It Was a Yes, But I Never Said It

5. Dosa Lady Rocked!

What is college life without bunks? Nothing!

So are the thoughts of Adira and her batchmates. The entire class decided to skip the lectures the next day to take a city tour. Everyone was new to the city and therefore was really looking forward to this day out. And so did Adira and Rihan!

Adira wants to make the best of these four years and hence trying to do everything she can to hone her skills from the start. For artists it's rightly said, "practice makes a man perfect". Adira took it quite seriously. Her morning routine involves visiting a nearby lake and sketching the passersby to develop her sketching skills through live sketching.

Today was no different and she went to the lake as usual. Her walk from the girls hostel to the lake is always special. It's a narrow road surrounded by trees and peace. The only voices one can hear are of the birds chirping and singing in their melodious voices. And sometimes monkeys and langoors are heard welcoming the day in their own language. Adira has always found this walk calm, peaceful, rejuvenating and adventurous.

Passing a narrow road surrounded by vast areas of trees and bushes with monkeys, langoors, snakes residing in them is nothing less than an adventure. And then climbing a wall to jump a locked door to reach the lake is a thrill in itself.

The perks of this early morning walk aren't over yet. Since it's early morning, very few people are seen roaming around. Hence, the only sound one will hear is of flowing water. Adira can sit by the lake and can listen to this sound for hours. As a plus, she also gets to see the sunrise. Could mornings be more beautiful? She doubted!

Mesmerized by the view and peace that this place offers, Adira forgot to sketch. But not for long. As soon as she realises that only 45 mins are left before she heads back, she quickly pulled out her sketchpad and started to sketch whosoever passed her vision.

She sketched for a little longer than usual as today is the mass bunk. And yesterday, everyone decided to meet in college to hop out together for their day out. Adira was pretty sure no one is going to make it on time. But heard her phone ringing. It was Rihan!

She answered, "hey, good morning."

Rihan replied with a very good morning to you. And asked, where are you.

Adira just glanced at her watch and realised that it is way over the time their college starts. She instantly asked if she is late. If everyone has arrived (the question sounded weird to her as how could more than 30 people gather so early and that too on time with no late butts).

Rihan just laughed and said chill girl. I was heading to college, so was just checking when are you planning to leave.

Adira sighed in relief and mentions that she came to the lake for sketching and is about to leave for college.

Rihan mentioned that may be he can go to college first and see if anyone has showed up yet. This way Adira can sketch for some more time.

More time by the lake sounded nice to Adira and she agreed.

After around 45 mins, her phone rang again and Rihan mentioned that very few folks are in yet and they are waiting for others. Since it will take time, he is also coming to the lake to sketch for sometime.

It has been around 25 mins since they have been sketching. And both are exhausted. Rihan mentions that there is a very nice dosa place nearby. Since they are both exhausted and hungry, they should explore it.

The mere thought of food made a lot of mouses jump in Adira's stomach but she insisted on heading back to the college as she didn't wish to miss the outing. Moreover she didn't even talk to her friend Angelie and don't know what is the plan for the day.

Rihan mentioned that it has all been take care of. He has already talked to some fellows over call on his way to the lake. They confirmed that everyone will be passing by the lake when they head for their photography tour. They will call him and Adira and Rihan can join them at that time. There's no point in going all the way back to the college.

It seems logical and both headed towards a nearby dosa shop. They were waiting for the food and talking about everything and nothing. Adira was feeling comfortable in Rihan's company. The lady was taking forever to cook and Adira didn't wish to miss their classmates when they pass lake. So she mentioned Rihan to call and check with his friend, where the class has reached till now. But Rihan suggested that it's better to wait for their call.

They went on talking with one another and the food arrived. It was so delicious that Adira couldn't stop herself from telling the old lady who was serving the food that it is way too delicious. Without any bust of emotion on her face or any further exchange of words, the lady turned away quietly.

Adira and Rihan looked towards each other and went back towards enjoying their unfinished plates. Adira mentioned to Rihan that it is almost noon now. He should call back his friend to check where are they and by what time the class will reach the lake. Adira was so adamant this time that Rihan couldn't refuse.

He called his friend and after a couple of mins was looking all shocked and pissed off. Adira checked what happened and what she heard next wasn't good.

Rihan blurted out that "the class has already passed the lake sometime back."

Adira is shocked too and all she could mutter is "what?"

Adira is feeling angry and asked Rihan why his friend didn't call them up when they were supposed to pass by the same shop wherein they are sitting right now. Since he also mentioned that most folks in the class knew that they will be catching up midway then why didn't anyone call. Rihan replied that they ditched.

Adira mentioned that the class was supposed to pass by the dosa shop and how come they didn't see them passing. He checked with Rihan since she was having her back towards the door if he saw them passing. Rihan said even he didn't realise when they passed.

Both were feeling betrayed and left out. Adira mentioned that since the class passed sometime back, may be they should hurry up and hence will be able yo catch them up.

Rihan didn't seem very convinced with the idea. He was quite pissed off that no one bothered to call them up. He suggested that it's best not to join the class on today's plan. The entire class is split into groups. His friend is trying to depend some time with his crush. Other folks are trying to hangout in their own groups, due to which it's best not to try to fit in and give others their space and privacy.

Though disheartened, Adira agreed on not joining the class and was feeling really bad about it. Suddenly a new dosa plate showed up between them. Clueless as they were, they looked towards their side and raised their glances upwards towards the old lady who was holding the plate, still with an expressionless face.

They shifted their glance towards one another and after a slight pause, Rihan asked the lady, "what is it for?". The lady replied that the girl sitting in front of you just asked for another plate.

Rihan and Adira both blurted out into laughter and now the lady's blank face when Adira was praising her food made total sense to both of them. After politely thanking the lady, Rihan mentioned that Adira was just praising the food. And that's how the dosa lady rocked even in the midst of chaos that Adira and Rihan were facing right now.

They stayed at the shop for some more time discussing the not so good behaviour that the class just acted with and then headed back towards their respective hostels.

Adira though was feeling sad with the class's abandonment, felt a little good for atleast having Rihan by her side.