Agent 024

YOU'RE DRUNK

Irrfan took me all the way to the ground and then swirled me up.

The alcohol had made me carefree to an extent I didn't think possible. I hardly danced with friends around, to dance among strangers, hell would turn over before that happened and yet it did.

We turned and swirled in rhythm and ended in each other's arms after every move.

As I swirled again, Irrfan pulled me back and this time, I ended up too close. I had my hands on his shoulder while he held my waist - the way we had been dancing this whole time - but now there was a whole different feel to it. I looked up in to his eyes and found him staring into mine with an intensity that sent a shiver down my spine. He didn't have his usual smirk and his eyes were a deeper color that I'd ever seen.

"Tisha?", he breathed, his voice barely a whisper.

This felt familiar. And then it dawned on me. This felt too familiar.

"Oh of course it is.", I said breaking our stare and stepping out of our hold. 

Too real, too soon. This was deja vu. I had been in the exact same moment with Abhay a few hours ago and suddenly the pain I was trying to hide shot back. Alcohol was supposed to drown pain right? Bullshit. It brought pain back.

I stepped away from him and went to the bar. Clearly four drinks weren't enough.

I took the bottle of vodka not caring to pour it into glasses. I knew for a first time drinker to have this much alcohol, I was in for a bad hangover but I didn't care and it felt good not to care at all for a while.

"Can I buy you a drink?", a guy I had seen before in our languages class - Rishabh came up to me as I sat drowning the vodka.

"Isn't it free?", I said waving the bottle I was just drinking from ironically.

"Yeah, it is.", he said smiling.

"Then by all means.", I said laughing, waving him towards the chair opposite me.

"Aren't you the one who ran the course after falling off the rope?", he asked.

"Do you mind buddy? I'm trying to deal with other issues here.", I said. Giving me a trip down the memory lane was no good especially now.

"That was kind of cool. Crazy but cool.",  he said with a wink.

"You think so?", I asked leaning in towards the table.

"Oh I believe so.", he said leaning in too.

With him this close, I noticed the features of his face clearly. He had curly black hair that flowed freely on his forehead. His smile came naturally to him. He was the kind of person who looked good without trying and didn't even know it. But the alcohol had made me more perceptible to these observations. As we closed in and I could almost touch his face, I stopped and put my hand on his chest. 

"No.", I said backing away.

"Why not?", he asked.

"Why not indeed?", I wondered.

But the last remaining logic in me made one final try.

"Because I want my first kiss to be special, not a drunken mistake.", I said, surprising myself. I had never thought that out loud but I guess this must have always been there in my subconscious. 

He pouted. "Well, got to respect that.", he said, "Would you care for a dance then?", he said extending his hand.

"That I'd love to.", I said as I went back to the dance floor.