THE LADY IN THE RAIN

THE SHOCK

The principal interrupts their conversation.
‘Good morning, class!’
All the students get up and greet her in a chorus- GOOD MORNING, MA’AM!
‘All right, settle down.’
All sit on their respective seats.
She is wearing a saree and has thick pepper-salted hairs. She has slight wrinkles on her face. She adjusts her glasses and continues, ‘Well, I’ve got someone to introduce to you all.’
Ritwik  immediately realizes that she is talking about Veronica. Meanwhile, the other students are looking, muddled.
‘So, let’s welcome Mrs. Erica Fernandez  .’
The smile from Ritwik ’s face fades away. His hopes perished forever.
Erica enters the classroom. All the boys keep on looking at her beauty. Ritwik  gets the biggest shock of his life when he sees Erica. He realizes that it is none other than his Veronica.
‘She is Erica Fernandez,  your new mathematics teacher. Bosco Sir has got a job in an IT hub in Bangalore. That’s why he had to quit in the midway.’
Ritwik  suddenly stands up in his place.
‘Excuse me, Ma’am!’ he interrupts.
‘Yes, Ritwik .’
‘Ma’am, she is Veronica D’Souza and not Erica Fernandez,’ he informs.
The whole class including the Principal and Erica look at Ritwik , bewildered. 
‘No, I am Erica Fernandez,’ she confirms.
‘No, you’re Veronica  D’Souza. I know. You yourself has told me.’
‘When did I say? I mean I never met you, boy.’
Ritwik  is shaken up on hearing this.
‘What? I had dinner at your place yesterday. How could you forget everything so easily?’ he confronts.
‘Ma’am, what is this boy saying? I am seeing him for the first time,’ Erica informs the Principal.
‘Enough, Ritwik ! You have wasted precious time of ours. Now kindly sit down...’
‘But Ma’am...’
‘I said sit down,’ the Principal orders.
He sits down. He is infuriating with Erica’s repeated lies. He is 101% sure that she is none other than Veronica.
The Principal leaves the class after fifteen minutes of introductory session. Erica settles down on her chair.
‘So, good morning once again! Today, no study. We’ll begin with the introduction of each one of you. So, let’s begin with you,’ she points towards a girl. The girl introduces herself. One by one, each pupil introduce themselves to Erica. Ritwik  is still looking at Erica furiously.
‘Yes, your turn now. Introduce yourself.’
Erica asks Ritwik . Ritwik  does not get up. Rubel and Pihu sense the atmosphere to be getting out of control.
‘Pri, stand up, goddammit. If she complains to Mrs. Lawrence, then you’re going to be dead.’
Ritwik  stands up.
‘I am Ritwik  Ganguly.’
He sits down.
‘No, I want a proper introduction. Not just a name,’ says Erica.
Ritwik  again stands up.
‘I am an emotional fool. I can’t differentiate between honesty and dishonesty. I think I need to work on myself. And I realized this when I experienced it yesterday. The first meeting was so gratifying. But today I am proved wrong. I failed to prove the theorem of my life. But I promise to never repeat the same mistake again. Thank you.’
He sits down on his seat with an attitude. He dedicated the whole introduction in name of Veronica.                  
She well understands this.
‘Okay, that was genuine. Anyway, your Principal has asked me to collect all of yours mathematics  homework. I do hope that all are ready.’
All the students nod in YES. The bell rings soon after the announcement.
‘Okay, so all of you come one by one and submit your copies.’
Each one of them comes and submits their respective notebooks. After submitting, they leave the classroom due to physical education period. Ritwik  comes in the last and keeps the notebook on the table by banging it hard. He begins walking.
‘ALEX!’
Ritwik  turns around and looks at Veronica  questioningly.
‘I need to talk to you. Could you please...?’ she requests.
‘I’ve got my class now,’ he informs.
‘I know. I swear I won’t take much of your time. Only five minutes.’
Ritwik  agrees. He comes and stands close to Veronica .
‘Listen, you are right. I am Veronica D’Souza and not Erica Fernandez.’
Ritwik  raises an eyebrow and looks at her.
‘I’ll tell you the reason. Let me explain. But before that, I need a promise from you.’
‘What promise?’ he asks impertinently.
‘Actually...I have a history. It is an incident. I want you not to get me wrong. That’s why I am sharing this secret of mine.’
Ritwik  is somewhat feeling important to Veronica now.
She is going to share the secret with me! Whoa! I am so special to her. She does not wants me to get her wrong. Does she...?
‘Promise?’ Veronica  interrupts his thoughts.
‘Yeah! Double promise.’
‘Thank you. Actually...’
‘Pri?’ Rubel calls him.
‘Yeah?’
‘What are you...I am sorry ma’am. Actually sir is searching for him. We will be practicing for the inter-school basketball competition. And he is the captain. So, Sir wants him in the ground now,’ explains Rubel.
‘I see. Captain, huh? Not bad. Okay, you go.’
‘But Ma’am...’
‘It’s fine. You do one thing- meet me this evening in my house. Will that be okay for you?’ she asks.
‘Certainly.’
He smiles and joins Rubel.
‘What was the secret mutual agreement going between you both, ha?’ Rubel looks naughtily at Ritwik  and teases him.
‘Shut up!’ he blushes.