The subtitles in life.

Kaffeine.

This was the name of the cafe they were seated in. It may have been a lounge or a spa but they could not be more cozy. Such was the aura. A high-pitched voice singing Teri Deewani could be heard in the backdrop, accompanied with a group of fingers playing keyboard. There were more fingers at work �"his. These were drumming. On her arm. Sensually. Sometimes, the drumming was replaced with rubbing and higher it went along her sleeves draped in nothing; she was wearing one of the sensuous reds �" sleeveless dress. Before they went any higher, they were swatted away. You could see her blushing red cheeks competing with the shade of the dress. Seven years. Seven long years, and yet today they could show you an instant meltdown with the slightest of effort.

But today, he was not the one to back-off. Being as much desensitized or overly sensitized as he was in the effect of three bottles of beer gulped down (he was not a heavy drinker, people!), you could embarrass him today in a moment and the next moment will find him singing away merrily. And the scene we got to witness today was a reverted one.

‘Yes’.

That was all she had said six years and eleven months ago. She had come, stood beside him and said that. That. Yes.

But what was he to make of it? On a bright sunny day, standing in a chemistry laboratory, she just comes and says yes. It could mean anything, but it didn’t. He knew this, she knew this. Even we know this, people, who are we kidding? We are fantasists. Romance fantasists. The overly ambitious genre. But this is real life we are talking about. Not our beloved romance novel. And he pretended to not know what she meant. She went red. I couldn’t tell which was it between embarrassment and anger and probability supported both. Her next step decided the reason when she stepped back and tried to flee.

‘Ananda!’ He called. And she turned back. But she didn’t say anything.

‘Yes for what?’

‘I don’t know why I said that. Never mind.’

‘Don’t be a coward, Ananda.’

‘I am not. You know why I said that, Shiv and you are pretending nevertheless.’

‘Three months, Ananda. You say yes after three months of rudely rejecting me and you expect me to readily listen and dance?’

‘I tried not to be. Rude, I mean. I didn’t know how not to be. I am sorry.’

He smiled, and that was the last day he made her red with things like embarrassment. Or at least it is the last I know of.

Until now.

(..to be continued)