Love Short Story – Faint Heart
Love Short Story – Faint Heart
Photo credit: imelenchon from morguefile.com
I had never felt as lonely as I felt on this hot summer afternoon of June; Roshan said he would be meeting me at the usual place, usual time. It had been one month since we even saw each other; I didn’t want our relation to end, certainly not like this. I asked to meet him, once. He didn’t turn up. I sat sipping my Lychee milkshake, wondering what next?
It was probably the tenth trial to reach him, repeatedly listening to the monotonous feminine high pitched voice saying temporarily switched off. I had a five hundred rupee fresh note sitting inside my wallet, which I removed reluctantly and placed it on the counter.
Counting my change, absent minded, I walked my way through the busy MG Road, envying a couple romantically clinging to each other, hand in hand, secretly sharing a joke, naughtily smiling at each other, till the girl turned away shyly.
I stopped at a cinema hall, staring at the colorful poster of a Bollywood picture. The people on the poster looked beautiful and happy, a lovely pair, made-for-each-other; they looked perfect, with the right body, the right looks, the right clothes, the right make-up, and an ideal life. Glam, fame, name and money shadowed their life. I stared at the poster for a while, and then headed towards the ticket counter. I always preferred the seats in the middle of the hall, but I wanted a change, so I asked for a corner seat, at the last row of the hall.
A dark theatre, a dull mood, a blank mind, the atmosphere made me comfortable immediately. I found my corner seat, and placed myself in a comfortable position. This movie was anyway an excuse to boredom and disappointment. The crowd increased, with chaos in finding their respective seats. As I watched an elderly couple, search for their seat, I wondered what kind of sacrifices and compromises they would have made to make it so far.
Disrupting my thoughts, I heard a voice next to me, “Ummm…pardon me, but I think you are sitting on the wrong seat”.
I looked up at the tall figure, unable to notice his face in the dark. I fished out the ticked from my backpack and flashed to him, “G-row, seat number one, I’m on the right seat.”
He glanced at his ticket, with the help of the light from his phone.
“Oh…sorry…mine says seat number two. I had requested for one though!”
I could catch a glimpse of his face with the little light emerging from my phone; however, I was least interested.
The movie was nothing but a big turn off, a monotonous Bollywood script, with an incongruent mix of action, romance, intolerable comic scenes, and a song chased after every fifteen minutes. I spent the first half of the movie staring at the huge screen, until I got to get out during the intermission. The best part about movies, is popcorn, whether, you are hungry or not, whether you are with group or alone, it is the best company you could have in a dark hall, which is also reasonable for your pocket. I squat back on to my seat, wondering what would have life been, if there were no televisions, no cinema halls, no film industry, where would the lost and down-in-the-dumps people like us hide? The interval was for ten whole minutes, which made me impatient, and thought it did be better if I stepped out; anyways the movie was pretty predictable, by then the lights turned off, and the movie resumed. I heard a hushed voice, which made me leap out of my thoughts.
“Hey…would you mind if you could just keep an eye on my bag, I will be back in a minute?” he asked, pointing towards what looked like a backpack.
“Err…well…okay” I smiled in the dark, which I was pretty sure could not be noticed.
The entire movie the hero was chased by the baddies, and the only critical role of the actress was to scream for help, while he fought them. I was nudged by the person beside me; he offered me a chill glass of cola, as I heard him say,
“Just returning the favor, please accept it.”
As in most households, and like many parents’, mine too had advised me on not consuming anything given by a stranger, but the salty popcorn had made thirsty. So, ignoring the piece of guidance, I took it from him and sipped on till the end of the movie. The lights went on and I could finally get to look at the guy next to me. I had to admit, that he was smart looking, he caught me looking at him and smiled, and I returned the same. I saw him walking towards me, a little hesitant; I wanted to rush to the exit, not in a pleasant mood for chit-chat. But it was too late, he caught me on my tracks, and introduced himself, after which he asked if I would be free for coffee. I backed away saying I had appointments and scurried away.
Apparently my relation with Roshan had end, the Lychee milkshake was the last wait. He never called back and after a silent two week gap, messaged saying it was over. I felt my eyes burn, looking at the message, and kept staring at it like it was least expected. I needed some air, probably another cinema hall, another show, would lighten up my mood. I waited in the queue to get a ticket, while the person before me dug into every compartment of his backpack to fetch the change required. I overheard him whisper into the counter
“Can you give me a seat just beside the girl who just booked the ticket? I kind of know her.”
I observed the lady behind the counter, whose expression changed from polite to suspicion. She eventually gave him the seat right next to the girl, after all the policy was to keep the customer happy. I pushed in my hundred rupee note through the counter, and while she located the seats available, I looked around for a snack bar, when I found the man who was in front of me, ogling at the girl whom he said he knew.
That face looked so familiar, as I strained my gaze and my memory harder, I recognized him as the same person, who got me a free cola and later asked me out for coffee; suddenly realizing that I was chosen by him to be seated next to and the whole act was made up. Looking at him, any other girl would have thought of him as a pervert, but I just felt a pang of pity looking at his desperateness.
Thus, I walked into the dark hall again, only difference being, I already felt relieved and this movie had better reviews, and a much better story line.
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