Once Upon a University Campus

Calm Before the Storm

Having Sumo by her was a great comfort that night. Sumo had held her for a long time. She did not remember what it felt to be held during the gloomiest of hours. Her erratic heartbeat had refused to calm down. Sumo nudged for the two them to go for a small walk but Annika felt weak in her legs that refused to move. She just turned off the lights and tired to sleep, sleep was after all her panacea. But this time it was difficult, she had never been so disturbed, not even when her father had passed away. She found it hard to relax and turned the light back on.

Does it mean Om takes her to be much more than a friend? If so she would not be able to measure up to it ever. She could never be anything more than a friend to him. In which case he is sure to be hurt when he gets to know her limitation. If it were someone else, speaking her mind would have been so easy. But Om... telling him the truth would in this case break his heart. It would be as bad as hurting Saahil or her own self. Why did she not see this coming at all? Daksh had mistaken them for a couple, Gauri too initially and Sumo too. Did they all see something she never saw? The very thought michimichified her. Did she ever make him feel that way. No, no never, not intentionally at least. He was a friend, someone who she thought valued her for who she was. He was someone who did not care for her appearance, the clothes she wore, where she came from or even her academic accomplishments. Had she not set the rules of engagement between them? She thought she drew her lines very clearly. But why then this mess. She was angry, helpless and confused all at once and it was difficult for her to breath.

It looked like Annika's distress made Sumo regret sowing the seeds of suspicion in the first place. Her only intention was to keep them both from getting hurt, her Om bhaiyya getting hurt from unrequited love and her beloved Akka from the guilt of being the object of an unrequited love. But now that things were going out of control she had to do something. She started with a coffee.

"Akka you know I was thinking something."

Annika did not answer but was listening.

"Akka We might be reading it wrong. What if you were just a muse or better yet, what if it is someone else." somehow she had to distract her Akka and rescue her from her current misery.

"Uh?" Annika did not sound like she was comprehending Sumo.

"See Akka, Om Bhiayya never told you that he is interested in you ever. Forget the painting and everything. You are so comfortable with each other that if he had such feelings he would have easily told you right away." Sumo was lying through her teeth and knew she was not sounding convincing. But kept trying hard.

"Akka, There were tens and tens of paintings at the exhibition yesterday. You were featured in just one of them. There must have been a handful of other girls who featured in the rest of the portraits. Should we then conclude that he is interested in all the girls featuring in his portraits? I don't think it is very logical to draw this conclusion." Sumo finally hit upon a line of argument that sounded convincing, so convincing that Sumo had second thought about her own judgement earlier on.

"I thought about it very much Akka. Om bhaiyya is just your dear good friend. It was just a random thought. Forget it. Obviously he cannot be romantically interested in all his all of his subjects at once. "

The last part was easy enough for Annika to understand. She shook her head as if trying to clear her head. SHe took her sweet time to convince herself and then to compose herself.

"Right Sumo. It cannot be any other way. He and I are great friends and that's about it. And.... and.... why should it bother me that he featured me in one of his paintings? It is ok right. He is an artist and looks around for subjects. I happened to be one." Annika rarely ever lost her rationale the way she had done just then. She took a few minutes to gather herself and her thoughts again.She was able to gradually calm herself.