It Started With a Friend Request (4 page)

She came back to her senses and looked around to see if anyone was observing her. Everyone was busy with the day’s activities. She breathed a sigh of relief. She got a call from the receptionist’s desk telling her that her cab to the airport was ready. She had obtained permission for it a day before.
She buttoned her top, went to the washroom to splash water on her face hard enough to pull her back into the real world. It was getting difficult for her to conceal her feelings. She checked her cell phone for the message from her dad giving her Aleesha’s flight details.

She reached the airport and checked the flight status on the big display screen at the entrance gate.

Indigo
Kolkata to Mumbai
Arrived

She was waiting near the arrival gate and observing everyone carefully. She saw a girl looking around eagerly. Tamanna went up to her and kept her hand on her shoulder.

‘Tamanna Kapoor.’

‘Hey. I’ve been looking for you. What’s up?’ Aleesha asked smiling.

Tamanna ignored Aleesha’s greeting and directed her to the waiting car. Within a few minutes, they were on their way to her apartment in Churchgate. After reaching the apartment, Tamanna gave her all the necessary instructions and left for work.

Once she returned to office, she found the reports on her table. Deep had submitted it before time. She smiled again, maybe because of the thoughts she had few hours back or because she had escaped a humiliating situation.

A couple of days had passed since Aleesha had shifted to her apartment. She had somehow convinced Tamanna to take her for an outing. It was Saturday evening. Both of them
had a ball, spending good time together. Aleesha insisted they go for drinks at a nearby disc. Tamanna gave in to Aleesha’s wishes and decided to take her to ‘Thrive’ in Colaba.

Once in, Tamanna ordered a drink for Aleesha and herself. Time flew, and soon both of them were three shots down. Tamanna got a call from office and she went outside, as it was impossible to answer the call in such loud music.

After finishing the call, she came inside to see Aleesha smiling.

‘What happened? Why are you smiling by yourself?’ Tamanna enquired casually.

‘There was a cute guy who approached me while you were gone. He was not bad, but it’s too early to say anything,’ Aleesha winked at Tamanna and ordered another drink.

‘So where is he now?’ Tamanna asked out of curiosity.

‘I think he’s left. I can’t spot him either. Leave it. The night is still young. Let’s enjoy. Cheers!’ Aleesha said raising a toast.

Both of them looked at each other for a moment and gulped down their drinks in one go. They were so washed out by the time they reached home that neither of them bothered changing into their night clothes. They just slumped down on their beds and dozed off to sleep.

A Date on BlackBerry

A
fter a memorable Saturday night, Akash woke up late the next morning. The night before, he had lost his heart to a gorgeous looking girl. Aleesha. He was still half asleep when he felt like someone was hitting him with a hammer. He soon realized that the throbbing headache was a result of the hangover. He had a bad headache, which meant that either he had had an awesome night or that he was going to have the worst day ahead.

Still in bed, he stretched out his hands fumbling the side table for his mobile. He hardly remembered what happened last night. He wished he had slept for one more hour. The headache was getting unbearable. Everything around him seemed blurred. He finally got up from bed, still thinking about the previous evening. He unzipped his pants and was about to take a leak when he realized he was in front of his window and not the washroom.

‘Err!’ he said to himself, ‘Oh God, I hate mornings. It’s the lack of sleep that causes hangover, not drinks.’

He came back to his bed and saw his mobile lying dismantled on the floor. Its battery was in one corner and
the cover was under the bed. His body refused to allow him to bend down and pick them. He struggled hard to put his phone together in one piece. He switched on the cell phone and again lied down on the bed covering himself with his blanket when his phone rang.

‘Good morning,’ Akash said, still hungover.

‘You bloody swine… were you sleeping or dead? I called you at least ten times to check if everything was alright at home,’ I yelled at him.

‘Ya bhai, I am okay. I don’t remember much from last night, but the fact that I was about to pee through the window suggests that I had an awesome night,’ he managed to laugh.

‘Just check your messages. We almost landed up in jail because of you yesterday.’

Akash opened WhatsApp to check my message.

Fuck you asshole! I am sure you have gone off to sleep. Do you even remember what you did last night? I kicked you out of the disc after you flirted with that girl in the black dress. I think her name is Aleesha since you kept shouting her name while walking out of the disc. But you ran straight into the small light post and if I wouldn’t have dragged you away quickly, it would have almost landed on your head. You refused to let me drive, got into the car, and took off. From there we went straight down the wrong side of a one-way road. Needless to say, our luck ran out. A cop was waiting for us. When he asked us where we were coming from, you replied that you had killed
a girl and her dead body was in the boot space of the car. ‘Laash dikki me hai’ you had said. Then what, I lost 500 rupees for such behaviour courtesy ‘YOU’ and we reached home two hours late.

Akash called me again after reading the message and we just laughed on the phone without speaking a word. I just told him casually to check if he had called or messaged someone to avoid leading to an embarrassing situation. Perhaps, I have this habit of texting and irritating people after gulping down a couple of drinks. Drinking was indeed an emotional gateway for men. Akash disconnected the phone and rechecked all the messages. Suddenly, he jumped out of his bed in panic.
Impossible! How could I? I mean how? I mean when? Holy shit I am screwed,
Akash wanted to scream aloud.

He saw that he had sent a BBM message to Aleesha before dozing off. He began cursing himself for the blunder. It had hardly been a few minutes since they met and he had already messaged her saying that she was the princess of his life. It could make her think that either Akash was a big flirt or that the guy had lost his mind after gulping down a few pegs of alcohol. Akash stood speechless and numb, not knowing how to react, and all he could think of was ways to disappear like the Genie of Aladdin. He read the message that he had sent.

At the risk of sounding like a flirt, I want to tell you that I could not erase you from my mind. You came into my life when I was least expecting it. It was as if I had hit a jackpot.
When I saw you, I don’t know what clicked, but from that moment, I could not get you out of my head. I always knew that love would find me someday, but never did I know it would come like this. Your touch healed this broken heart and you caught me off guard and took me by surprise. I was initially reluctant to send u a BBM at this hour. Is it too late? Should I send you a request on Facebook? Your profile pic again urged me to send you a BBM. And no, I am not being desperate here. Everything seems so right, so perfect. Oh god. I will go crazy. Aleesha, please don’t take me the wrong way. Do reply. I am not so drunk.

Tere golden face ki beauty ne,

Mere komal heart pe attack kiya.

Sabko reject kiya aur tumko select kiya.

Request hai tumse ise refuse na karna,

Dosti ke is bulb ko kabhi fuse na karna!

On BBM, there is a way of knowing if the other person has read your message or not. Right next to the delivery tick mark appears ‘D’ for ‘delivered’ and ‘R’ for when the recipient ‘reads’ the message. She had not read the message yet. The R symbol didn’t show above the tick mark. He thought that she was still sleeping. At the same time, he wondered what she would think after reading the message. He badly wanted to somehow get Aleesha’s cell phone and delete the message he had sent or press the undo button on his phone. But all he could do was bite his nails in anticipation of what was going to happen if she were to read it. He kept his cell aside and wanted to run away from the situation.
However, after every five minutes, he checked his cell phone hoping that Aleesha had still not read that message. He would have eagerly expected her reply in any other normal situation, but at this moment, he was praying not to receive any message from Aleesha. When he checked the phone for the twentieth time, he saw the R symbol above the tick mark. Aleesha had finally read the message.

Oh, fuck! Oh, shit!
He was really nervous.

Aleesha is typing a message,
showed the BBM screen. His eyes popped out of his head and before she could send the message, Akash quickly typed a message and sent her.

I am extremely sorry for last night. Ignore the message. It wasn’t intentional. I was just kidding. Don’t take it seriously. I was not in my senses.

He tried to hide his panic. He tried his best to make things sound normal for he knew the intensity of the blunder he had committed.

As soon as he sent the message, Aleesha’s message popped on his screen.

Hey dude, are you insane? Were you out of your senses? From where did you copy paste it? Don’t tell me you were serious! As if it’s love at first sight. Two things I love in men—they never stop trying and they never miss an opportunity. Ha ha!

His confidence grew a little. Akash decided to take a chance with the conversation. His fears had taken a back seat.

Akash:
I just tried to make you laugh and I think I succeeded in doing so. I am too good
.

Aleesha:
Huh? Why do you think I am messaging you? Is it because I care? Or because I miss you? Or because you have become my secret crush? No. It’s because I need someone for time pass. I am getting a little bored here. :D Rofl. I am the best
.

Akash:
Err… That was rude.

Aleesha:
I’m just kidding. Chill!

Akash:
Hmm. I know. But trust me, you were looking lovely last night. You were so…

Aleesha:
Okay stop.

Akash:
Stop what?

Aleesha:
Thinking about me and stop flirting. We hardly know each other. We are not even friends. :P Chalo c’ya, I need to freshen up
.

Akash:
Let’s meet in the evening for a cup of coffee. You know, a lot can happen over coffee. Let’s give it a try. At least for the sake of our new friendship. What say? Think over it, am not that bad
.