Flirting with friendship: Contagious Emotions

Chapter 12: Contagious Emotions

All of us safely reached our rooms while Shrushti was still fanning her mouth. Anusha seemed to be in a composed state of mind, but her feelings seemed quite decomposed.

“Can I talk to Anu for a while?” I asked Sakshi with a serious concern.

“Sure Abhi. Please do.” She agreed. “In fact, I was about to tell you the same.” She smiled and approved my request.

Anusha was standing in the balcony of her room, silently staring at the blank cloudless skies. The air grew colder and the moonlight shone on her radiant face. A droplet of tear formed in her eyes and it glittered like a blue diamond. It was greedy enough to grab it before it rolled down her silky cheeks.

“So beautiful. Isn’t it?” I stood beside her watching the blank sky along with her.

“Huh?” She didn’t listen to what I was talking.

“I said... You were looking beautiful today.” I changed the subject.

“Hmmmm.... Thanks Abhi.” She looked away from me while she still tried to find a shooting star in the sky.

“Take this.” I handed over her tear in her palm.

“Make a wish.” I said. She started crying out loud this time and suddenly hugged me.

“Anu... Please tell me what happened.” I insisted while I still held her at an arm’s distance.

“It’s me.” She mumbled while she continued to sob.

“What you? Please tell me properly.” I tried to get a clear picture.

“I don’t understand what’s wrong with me...” she cleared her throat while she began to speak.

“If I behave decently, people think I am a good-for-nothing housewife, and when I am trying to have fun, they think I am slut.” She was wiping her cheeks dampen with tears.

“People, means exactly whom?” I asked. “Did I say something wrong to you?” I got a bit conscious.

“Not you.”

“Then who?”

“Leave it. You guys won’t understand my problem.” She again turned away and started hunting for the asteroid rains in the sky.

“Then please help us understand Anu.” I felt a bit offended.

Every time whenever any girl speaks this statement, I get irritated because, they trigger an emotion of concern in us and then leave it hanging in the balance. Later, blame us for not understanding what they didn’t express completely.

“It’s Vikram.” She was speaking in bits and pieces as if I was Robert Langdon and I would solve her mystery.

“Please tell me properly Anu. You first tell it’s you. Now you say it’s Vikram. What is it all about?” I was growing impatient.

“If you don’t want me to interfere in your personal life then it’s totally okay.” I didn’t further force her to speak out.

“I am here just to make you smile and cheer your mood.” I gave her a conclusive statement and started walking out.

“Wait.” She held my hand and stopped me.

“Do you really want to know why I am so upset?” she asked seriously. Her eyes wide open and were gazing right into mine.

“I am not desperate to know.” I said. “I am just concerned as a friend.”

“Okay then... Listen...” she made me sit on the plastic Neelkamal chair in the balcony while she started telling her story.

“I cannot conceive a child... Never in this life!” She began weeping torrentially. This came like a shocker to me. I wasn’t able to respond at all. While I kept staring at her with my mouth wide open, she continued.

“Vikram still has no idea about this. I’d been to the clinic last week and my doctor said this to me.” she began to choke at her own thoughts. I got up from my seat to get her a glass of water.

“Where are you going?” she stopped me. “Please sit.”

“I’ll get you a glass of water.” I said.

“No need. I have this.” She took out another bottle of Smirnoff and started gulping.

“Please stop.” I snatched it away from her. “Thanks for showing the safe haven of your emotional state of mind.” I said, and grabbed the bag full of vodka bottles.

“Save it for other occasions...” I said with an ordering voice. “...like my wedding.” I added.

“Oh! Your wedding.” She grinned. “I pity you.” She got up from her chair and patted my back.

“What happened now?” I asked with a deep concern.

“Sakshi...” she started to speak up too much. I stopped her at that instance itself.

“Don’t you dare speak anything about Sakshi.” I grabbed her hands and made my point very clear.

“Hahahahahahaha... You silly...” She was all smiles as if I said a joke.

“I didn’t even talk a word about her.” She said. “I feel she’ll be the happiest girl on earth to marry you.”

“Then why were you mocking me?” I asked with a surprised look.

“I wanted to say that, you’d no longer be able to flirt with us after your wedding.” She clarified herself. My grip on her arms loosened and I apologized for being rude.

“Please stop worrying about your condition Anu.” I tried to console her. “I am sure Vikram will find a way out.”

“I am not sure how he’d react.” She said with a scary voice. “He’ll be shattered. I came in his life like a curse.” She was again in the stage to breakdown in tears.

“Why don’t you become a lesbian?” I tried to cheer her up with my sick joke.

“Guess what...” she winked at me and said, “That was just what I did tonight, with Shrushti.” And she finally burst into laughter. Thank God. She’s sober now. I completed my part of the consolation task and went back to sleep. That night I dreamt of hexagons everywhere; in my smartphone, on my bed sheets, on the walls, in the temple. When I got up the next day, I googled for the signs of hexagon in dreams and it said –

Seeing a hexagon in dream signifies our direction or position in life as represented by each of the six corner and sides. The dream may be telling to us move up or down, forward or backward and left or right. Alternatively, a hexagon symbolizes death.

I felt that I was really hurt because of Anusha’s condition. Though I didn’t see her pain, I could hear it in her voice while she talked to me last night. My day began with an upset mood.