A Geek and Almost a love story – 5

The next morning, I woke up with a heavy head. I found myself lying on the couch with my legs hanging from it.
Shayan came to me the very next minute with a cup of tea.
“How you feeling nerdy?”
“I’m fine.”
“Ok, listen yaar i need to talk to you about what happened last night.”
“What happened last night?” I panicked. I had no memory whatsoever about the previous night.
“Don’t you remember you proposed to Naina last night?”
“What?” I couldn’t believe I actually did that.
“Yes man. That is what I want to talk about. That girl, Naina, she is not good.”
“How do you know that, asshole?” I couldn’t hear him say that.
“Because I know that girl. She takes pleasure in fooling innocent guys like you just to have fun and use them as her time pass. Tell me, why hasn’t she said anything to anyone about you and her being friends? I presume she must have even asked you not to tell anyone, hasn’t she.”
“Yes, she did, but….”
He interrupted,”See, I told you. Look Ram, I’m your friend and I’d always want the best for you, trust me. That is what buddies are meant for. And Naina, she isn’t good for you. These kind of girls don’t care about anything. Just think of your studies, and your parents Ram. And if you still don’t believe me, you follow her after college and see for yourself where she goes, and whom she meets.”
I didn’t know what to make of it. At the one hand, my heart didn’t let me doubt Naina’s intentions, and on the other, my head was going through all sorts of practical reasoning of this friendship.
After college, that day, I followed Naina as told by Shayan. She crossed the main gate, took a left, and walked straight for the next 10 minutes. Just then, a car halted on the roadside and a tall, smart guy waved from inside to her. She was delighted to see him. She got in, and gave that guy a tight hug. My blood began to boil at the sight of her hugging that guy. I turned away and left for home.

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Next morning, I called her up and asked her to meet me in the classroom 10 minutes before the first class.
“What’s the matter Ram, you didn’t receive my calls yesterday, neither did you reply to the texts. Is something wrong?”
“Uhh…..no actually, it is about what I said to you on the new year’s eve.”
“Oh, what about it.” her cheeks went red.
“Actually, I was completely drunk that night Naina. I didn’t have any idea whom was I talking with and what the hell was I talking. Yesterday Shayan told me about all that. I’m really sorry about that. It wasn’t for real or something.” I couldn’t look her eye-to-eye.
Her smile vanished for a second, but, regaining herself, she said,”Ok, big boy got drunk huh. No worries yaar. I understand. By, the way that short speech was so cute I felt like hugging you then and there tight.” That word, “Hug” made my blood boil.
“Actually, there’s one more thing. I think we are spending too much time talking and gossiping. Board exams are approaching so I think I won’t be able to talk to you.”
She couldn’t take it,”What? Ram do you have any idea what you’re talking? This is utter rubbish.”
Just then a group of girls entered the class and we had to part. “We’ll talk about this later.” She said and went to her seat.
“Never again.” I murmured to myself, and left the class.
As days passed by, I started to ignore her more and more. And by the end of our exams, even she ceased talking to me.
———————————————————————
Four years later, that is, today, I’m sitting at a coffee shop in one of the best coffee shops in Bangalore, with coffee before me, and tears in my eyes.
Oh, by the way, just to let you know, I’ve graduated from a reputed college in Delhi and have been offered a seat in one of the top management institutes of the country. Today was the interview.
I left my city after 12th and still have a faint contact with Virat.
One hour ago, when I arrived at the shop, I met Nandini, the girl who was known as ‘Birdie’ in our class for her non-stop chattering qualities and her over-the-top dressing sense. She had changed a lot.
It was she who spotted me,”Hey, is that you Nerdy?”
“Yes, it is me, Birdie.” I replied with a smile.
As we sat down for coffee, she noticed the changes in me.
“You’ve changed Ram. You look human for a change.”
“Why? Didn’t I look human before?”
“Hehe, you were such a tight-ass in college. I wonder how could Naina bear you back then.”
“So, you knew about me and Naina.”I asked, a bit shocked.
“Of course, Naina was and still is my best friend. You must have been a real nerd to dump a sweet girl like Naina for studies.”
“Excuse me! I didn’t dump her or anything. It’s just that I didn’t want to keep any contacts with her after what she did to me, that sweet friend of yours.” I lost my temper.
“Why? What did she do?” Nandini was in shock.
I told her everything about how I saw her hugging that guy and how she kept all those secrets about our friendship.
Nandini was speechless for almost a minute.
“I was wrong Ram. You’re an asshole. Thank god Naina didn’t have to be friends with you anymore. Tell me, who gave you this noble idea of following her after college? I bet it was Shayan.” her face went red with rage.
“Yes it was Shayan, but you won’t say anything about him. He was the one who saved me from me, from Naina. A true friend.”
“Oh really, are you guys still in contact? Tell me.”
“Umm….No, but…..”
“Shut up, Ram, you don’t even deserve to know the truth after all this.”
“What truth?”
“Naina loved you, you idiot. She kept this thing a secret because she belongs to a conservative family. Her cousins studied in the same college. Her aunts were never liberal with her. She wasn’t even allowed to have a mobile. She did so just for you. That is because she found refuge from all her problems in those silly,honest talks of yours .
That man she hugged in the car that day, was her elder brother who’s in the army. He had come home after 2 long years that day.
And as for your true friend Shayan, Ram, do you know that Shayan used to follow Naina everyday after college. After you left college, and moved to Delhi, he almost forced his feelings for Naina, just by using your name, and Naina kept refusing his proposals. One day while all of us were out for shopping, he followed us and when we confronted him, he had warned Naina that he’d molest her if she didn’t accept his proposal. It was only when her brother intervened in the matter that he stopped following her.” Nandini was talking breathlessly and I was feeling numb, I felt as if someone had crushed my head with a big stone. My chest felt heavy. I was almost in tears.
“She cried a lot when you left that day. We never saw her smiling and laughing again. You’ve broken her from inside Ram Sharma. And she didn’t deserve this.”
Both of us were in tears.
“Where is she now?” I managed to ask somehow.
“She’s where you left her Ram. And if I know her, she’s still waiting for you.”
Ans she left.
I kept weeping silently there for the next half and hour or so.
Then, I stood up, wiped my tears. It wasn’t the time for crying on the past. It was time to make amends. To correct my mistakes. To teach some people a good lesson.
And……………it was time to go back to Naina.

THE END