“Two coffees please!”
Rajiv demanded to the coffee shop owner, as he and Pooja settled down in the chairs besides the glass wall, with the rainy backdrop at their side. It was raining, and it was partially this fact that had helped his cause of bringing Pooja for a coffee. He had been longing for such a date (only if you could call it one), and today was somehow the day when anything he did was going well. First of all, he had done his complex algebra quiz satisfactorily “ok” and then, their minor tests were postponed for a week. And this date was the perfect icing on the cake. Amidst all this thought, he felt a strange but very pleasing sense of fortune and luck flowing in through his blood vessels. He was evidently overjoyed. Then, he began thinking of Pooja, the pretty girl he had met two months ago in the classroom. They were taking the same humanities course this semester. She had attracted him the moment he saw her last year at the orientation, but had never talked to her. This course had provided what he wanted. Now, when he had got it, he was wishing to make a mark. He opened his mouth slightly to start the conversation, but before the air from his voice box could reach his lips, he heard a familiar voice from behind.
“Your coffee sir!”
It was the coffee boy. He served the cups on the table and went away. Pooja instantly picked up hers and sipped it trough her lips. It made a large sound, as if a large rotund man was at sleep with loud snores. Rajiv was unimpressed, but it hardly made any difference to her image as a pretty and beautiful girl that he had made up in his mind. He picked up his own cup and tried to sip as quietly as possible. After a few dull moments, Pooja broke the silence by a loud cough. She had apparently choked herself with large gulps of the hot liquid. “Now is the moment”, Rajiv thought. He made an inaudible adjustment to his throat to make it as baritonish as possible, hurrying up the coolest line for the occasion, deciding up on the straight one, “I hope you are fine!” He was about to say it, he was just milliseconds, no nanoseconds from it, when something inside him crashed down and he fell on the ground.
“Nice coffee!”
What! Is that it? Could you manage only this? Rajiv was disgusted on his own. Something inside him was cursing him. “You do not need enemies!” He was a bit too shy perhaps, uncomfortable with girls. But he would never admit it. Frustrated with himself, he sipped his coffee even louder than her.
“Could we order something to eat?”
Rajiv was happy at this statement. But hang on! It was not him who had said it. It was her. Having realised it, he just uttered “hmmm”.
“Waiter! Waiter!”
The boy who had served them coffee came running. The café was crowded due to rain, so it took him half a minute to reach them. The menu card on the table just caught Rajiv’s attention. He grabbed it and opened it. The first thing he took a look at was the price column at the right. He was astonished at the ceiling high prices. He had already spent a large sum for the expensive coffee, and if he ordered even the cheapest sandwiches, all his money will be gone; left only sufficient enough to buy him a bus ticket back to home. But, you got to do it. No way to escape. Making calculations, he was so busy that he did not realise that Pooja was already dictating the order.
“A chocolate muffin and a cheese grilled sandwich. What will you take Rajiv?”
What will I take? There is nothing to take. How will I pay for the bill? Her order had already exceeded the budget and even if he ordered anything, not a single bite will move down his throat. He hesitated.
“I’ll take nothing”, calculating the odds of still escaping with a manageable bill.
“Why? You got to take something.”
“OK! A cheese sandwich!”
The boy went away.
What have I done? Now, be prepared to wash plates, but that would certainly be so embarrassing. Maybe, I’ll convince the owner to leave me this time. Or maybe, let me see off her to her house, and then I’ll return and do whatever he wants. These thoughts were flooding his mind. Before another thought could haunt him, Pooja was on the loose.
“There is no better thing than coffee on a rainy day.”
“Ya...Yes! That’s right.”
He had never imagined that he would ever regret his decision of asking Pooja for a coffee. She was popular in the class and when he had asked her, at least ten other boys were watching at the bravery of the geek Rajiv. But he had succeeded. And now, it was all going the wrong way. He was wondering at his luck, which had suddenly turned upside down. He would now rather have his quiz screwed up and the minor test 5 minutes later than ending up in the embarrassment he knew was inevitable. Is asking a girl for a coffee such a big sin? It is better to remain girl-less than to let them see your financial limitations. It was feeling like burying himself down in the ground. It was pathetic and disgu….
The boy arrived.
“I am sorry madam, but the muffins and the grilled sandwiches are not available. Only cheese sandwich.”
What? Rajiv was happier than he had been the whole day. Just sandwiches. He was feeling very lucky as he saw the boy lower the plate on to the table. Rajiv thought it correct to ask the waiter.
“Bring another sandwich then.”
“No. No need. I am getting late. We can share from the same one.”
Rajiv could not believe his ears. Had she asked him to share his sandwich? His heart was hopping and jumping like a mad horse, fighting to cut open and land over the empty half of the plate, as if wanting to serve itself along. He had his hands on the sandwich, but he did not notice that amidst his thoughts, he was unintentionally caressing the bread along its length. He had gone mad. Pooja put his hand forward to break the sandwich into two. As she hit Rajiv’s hand on the way, he withdrew his hands as if he had just hit a hot iron.
“What happened?”
“Haan…oh nothing!”
The horse had just jumped over his stomach and he could feel it lurch. A mere touch of a pretty girl could trigger an unpredictable chain of events, he wondered. After the sandwich was broken into two, he picked up one of them and tore it with his canines. Not sure he was that any of it was going to reach his bouncing stomach. But seeing the girl in front of him tearing it like a discovery channel crocodile, he was somehow calmed. The rest of the time went alike.
As they emerged out of the shop, Rajiv shouted out for an auto rickshaw. One of them stopped in front. Pooja climbed in and bid adieu to him by a wave of her hand. Then she said, “The coffee was good!”
The coffee was indeed good, Rajiv thought, the best one I have ever had!
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