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It was a pleasant Sunday morning, and he was sitting on the beach facing the sea. He could see the waves crashing against the rocks; the small fishing boats dancing in the waves, slowly moving away towards the horizon. The sun was just beginning to show through the clouds. He could feel the cold damp breeze from the sea against his face.
Normally, he would have enjoyed the magnificent view of the sea, but today his mind was elsewhere. He was reminiscing over the events of the last 2 days. They had been two of the most memorable days of his life.
His mind went back to Friday morning; he was walking to the bus stand, the weather was slightly chilly, and there was a cold breeze blowing. The sun had not yet come out, and the whole sky was grayish in color. It was going to be yet another one of those dullish days. He sighed and kept on walking. The road was wet from the rain the night before. He could see small children lining up to board the school bus. He felt sorry for them; they had to carry such a heavy load of books to school everyday.
He glanced at his watch. It was a quarter past eight, and it looked like he would have to do without breakfast. He had an important presentation to make in the office and had stayed up late yesterday to complete it.
He came up to the bus stop. There was already a group of people waiting for the bus. He checked his watch once again. He had made it to the bus stop earlier than he expected.
And there she was!
At first he did not recognize her. But when he looked again, the memories came flooding back. It had been almost five years; no, six, since he last saw her. She had not changed at all. He felt his throat go dry. He wanted to go and speak to her, and turned to look in the direction she was heading. She was about a hundred yards or so away. He walked briskly and caught up with her. She looked at him indifferently. He knew that she had seen him in the bus stop and recognized him, but had not stopped to talk to him.
He blurted out, “Hi!! Remember me!?!”
She said, “Yes, I do! How are you?”
He replied with, “Fine! It’s been a long time since I spoke to you. I thought you wouldn’t recognize me. But I am very happy that you still remember me”, and smiled at her.
She told him, “I am happy too”, and she smiled, simply staring at him with her intelligent black eyes, saying nothing.
Then he remembered that he was already late for the office, and said, “I am running a bit late for the office today. But I would like to talk to you. Can you give me your phone number, so I can contact you?”
She looked at him and said, “Yaa fine, but I am going out and I don’t know when I will be back. So let me give you a call once I reach home. Give me your number.”
They exchanged phone numbers.
She left him with a smile and a look in her eyes that suggested she was partly happy and partly uncomfortable seeing him.
He had missed the bus, and had to take an auto to reach the office. It was almost half past nine when he finally reached it. His project manager was waiting for him, and informed him that the presentation he was supposed to give had been postponed to Monday. He was quite relieved hearing it; he was not in any position to make the presentation.
He sat down in his place and switched his PC on. He just skimmed through the emails he had received, and kept thinking about that chance meeting in the morning. He sat back in his chair, and recollected their first meeting.
She was 2 years his junior in college. When first he saw her; he had been captivated by her looks. His friends told him she was one of the brightest and the brashest persons in her class. He was determined to talk to her, and one day in the Canteen, he went up to her and said, “Hi”. She responded with a plain “Hi”, completely devoid of any expression. But from her eyes he knew she was amused.
They sat down with a cup of coffee. He asked her if she was fine with talking to him. She replied, “I don’t know. Let’s see!” and smiled. They talked about everything and nothing, and kept on chatting for a long time. They began to meet eachother often.
One day he asked her whether she liked him, and she replied, “I do, otherwise I wouldn’t even talk to you”.
On his last day in college, they met again and she told him, “It’s been nice knowing you, but I wouldn’t like to see you again”.
He replied with, “Me too!” and they smiled, and then they went their separate ways.
His reverie was broken when his colleague shook him and asked him whether he was coming to lunch.
He was almost through with his work by 5:30; he switched off his PC and made his way home.
It was around 8:30 in the evening when she called him up. They spoke for a long time, catching up on the last 5 years. He asked her whether she had thought of him at any time during those five years, and she laughed and asked him, “What makes you think I would? You are neither handsome nor smart enough to be thought of!”
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Srinivasan P.M
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