The Convenience Theory

4. The Play

"Laila? What happened?" Prerna Akka asks concerned.

I slap my forehand as I sigh in relief.

"Nothing sorry. You were just by the door and I wasn't expecting you and I just got startled. I am sorry." I say in one breath.

Way to go, Laila Gupte!

'It's okay. I am sorry." She smiles as she brings me inside the hall before excusing herself as somebody calls her.

It is 10:45 am, and few people have already gathered. As I remove my flip-flops, I notice a known face walking towards me wearing his signature dog chain and worn jeans.

"Ritz" I say, making a face at what he is about to say.

Ritwik and I are in the same college and joined the college drama circle in the same year. Since then he has been my partner-in-crime in almost everything.

"Laila oh Laila! Aisi tu Laila har koi chahe tujhse (You are such that everybody wants to---" Ritwik takes a dramatic pause "Milna kabhi na (Never meet you again)"

I sigh.

Every time he has seen me in the past three years, he has always greeted me by singing this song. It has become a routine almost. Through the years, innocent teasing turned to roasting and so changed the song lyrics for us. I sometimes forget that the original song doesn't go like this.

"No Ritzy, Jisko bhi dekhu, duniya bhula doon, Majnu bana doon (Whoever I see, I make them forget the world, make them my lover.)" I smirk "Aisi main Laila. (I am such.)"

"I will let you live in your bubble." He gives me a hug.

I see Akka approaching us again.

"Hello!" she says "Sorry Mike, our scriptwriter had called me."

"Hey Akka, thanks a lot for this opportunity." I say.

"Oh, don't be silly." She smiles hugging me "You guys deserved this. The play was so good, I was really impressed. Keep it up."

"Hola Lola!" Someone tickles my torso.

"Hey Anu!" I turn around laughing at Anamika to see the hall getting filled.

"How is Sameer?" she asks trying to control herself from laughing before breaking into it anyway "Ritz told me he dropped a bag of glitter on your head. I just wish I was there to see it and not left early to go for my designing class."

"You missed a great show. Laila was standing frozen looking like a Christmas tree while he professed his undying love. Nadira and I felt like we would burst from trying to control ourselves from laughing." Ritwik guffaws.

"Undying love? He doesn't know a single thing about me and says he loves me." I shake my head annoyed.

Anamika laughs, "He might as well would have recited an Urdu poetry."

Anamika is a year younger to us but we hit it off really well on her first day in the college art circle.

"Is that cat hair?" Ritwik asks cringing at her black kurta.

"Oh yes, there was this really cute cat downstairs." She answers dusting her kurta.

"Downstairs?" I ask in horror.

Thankfully I didn't notice one coming upstairs or else it would have been an episode of Fear Factor for me. I am not exactly fond of animals, insects sure, not animals. Definitely not animals.

And Anamika is an absolute cat lover, who is either running behind cats or cuddling or playing with them. Thankfully her mother hasn't yet allowed her to get one as a pet so I can still go to her house. I don't know if I will once, she gets it.