The Final Encounter!

11 Apr 2011 5 Comments

by Sonali Joshi-Bhatt in Uncategorized

Writer’s Note: The context of this story can be best understood if you have already read this and this story.

It was Saturday and as promised, Sophia visited her friend. Last weekend, after seeing the handsome guy near the traffic signal and meeting the traffic cop, Sophia immediately called up her friend and told her about the second encounter with them. During the week, they had spoken Monday through Thursday and everyday Sophia enthusiastically repeated the entire episode to her friend. And every time, her friend Taanyaa, responded to her narrative as if she was hearing it for the first time. She never reminded Sophia that she was listening to same story probably 770th time.

Sophia and Taanyaa had an unwritten pact that they would never interrupt each other on three occasions – when gossiping, when complaining about neighbors or colleagues and when talking about something exciting– even if the same conversation was being repeated umpteen times. They both understood the pleasure of engaging in those activities and never deprived the other of that pleasure by interrupting them.

Taanyaa also had something very exciting to share but did not say anything about it to Sophia. She waited for her to come home. But when Sophia finally reached Taanyaa’s home, she quickly settled on the couch and enthusiastically repeated her tale.

“Who will I meet again, Taanyaa? And who do you think will be the love of my life – the cop or the handsome guy?” Sophia said

Taanyaa just smiled and asked her to relax and be patient.

“And why don’t you come out of ‘The Alchemist’ story? It will make your life easier,” Taanyaa said.

After a few minutes of their discussion they headed to a night club as per their earlier plan. It was in the car that Taanyaa told her about the phone call she had received two days ago from an old flame. Sophia was excited to hear this and asked her more about the guy. Taanyaa filled in the details and then told her that he was coming to the club to meet her. Sophia was startled to hear this. “May be I shouldn’t be going to the club with you. You might want to have some privacy” Sophia immediately uttered. She then chuckled and winked at Taanyaa.

Taanyaa was blushing but she insisted Sophia to come along. She was going to meet him after a couple of years and was a little nervous. She however told Sophia that after spending a few minutes with them she could make some excuse and leave. She also told Sophia to give her a call during the meeting just to ensure everything was going fine. If it turns out that Taanyaa did not like Raul’s company, she would also make an excuse and leave immediately.

They finally reached the club and headed to a corner table. The club was crowded with youngsters who seemed to have spent their entire week working hard and now partying harder. Sophia got up to go to the restroom when she bumped into the same handsome guy just behind her chair. She almost lost her control and was about to fall in his grips. But before it could happen, she quickly balanced her steps and now was regretting it.

Sophia couldn’t believe she was standing so close to him but what startled her more was to see him behind her chair. Before she could understand anything, Taanyaaa called out – “Hi! Good to see you.”

He turned his gaze towards Taanyaa, smiled at her and immediately turned back to Sophia.

Sophia couldn’t believe her fate. She was heart-broken when she saw that the guy was Taanyaa’s old flame who had come there to meet her. Sophia quickly excused herself from there and headed to the restroom. Tears filled her eyes and she cursed that evening when she got stuck in the traffic. Had it not been for the traffic jam, she would have never seen Raul.

While she was still trying to control her emotions, she thought about Raul’s character. “How could he flirt with me when he already has a girlfriend?” Sophia uttered to herself. “Looks like he is a casanova! Thank God! I am not dating him.” That thought brought a smile on her face but soon she got worried about Taanyaa. “What if she comes to know that he is the same guy I have been talking about all these days? It’s possible that they are made for each other. If I tell Taanyaa about this, she might not trust him anymore. Moreover, how can I be so sure that he was flirting with me? Perhaps he was just enjoying the race and wouldn’t mind racing his car with someone else too.”

After careful consideration Sophia decided that she would never tell Taanyaa about this coincidence. While she was still standing there in front of the mirror and talking to her reflection, a young woman entered the restroom. They both smiled at each other and Sophia was embarrassed because of her moist eyes. Sophia again wiped her eyes and realized that she has been in the restroom for the last twenty minutes and that she should go back to Taanyaa.

But she definitely did not want to go back there because of Raul……..

To be Contd….