what's been going on between you two."

"What?????What're you talking about?" Priyanka's guilty-at-having-been-caught act could have put Priyanka Chopra to shame.

"I read your smses.I can't believe you kept this from all of us.Your gang.Now tell me.Tell me,puhleeez."

"There's nothing to talk about,honey.Trust me.It's all done and over with."

"You won't be let off so fast,girl!!!!Spill it!!"

"Ohh,let it go,will you?Besides,it's kinda a long story."

"I got all the time in the world baby!!!!"Gayatri beamed at her,burning with the same anticipation which grips a predator as it is about to gobble up its prey.

Priyanka smiled to herself.That sucker,she thought.She doesn't have the faintest idea that she is just a pawn on my chess-board.Moving as per my wishes.

Somewhere,high above,maybe something was smiling to itself in a similar fashion.Priyanka was just a pawn in a game designed by fate.And she had already been shifted a few positions on destiny's chess-board.

She just couldn't realise it yet.

To be continued....

Read More

Complicated-Part II

Rishab was scouring through his  list of Gmail chat contacts,wondering which hot babe would be most likely to talk with him if he were to ping,when suddenly Priyanka's chat window sprung up.

Pri:Hiiiii :)
Rish:Hello.
Pri:U finished with the Visual Basic assignment?
Rish:Aye aye mam,and it's waiting anxiously for your freshly manicured hands to copy it into your lab file.;-)
Pri: :-D Yeah.The manicurist I told u about did a good job with my nails today.I am a very content customer.
Rish: :-D
Pri: So what were u doin?
Rish: U mean besides wishing desperately for a hot chic to ping me?
Pri: Yep,anything besides that. :-)
Rish: Well,I was self-introspecting.
Pri: Uh-huh.So ...any startling revelations?? ;-)I mean sumthing besides the foregone conclusion that u suck at picking up women?
Rish: :@:X  And men earn the wrath of womenfolk for being insensitive pigs.Thanks Pri.You are really being very helpful here.
Pri: He he.
So what DID you conclude from ur introspection session?
Rish: That I suck at picking up women.:-(
Pri: Awwwww..sad.. :-P
Rish: :-( Actually no. I realised sumthin else altogether.I wonder why they call gals the 'fairer' sex.There's nuthing fair about the way you gals treat average guys like us.
Pri:Haw.
Rish:It's written all over the look u throw at us.Like we have just come up from a vat of untreated sewage. ;-) Either we aren't tall enuf ,or not cute enuf or not rich enuf.I wish I cud just say I've had enuf and rise and leave.
Pri:Haw.Then why don't you?:-D
Rish:Stupid  desires-they never die.Annoying,pesky things.Like those shitty processes which hang our systems and we are unable to kill in the taskmanager.........:-P
Pri:Rishab,I already told u ..ur reputation with the gal community is kinda ruined.:-( Thanks to all the desperation u oozed out last year.
Rish: :-( And repairing my reputation is as tuf as repairing your old broken hair-dryer,ain't it??
Pri: I wouldn't say that. If a gal admits to liking you,it could work wonders for your brand image.;-)
Rish: :-( Duh.If a gal did like me,I wouldn't be in this rut in the first place.
Pri: He he.If you could only convince a gal to pretend to be ur gf for sumtym.....
Rish: For that a gal has to either too dumb or too sweet.Both are a rarity these days.
Pri: He he.U're right.
Rish: Would u pretend to be my gf for sumtime???
Pri:What?:-O
Rish: Please? :-( I'll give you free pass to copy all my lab assignments for the next 2 years.
Pri: Ohh pleez.Why would I do sumthin like that???????And I was just kidding about the gf thing,Rishab.U shud consider not having a gf.It's an easy way to save money.;-)
Rish: And also to be pissed off at oneself and the entire world for no reason altogether:-( All I'm asking is one good imaginary fling.
Pri: Go away!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rish: Look I know we all like to believe in the fantasy that one day we will all get the one we deserve.That life will be all hunky-dory and stuff.But we are in the here and now.And lemme tell u,now just sucks.I feel pissed with myself each day coz I don't have anybody.I try to shut up the voice inside me which keeps telling me that I can't get anyone coz I'm just  some miserable piece of shit.
My self-esteem is down there,right down,like a piece of crap stuck to the soles of my shoes.I keep saying to myself that having a gf ain't everything but u know what-the voice inside my head just never gets tired of calling me a worthless piece of nothing!!!!!!!!!!
Pri:I am sorry,Rishab.I can't help u.No girl will agree to this.
Rish:Please?????I will agree to anything you ask.
Pri:NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rish:For our friendship's sakes!!!!Puuuuuuhleeeeeeeeeeeez!!!!!!!!!!!I bailed you out a lot of times b4...I'm just asking sumthin 4m u this one time.....
Pri:I told you.I can't agree to this.
Rish: Umm..u're right.I'm sorry.Don't know what got into me. :-) Spoke a whole lot of nonsense.Ruined ur night.My apologies.Good night,Pri.Try not be too mad at me for all this.
Pri:GN,Rishab.Take care.

Rishab logged off from Gmail and immediately opened his drawer to bring out his notebook.He flipped through the pages in search of the first blank page.And started scribbling ,as he often did whenever he found his misery too overwhelming.

"Ravaged is the soul,
It cannot reach its goal.
Wearied spirit,a tired mind,
What it wants,it can't find.
Painful existence,a burdensome life..
Thru the heart it cuts like a knife!!!!!"

Rishab's poems were usually like that-frustrated ramblings conveying such monumental 'loser'-ness that a dog would be reluctant to relieve itself upon them.
But then again,they were probably a better option than crying himself to sleep.

Unknown to these two souls at that point of time,this little conversation they had together that night was going to set something in motion which would alter the dynamics of their lives.

If only they knew...

To be continued.....

Read More

Complicated-Part I

Love scared her.She had only been 14 then.
A tender age.
A tender heart.
And tender emotions.
And her tender heart was in love.

She was devoted to Rahul.She adored him.Maybe even worshipped him.
But Rahul's feelings for her never matched upto her affections' overpowering intensity.
Priyanka could never figure out Rahul.Sometimes, he would shower her with gifts and loving affection, making Pri’s little heart almost faint with delight. But sometimes,she would spot him with some other girl and tears would immediately stinge her eyes.

And then arrived a fateful day.Her 15th birthday.

When she got up in the morning, she pictured a party with him, and locked herself in her room, waiting for his call.
But... minutes dragged into hours...and soon the sky was dark... he still didn't call.Hurt expectations made it tiringly painful to look at the phone anymore. She didn't know it then,but fate had something else in store for her that day.

8pm in the night, Rahul suddenly called her and told her to come out of the house.Her teary eyes glimmering with joy and anticipation, she ran out happily.

Pri: Rahul...
Rahul: Here...take this...
He handed her a crumpled up note.
Pri: What's this?
Rahul: Just read it and you will know. I’m going home now, bye.
Pri: Wait, wait! Do you know what today is?
Rahul: Today? Huh?
Pri thought her life had no meaning , she thought he would remember her birthday.
He turned around and walked away like nothing had happened.
Then she shouted...
"Wait..."
Rahul: You have something to say?
Pri: Tell me, tell me you love me...
Rahul: What?!
Pri: Tell me
She felt miserable and pathetic, but she clung onto him for dear life, wishing desperately the warmth of her tiny heart would melt the stoniness of his.
But he just said simple cold words and left.
"I don't want to say that, if you are desperate to hear it, then find someone else."
That was all what he said. Pri was aghast as she kept looking at Rahul walking away from her.
Her legs felt numb...and she collapsed to the ground.
What did he mean by saying he didn't want to say it ????????????????
Pri unfolded the note he had given her. It just said,”I don’t love you anymore. Please leave me alone.”
How could he...??????????????????????
After that day, Pri stranded herself at home crying, just crying.
He didn't call her, although she kept waiting. And waiting. Until the river of her patience lost its last trickle.

School got over.Priyanka got admitted into an engineering colleger.And then Suyash happened.

First Year
As she sat there in the labs, she used to stare at him sitting at the table across her. She used to stare longingly at his dark, curly hair, and wished he was hers. But he was not into her, and she knew it. After class, he used to walk up to her and ask her for the lab notes he had missed and she used to hand them to him. He would say "thanks" and would pinch her cheek affectionately. She wanted to tell him, she wanted him to know that she did't want to be just friends,she loved him but she was just too shy.

Second Year
The phone rang. On the other end, it was Suyash. He was sad, mumbling on and on about how his girlfriend,Shruti was giving him a hard time. He asked her to come over because he didn't feel like being alone, so she did. As she sat next to him on the sofa, she stared at his beautiful large eyes, wishing he was hers. When it was time to say goodnight,he looked at her, said "thanks" and hugged her tightly. She wished she could tell him; she wanted so desperately for him to know that she did't want to be just friends, she loved him but.....

She was just too shy.And afraid.
Love scared her.

***
Life was just not happening to Rishab. 2 years into college and still no gf. And heaven was witness to the fact that his lack of love (whatever that is) couldn’t be attributed to any lack of effort on his part. He had hit on virtually every girl worth hitting on, and even a few not worth hitting on, in his department and beyond. As he set foot into his second year, he had prayed fervently for his lady love to magically crop up among the next batch of freshers. Either the heavens had better things to do than finding for him the girl of his dreams or he just sucked at picking up girls. Maybe it was both. Bottom line was- he was single. Despite being all too ready to mingle.

Rishab often wondered if his brain lacked the part which made guys capable of attracting women. Somehow all he could manage out of his efforts to turn women on was to turn them off. There had been at least a hundred and ten instances when Rishab had decided he has had enough and decided to give up pursuing women altogether. Problem was- while nature might not have given Rishab the skills to attract women, it could have helped him out by lowering his need to be around women. Unfortunately, Mother Nature bestowed on him that need in generous doses.  And so, you had Rishab, the average 19-going-onto-20 average frustrated chump, in perpetual conflict with his testosterone.

Rishab was Pri's lab partner.It should hardly come as a surprise that Rishab had once wished he had been Pri's love partner as well.Two things had kept him from hitting too hard on her-one,his realization that she was just waaaaay beyond his league.And two,and this was something which Rishab himself didn't understand fully well,there was just something about Pri's sweet child-like simplicity which made him kinda protective about her.In the first year of college,whenever he used to fantasize about Priyanka,he couldn't help feeling a tinge of guilt.And as days passed on,his longing for her just starved itself to death somehow.

The interesting thing was,fate and providence were soon to set their lives on a headlong collision course with their destinies.
They just didn't know it yet.

To be continued...

Read More

The bombs we all carry

A one megaton nuclear bomb can engulf everything within a 100 square miles.in a deadly mushroom of flame.But a single ton of hurt expectations weighing down the heart can do much worse. The bomb will wipe you off the face of the earth,but your stupid hopes will wipe the smile off yours.And you will have to live with it.
While the fancy talk of dreaming big to make it big might sound all hunky-dory,reality is always about managing expectations.Yours and that of others.There frankly is no escape.It's as important as eating,drinking, and sleeping.Wish it were also just as simple.
There is only one simple truth about expectations.Don't for your life expect others to make you happy.It's all about you,your brain and that precious little 4-chambered pumping machine in your chest,really.It's just within us all.But stoooooopid we.Our search engines scan everywhere but our own selves.10 million search result pop up.But the one we are looking for always lies there in the last results page,sitting quietly,waiting,hoping for us to come and find it.It is Stooooopid too.It should know better than that to expect such wisdom from us.:-)

Read More

Piss-ces of thoughts

A truly hot gal looks sexy even sans makeup.She proved it to me yesterday night in the station.There she was walking as straight as an arrow,like royalty,except her entourage was missing.I would have gladly become her entire entourage,had she just smiled and asked.;-)
On a completely unrelated note,station urinals are smelly.Train urinals even more so.Everyone's urine can't be that smelly.I fancy just as one rotten apple infects every other apple in the basket with its rottenness,one smelly urine has a similar influence on the others in the urinal.Talk about setting bad examples and negative influence.Their conversations probably flow something like this:
Smelly Urine: We are piss and our sole duty is to piss people off.Embrace the dark side,friends,Urinans and countrymen.Let's show those people that their bladders didn't produce sissies!!!!!!!!PISS-ies maybe,but definitely not sissies.
Non-Smelly Urine1 to Non-Smelly Urine2:Duh!!!What's Smelly sayin?Any of it making any sense to ya?Is he one of those self-help coaches,ya think???Or maybe some new kid on the block trying to be an MLA??
Author's note:MLA=Member of Loo Assembly
NSU2:Nyah.I just think he is one of those contenders in that reality show called "So you think you can PISS people off?".
SU:Give me smell,some real bad ones,and I'll give you freedom.We will no longer be oppressed,we shall fight back.As they piss more upon us,our numbers shall grow.Until we shall overpower them with our foul stench.We are gonna show em!!!!!!!!!!
NSU1 and NSU2 to SU:We are with ya all the way,man!!!!!!!!
[Between themselves]:Anything to shut this moron up!!!
And the rest.my friends,is the story we witness in nearly every public urinal in our country.:-)

Read More