An Unlikely Love Story

That Night

It was a usual night for him. But something felt different. He sat in the balcony, smoking his last cigarette. It felt nice to be alone at last. It was a busy day and the book launch went as planned. Rimy, his agent, had planned everything perfectly as she usually did. He was not worried about that. He was worried about the chief guest, his nemesis, Dr. Gul Balal. Balal, who was a major film director now, was his classmate in college. Balal adored him. Balal was too nice. Balal did not remember anything from the college days. Even if he did, he never showed that. 

"Aakash, you look exactly the same", Balal said as soon as they met. 

"Thank you so much Balal. You have not changed either", He lied with a straight face. 

"Oh, you mean I was bald in college. Thank you. And I felt good about it all the while."

"No, I did not mean that."

"Oh! Chill Aakash. I was just joking."

Balal gave a great speech about their relationship, the college days, the way Aakash always wrote the best story in the college magazine. There was a big round of applause at the end and Aakash felt nice and relieved. Balal had paid back all his insults and demeaning behavior by being nice to him. 

"Why, Balal? How, Balal?", he couldn't but ask. 

"Why what? How what? I said what I always felt about you. And, please note, I do not carry any grudge about you. You, in fact, were the one who treated me with some dignity. Most other people did not even notice me. And you book is really nice. Hopefully I can convince my producer to option it for my next movie."

He felt like crying and instantly hugged Balal. Balal was embarrassed but seemed very happy with the gesture by Aakash. Aakash caught the glimpse of Rimy and made a signal indicating that everything was okay. Rimy seemed relieved. She was worried about the whole situation with the reaction that Aakash had shown when he heard that the published invited Bala to be the guest. 

The party after the launch was fab. Aakash loved the food and the drinks. He realized he was a little tipsy when he was talking to one of the readers who asked him where his characters came from. He decided to call it a day despite the protest from Rimy. 

"I have had enough interaction with people the whole day."

"The party has just started, Aakash!"

"It's fine. I know you will manage it well."

When he reached home, it was already 11:30pm. He opened the new bottle of Black Label and made a large peg with ice. He went to the balcony and lit a cigarette. The swing was a place he loved when he felt a little restless. And he felt very restless today. He took a deep drag of the cigarette and let the smoke disperse in the air.

And then it started. It felt like an earthquake, but of mind. He knew it was going to be difficult to describe it to anyone, but the feeling was real. He ran towards the door, opened it and ran out. He stood alone on the road in the dark but the feeling did not go away. It was like his mind was shaking vigorously. He looked at the coconut tree in the front yard. It was not moving. This was clearly not an earthquake. The movement was only in his mind. It was real, it felt like the whole world is shaking. He closed his eyes. The movement still continued.