The Girl and the Boy

 

(Divi’s Note : A short story based on a Tweet I read recently!)

A few years ago ...

Achyut met Deepika in the coffee lounge. She was not particularly pretty. But her smile would be enough to make others' heads turn. As he stood chatting with his friends (whom he hadn't met for three months after being onsite), she walked in with a couple of giggling friends. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second and she smiled at him before turning away. Did she look taken aback for a tiny moment before the beginning of that glorious smile? Maybe Achyut's eyes had deceived him. He turned back to the earnest conversation he had been in the middle of, with his friends.

A few days later...

She worked in a different team on his floor. One Sunday, he bumped into her again. Both had to work overtime and they were the only ones to be working that day. They began to message each other on the LAN. It started with exchanging trivial details like favorite music and birthdays. She seemed eager to know more about him and, well, nobody was around to keep him company. When he finished his work, he got ready to leave, abruptly finishing the online conversation he had been holding with her. Did her last message sound regretful when he pinged good bye? He left, waving his hand at her.

After two weeks....

Deepika ducked to hide behind her computer terminal as he walked by. Her best friend, Shiva, watched on in amazement from the adjacent seat in the cubicle. “What exactly happened just now, Deepika?” he asked. “I'm hiding from Achyut”, she replied, excitement showing in her voice. “And why are you hiding from him?” he asked. She blushed as she replied, “I like him – and I think he likes me too!” “Really?” pondered Shiva. He knew Achyut for a longer period of time than Deepika had. Achyut didn't seem like the kind of guy who would fall for Deepika. She was rather naïve at times, too. Maybe she wished to believe that Achyut liked her. “You don't believe me?” she asked, seeing the look on his face, still stooping down beneath the level of her desk. “Watch Achyut as he comes back – he will look for me.” Sighing, Shiva waited for him to return from the coffee room.

Meanwhile...

In the lounge, Achyut refilled his mug with coffee. When he wasn't thinking about his work, he thought of Deepika once in a while. They had continued to message regularly over LAN. When he came to the office every morning, there was a message from her. When he left every evening, she was the last to wish him good night. They never spoke to each other – but still he knew what she was doing everyday. When he was in the mood, he'd let her in on his life. She seemed happy with even the barest of details. He'd wave her a hello the next time he saw her. Didn't she sit in Shiva's cubicle? He hadn't noticed particularly till now – he'd take a look when he walked back to his seat.

In the meantime...

Shiva signalled to Deepika 'He is coming.' She waited in anticipation, well hidden out of sight. Achyut tilted his head slightly to acknowledge Shiva's smile. Deepika didn't seem to be there, as he passed the cubicle. Well, there was always another time to chat with her. He reached his workstation, seated himself and was soon lost in his work.

After Achyut walked by and her pulse returned to normal...

“Well?” Deepika asked, “He was looking for me, right?” Shiva mulled over his answer. Achyut did look as if he was looking for Deepika – but it didn't seem to him as if Achyut was interested in her. “Hmmm”, he said, “he might have been looking for you.” The smile on her face faded for a second. Then she said brightly, “He MIGHT have been looking for me,right? That is better than not at all looking for me.” “Poor girl!” thought Shiva to himself – but wisely restricted himself to warning her with “Don't count on it. I know him – and he is not that type.” “What type?” Deepika teased him. He was a bit flustered – logical analysis was more up his alley than romantic adventures. “You know, your type”, he managed to mutter before turning back to his computer screen. She also turned to her PC, grinning.

After a month...

“Hey, you should listen to this song!” Achyut pinged. The attachment was a romantic melody from the past. Deepika listened to the words carefully. It was in his mother tongue and she belonged to a different state. Some of the words sounded unfamiliar – she should ask him the meaning, she thought. Now that they had exhausted mundane details to talk about, they stuck to discussing music. To her, it sounded as if he was sounding out his feelings through the song. By now, Deepika was starting to tire of the cat and mouse game she felt they were playing. She could never get her courage up to ask him out to a cup of coffee. And he never mentioned ever wanting to be with her. Maybe Shiva was right. She was imagining things. She ought to get back to her tasks, finish that report her manager wanted instead of wasting time hoping Achyut was in love with her. If he was not interested in her, why send her the song at all. Maybe, their relationship was really going somewhere. She sighed a tiny sigh and typed in a reply to his message asking for the meaning of the lyrics of the song as her manager frowned over her shoulder, unknown to her.

During the time Deepika took to figure out her feelings,

Achyut waited for her reply. Today was the day he wanted to take things a little further with Deepika. He had sent her his favourite song. He wished to know what she thought of it. She was definitely head over heels in love with him. Every time he passed by her cubicle or met her in the lift, it was obvious in her eyes. They were in the same training for 2 months and she spent all her time trying to get closer to him than the subject they were learning. At lunch, she always faced him, no matter how many tables or people separated the two. She was always the liveliest person in the room when Achyut was around. And in one of her messages there was a hint that she found him handsome and wanted to take him somewhere for a cup of coffee. Though the date never materialized, there is nothing more intoxicating to a guy than watching a girl fall in love with him. A tiny beep brought his attention back to reality – she was asking for the meaning of the lyrics – and that was all there was in the message. He frowned slightly – he never did like silly questions. Maybe he was mistaken when he thought she was in love with him. He sent the reply though.

After months of suspense on Achyut's part ...

“I think he likes me,” she said miserably to her friend, Sharvari, as they lunched at the canteen, “but I don't know for sure yet”. Deepika had chosen a seat two tables away from him. Sharvari, like Shiva was in on her secret, obliged, as Deepika knew all the details of her boyfriend, Ram. “Deeps, take my advice. Forget about him. It's just a crush, you know”, Sharvari cautioned. “I just can't”, said Deepika. “Everytime I try to forget him, I don't message him at all. But in a couple of days, he writes to me something trivial and I can't stop myself from replying.” It was true. Weeks had turned into months – and there was no progress whatsoever to be seen in their relationship. It was always the same. She would be the first to message him every day. He would reply if it suited him. She felt she was always looking out to meet him while he obviously didn't share the same enthusiasm to see her. The one time she managed to walk with him to a coffee room on the ground floor on the day the vending machine in their lounge conked out, he walked so fast, she had to run to catch up with him. On the other hand, if she didn't meet him or talk to him, there would be a tantalizing message from him which she found irresistible. Another day, he did meet her in the coffee room and floor her with his best smile. Fed up with his behavior and alarmed at her own, she now took to talking things over with Shiva and Sharvari, hoping they would knock some sense into her. But still there were times when she couldn't overcome the need to be close to him like today – so she chose a table from where she could admire him silently while Sharvari tried to reason with her.

But all along,

Achyut was a happy man. His work was getting better and better, his bosses appreciated him – and all those days when he needed to talk to someone, Deepika was always around. Even if all his other friends weren't online, Deepika was there to laugh with him, crack crazy jokes and make him feel special. But he hoped she knew he wasn't that into her. She was silly at times, the way she tried to grab his attention. Was it not obvious to her? But as long as it lasted, it was okay with him.

A year later,

Shiva tried his best to make Deepika see light. Now they sat in different cubicles as they had changed teams. He was concerned for her. All she seemed to talk about was Achyut – and this was after she had informed Shiva that she wanted nothing to do with Achyut anymore. In fact, it seemed like this obsession of hers was getting her into trouble at work. Her manager had started to watch her more often as tiny LAN message windows kept flashing on her screen very often. Achyut had gone onsite in between for a month. Messages came flooding in to her from Achyut. She had started to think that Achyut really cared for her on receiving them till Shiva pointed out to her that after she left work, Achyut continued to ping his and everyone else's LAN messenger with messages. Now that Achyut was back, she did do her best to keep away from him, but it did not seem to work well. “I want to talk to you for a while” a message from her flashed on Shiva's screen. “Come on over” was the welcome invite he sent to her.

As she walked over to Shiva's cubicle,

Achyut watched Deepika her sit on Shiva's desk, next to his chair, with a frown. He wished that he could really understand what was going on in her head at times. Talking to her, even if it was through LAN messages, had created a special bond between them. She knew things about him that no one ever bothered to find out before. Here he was, trying to summon up his courage to tell her what he really felt, when she had suddenly turned cold. There were gaps when she wouldn't write to him. Her replies sounded vague. And why was she spending more time with Shiva nowadays? He knew Shiva was more of the logical type – he wouldn't dream of getting romantically entangled with someone else. But here they were, talking and laughing as if they were a couple. “Could it be?” thought Achyut as he sat down, feeling jealous.

And what was really happening was ...

Deepika caught glimpses of an angry looking Achyut over the cubicle tops as Shiva tried to cheer her up. Though she laughed on the outside, she began to fume within - “Drat him! I cannot even laugh with my friend in peace without him watching me” she told herself as she slid off Shiva's desk and returned to her seat.

Ten days later ...

It was official. She was to get engaged to be married the next week. And she was sick to death. She hadn't told anyone yet – not even faithful Shiva or loyal Sharvari. She switched on her PC and steeled herself for what she was going to let Achyut know. She knew then, that all these days, she had been in love. And maybe, Achyut too was in love with her. Today, she would know if that was true. Once the computer was ready, she tried composing a suitable message several times over till she settled for the short “I'm getting engaged next week”. She selected Achyut from the recipients list and hit send. He was yet to come in today. She waited for his reply.

After a few minutes,

He walked into his cubicle, lost in his own thoughts. He turned on his monitor screen, dumped his backpack on the table and saw a message waiting for him from her. He opened it and read.

She waited and waited and ...

It seemed that the wait would never get over for her. She ignored all her work and sat there, waiting for Achyut to reply. Minutes ticked by and there was the little message window signalling his reply. She opened it with a trembling heart and all it said was “Good!”.

And then ...

Deepika's world crashed around her head and she sat there frozen in her seat, oblivious to her manager calling her name. She felt dizzy and knew she must look deathly pale from the shock. All those days and nights she spent in hoping that he loved her seemed fruitless. A few moments passed by and she became aware of where she was, that she should go talk to her manager who seemed to want to meet her urgently. Deepika rose unsteadily to her feet and as she did, she caught Achyut looking at her, with an undecipherable look on his place. Choking back a sob, she fled to the restroom, to compose herself.

That evening ...

She poured out her woes to sympathetic Sharvari as they sat in the canteen – this time with her back firmly towards Achyut. Sharvari, seeing that Deepika's acknowledgement of her upcoming engagement to Achyut was really a test to see if he cared for her and realizing that the test failed badly for her friend, listened on in compassionate silence. When Deepika stopped her emotional outpouring, Sharvari proceeded to gently point out how the boy chosen by Deepika's parents would be more suitable for her than Achyut. All the while, Sharvari had a funny feeling that someone was watching them – she turned around to see Achyut was sitting facing them, though looking in another direction, two tables away.

A few months later,

She walked into Achyut's cubicle. She had her wedding invitation in hand but he wasn't there. As she waited for him, she took a look around at his workplace, his nameplate and wondered how come she had never been here even once before. “Not that it matters now”, she thought regretfully. He walked in with a tiny smile on his face. “Waiting for me, Deepika?” he asked as he sat down in his chair and pulled it up to his desk. She took a look at those chocolate brown eyes, wavey hair and boyishly handsome face and thought to herself, “I'll never forget you.” Aloud, she said with a forced smile, “Yes! I wanted to invite you to my wedding. Please do make it.” She carefully spelled out his name on the envelope, handed it to him, accepted his congratulations and walked out of his life.

As she walked out of the cubicle and his life ...

He watched her go as he toyed with the wedding card. This was one wedding he would definitely not attend. Maybe he was wrong – he would not have anyway been able to get her as she had never been in love with him at all, he thought to himself, as he returned to his unfinished project report.

“For every girl in the world, there is a boy she will never forget. For every boy in the world, there is a girl he couldn't get.” - retweet FunorFact, Twitter