Fiction: A bunch of white roses

He was a hopeless romantic. Perhaps, that’s the reason why she fell in love with him, at all. If you knew them both, you’d know. 

 

She met him on a hill. Her ‘fast’ friend had taken her there with two other boys. She had lied at home, saying she was going for her (fast) friend’s birthday, to Pizza Inn. This was her first time out, away from the city, with boys. She was scared to bits. They were in a Maruti 800, and every ten minutes, she would  nervously ask- how long before we turn back to the city. The short guy driving was the fast friend’s boyfriend. He was cute. The guy sitting next to him was quiet, and staring out of the window, like she was. They reached the little hill- it was near Taramati Baradari. The fast girl and her short boyfriend disappeared. The other guy spoke for the first time. He said very awkwardly- ‘ I know you. I see you outside your college when I go to drop my sister.’ Something about the way he spoke and looked made him look decent. She said - ‘That doesn’t one bit mean you know me’!

‘Oh sorry’, he said. But he didn’t stop there. He continued- ‘ I have three sisters— My sister is a Mtech (pronounced- yem tech) my father (read Fawther) is a government (gowrmet) servant in a very senior position, my mother amma works for the government (gowrmet) too. I  am in my final year engineering. Civil. I will go to the states next year for my MS. Get a job there, and settle down. I am crazy about America. And I know that i love you very much. Will you date me?’

All this was said in one breath, with a very thick accent, full of grammatical errors. But with a deep sense of honesty.

She stood there motionless. She didn’t say a word on their way back. Next day the door bell rang and there was a bunch of red roses  waiting. The day after, a big bar of dark chocolate. The day after that a CD full of love songs, the a teddy. Finally, the phone rang and he asked her decision, after a week. She said yes.

 

Truth be told, she loved the serenading. She loved being pursued. It was  the first time in her life a guy took this much interest. while she wondered how she’d ever take a guy, who dropped his prepositions and didn’t have a clue about Rabindranath Tagore.

 

They dated for a few months and slowly little things started irking her. The fact that he had never gone beyond Chacha chowdhry and Tinkle, made her sick in her head. But knowing,  how hopelessly in love he was with her, in a ew days he came back with 2 Sidney Sheldon novels and a Readers Digest, which was carelessly lying in his car’s back seat. When he picked her from college she asked - ‘Oh my Gawd, who reads Sidney Sheldon ?? Your 15 year old cousin? Are these her books?’  She knew it was his way of telling her that he was trying.

 

But she was slowly giving up on this. She was done with all the flowers and chocolates. She wanted someone more intellectually compatible now. She knew she couldn’t live on fresh air and love in the future. She started showing signs of irritation and disinterest.

 

One fine day she saw some papers in his car when he was away to pay the petrol bill. They were his  final year marks sheet. It was red all over. He had not managed to get through a single goddamn subject. He had lied. And this was the chance she was waiting for.

 

That was the last time they met. He had cried and begged,  she had said- I love you, but this intellectual incompatibility is way too much. He just couldn’t get it. He cried and cried like a girl would- ‘i’ll get fake degrees ya, I’ve already gone ahead with the process. My work permit will come through in a few months. Once we are there, it will be different. I’ll  get you roses every single day, re. Dutch roses- white one and not red, the way you like them. And I promise while watching football with your dad I will speak correct English. just don’t leave me.
Please.

 

She left him, alright.

 

Years passed, she moved on. On her way back from work, she walked past Pearson’s flowers. She stopped. She walked back and entered the shop.  She was not sure what to pick – Dahlias or the Lillies. The florist tried helping: ma’am those white rose buds- they just got in  ten minutes back. They’ll last you 15 days, no less, I guarantee. she looked at them, hard. And a story unfolded in front of her eyes. After a good 10 minutes, the florist, asked- so you want lillies?

 

Nope, gimme 20 of those white rose buds.