Episode - 10

For the next one week, the same schedule followed. We exchanged texts throughout the

day about how our day was going, every single detail … and it was strange how interested she was in what I had to say; it was another first, someone was interested in my life. It was nalso my first tryst with writing. They were only texts, though some used to be really long, but Sarah was the first one to tell me that I wrote well. I never texted using shortened words and she liked that.

And at nights, she talked about how devastated she was; she couldn't stop talking about the break-up.

And after a few days, I no longer sweated when I talked to her. It had started coming to

me naturally. She once said that I almost sounded like Arnab … and that was why she talked to me. Though that was a little derogatory, it still sounded like a compliment to me, at least initially.

Days passed by and though we hadn't even met, I started getting possessive about her and asked her to stop telling me how much I reminded her of Arnab. I even asked her to stop talking about Arnab all the time. Things were getting serious from my side. It wasn't love, but there were territorial issues. Sarah was my territory now. And I hated to imagine that Arnab was still around anywhere near.

'You think we should meet sometime?' I said.

Words now came to me naturally. I was getting better. I could make her smile, make her laugh her guts out, make her feel better … all by talking. At least, I had finally started to realize, that talking to the opposite sex wasn't exactly rocket science. Though sometimes, it was really hard not to get, like, a little turned on when she used to whisper on the phone. Sometimes I found myself thinking about what it would be like to kiss her, just as Arnab had. I often imagined the two of us on the last seat of an empty classroom, in her school uniform, the short skirt and the tight shirt, her inviting smile and the irresistible pout would call out to me. Goosebumps.

'Sure, we should,'she said. 'We should have met even before I met Arnab,'she said happily . So. Totally. Hot .

The day when I had to meet her finally came; she wasn't sure at first whether she should

meet me but then she said she really wanted to see me in person. I was shivering in my

pants. I had never been out with a girl alone. I didn't know how to keep them entertained. I

remembered the time when I wouldn't even dare to look at her long enough, let alone talk to her. But things were different now, I told myself.

That day, it took me more than two hours to get ready. It included brushing twice, changing my shirt thrice, changing my shoes, forgetting my wallet at home … etc . My pocket money used to be a paltry sum of six hundred bucks and I did a mental calculation over a hundred times as to whether it would be enough or not.