I don't Wear Sunscreen (5 page)

“
Hmm! Okay, but Friday is my
birthday!” he frowned, stirring the empty glass with the
straw.

“
Oh! So?,” she
said.

“
I can’t stop you though,
but I.. Will miss you.. I wanted to tell you something.. On my
birthday..” He fumbled with the words.

“
Let’s see, I have not
finalized. Erm, it's time to go, shall we make a move?” she
asked.

"Chalo!" he picked the bike
keys.

Neither of them said a word in the
twelve minutes of traffic. He dropped her, waved bye and left
without even looking at her. She stood thinking for a while, but
she couldn’t decide. The night had been a confusing one for both of
them.

***

It was 11 in the morning. Sai woke up
late since he hadn’t had enough sleep. Groggily, he picked up his
cell phone while trying to think up a good excuse to go on leave.
He saw 3 missed calls from Laksha, and had a sudden feeling that
she might cancel her trip for him.

I’m not well, please inform
the boss,
he sent a text to one of his
colleagues.

He called Laksha anxiously,
but she didn’t answer as she was in a meeting.
In a meeting, call you later,
said the
text.
Goddamn! These girls drive one crazy
yaar! Right from the first girlfriend to this plump tomato, she
eats my brain, let me plan how to propose to her. I hope I don’t
have to do too many stunts to impress her, she has already fallen
for me
, he thought as he sipped his bed
coffee near the half open window.

My tickets are confirmed, I
just informed Saurav and am leaving tonight, am going to my room to
pack. Can you come to the station?
Said the
next text from Laksha.

The beep distracted him, and he
casually opened the text. He was astonished to see her text and
muttered, “whaattt the ff…,”

I have mistaken her
attitude, maybe she’ll just use and throw me
, he thought crushing the cup and threw it through the
half-opened window. It failed to hit the mark, and some drops of
coffee remained on the window sill, made him think.

Busy, visiting a client for
a payment issue, sorry!
He replied and
turned the airplane mode on so that she could not reach him again.
He wanted her to miss him.

These chicks! OMG! What
next?
He kept turning around in his head
for a great idea to stop her from leaving Mumbai.

***

Saurav had offered to drop Laksha to
the station as he was leaving to meet one of his clients. She was
glad that he was nice enough to help her with the luggage. He also
gave her a lovely wall decor to take to her parents on his
behalf.

Did you make it to the
station? Sorry, I was held up
. Sai sent the
text later to show that he cared. “
Why miss
a chick!”
he thought.

“
I did, Saurav dropped
me,
” she replied.

Well! Here comes the
competitor
, he thought. He kept thinking
about it all day, and was angry that Saurav had ruined his plan.
So, he wanted to thrash him away from the track for sure. This made
him think wild to create issues and part them away.

“
Saurav is kind of a
playboy, be careful, don’t go again with him. I referred you
because I know you are culturally personified and also that I could
take care of you! I thought Saurav wouldn’t intrude as you’re my
friend. He filled my gap, what an unexpected
twist,
” he sent her a long message to make
sure she got confused about her boss.

“
He just dropped me to the
station, I am not using any exchange coupons to leave you on a
shelf and pick him. Stop thinking like a stupid guy as you always
do. I can’t text or call often, I have signal issues, and also when
I reach home, I won’t be able to text as often. See you next week,
advance birthday wishes!
” she
replied.

Chapter Four

Nov, 2013

Every
train journey is different –a good breeze, observing the new people
around and so on. It enchants every passenger in its own way, be it
the solo traveler, a family, or a group traveling together.
Laksha settled with a bottle of water, still
thinking about the text from Sai. She was wondering whether he was
genuinely concerned or just jealous.
Possessiveness, mostly
, she thought.
Questions of where this was heading, what to do next, were jostling
in her mind.

A group
of friends was in her compartment. They were having great fun
teasing each other, and some of them smiled at Laksha. She smiled
back to show she was okay with their fun, and it did not disturb
her.
When she saw one of the girls fighting
over the phone with her boyfriend, it felt like a short trailer of
her future with Sai.

Come what may, let me not
get anxious about my future. For now
,
it’s just my family and
settling things with Pallavi. It’s been a really long time, I am
not even sure if she is coming to Chennai! If not, I should go
to
cbe
and meet her
, she
thought.

Laksha’s dad was
waiting
at Central
station
to pick her up
;
he was happy to
meet her after a year. A lot of
Desi
talks, how happy he was
with her and everything under the sun that he could share with his
daughter was discussed on the way home.

Happiness is seeing our
parents happy, wow! It feels
great
,
she
thought
as the taxi entered her
street. She looked out of the window like a Pomeranian, with
a
broad grin;
she was happy to look at the neighborhood and
notice changes
here and
there.
It’s nice to be
back
after a year.

“
See there, can you
recognize her,
it's
your
DidiLaksha
who used to play
with you when you were a kid,” a lady from the neighborhood
approached her with a
three-year-old child
.

“
Wow! Chintu! So grown, huh.
How are you sister? How is everything at home?” Laksha
asked.

“
All good Laksha, looks like
you have put on weight, is it all the delicious food in
Mumbai?”

“
Hahahaa.. Really? Maybe, I
eat a lot of chaat items and fast food, that’s why,” she laughed
and frowned at the same time.

“
Lakshh
!! Welcome
back,how
are you
darling?” Laksha’s mom rushed out and hugged her tight.

“
I’m a great mom, how are
you?” she smiled.

“
Come in! Let’s talk
properly!” her mom took her into the living room, gave her some
water and went to bring a cup of coffee.

Laksha was overwhelmed to see her
cousins all gathered to meet her; she had a great time with and,
later, dressed up to go and meet Pallavi. She had lingering
thoughts on how to set things right between them. As she entered
Pallavi’s house, she saw her mom coming out of the
kitchen.

“
Hi aunty, how are you?” she
asked.

“
Heyyyyy
.. I’mverygood, how are you? When
did you come home? Pallavi
never tells
me
anything;
we spoke yesterday over the phone.”

“
Well! Just a sudden
visit
aunty
, but she told me that she
was
coming home this week when I spoke to her a few months
back.
”

“
Yeah, she was, but her
placement schedule is on so she
canceled
her plan. It will take
months for her to come it
seems.
”

“
What placements aunty?” she
asked.

“
You sound as if it’s been
years sinceyou spoke to her,” Pallavi’s mom laughed while giving
her a plate of snacks.

“
No
aunty
, both of us have
been reallybusy, so we didn’t find much time to
talk
.
”

“
Acha! Even she
hasn’t
said
much
about
you in her recent calls,
you talk to her nah! I don’t understand her terms, aptitude
-latitude, something, just talk to
her.
”

“
Fine aunty. I am meeting
some friends today, so it’s time to go, see you later,”

“
Okay, dear, come for lunch
one day,” Pallavi’s mom smiled.

“
I will visit the garden and
leave
aunty,
bye,”
Laksha swiftly climbed the
stairs.
The speed is directly proportional
to how usedyouaretothosestepsregardlessofitscondition,
isn’tit?

Thegreen,lush
gardenimmediatelystirredupthesweet and sour memories of their
friendship.
Wow!
She thought. She went toevery plant and waved
a greeting.
She had a close connection to that place..A lot of laughter
and painful tears had watered the plants.She walked slowly,
reminded ofthe days when she used to walk on the same path with
frocks, skirts, pants, salwars, and now and then even a really
expensivedress. The changes in her life and style were
evident
to her at that moment.

I miss my idiot, let me
call
her,
she thought and dialed the number.

After six rings, Pallavi answered the
phone.

“
What, madam, it took six
rings for you to decide whether to pick my call or not?”Laksha
asked.

“
Yeah, when it took about
six months for you to dial my number, can’t you waitfor six rings?”
Pallavianswered.

“
Fine,
let's
fight later,
I am back inChennai for a short visit, can you come? I
amactually
in
your garden now; I thought you would be
here.
”

“
Nope, I am
on
a
tight
schedule this week, there is a campus drive, and
only the top 10 from every class have been chosen for the
same.
I booked my tickets and
canceled
them. ”

“
Oh! So you mean you will
get a job soon?”

“
Hope so, fingers
crossed!”

“
Come on! If not you then no
one will do well Pallavi, call me with the good news. We will fight
on other issues later,
bye.
”

“
Yeah, it’s my time baby,
make sure you come by next month as well, I am planning to. I will
keep you informed.”

“
I am joining the same
company after
internship;
I will ask my boss, let
me
see.
”

“
Oh, that’s
great
news, okay! We will meet next
month. Chalo,
you enjoy your
vacation,”

“
Yeah, fine, bye then,
see
ya
!.”

This is not the first time
that I missed meeting Pallavi, but this gap and the phone
conversation denote
a
significant
difference in her. I don’t
really know why, maybe, the recent fight accounts, but still, she
usually gets back to me except now. Am not sure, whether she is
occupied with someone
else
or if this gap drifted us apart. I
really miss her after talking over the phone, are there any chances
to know if it’s the same with her?

Should I call someone? If
yes, whom? Or is she really busy with preparing for her placements?
Whatever, I wish she gets the job soon. Her family desperately
needs her support. Even when I wanted to help her, she denied. So,
there are no chances of other’s intruding us. She is mine, even if
I chill out with friends and experience a great affinity towards
Sai, like a compass that shows North, I always to go Pallavi. Let
me straighten things, I want her back,
she
thought.

Laksha was busy with her
parents and eating home food.She was forced to visit every
relative’s place also, but she had a great time telling her cousins
how exciting Mumbai was, so it was a short but pleasant
trip.
Now that I got a job, I must come
home at least once in six months,
she
thought.

“
I’m not going to bore you
with the usual questions like “are you in love?” or “Are you seeing
someone?” Laksha, I’mreally overwhelmed to see you doing well in
your field. I am
glad
that your company is offering you
a
full-time
role with
good
responsibilities,” said
her mom on the last day.