Not Around The Corner

Tolerance

“In your life, you meet people. Some you never think about again. Some, you wonder what happened to them. There are some that you wonder if they ever think about you. And then there are some you wish you never had to think about again. But you do.” ~ C. S. Lewis

We reached Jai’s house by 7. Uncle welcomed us at the door. Jai was apparently in the shower. Uncle was wonderful. He was a jolly old man. We sat for a while, but the house had caught my eye. It was very beautiful.

“Uncle, could I have a look around?” I asked.

“Go ahead Rhea,” he said from inside the kitchen.

The hall overlooked the beach. They lived in a 5 storied building and were living on the 5th floor. It was a penthouse with a swimming pool. It was magnificent. They had a big terrace near the kitchen. You could see the entire city from here. The view was marvelous. I saw the kitchen and was veering through the house when I heard,” Were you searching for me?”

Jai.

I turned around to see Jai in a black T-shirt and beige shorts. He was rubbing the towel through his hair sprinkling the water everywhere. For such a good looking guy, he was a pain.

“No,” I said rudely. “Want a tour of my room?” he continued with a smirk.

“Some other time,” I replied off handedly. I was not going to waste my breath on him.

I went to the hall where Nikhil, Gaurav and Uncle were having cocktails. Jai followed me out.

“The house is beautiful, Uncle. Especially those photographs in the study,” I said.

“Jai’s choice actually,” he said.

“Uh-huh,” I said wondering how I difficult it would be to compliment Jai.

He smirked. “Don’t bother,” he whispered as he walked past me. I smiled. He knew what had been going in my head. He turned around and winked. I rolled my eyes and looked away.

We had lovely food after. The guys caught up with each other while I chatted with Jai’s father. He was like a father to me too. It felt good to actually have somebody like him to talk to. He retired near ten to his room. I was listening to the guys chat when suddenly my phone rang. I knew who it was without looking at the caller id. Nikhil and Gaurav looked at me and smiled while Jai gave a knowing look to Nikhil.

I left the room and went out to the amazing terrace.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey, where have you been?” Akash said.

“Missing you,” I replied. I did terribly miss him today.

“I missed you too,” he said.

“So what’s going on?” I asked.

“Dinner with my sister and her family,” he said.

“Why aren’t you with them?” I asked curiously.

“Maybe I like you more than them,” he said. The smile was evident in his tone.

I laughed.

“Same reason why I am talking with you instead of hanging out with my brother,” I said.

“So how did he react when you told him?” he asked, noticing my tone.

“How do you think?” I asked.

“I am sorry,” he replied.

“Why are you sorry? He has a problem, he will handle it,” I said matter-of-factly.

“So how was your day otherwise?” he asked changing the subject.

“Moderate. Yours?” I asked trying to forget how the day had gone by.

“Was woken up by a very beautiful voice,” I smiled at his answer,” lazed around thinking about her and spent the evening with my sister’s family. And now I’m listening to that beautiful voice again,” he said. “How incredible could it get?” he asked.

I blushed. How could somebody be so amazing? Just that one sentence could make my day.

“Can I change my answer?” I asked.

He laughed. “Sure,” he replied still laughing.

“My day just got better,” I replied. “Because I have you to make me smile,” I said truthfully.

We spoke about general things that happened in the office the last week. I told him about Nikhil’s reaction in detail and he told me how his niece was utterly adorable. I laughed. His niece sounded so cute. Finally it started getting very windy outside. My hair was all messed up and I was slightly shivering. I decided to head back in.

“Good night,” I said.

“Good night. Don’t think too much about me,” he replied teasing me.

I laughed and switched the phone off. He was amazing. That smile still up on my face I entered the house. All the three of them turned around to see me and I immediately wiped that smile off my face. They were being impossible. Nikhil and Gaurav were normal but Jai was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“13?” he asked.

“You told him too?” I asked Nikhil and Gaurav.

“You know I am still sitting here,” Jai said. I ignored him.

“Jai knows Akash, so we told him,” Nikhil replied.

“Unbelievable,” I was exasperated. Everybody in the world knew. Maybe I should just mail everybody and tell them, I thought.

To Everybody,

I had a crush on Akash since I was 13.

From,

Rhea Kapoor

Maybe then they would get over the 13 factor. I decided to ignore all the three of them. I was messaging Akash. It was better than watching Jai sneer. He was such an ass.

Nikhil and Gaurav went to see the house now and I was still looking at my phone. They both got calls and now they were busy leaving me with this unbearable friend of theirs.

“He slept?” Jai asked. “Because you are clearly just staring at a blank screen,” he said. Okay he caught me. Akash was driving. I didn’t have anything to do.

“He is driving,” I said from between my teeth.

“I knew it,” he said laughing.

“Want to help me with the dessert till he reaches wherever he has to reach?” he asked sensing my irritation.

“Sure,” I obliged.

We went into the kitchen and he removed two different cartons from the freezer. One had vanilla written on it and the other had chocolate on it.

He scooped the chocolate one in three cups and the vanilla in the last one. I was amused. This guy still remembered my favorite flavor of ice-cream. I was smiling.

“What?” he asked.

“Just that you remember,” I said pointing at the vanilla cup.

He put his hand through his hair and smiled sheepishly.

“Do you know this is the first time that you have been nice to me?” I asked teasingly.

“Just have your ice-cream. It won’t last,” he replied still embarrassed. I laughed and he smiled too.

“Can I have another scoop?” I extended my cup towards him.

“Still 12 are we, when it comes to ice-cream?” he asked as he added another scoop of vanilla ice-cream to my cup.

“Little Rhea, aren’t I?” I winked at him.

He laughed. We gave Gaurav and Nikhil their ice-cream cups. After a while, we left for home. It had been a long day.