The Love Assignment

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 

Stacey and I were sitting in the common room. The room was huge, with colourful chairs and tables spread out oddly. At the far end of the room was the coffee maker machine and I could see half a dozen people standing around it. Yes, we writers just love our coffees. In fact I was already holding my drink. Its was late in the evening around six. In two hours the office would be over and I could rest myself and release my tension.  

Have you heard of writers block? This room is the one releases us, off it. Whenever any of us experiences one such event, or we simply want to relieve our tensions or may be hangout, this was the room. You could call the room as the IT ROOM, people hung out here more often than their cabins. 

Stacey was busy with her laptop, replying to the questions sent to her. Even though the magazine published only five questions per issue, ever week her inbox would be filled with hundreds of questions. She would read through them, analyse the question and then reply to it, nearly spending half an hour for every question.  

All of a sudden Stacey started laughing. I knew it must be one of questions and pulled the laptop to face me. It read, 

Dear Stacey, 

I am a 23 year old women and I am in love with a 27 year old guy. I really love him and wanted to have a future with him. Every time I brought up the subject of marriage he avoided it. I was pissed and so in order to make him want me, I slept with his best friend. It went on for a while, and his best friend asked me to marry him and I agreed still planning to teach the guy I love a lesson. But the kind of reaction I got was different, the guy I love didn't come back to me, instead he asked someone else to marry him. I played along like I didn't care, only to enrage him more, that he married her without informing me or his best friend. It seems like he's forgotten me completely and I find them to be happy with each other. I know I was a fool, but I really love him and not my fiance. My fiance says he loves me, but I can't get myself to love him back. I am torn inside, how do I get the guy I love back? 

I read the question twice, and felt sorry for the women. I didn't understand what was funny in the whole thing for Stacey to laugh so much. 

"Stacey, what's so funny?", I asked in confusion. 

She stopped laughing and stared at me in disbelief.  

"He was cheating on her, Val", she said as she pulled the laptop to face her. 

"What no, the reason he went ahead and married some other women is because she made him angry?", I said thinking about the women. Stacey smiled at me. 

"Don't be naive like the women Val, here let me explain, there was never a 'we' in their relationship. It was always her. Everytime she brought up the topic of marriage she said he avoided her. But the day she got engaged to someone else, the guy who until now feared about marriage went ahead and married a girl. He was waiting for a reason to leave her all along, and she.... she just gave it to him. What makes it funny?, is his best friend asked her to marry him, means he knew about it all along, either he feels pity for her or he really loves her. Guys don't go behind their friends that way", she said typing into the laptop.  

"Oh", was all I could reply. I was thinking of the women as I sipped my coffee.  

"This girl is like you Val", she said smiling bringing me out of my thoughts as she read the next question. 

"Ah" 

"She's a 17 year old girl, who hasn't kissed a guy. She wants to save herself for the right guy but her friends tease her about it. And now she's asking whether she should actually go ahead and kiss someone in order to stop her friends from teasing her", she said reading from the laptop.