Just Another Love Story
One shot
Okay, it wasn’t intended at all. But since it was ladoo’s birthday, I posted.
Laddooooo happy birthday!!!!! Wish you all the happiness in the world. She is a talkative, chirpy, happy girl. Hey chatterbox! I know, you wanted me to post an extension of their bond….but I guess, some stories are better left untold…..which practically means, I have nothing to write more. So sorry!
I know, I am late….but sorry….went out and wrote it in so much hurry, in the car ride back…….hope you like it…sorry, if it isn’t up to the mark….
Once again, happy birthday!!!!
………….
“why do you keep mocking love?” sam asked.
Radhika replied somewhat irritated, “why do you keep asking me the same question?”
“because you never answer me.”
Radhika sighed, there wasn’t any escaping….how in the world could she make somebody like sam snap out of her imaginary world and come to the reality. Love isn’t a real thing. Its just an illusion. But would sam understand? Not a chance.
Sam drummed the fingers impatiently on the table, waiting for an answer.
Radhika sighed, “sam, you know, I don’t believe in love. It isn’t a real thing. The movies and novels you read mean nothing. There is no perfect gentleman out there. Keep falling in love all you like. But in the end, you are going to marry a regular guy and not some prince charming.”
Sam, “chashni, this is the exact point. Love has the power to make that random guy, a prince charming.”
Radhika got irritated, she stood up, “why do you always keep chanting love, love all the time……why is it so hard to understand that love doesn’t exist. Love isn’t a real thing. Boys keep falling in and out of love several times a day and you yourself know that. The love you see in movies and romantic novels. Those chessy love stories. They make me feel like sneering. They are all fake and scripted.This sort of a thing doesn’t exist and isn’t practical in real life. The sooner you come to terms with this reality and snap out of your dream world, the better for you.” Radhika angrily got up and walked out to the balcony, tears streaming down her eyes. The tears she had tried to contain in herself for so long, just escaped……for what? Absolutely nothing. She was crying for something which never existed.
Sam saw Radhika cage her soul within herself again.
“why are you so afraid of love? She muttered. “chashni, trust me, someday you’ll just walk out of the door and your life will change forever. Someday, somebody will come just for you. Trust me, one day you too will have a love story.” Sam said to radhika’s back, determined to find what went wrong. She talked to neil, her boyfriend and radhika’s best friend about her. Sam shared her hunches about how Radhika was hiding something from them, “neil, you know….umm, like it is hard to explain but I just know. I have this gut feeling that there is something, chashni isn’t telling. There is some context we are missing. Neil, you know naa she wasn’t this practical before she went to London for that management course. And suddenly, she back with all shitty ideas about love. Don’t you think? I just to know what it is and I want my chashni to start believing in love again.”
Sam and neil planned and decided to make Radhika come clean. Since, a long weekend was coming, they decided to party in the farmhouse, neil’s parents owned on the outskirts of the city. They along with another couple of friends and Radhika went to party. Radhika was a bit reluctant at first, but agreed on sam and neil’s insistence.
The gang partied hard. Kritika and zubin who had accompanied them had to leave the next day, which just left nesam and Radhika. That night, one thing led to another and the trio ended up drinking. Theoretically, the trio was drinking. But as we always say, there is a gap between theory and practice, so, practically, it was just Radhika, who was actually drinking. Neil winked at sam with happiness on the success of the first phase of their plan. It was really simple. Get Radhika drunk and get her talking.
Radhika soon, was highly intoxicated. True, she only had two beers but since she was a non-alcoholic person, or rather was a rarely occasional drinker. Two beers was all it took to get her tipsy.
Sam cleared her thought and went straight to the topic, “love stories are real, Radhika. See, I found mine.” She said leaning on neil’s arm.
Radhika smiled a sad one, “not everyone is as lucky as you, sam.”
The three remained quiet for a while. Radhika seemed deep in thoughts. Neil didn’t fail to notice the thin film of water which began to cloud her vision.
Radhika suddenly sighed, she looking neil and sam and whispered, “you know guys, there was a time in life. Where I would have given up anything to have what you guys have. Such pure love. Well, that was until I realised that not everyone gets to live the dream. That was long time back……long long time back.”
Tears began flow down her tears. As sam moved to console her. Neil pulled her back, “let her get it all out for once.” Sam nodded and sat back, “what happened, Radhika?”
Radhika looked at her with a confused gaze. Sam smiled, “you weren’t this person when you left for London. You changed. What happened?”
Radhika giggled. She herself, didn’t know why. Well, alcohol it was. Radhika began narrating a story she never would have, all because of the two goddamn beers she had.
“when I went to London, I never realised I could experience something so beautiful that it might scar me forever. There was this guy, I met in college. A couple of years senior. Indian, he was. Met him in HR and he helped him on account of being a fellow indian in a strange distant land. We became friends and hung out together most of the time. Trust me Sammy, he was perfect. Both in looks and in intellect. You know, gossip travels fast. And when it involves a guy half the college is in awe of, it spreads like wild fire. This was the case. People started talking, about me being his girlfriend. Even we heard, but we didn’t care. I was just his best friend and the people who mattered knew it, me and him. He started pampering me, took me out for meals too often, would enquire about any other guy I talked to. He grew damn possessive and I couldn’t see why. The water rose too high, when he beat the hell out of a guy, I hugged. He didn’t tell me about it, I got to hear it from gossips that went around.I called him in the college lawn in the evening to confront him about his behaviour. But as soon as he saw my angry face and before I could saw a word. He came closer and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tight. He lifted me a little, so I could reciprocate the gesture. I resisted for a while. But he was so close, so warm and so perfect that my heart gave in and hugged him back. He proposed in most, chessy romantic manner……you know, on one knee with a rose In hand. And I accepted.”
Radhika paused, gazing at something distant dreamily. Sam grew impatient and neil opened another round.
Sam, “so, what happened next?”
Radhika sighed, “exactly what I was afraid of, got my heart broken. Saw him with a girl in his room. Now, you guys realise why I say that never get too attached to somebody. Even I don’t know, how I consoled myself, I literally locked myself in my room for days at end. I didn’t receive his calls, didn’t reply to his messages and got my roommate to send him away whenever he came around. The new semester started and he being senior to me, passed out. I haven’t seen him since. Only my heart knows, how much I ached for him. But it doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t care. I pieced my life together, but he took a part of me away with him.”
Radhika was sobering up as her heart flooded with memories of them. Why? She cursed herself. She tried so hard to be strong, but she just couldn’t. Her throat convulsed, she couldn’t bring herself to drink anymore beer. Neil understood, her pain……the pain of losing someone you love, the extreme pain of their betrayal. His respect for her grew immensely, he knew for a fact, he couldn’t be able to piece himself back if sam ever went away. He shuddered, a too horrible possibility. Radhika was strong girl and to think that she hid that pain deep down in her heart for so long. Neil knew, Radhika didn’t move on. That guy, that she was talking about her first love and your first love isn’t somebody you can forget. And hers, was the one who took her belief in love away. Her moving on was like a dream on the horizon, you see it but you never reach it. Not a single chance.
Neil held Radhika by shoulders and whispered, “you’ll have moments when you feel like a tiger and others when you feel like a mouse. Just know, no matter how you feel, you have a soul worthy of love.”
Neil was about to continue when he was interrupted by his ringing cell phone. He was surprised as to who was calling him so late at night. The people, sam and Radhika, who usually did were with him. It was a unknown number, he picked and the voice on the other side sounded so familiar. Arjun! It was his childhood buddy. He excused him self and talked back to the house to chat with him. Neil came back after about half an hour, all smiling and giggling.
When sam asked him the reason, he jumped happily, “this ought to be the best day of my life. I am out partying with my girlfriend and my best friend, the people who matter the most to me. I finally, get to know the reason behind my best friend’s cold shoulder towards the most beautiful feeling ever, love. * he pointed at Radhika* I am going to do something about it, by the way. And now, I get a call from my childhood buddy, my brother, who incidentally happens to be in same city. I invited him over. And he is going to join us in like 30 minutes. The real party is going to begin now!”
Both Radhika and sam smiled.
After about 30 minutes the bell rang, Radhika opened the door and stood numb. Her eyes having unbelievable fusion of love and anger. She felt that she losing herself, tears were forming in her eyes. Him. After so long. She didn’t want him to know that he still affected the way he did. After he cheated on her, no way. She turned around and ran to her room. She slammed the door shut. And sat on her bed, no knowing how to feel.
The guest, Arjun, still stood at the door frozen. It was her, there she was opening the door to his best buddy’s farm house. Where hadn’t he looked for her. All he wanted was one chance……one chance to explain. He tried hard to, but she was never available. He had tried every trick, just to make her look at her once. It never happened. And one day, when he turned around, she disappeared never to met again. Their understanding died. Another victory for distance. She was the same. But her eyes had lost the warmth, that had once made him fall for her. He felt like killing himself, knowing that he was the reason that those eyes weren’t twinkling any more.
Neil came out, wondering what took Radhika so long to usher Arjun in. He looked at the door, Arjun stood, dressed handsomely, in a tshirt and jeans. But his expression, he was surprised, shocked and pained at once.
Neil ignored his expression and moved forward and hugged him. Arjun snapped back to reality. He hugged him back.
Neil, “what happened bro? You are white. You look as if you saw a ghost. Did the sweet little girl scare you?” he teased.
Arjun turned blank, “umm, that-t-that girl, r-ra-radhika……you know her?”
Looking at Arjun, it suddenly clicked to him.
Neil shouted sam and she came running. After a round of hurried introductions.
He dropped the bomb, “sam, he is the guy Radhika talked about.”
Sam’s jaw dropped to the floor. She gave him a tight stinging slap, “you moron….all because of you, she doesn’t believe in love today. And to think, you have the guts to stand right here and face her after what you did is disgusting. She was a true and pure soul. You sucked the life out of her. Trust me, if you weren’t neil’s buddy, I swear I would have killed you for hurting my chashni.”
Arjun screamed, “stop!”
Both neil and sam look at him with bewilderment.
Arjun sighed, “you don’t know the whole story. You just know what Radhika saw. I tried to talk to her many many times wanting to explain. But she turned away each time. I wasn’t which that girl, bonnie that day……it was she who was throwing herself at me……I twisted her and scolded her. There isn’t or wasn’t anything between us. Radhika saw a glimpse and she thought it to be true……she didn’t even bother to be confront me once.”
Neil and sam nodded, understanding what actually went between the two. It was just a small misunderstanding which pained the two pure hearts for so long.
Sam slapped him again. Arjun looked at her befuddled, “what was this for?”
Sam smiled, “now are you stand here looking at my face or are you gonna go to her….idiot.”
Neil nodded in agreement. Arjun smiled and ran to her room.
Radhika was standing with her back to him. Arjun silently moved forward. And caged her in his arms. Her back firmly attached to his front. She struggled to get out of his grip. But his grip tightened with each move of hers. He gently removed all her hair, placing them on her other shoulder. He kissed her shoulder. He smiled as she got goosebumps. He gently whispered in her ear, “Radhika, it was and it is always you.”
Radhika turned around in his arms and looked in eyes. They reflected pure honestly and love. She hugged him tight with all love and care she had, burring herself in him. He placed his chin on her head, and closed his eyes. Finally, he had in his arms all he ever wanted.
Radhika smiled and whispered, “I love chessy love stories.”
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