One Last Try
On Monday, I decided to
contact Vikram.
“Try once,” Miki had said.
“Don’t expect anything to come out of it, but give it a go, so that you don’t
regret not trying.”
So after lunch, when the
rest of my team was still in the cafeteria or off for an after-lunch smoke or
walk, I pinged Vikram.
“Hi!”
“Hi,” came the reply.
“How are you?”
“I’m very well. How are
you?”
“Great, thanks. So how was
the weekend?”
“It was nice. A friend had
come over, so I was showing him around town. What about you?”
“Nothing special. Got some
much needed rest.”
“Good.”
I waited for a few
moments, my fingers poised over the keyboard, willing more words to appear in
the small window.
Nothing.
“Is that it?” cried
Mandakini. “He’s not going to mention our last meeting? Suggest meeting up
again? Why is he behaving like a stranger?”
“Well, I tried,” said Miki.
“I initiated the conversation. If he had anything to say, he would have said
it.”
“I can’t believe he’s
ignoring me like that!”
“Well, I didn’t expect
anything better. But… at least I tried.”
“Oh, what am I going to
do?”
“Don’t think about it.
It’ll go away. Don’t think about it.”
So I pushed it out of my
mind and concentrated on work. I found excuses to stay at work longer, having
dinner in office, so when I went home I just pulled off my clothes and slept. As
soon as I got up in the morning, I put the radio on, loud. I didn’t want to be
able to think. I didn’t want to hear Miki and Mandakini going at it in my head.
About a week after that
short chat conversation with Vikram, I went into the cafeteria for an evening
snack. I was hungry, and dinner was still a couple of hours away. I bought a puff
and went over to the coffee machine to pour myself a cup, when I saw them.
Vikram was sitting at the
table in the corner by the window, with his back to the room. Next to him was a
pretty young girl from his department. She was looking at him and smiling. He
was sitting close enough to touch her. As I watched, he placed his hand on her
arm, just below her shoulder. His fingers rubbed her skin while she smiled
warmly at him.
I heard someone behind me
and jumped. The guy standing there smiled apologetically, waving his mug. I
grabbed my cup and moved out of the way so that he could get his coffee.
“Don’t think, don’t think,
don’t think,” chanted Miki.
I took my coffee and puff
back to my desk and ate, reading some blogs at the same time. Once I was done I
went back to work, checking on each of my teammates and chatting to them on how
things were going. Each time my mind conjured up that picture of Vikram with
the girl, Miki chanted, “Don’t think, don’t think.”
But finally, once I talked
to all my team mates and cleared out my work for the day, when the area around
me emptied as people went home or walked to the cafeteria for dinner, I
couldn’t not think about it anymore.
I couldn’t stop that
picture from forming in my mind then, of how Vikram had sat so close to her, as
he’d never done with me in public, and how he’d touched her arm…
I wanted to puke. I went
to the bathroom, locked myself in a stall and cried. I could hear voices
outside, and doors opening and closing. I waited until the sounds died down,
and came out and washed my face. It was time to go home.
Late that night, I lay in
bed with my eyes wide open.
“Why is he behaving like
that?” cried Mandakini again. “I thought we were friends. I thought we
were close… Did it mean nothing to him, the time we spent together?”
“Maybe I’m reading too
much into it,” said Miki. “Nothing much happened, after all. We went on, what,
two dates? We talked for a few hours, shared a few intimate moments. That
doesn’t make us best friends. That doesn’t make us soulmates, or even lovers.”
“But why does he not want
to talk to me?”
“Maybe he realised this
wasn’t right for him – that I wasn’t right for him. In fact, I suspect he’s
right.”
“But why didn’t he talk to
me about it? Why did he just pretend nothing had ever happened?”
“I suppose he didn’t have
the courage to deal with it. Well, at least he moved away before things had
gone forward, before I had become more involved.”
“It hurts.”
“That’s just my ego. It
hurts to have a guy so quickly move on from me to someone else, again. But I
never really wanted Vikam, did I? He was for me too, just a diversion, an
attempt to cure my loneliness.”
“So I used him as much as
he used me?”
“I suppose you could say
that,” Miki smiled. “But it was a mistake, anyway. I wish I had found a nicer
guy, someone I could at least have remained friends with.”
What could I learn from
this mistake?
I remembered Smriti’s
rule: never date anyone from work. That
might be a good start. Then you wouldn’t have to face the person every day
after you had broken up.
But work was the biggest
part of my life. It was where I spent most of my time. I didn’t party much, so
I was unlikely to meet men that way. If I ruled the office out, where was I
ever to meet the right guy?
The rule needed amending. Be very careful before you date someone from
work.
But what about someone outside
of work? Shouldn’t I be careful there too? Even more careful, because I would have
less chance to observe him in neutral ground and learn what he was really like.
Be careful before you date anyone. This was better, though rather vague.
I should have waited to
become better friends with Vikram. That might have told me earlier what he was
really like, and I wouldn’t have put myself into this awkward situation.
But how do you decide
whether you know someone well enough? And wasn’t dating a good way of finding
out more? How would I have known how Vikram would treat me if I hadn’t dated
him?
Screw rules. I would take
it as it comes.
Maybe one rule: enjoy the journey.
10 comments:
How come Miki suddenly turns to first person in the middle of the dialogue? Waiting for more.
I really liked today's episode, especially loved that short, stillborn chat conversation with Vikram.. waiting for next part :)
yay yay yay! Miki is not doing to date Vikram anymore...maybe its not obvious in the post..but who cares...yay yay yay!!
Obelix: You mean the last dialogue? This is something I struggled with in all the conversations - and I'm never wholly satisfied. I make them both talk in first person here, and many times when they're discussing Raghav, because both of them are involved. Both are affected by Vikram's behavior, though one might be affected less than the other. I don't suppose I'm explaining it well. I mean to cover this in a blog post. You can also let me know any other questions you have about this series.
Engineer: Thanks.
R's Mom: Well. You don't seem to like Vikram too much. ;-)
- Yipeeee! Vikram 'Out'
- Scene all set for that 'not from work' guy to arrive...
- at the Divya's wedding of course :D
Finally I've come around to commenting here :) Was directed to "Voices in my Head" some time ago by my brother (the seemingly picky Obelix who unfailingly puts in an appearance on all your posts!)
I have to admit, I'm hooked. Not so much as to be waiting for this every Sunday, but once a week, when boredom takes over at work :) It's an interesting story, and I'd love to see how it all pans out. Good work!
Gayatri: Hmm, weddings. I was to have been at one right now. It's so great to see two people you like come together.
Firstscript: I'm glad you came. And Obelix is a very nice commenter, and makes me think through what I've written once again.
I agree :) He makes me do that about almost EVERYthing!! So I know exactly what you mean ;)
You're doing a good job.. thanks for having put this up!
Well, well, this is a pleasant surprise :)
@firstscript: seemingly picky ?
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