Sumi trashed the half used coke tins, and cleared the mess on her desk, pressed ctrl+alt+del, pushed the chair inside the desk and walked past her half-empty-team into the ladies room, checked herself on the mirror to make sure that her face did not reflect the time of the day, smiled at her well kept form and shape and hurried to join Shreyars near the lift. Shreyars hid his excitement, though only he knew how he had been waiting for the evening all day long. Just as they joined, the lift arrived crowded and they entered after exchanging glances that conveyed that they would meet 20 floors below when the lift exited for the lobby. She could feel her pulse beating hard and fast. She being a very practical person and workaholic, she had not let this numbing thrill disturb her work day. Now her anticipation was rising. He rested his head on the back of the elevator and let his mind rewind by six months.
He looked as she entered unhurried yet well paced, cautious yet confident, nervously looking forward to the first day of her work-life. Shortly, she joined him and the rest of such people, exchanged greetings, customary hellos and confident smiles. She was polite and poised, yet socializing did not come naturally to her, he observed. Soon they were taken around campus, shown the various facilities and were audience to corporate life introductory lecture. He was seated right beside her and the hiiis, hellos and silence did not comfort him. He naturally invited more dialogue and before long they were good friends. They found apartments close to each other, commuted together, waited for each other, and met over coffee breaks and lunch. They were plain getting along well.
Shreyars’ wit and smartness helped the shy Sumi to hold conversations. Sumi liked to disagree, argue and discuss sensibly and Shreyars’ intelligence helped. Sumi was way too clever and knowledgeable to lose any kind of debate. Shreyars’ felt losing to Sumi more of an honor than shame. They shared mutual respect, interests and quality time.
Their conversations were around how to combat terrorism?, is US right?, why not give Al-Qaeda what he wants?, ethical cloning, what is morality?, rising prices of gas, the to-be-Intel fab in Madras, the automobile industry boom and the like. They never thought about who paid the bill (no, Shreyars did not insist paying), who opened the door, or who carried the shopping bags. They did not buy gifts for each other, no birthday presents, no friendship day wishes, and not even Valentines’ day mention. They were like the strawberries and cream – simply great together with no strings attached.
Today evening was indeed special and an important day for Sumi. And Shreyars felt elated and important to be a part of it. A week ago, Sumi had said that she was to meet a probable-to-be-hubby and invited Shreyars to join. Shreyars concealed his shock well – well enough. He had loved her, he realized. He had prepared himself in the week for this important day. He repeatedly told himself, how true and naïve Sumi was. He truly liked her and that was all the more reason why he masked his feelings for her. He was taken aback at the confidence and respect she had for him that she was taking him to the all important day.
They stepped off the elevator. They were supposed to meet at Barrista, a few miles from their office. They drove in silence – Sumi was tensed and Shreyars sensed it. Shreyars did not want to uncover his mask by talking. Though he made attempts to break the stillness of the car, he was in vain. Sumi changed CDs, appeared to remain normal, but far from it. Shreyars thought, after all Sumi was going to meet this guy for the first time. The journey seemed to long forever. Finally, the sedan slowed down and came to a complete halt two minutes from the coffee shop.
Sumi opened the vanity, checked herself again and smiled self-consciously at Shreyars and their eyes met. For once he missed a heart beat and failed in making eye contact. As if this was the last time they were going to be together, he wished her all the best and stepped off on the other side.
As they entered Barrista, Sumi ordered two cappuccinos. Shreyars thought probably they were well ahead of time. He wanted to be excited for her; he clinched his cuff, twisted his collar, run his fingers through his hair, pressed his hand kerchief on his forehead and he was aware that he was more tensed that Sumi herself. He breathed two long breaths and he hoped his restlessness did not reach the discerning eyes of Sumi. Each passing minute freaked him. He was frantically trying to remain unruffled ;-) She counted the number of times he looked at his watch – It was 16 in the last 5 minutes.
Cappuccino arrived, Sumi had a sip. Shreyars stared at his steaming cup.
He was about to ask when his probable-hubby-to-be would arrive, when she pulled out a mirror and this time turned it across to Shreyars as if asking him to check how groomed he was. Instead she declared “Do you approve him to be my hubby?”. For a moment Shreyars did not understand anything. She was proposing. He had been stupid, but she was not, not to understand what they were going through. They were overjoyed, tears swelled in their eyes, for the first time in six months, they were talking romance!
