The Perfect Photo

Chapter 20

Sunday Evening, 5 PM.

I was walking towards the juice shop, yet again. I was supposed to meet Pritam there in a few minutes. I had refused to take Neha along after all the drama she had caused. With no one around, I had none to talk to. I was walking like a zombie paying no attention to my surroundings whatsoever as I almost fell into a pit. My focus was trapped in that scene which took place in my hostel room. It kept replaying over and over in my mind like a cassette stuck in a loop.

A few hours ago...

"What does this mean?", asked Pritam.

"Eh..", I tried to look as confused as possible, like if he was speaking German and I had no clue what he was saying.

Neha was still on the floor laughing, and Pritam got briefly distracted by her circus. A real ROFL moment for her, I thought. I tried to walk away from there inconspicuously, but Neha halted me.

"Where do you think you are going Harsha darling? I believe that you owe us an explanation. What is that on your laptop screen?", she asked grinning widely.

I turned around with a pleading look almost an emotional appeal to her, not to make the situation worse and that I was trying my best to come up with a possible explanation.

Neha must have been fed up with my senseless behavior these past few months that she ignored it all together. Maybe she was doing me a favor, but I will never know till this is completely over.

"What do you think Pritam?", she turned towards him. "Did you login to your account by mistake?"

"No, I didn't. It's Harsha's account. It wasn't password protected, and it just let me in", he said.

Yes. It was my mistake. I was cursing Pritam for having his phone locked yesterday night, and today I was regretting not having done that myself. Had my laptop been locked it would have at least struck me when I would have gone ahead to unlock it.

"So if it is indeed Harsha's account then why do I see your picture on it Pritam?", she asked. She was relishing the scenes unfolding before her. Neha would usually spend her Sunday afternoon watching some reality TV show on her laptop. What was happening now was nothing less to what you would see in one and this was a treat to Neha.

"Yeah, But I don't understand. Why is this....?", started Pritam.

"I thought you were an intelligent guy, Pritam.", Neha interrupted him. "You should know why.", she said moving her head in slow motion and looking at me. I was burning up on the inside now.

I did not want this coming from her. What I had imagined would be the most romantic moment in my life thus far was unraveling to be a complete disaster. My dreams, completely shattered to pieces. If he was going to find this out, it needs to come from me.

"Pritam, Let me explain.", I started breaking the ice. "There is something you should know."

"Before that Harsha, I have something to say too.", he quickly said. That got both of us by surprise.

"You also have something to say?", asked Neha before I could say anything else.

"Yes, but not now. Not here. I need to get out now. We will talk about this, at 5 in the evening. At the juice shop?", he asked.

"Yes, that would be best.", I said giving Neha a sharp look to shut up and to not take this any further.

Neha was disappointed that she was not going to get to see any more of this. But enough drama has happened already. I finally told Pritam that he would need to dress up in my salwar to get out of the hostel. He did not have any objections. He put it on and walked out like a boss. Even I had not displayed so much confidence when I used to wear the same stuff. I did not suggest that he wears makeup after all the embarrassment meted out to me by Neha. Finally, to make sure that he blended in, we walked him through the gates of the hostel.