AMARANTHINE

Act I(ii) - Say Anything

"From the moment we started talking, I knew that I wanted you around"

~Unknown~

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Despite his momentary surprise at Aabha's causticity, Shaurya was not one to be beaten down and  was quick to get back at her, "Mademoiselle, I agree you are not a kid anymore, but surely, are not so old either to be carrying such bitterness in you."

She glared back at him and countered, "And you, Mister, though not very old yourself, are certainly not young enough to believe in fairy tales."

Shaurya was now quite impressed, he appreciated quick wit and the woman before him seemed to have a crackling sense of humour, even though it was laced with astringent cynicism. It was a rare thing to find in people, that lethal combination of straightforwardness and dry wit; he was drawn like a moth to the fire and unable to help himself, continued with the verbal volley.

"Touché," he said and asked, "Shall we make a deal?"

When he noticed that she did not protest, he continued, "We seem to have judged each other without even knowing anything about the other. I will tell you why I am reading what you have labelled as 'romantic tripe' and you will let me know why you do not believe in love."

Aabha considered him; she conceded that he was right about them starting off on a wrong footing and thought about it. In the end, curiosity won over, after all, it would not hurt to hear him out nor would it harm her if she shared her story with him. She nodded and said, "Deal," and she was sure that only her glasses protected her from the dazzling smile he flashed at her when she agreed to his bargain. Not wishing to dwell on the thrill that rushed through her at his smile, she asked, "So, what is your story?"

"Right, I am Shaurya and I am twenty-six years old. I hail from a family of very wealthy and successful businessmen, and am fairly successful myself." 

He paused as he noted Aabha's expression turned quizzical and smiled, "I am not boasting, I just wanted to give a little background, I was not what people generally classify as a spoilt rich brat, though I have had a fair share of escapades and casual girlfriends. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I met a girl a year ago, Nisha, and I fell for her like a ton of bricks. I guess she was bedazzled by me too as we found ourselves engaged to be married within six months of knowing each other. I was ready to do anything for her; she liked theatre so I went to plays with her, she preferred rock music to classical, so it was rock concerts that we attended, she liked pink so I did buy a few shirts in that shade too."

He still shuddered at the thought of wearing pink and felt that the only good thing about his break up was the fact that he might be able to discard those shirts.  

"I was willing to change for her and I thought that those gestures and the fact that I loved her would be enough, apparently it was not. She broke off three months ago saying that I was neither romantic enough nor did it seem that I could put in the effort of learning to be romantic. She accused me of ignoring her for my work and said that if this is how matters stood before we even got married, she dreaded thinking what would happen after we got married."

 He took a sip of his coffee and then continued, "I want to win her back and since my apparent lack of a romantic side is the roadblock, I am trying to cultivate that facet. I hoped that reading romantic books might help me, so based on an internet search I have selected what the top ten romantic books are; and here I am, reading this 'romantic tripe'. You know, infinite love, lasting forever and till eternity?"