Once Upon a University Campus

Loyalty

It was a slow week with Prof Phatak busy with his daughter's wedding. Annika and the rest of research scholars were invited to the reception at a farmhouse hours away from the campus. The invitation posed a peculiar problem for the invitees. Annika and the others wanted to attend the reception since it was their boss who was inviting them. But the practical problem was that the reception was scheduled for late evening quite a distance from the campus. Male scholars and a few others girls did not seem to have a problem and made their arrangements. Annika and two other girls were left behind and they decided to hire a cab and go together. A day before the reception, one of the girls fell sick and the other girl pulled out saying she was scared to go with just Annika accompanying her.

Annika was left in a lurch. She badly wanted to respect Prof Phatak's invitation at the same time she could not have gone there by herself. Daksh offered her a ride earlier but she had refused. Now she reconsidered taking up his offer. She thought hard but something told her not. She too like the other girl decided to skip the reception. Perhaps she could pay a courtesy visit to the Phatak's some other time .

On the eve of the reception, late in the night, almost early hours of the morning her phone lit up.

'Busy?' A message popped up.

'No' she immediately responded.

'Call?'

Annika had 10 seconds to slip out of the room to avoid disturbing the slumbering Sumo.

"Sure" she replied as soon as she reached the farthest book of her balcony.

Her phone rang as expected.

"I just landed in Delhi" Shivaay said as had become his style.

Sometime Annika wondered if he spoke this way with everyone, no 'hi', no 'hello', no 'this is so-and-so speaking' etc unlike every mere mortal that she had thus far known.

"Uh! Oh ok" Annika was distracted for a second.

"Too late to meet you tonight. What about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? What about tomorrow ?"

"Prof Phatak's daughter's reception"

"You are invited? " Annika was pleasantly surprised that Prof Phatak had invited Shivaay.

"Yes. I am going. How about you?" He asked as a matter of fact.

"I am not going. The girls who were supposed to go along with decided against going and I am not going so far by myself."

"I will pick you up at 7PM tomorrow." He said without missing a beat. "Get some rest now, it is rather late."

"What about you? When will you sleep?"

"Soon, once I get back home. Good Night." And this ended their brief conversation.

**********************

Annika reached the campus gate well before 7 PM and saw him arrive. She ran across the road eagerly. It was three weeks and he looked exceeding handsome in the golden glow of the westering sun, or so she thought, or was it the black bandhgala that made his hazel eyes come alive?.

"Not wearing a sari tonight ?" He casually asked her, as usual, no pleasantries.

"Uh? Sari? ..no" Annika stammered. Was he expecting her to turn up in a Sari ? "Sari ? What does he even mean?" Annika was confused as she settled down in the passenger seat. When she turned towards him again, she saw him watching her carefully, as if he wanted her to look at him watching her. He gave her an approving smile before revving up the engine.