Nothing But Love by Swapnil Patil (summer reading list .TXT) 📕

“Yeah. Fine” he said, eyes transfixed at Shriya. Important work, he thought. It was nothing less than a shock for him as it was always Shriya who would insist for a coffee or a pizza. She would never say No to coffee. Well, never, until now, he thought to himself.

***

“Hey dodo” he snapped through the telephone mic, “Why didn’t you come for shopping?”

“Look Arjun, I have no interest in helping her get ready for her date, okay?” Akanksha retorted. “You are in love with her, I’m not. Remember?”

“Uh . . . Shriya’s” he stammered, “going on a date? With Jai?”

“She didn’t tell you that?” she asked, surprised. He remained silent. “Arjun??” she yelled.

“Maybe” he reasoned, “she totally forgot about it. It’s okay. So, what you doing?”

“Hey,” she bellowed, “I’ve known you from Kindergarten, okay? So I know when you’re really okay, and when you’re pretending; so the next time you try pretending, good luck with that!”

“Hey! Calm down Anna” he said in a somewhat anxious manner, “Since when did you started getting furious? What happened to ‘cool Anna’?”

“This is something anyone would get furious at, Arjun” she cried, “She can’t just take you along for shopping and then hide the reason from you! How mean is that? Disgusting!” she said as she slammed the phone, and he just listened taking it all in.

***

He knocked the sandalwood door and waited outside, holding the bouquet of roses in one hand. The night was chilly and made him shiver regardless of his woolly hoody that enveloped his Golf shirt, and his Jeans made little effort to make him feel warm. He looked at the grass that showered in the exquisite moonlight making the drops of dew shimmer like pearls. He coped with the frosty wind as it hit his face and all the remaining warmth in his body came apart. His chain of thoughts was abruptly broken, as the door against which he was leaning, opened all of a sudden.

“Welcome Arjun” Shriya’s mother greeted him, smiling pleasantly at him. Shriya stood behind her, waving her hand at him. His face flushed out of embarrassment, which he quickly transformed into a smile. He entered the house, and handed over the bouquet to Shriya’s mother.

“Thanks for having me over for dinner, Aunty,” he said, still a slightly red-faced thanks to the incident at the door. It was Saturday night and Shriya had called him up to convey her mother’s invitation for dinner, which he obviously couldn’t and hadn’t rejected. Shriya’s mother prepared absolutely lip smacking cuisine─ her Paneer dishes were scrumptious, her varieties of rice were luscious, and her desserts were delectable.

“So” he said, looking up at the milky, pale moon that brightened up the sky, “we have hardly talked in weeks. What’s up these days?” They sat on the porch outside the house after dinner, catching some fresh air.

“Well, nothing much” she said looking at him, and then turning her face away, “except for the fact that Jai asked me out, and we kind of… had a date” she confessed.

“Yeah, I know” he said, not looking at her, “but I would’ve been happier if you’d told me that before, you know. You didn’t have to hide it from me.”

“Arjun…” she trailed off. After what seemed like an eternity, she spoke, “I told about it to Anna, and she was kind of─ pissed. I didn’t want to hurt you too, Arjun.”

“You already did that Shriyu” he said, gulping a lump down his throat, now looking at her. “Do you like him?”

“I don’t” she said looking down at the grass beneath her feet, “know. I don’t know,” she completed, finally.

‘But I do,’ he said to himself, as he turned his attention towards the night skies again. ‘I do.’

***

“So what you’re telling me,” Arjun said over the phone, clearing his voice, “is that, Bundesliga is more competitive than the Premier league, huh?” They had been discussing the troughs and crests of English and German football for over half an hour now.

“But Bayern Munich is such a better team!” Shriya cried on the other side.

“Tell me one thing Shriyu” he said, his voice stern, “Do you even love United anymore?” She stayed silent. “Uh-Oh!” he said.

“No Arjun, I still love United, but…” she trailed off, expecting him to finish it for. He, on the other hand, stayed muted, listening patiently. “I’m sorry yaa Arjun. Just forget all this. I had called up to tell you that Jai invited me for a month-long picnic at his farmhouse these vacations. And you don’t need to worry at all coz Rhea and Tanvi will be there too. So, what should I do?”

“I don’t know” he said, taking minute long pauses between each word. “Listen to your heart.”

“I’ll listen to you Arjun,” she pleaded, “What should I do? Should I Go?”

“No” he whispered in the softest voice possible─ attempting successfully to remain inaudible.

“Arjun?” she checked after a minute-long silence, “Are you there? Should I go?”

“GO!” he bellowed, trying his best to sound as jovial as he could.

“Oh Arjun!” she cried out in an “aww-how-sweet-is-that” kind of way, “Thank you so much. Wow! I’m so excited. I need to go shopping and packing and what not. God! Hey, and don’t forget to inform Anna too, okay? I mean, I wanted to but I’m going out with Mom now, and she’ll go all-out if she comes to know that I gave her the stale news. And yeah, I’ll have to lie to Mom that I’m going with you. You’re my only friend she trusts, you know. Are you okay with it?” Silence. “Arjun? How would I come to know if you nod over the phone?”

“Yeah. That’s fine!” was all he could blurt out, and she hanged up. He called up Akanksha after a while. “Hey” he said, “So, Shriyu is in love I guess. Well, good for her, isn’t it?”

“Arjun─”

“No, it’s okay. I’m fine. I’m really happy for them” he assures her. “Have ever fallen for someone Anna?” he asks curiously.

“Uh” she says, hesitating in the beginning, “Yes!”

“WHAT?” he yells, loud enough for his neighbours to hear. “You are in love with someone, and you didn’t even tell me? Ridiculous! And I thought I was your best friend!”

“You are!” she cried. “It’s not what you think Arjun.”

“Yeah-Yeah” he exhaled. “So, tell me, what happened next?”

“Well, that’s a secret!” she said, blushing─ her face red.

“That’s so not fair!” he protested. “Nevertheless, I’m happy for you. I’m happy for everyone” he sighed.

“What’s wrong Arjun?” she asked, worried, “You sound troubled.”

He dillydallied initially, but narrated everything to her─ not just her vacation plans, but all the changes in her, her newfound liking for girly clothes, and even her increased liking for Bayern Munich. “She doesn’t like Manchester United anymore! Can you even believe it?” he grumbled.

“That sounds serious! She can let go of her Mom, but not ManUtd!” she let it out. “Why don’t you confess your love to her Arjun?”

“That’s of no use now, Anna” he said, heaving a sigh, “She likes Jai. It’s too late now”

“I know what you must be going through, Arjun” she tried to calm him down, “You need a hug. Come over for a cup of coffee. What say?”

“Nah” he said in a wobbly voice, “I’ll come over tomorrow evening though” he said as the line cut off.

***

He peered inside. The spacious drawing room was vacant and quiet. The only noise was that of the rain pouring outside. It was raining cats and dogs. He stepped out of his shoes and walked quietly to her room upstairs. As he walked through the open door to her bedroom, he caught sight of her, sitting on her armchair in the balcony, gathering the dainty raindrops on her palms, unaware of his presence. He stood there, observing her─ smiling, as she turned her face towards the skies, eyes closed as the fragile drops kissed her cushy cheeks. For a moment, he could notice nothing but her innocence, as she dribbled her legs on the floor, splashing a small amount of water around. Through a window far away, a lady stared at her too, as Akanksha, unaware of all these eyeballs gazing at her, continued her PDI─ Public Display of Innocence. Maybe she was aware, but she didn’t seem to care.

He entered the room on his toes. Making sure she was still unaware of his presence in her room, he made himself comfortable on her neat made bed. He looked around, and all of a sudden, he caught a glimpse of her study table and its mysterious drawer. Leaning across the bed, he slickly withdrew the already unlocked drawer from the shack. It was unfilled except for a note book─ a pink one, with miniature hearts drawn all over with different shades of glitter pens. He rolled the pages to find out that it was her picture diary. It was occupied with several photographs of both of them together, along with his choices and preferences─ from music to food, his likes and dislikes─ from Manchester United to Transformers, and her feelings about him─ everything penned down alongside. Halfway through the notebook, he found another photograph, which portrayed him hugging her. It was taken on a trek trip in their seventh grade. Apparently, she had spotted a snake and she had been so horrified that she went running to Arjun and she’d hugged him, and hadn’t let go of him even though all other kids were watching them. It had been quite a gossip in school, as every other kid had witnessed the hug─ the only one who’d missed it was the snake itself─ leading to rumours of their link-up and he hadn’t talked to her out of awkwardness for an entire week. A tear rolled down his cheek as he touched the “I wish it was forever” written next to the photograph, in her neat, print hand, enclosed in a little heart.

He wiped his eyes and walked into the balcony. The skies had run dry, and she was busy listening to what her Walkman was offering to her ears. She sat in her armchair wearing white cotton shorts and a Superman top, with hair wet and messy, but retained on one side of her neck. Standing behind her, he placed his palms on her hitherto closed eyes. Surprised, she sat upright, all at once, forced his hands aside─ which, in any case, offered no resistance─ and found him smiling at her.

“Hey” she said, startled, “I wasn’t expecting you!”

“I keep my promises!” he announced proudly. She chuckled. As they stepped inside, she found her notebook sitting on the top of her bed, with the page with the photograph from the trek, turned open. She couldn’t utter a word. She looked at him, completely clueless about what she was supposed to say at that very moment. “I’m sorry!” he said, doing the only thing she wanted him to do─ to speak. “I never knew about your feelings. I never asked. I just thought…” he trailed off, running out of words. “Why didn’t you tell me Anna?” he asked at last.

“These things are not to be said, Arjun” she mellowed, “They are to be felt.  And besides, my eyes always said that, you know. You just couldn’t see it. In fact, you couldn’t see anyone else. You always loved Shriya. Didn’t you?” she smiled. She always did.

“Must have hurt a lot. Right?” he asked her.

“You know better, don’t you?” she countered, as they smiled looking at each other. A distinctive silence took over, as they talked─ not with some charming words, but with their honest eyes─ honest enough to confirm, that even though they never shared love, they did share pain. Pain─ something that’s eternal and long-lasting, unlike love.

***

The funny thing about time is that even though it moves at its own pace, it makes you feel it’s sprinting, when you desperately want it to just halt, for ever. Shriya was leaving for her vacations, the next