CreativeStories01
- Reads 1,060
- Votes 43
- Parts 10
Rajesh Koothrappali is doing what he does best in the Caltech hallway: standing slightly behind his friends, nodding earnestly, clutching a coffee he doesn't need, and silently overfeeling everything.
Sheldon is lecturing Leonard and Howard-loudly, confidently, incorrectly about social cues-when Kimberly-Renee walks by.
She doesn't stop. She doesn't make a scene.
She just glances at Raj.
A half-smile.
A soft, knowing look.
Her fingers brush the strap of her bag as she passes, and she says-quiet enough to be plausible deniability, loud enough to be devastating-
"Cute shirt."
That's it. She keeps walking.
To everyone else, it's nothing.
To Raj, it's a cosmic event.
His brain detonates into fireworks: She noticed me. She spoke to me. She didn't recoil. Was that flirting? That was flirting. Oh my God, I'm in love. What if she's the one? What if we have dogs? Too soon. Not too soon. Never too soon.
Outwardly, Raj freezes.
His mouth opens.
Nothing comes out.
The coffee cup trembles in his hand like it, too, understands the magnitude of the moment.
Howard notices first.
"Oh my God. Did you see that? She totally flirted with you."
Leonard squints.
"I think she just said 'cute shirt.'"
Sheldon, without looking up:
"That was not flirting. Flirting requires intent, escalation, and-why is Raj turning that color?"
Raj tries to speak. He can't. His eyes are glassy. His breathing is shallow. His soul has left his body and is already planning a second date.
Howard grins, delighted.
"Buddy, you just got hit on."
Raj finally manages a sound-something between a squeak and a whimper-and points helplessly down the hallway where Kimberly-Renee disappeared.
Inside, he's already writing poetry about her voice. Outside, he's mute.
Selective mutism strikes again.
Unselective love never fails.
And somewhere down the hall, Kimberly-Renee smiles to herself-just slightly-because she knows exactly what she did.