Sunday Shorts

Angel In Disguise

I met my old classmate a few days ago in Nice, France. I had been walking on the sidewalk outside a café when, being my usual butterfingered self, I dropped my notepad. I bent to pick it up and started walking ahead when suddenly, I bumped into somebody. "Je suis désolé..." I began to apologize but then I looked up, and met a with a face I hadn't seen since my schooldays.

I blanked out for a second before I was brought back to reality by a soft, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm okay. Sorry."

"Oh no no, it's alright, Madhav!"

"No no...wait. You know my name?"

"Of course! I mean, it has been a couple of years but still, I would recognise you anywhere...."

"Uh..."

"Model High School, Jodhpur. I'm..."

"Advika."

"Chalo at least you remember me. How are you, Madhav?"

"Of course! How can I forget Advika Agarwal, the student who came in and won the hearts of all the teachers..." And boys, myself included...

"Hahaha! Oh come on! I wasn't that popular! Just a quiet scholarship student with a single friend..."

"Oh please! Don't be so modest, ok? Even if Vedika was your only close friend, you were always surrounded by a large group of people..."

"Hmm...stalking me, were you?"

Oh shit! "Uh...no! I just...noticed...."

"Hehe it's fine! I was just joking! Let's catch up inside over a coffee, hmm?"

We went inside and placed our respective orders. As we waited, I struck up a conversation.

"How long has it been? Eight to nine years, right? Wait...we passed out in 2010 and now it's 2019, and I bump into you on a footpath in France? Wow! How come you're here?"

"Well, I came here for a nice, long vacation. What about you?"

"Well I am a travel journalist, and right now we are doing a segment on France."

"Wow. Like Bunny from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani? That's so cool!"

Smiling, I said, "Thanks yaar! Tell me more, what's going on with you these days? What have you been doing?"

"Hmm. After school I joined an interior designing company as an intern and now, I have my own company in Jodhpur, Rangeen Dècor."

"Now that's amazing, how far you've come! I still remember how you began and now look at you, so successful!"

"Chal chal nazar mat laga!" (Loosely translates to "Don't jinx it!")

Laughing and talking, we were having a good time. I was going to pay the bill, but she insisted and we ended up splitting it both ways. As we exited the café, I grinned at her and said, "I would love to meet up again once I'm back in Jodhpur, hmm?"

"Yeah definitely. Wait, give me your phone."

Typing in her number, she said, "It was lovely meeting you again, but I really have to go. I've saved my contact details to your phone and added myself to your Instagram, shoot me a text. I'll be back in India by the 3rd of September, after that you can call me up... Till then you'll have to manage with WhatsApp. Bye!"

"Bye..." I trailed off. She waved and then walked off as I looked down at my phone. 'Scholarship Girl' was the name displayed on my phone with a winky face next to it.

A/N:

Hey guys!

If this seems familiar to you, this is actually the short story off which I have based my book, 'Scholarship Girl'. However, I have taken it down for the time being as I'm unable to update it right now, and I am not sure whether I can in the foreseeable future. I shall definitely try to get it back on track but till then, I'm trying to work on something new. Hope it works!

Much Love

 Sam

P.S.: I know it's a Monday, but I wasn't at home yesterday and wasn't able to upload this. This is the last short for now, I find short stories really difficult to write but if I do write a good one, I will be sure to upload it. Thanks for reading my book!