The Perfect Photo

Chapter 15

I waited at the juice shop for Pritam to arrive. I was sitting in the same spot we sat about a week ago when we had first met. Back then, I had no clue who this guy was. A week later there hasn't been much progress on that front.

Pritam walked in minutes later looking for me through his large framed spectacles. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans, backpack on his back, sporting the nerdiest look possible. I waved at him. He spotted me even before that and walked up to me. He kept his bag beside him and took the seat in front of me. I waited for him to start the conversation, expecting him to ask me what had happened and console me for the tough time I was going through.

"Why haven't you ordered anything yet?", he asked.

"Really Pritam? Is that the single most important thing to you now?", I retorted.

"Well, I walked a whole lot to get here. Juice would be good."

"We will get juice after we address the elephant in the room."

"Are you calling me fat?", he winked.

"Can you put your PJs to rest for some time and hear me out", I gasped. "I was waiting for you near your classroom a while back when one of your first-year professors caught me. I was taken to dean's office where I was questioned if I was waiting there to rag the first-years after their classes ended"

He nodded. "Yeah, I kinda got that information from dean's secretary when she had called me", he said.

"Yes, you were on speaker phone. So... yeah, I heard the conversation, you well-mannered freak, which is what got me confused", I hesitated. "I had to make a story up to get myself out of that situation. When you were called, you almost repeated the same thing. That freaked me out. How in the blue hell were you able to guess what I might have said in there?", I asked.

"I didn't guess, I knew", he said.

I had a quizzical look on my face. "How?", I asked.

"I am not sure if you had heard the entire conversation. The first time I got the call, I guessed you were in trouble. I assumed that you might not have told the actual story and might have spun one right at that moment. So I had to get something out of the lady who had called me. If you remember there was a telephone disturbance when she called me for the first time. Well..... there was no issue with the call. I faked it", he paused almost dramatically. "I had put myself on mute and had kept listening prudently, waiting for her to spill something for me, and she did. She rephrased the question and asked me, 'If I wanted to join the cultural club'. That was enough for me to connect the dots and guess the way you might have narrated the incident. Once she cut the call and redialed, I lied about getting myself out in the open and some nonsense about the cellular network problem."

"You are from another universe", I swallowed. What I had just heard from Pritam was him thinking on his feet. Not pre-planned, not orchestrated. This is something only a conman can think of. My mental image of Pritam had started flashing a warning symbol next to it.

"Are you okay? Did I do good ?", he asked.

"Yes, you saved my ass. But that was some super criminal thinking", I said.

"Naaaah", he diverted. "So now tell me this. Now that you've lied about me wanting to join the cultural club, do I really have to?", he asked.

It hadn't struck me till then. The lie that my brain had fabricated was playing to my advantage. This was the best possible thing that could have happened. I never knew I was blessed with such lying ability. A smile slowly formed on my face thinking about that.

"I would have preferred something cooler. Something like a sports club, but cultural club?", he said.

"We do cool things too. You just need to join and work with me to completely understand that", I said. "And mister you need to do it sincerely, now that I have mentioned your ginormous interest in our society."

"Yeah, I get that. I guess this makes us even. I should no longer be indebted to you."

"Yeah.... I saved you once, and you saved me once, we are cool.", I said. If Pritam was a part of the cultural club, there was no need to come up with particular reasons to meet him on a regular basis. I'll probably use this as an excuse and try to get to know him more.

"Awesome. I'll get going in that case", he said getting up.

"Wait I haven't ordered juice yet."

"Maybe another time. I need to be going."

"Alright, I'll meet you tomorrow then, I will get you enrolled into our society ?"

"Okay, tomorrow then", he said as he exited the room.

I put my head down on the table for a brief minute. But I immediately got up when someone put something heavy on top of it. Pritam had come back, and he had put his bag on the table.

"I forgot to give you this", he said digging into his bag.

Yes, I had totally forgotten about the gift he was supposed to give me. I had been completely distracted from the real purpose of my visit. My eyes widened with expectations.

He took out a book and held it in front of me. "This is not exactly new; it is my copy, though"

It read 'Why Marx was right' on the face of its red cover. I gingerly received it from him.

"My Airbnb owner in Germany gave me this book. He was a big fan of Marx. He asked me to give it a read, and I was happy that I gave this book a chance. I am not entirely sure if you would like it, but do give it a read."

I looked at the book and back at him. "Gee, Thanks. Juice now?"

"No thanks. I am definitely leaving this time", he said hopping towards the exit dragging his bag behind him.

He gifted me a book!! He gifted me one of my favorite things in the world. The happiness of receiving a new book is only known to a bookworm. This wasn't exactly new, and it did not have the new book smell. But I did not care much. I wouldn't have been happier even if I had received an expensive Swarovski jewelry.

I purchased a watermelon juice from the juice shop and walked back to the hostel carrying the book on the one hand while sipping the juice from the other. I am being exposed to all forms of emotions when I am around Pritam.

I kicked the door to my room open. Neha was on her bed. She saw me entering the room and stood up straight. She grabbed a pillow from her bed and threw it right at me. The juice slipped out of my hand spilling what had remained over the floor.

"You abandon me like that? What were you thinking?", she screamed. I couldn't complain. I had forgotten to return her phone calls. One more thing I had forgotten. Maybe I was developing a form of memory loss.

I had to plead her to calm down and slowly narrated the events of the evening. She was patient enough to listen to me. "All these things can only happen in movies. How is this happening to you of all people?", she said as I completed my narration. "I really got frustrated when you weren't picking up my calls. I was sitting here boiling on the inside and had to take it out on you."

"Yeah, that's fine. I should have called you back. But I'd forgotten."

"So, a book. Was it a letdown?", she eyed at me.

"Are you kidding me? This is the best gift any guy has ever given me", I said.

She giggled. She might have probably thought this is the only gift any guy had ever given me.

"Neha, I need a favor from you", I said.

"I am never coming with you to that campus ever again", she said abruptly.

" Not that. For the record, even I am never stepping foot on that campus, ever again."

"Then?"

I'd never asked her this before. I shied away a bit. I knew this would excite her like crazy. Finally, I said, "I'd like if you'd teach me to do makeup."