I glance at the clock anxiously.
Twenty minutes.
My leg bounces up and down ridiculously, as though I have restless leg syndrome.
I do.
But that’s not the point.
Eighteen minutes.
Why the heck are people never punctual!?
Maybe because you came an hour early? It’s slightly an overexpectation if you want the other person to jump into your head and come an hour quickly as well.
I glare at the menu in front of me.
Thirteen minutes.
Uggh. Why is time not moving?
As I sip on the water, my mind goes back to the conversation I had two weeks back.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Can… can we meet?”
“What?”, I hear his surprised tone, “I’m not in Mumbai.”
“I know Nikhil. But how about we meet after you shift?”
“What’s the matter?”
“Umm…”, The palpitations I was experiencing were more severe than the ones I usually had during my University exams, “My parents want me to think about the wedding. And my mom is pestering me to meet you and then come to a decision.”
“I see. But it’s going to take at least ten days for me to shift. And I don’t think it’s a good idea. Because the longer we prolong this… thing, our parents will be more hopeful.”
“Yeah. I know. What do we do then?”
“You could tell your parents that we are on constant touch on phone, and that you don’t like me?”
My eyes water, as I sigh helplessly, “My mother… knows about you Nikhil.”
A very long pause.
“What?”
“I mean, she knows you were my senior.”
“And?”
“That’s it. She just knows that I knew you prior.”
“Like an acquaintance”, Nikhil snaps, making me flinch.
“Okay. Let’s meet when I shift. And we can close this issue once and for all”, he snaps, cutting the call.
Had I said anything wrong?
My heart jumps when I see the familiar face among stranger ones.
“Hi”, I give a tight lipped smile.
He merely stares at me, taking a seat.
No words were exchanged between us for the next few minutes as we ordered the food.
I sigh in relief when his mobile rings. The silence was getting to me.
“Yeah man. Come to the Green Park hotel”, he looks up, “I’m seated on the right side of the entrance, second last couch.”
“I had invited Dhruv”, Nikhil says after the call.
“What?”
“He’ll be her in ten.”
“What on Earth is wrong with you?”
“What the hell is wrong with you? It literally is the best solution.”
“How is bringing Dhruv between all this the best solution?”, I hiss.
He bows his head down, running a hand through his hair as he avoids my gaze, “Dhruv was never the one in between.”
I catch the double meaning, my heart aching.
“Nikhil, I-”
“Save it Sandy. You wanted to meet me just because my parents sent you the proposal, and that too to refuse it. There is no way we can get out of this. My parents like you, a lot. And Ananya is feeding them stuff about how you would be a great wife/daughter in law/sister in law. I’m unable to put across any argument. And”, He sighs, “I’m unable to look them in the eye and reject you. The situation in your home is deteriorating too. And it’s only a matter of time that the truth comes out. And knowing Aunty, she can easily emotionally blackmail Anshu, and the entire truth will be out.”
I stare at Nikhil’s face, dread filling me quickly.
“So you can just sort out your differences with Dhruv. And I can be out of the picture, like always”, he says, his voice getting smaller in the end, almost inaudible.
“Nikhil. I… I don’t want to get back with Dhruv. What you are suggesting is ridiculous.”
“Are you sure?”
I turn my face away. Even though hate filled every pore of my body towards Dhruv, there was something about him I couldn’t let go. However mean he was to me.
“I got my answer”, Nikhil says in a clipped tone.
I take a deep breath, trying to think rationally, shutting out my heart.
“I’m not going to get back with Dhruv, if you are actually trying to set us up”, I say. Even though it pained me to say the words, I knew it was the most sensible thing to do.
Dhruv and I are toxic.
“Dhruv is my past”, I say softly, “I know I loved him, a lot. And I’m not going to lie that I forgot about him completely. But I also know that Dhruv and I are toxic. And I’m not willing to put myself to such emotional trauma.”
Nikhil only stared at me in disbelief, “Sandy. I’m not going to beat around the bush. You know how I felt about you. And I’m not going to lie either, that I’m completely over you. And just like how you want to put yourself over others, I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong if I’m putting myself over you in this particular instance.”
“I didn’t know what to feel when I saw you last month in your home. But I know one thing. I’m not going to put myself through the pain of falling in love with you again when I have no chance”, Nikhil finishes.
My eyes water. I blink rapidly to not allow the tears to fall, “I don’t want to be with Dhruv, in just the same way you don’t want to be with me.”
Nikhil smiles sadly, resigned, “I really wish I could believe you Sandy.”
“I-“, I’m interrupted by another voice.
“Sandy? What are you doing here?”
I shake my head, done for the day.
“Can’t you see? I’m having dinner”, I snap.
He rolls his eyes, taking a seat next to Nikhil.
“Did you plan it? Some guts you have. Bringing two lover boys of yours at the same time.”
“Nikhil had called you. Not me.”
“You would have charmed him”, he laughs, “Just like you did. Years ago.”
“Sandy doesn’t know that I called you Dhruv”, Nikhil says.
“Whatever”, he grabs a fork and knife, slicing the chicken and taking a bite.
“So what’s the reason for this happy reunion?”, Dhruv asks.
I stare at him, unable to find one familiar feature. Had he changed so much that I can’t even find the man within that I was once hopelessly in love with.
“Stop staring”, Dhruv smirks, “Especially when you have your Mister to be in front of you.”
What did I even see in him?
The part me that was unable to let him go was slowly starting to fade away.
“I called you here so we can clear our misunderstanding”, Nikhil says.
“Not interested. And you are two years late”, he glares at the two of us, “And why should you clear the misunderstanding? Shouldn’t it to be cleared by my supposedly ex-girlfriend”, he air quoted the words girlfriend.
“Don’t blame me Dhruv. You know I tried to talk to you.”
“Not hard enough”, he slams the table, making a few of the neighbourhood tables glance our way.
“Shit man. Water”, he pretends to wipe the non existent water from his shirt, so the onlookers can mind their business.
“Anyway. I’m not interested. You are out of my life.”
I shrink back in my seat as his glare intensifies, “I have a girlfriend. And I’m in a happy relationship. And unlike you, she’s loyal. An attribute I respect a lot.”
“I did not-”
Dhruv pretends to yawn, “Like I said already, I’m not interested”, his eyes narrow, “But I hate you. With everything in me for-“, he stops, glancing at Nikhil as his eyes flash with pain.
For turning my best friend into a mere acquaintance.
“It was a good heart to heart talk. Is there any particular reason you invited me, Nikhil?”
“Yeah. Actually, there is one”, Nikhil says, his eyes hard, his tone impassive.
“Oh. That one is it? The supposed wedding proposal”, Dhruv turns to me, smirking, “Good to know you took my advice. Actually, you didn’t need to. No one who knows you in their right mind would agree to marr-”
“Sandy and I are getting married. In the next one to two months. I invited you to treat you for the same.”
“Nice one”, Dhruv rolls his eyes.
I am stunned, frozen in place as I stared wide eyes at Nikhil.
What did he just say?
“You can ask Sandy if you don’t believe me”, Nikhil shrugs, not looking at me.
Dhruv merely rolls his eyes again, “Who in their right mind would agree to marry this?”
Right then, I knew Nikhil said what he said just so I would not get humiliated more than I already was.
“You are talking about my would-be wife”, Nikhil says, his voice hard.
Dhruv looks between the both of us, and shrugs, “Well. It’s your funeral. Don’t come running to me when she decides to cheat on you.”
And with that, he walks away, leaving me and Nikhil to deal with our own mess.