Episode 7 (The Conversation)

Over Four years later

He felt the cold of the bench on his butt. It was not weird to feel the same given the chilling weather that had befallen upon the city. The city lights were dim enough to conceal the faces and reduce the human spectacles to a silhouette. He waited. It was going to be a long night. Meanwhile, his cell beeped. It was a message. He loved messages. They gave you the comfort to not react impulsively. They nurtured your laziness in contrast to the phone rings where you have to immediately do the honors. He smiled at his immaculate logic.
Defiance is a treacherous feeling, he thought. Relationships are overhyped. He pulled out the black Nokia 6030 from his back pocket and waited for some time.
1 message received.
“C u in 15 mins at d CCD at InfoCom. --K S”
He loved those initials. They belonged to Karuna.
He had time to kill. He took out the packet of ‘Milds’ from his pocket and lit it. Smoke is dangerous. The pack said “Smoking Kills” in bold letters. He laughed at the lameness of the same. Everything kills. The question is how early. Probably smoking kills earlier. That would have been more sensible.
“Bloody Democracy” he cursed for no reason.
She detested smoke. She hated smokers. He lit it anyway.
“I have fifteen minutes.” He consoled himself. He waited outside the CCD. He thought of entering some attire shop to kill time but he refrained and stuck to the cigarette.
He finished it with a silent exhale. He cursed all smokers for the twitch he felt in his throat.
Three more minutes. He was excited. He was seeing her after a long time.


“You have been smoking.” Were her first words.
‘Hmm…’he coughed.
“How have you been?”
“Sad. You?” he inquired
“Unhappy.”
“Isn’t it the same thing?”
“No”
“How? The dictionary says they are the same”
“I hate words.”
“Do you love me? Still..??”
“I don’t know. But I do want to slap you”
“Why?”
“You have been ignorant.”
“Of what?”
“Me”
He allowed the silence to settle in for some time as the genteel lady with the plastic smile was coming in for orders.
“What will you have sir?”
He scanned the menu for the cheapest coffee. He hated coffee. But the situation wasn’t so lively either.
“One cappuccino please”
She turned towards Karuna.
“And for the la..”
“She won’t have anything. Thank you.” He cut her short. The silence was eerie. The lady took to her exit. This wasn’t a romantic date she thought and cursed herself for the tipless transaction she was about to embark upon.
“Why did you order for me?”
“I did not order for you.”
“Yes. Exactly. Why did you not order something for me?”
“You have me. Isn’t it enough?”
“No. I want coffee.”
“Do you need coffee?”
“No. I just want it. ‘Needs’ and ‘wants’ are separate nouns.”
“Would you like it with or without cream?”
“I don’t like cream.”
“So will you need cream?”
She smiled. Probably for the first time this evening. They had begun to settle in. They had a lot to talk about apart from ‘needs’ and ‘wants’. But then ‘wants’ were their first of the umpteen agendas.
***
He sat looking at a couple happily chatting at the corner in the room. She caught his gaze.
“They look happy. What do you think?” She said.
“Yeah. There’s a pair who is enjoying every penny spent on the coffee.”
“It is not coffee. It’s a milkshake and they are sipping from one single glass. On a different note, you have been unkind.”
“You never understood metaphors then. Did you?”
“Do you think it’s going to be his lucky night tonight?”
“Well if it does, she will have a lot more to thank for!” He quickly retaliated. It was a matter of loyalty to one’s tribe.
“Ehh!! She is way out of his bounds. I don’t even know how he landed this hottie?” she continued her gaze to the lady in pink.
“I wonder if someone speaks the same about me?” he blushed.
She smiled. They suddenly realized what they were talking about. Turning towards her he changed the subject.
“So, what were we talking about?”
“Metaphors ! and how I suck at them!”
He smiled, probably at the onset of another metaphor. She smiled back.
“You don’t!!”
“Tell me the difference between ‘sarcasm’ and ‘satire’?”
“They are equally suited to your remarks. Apart from the way we spell them they are more or less the same. What do you think?”
“I don’t think about them. I think about you. Do you think about me?”
“Was it a sarcastic remark?”
“What makes you think so?”
“I don’t think a lot!”
“Why don’t you think about me?”
“Will you kiss me?”
“With these smoker’s lips? No way?”
“If I had not smoked had you kissed me if I had told you so?”
“I don’t know.”
“They are your lips. You should be aware of the judiciousness you need to exercise before placing them anywhere.”
“As if you exercised yours before placing them at the base of a fucking cigarette?”
“I did! And I realized that I was wrong. Now would you exercise yours?”
She gently got up and moved towards the washroom.
“Follow me!”
He did so. The place was empty except for a pair of couples freely chattering away their falling or budding worlds. Apart from that there isn’t much to talk about.
Near the sink she pulled him towards herself by his collar.
“Nice shirt Mister and a foul cigarette!!”
It lasted for only two seconds. When he left her grasp he saw tears in her eyes.
“I miss you. Make everything right. Like old times. For old times’ sake…”
She walked away without saying anymore and he stood there confused as to what to do? Enjoy the fresh kiss or grieve her disappearance. He paid the bill. The coffee was untouched. His lips had savored sweeter pleasures.
He lit another cigarette with some guilt in the darkness outside. He allowed some smoke to collect before his mind melted into the afternoon he had first made her cry.
It was August 2005 then. It had been over four years now. He recalled the events of that afternoon clearly. His hand had brushed hers unintentionally. It had been a delight. He thought again and puffed harder. The smoke made him cough in the darkness. It really was going to be a long night.

de Sade ‘s dilemma

‘Juliette ’ beside I peaceful lie,
Ah! ‘ Lie’ don’t I , and preferably so;
Resonant restrains don’t peace impart,
Then how ‘blissful’ can ‘peaceful’ be??

Ennui strapped thy back decrepit,
Loathing senses! How sense departs?
Thine eyes do tell a tale; Behold!
A touch you wish! How fool of me??
(or is it you?)

Blooming buds does spring bestow,
Some wither away some gleeful glow;
You look dismay’d unmock’d within,
I wander ‘twixt Juliette’s sorrow!!

Brazen blasphemy I profess you say,
Beauty I love; its joy I savor.
Flushed with shame my countenance is,
(To) Be born in place that love devors!!


Disclaimer: The author does not in any form proposes or preaches 'Sadism'. It is but a chain of ideas which is fictitious and is not to be misread as the author's.

P.S.: Words have various meanings.
P.S.: 'Juliette' referred is the book by Marquis de Sade.