YOU

“excuse me! “


Armaan turned back when some one patted his back just to find a beautiful and cute girl standing in front of him with a tense expression.


“ya! “armaan asked her .


“I wa-n-te-d your he-l-p.” she tried putting all the words together.


Armaan smiled and sensed the reason of her nervouseness .


“sure. Tell me how can I help you.”


“can y-o-u he-l-p me in ….”


“girl! Don’t hesitate . ask me frankly! “ armaan told her politely.


Esha cleared her throat . “can you help me to find a date for me. I m a lesbian and I wish t ogo out with a hot chick ! “ she said in one breathe and closed her eyes tightly.


Armaan roared in laughter “whaaat? You are what? Oh! Man that’s pretty hilarious . …who asked you to do that! “


“eh….no-one! “


“no-one …ahaan!! Don’t worry kid you can tell me …m in third year and I guess m senior to your dear seniors who decided your orientation” armaan said her smiling.


“never mind sir…its fine . I ll be glad if you tell me the names of two hot friends of yours.”


“tell them I asked you for a date . “


“errrr…”


“ohkk….shweta and nayan. Satisfied ?”


“thanx a lot sir”


“ I would be glad if nest time you ask me for a date instead of my girlfriends “ armaan winked .


“I wish the same sir .thanks once again.bye” esha chuckled and turned back .


“whats your name ,by the way?”


“esha”

 the next year.....

“Tch tch”…. armaan hit the desk making a sound loud enough to force the future CEOs ans IAS (cat and civil services aspirants ) to take a wild break from their books and give a disgusting look to these silly ,aimless youth. It was off exam season and the college reading room was full of competition seeking folk and few unfortunate people like armaan and esha who got stuck in some work and finally decided to complete it just a night before its submission.


Armaan ‘cause of his genes hardly gave a damn to anyone in his surrounding. Its neither his superbia nor his fluctuating arrogance but his experience and desire for perfection in everything he steps in that made his attitude ..”whatever I do…its right”.
“tch tch…” this time the tap was not on the desk but on esha’s head which was on sheets of paper she was working with.


“Eh!! Whaaat? “ she opened her sleep filled eyes and miffed. Though drowsy but her eyes with beautiful mild sea greenish shade looked beautiful and was enough to act as a drug for anyone who is hooked to beauty.


“How can you doze off ,esha? Dammit ,how can you behave so careless at this hour? This is heights of… “ armaan codded vexedly.


Both of them were working as a team on a story which was to be submitted in a literature fest of DU. It was a big deal for them to clear the prelims and be a part of the such a grand competition. They were working on the story since two weeks but armaan being a busy senior couldn’t devote passable time to this writing thing and esha inspite of all her efforts was unable to drag armaan to it. Anyway the dead line arrived and it was the red alert time for both of them.


Poor esha,really had a long day . she was busy collecting the essential stuff required for making a suitable and presentable draft for their story, apart from her minor project and lab report submission. Two days continuous work and inadequate sleep was taking her unintensionally in nap.


“I was not …asleep.i was thinking..” esha cut off mid statement and replied exasperatedly . She tried defending herself with a silly excuse but with a serious experession.


“oh yeah…!! “ he rose his one eyebrow. “ may I know what this little writer was thinking”


“I think the hero should be more polite and understanding. That ll make the life of our love birds easy. “ esha taunted.


“was that a taunt? “


“no !it is the requirement”


“you did that again… you think I m not polite”


“It hardly matters what I think. I guess we should switch on to our story”
“sure….lets continue from the part 2 …I think the gal should accept the way he is” armaan ‘s choler washed away and he started working.


Esha glowered.


“whaat?? I m talking about the hero and the heroine.” Armaan made a genuine response.


“hmmm..” esha murmured.


“ lets continue …”


Both of them kept their childish arguments aside and started working. Under armaan ‘s nose Esha didn’t even dare to close her eyes for more than a sec. The best part about armaan was that he was a really good at critical thinking and was fast enough to bring out new ideas. And one of the worst thing about him was that at times he was the beast of the den. It was really tough for people around him to counter his logics even if they knew he is not absolutely correct. It use to take esha a good deal of energy to manage with him ..to argue with him...to cooperate and follow his orders ….


“did you retouch the introductory description of the guy and gal….? “ armaan asked pulling out a headphone from her ear.


“ummm…” she turned her laptop towards him.


“good…,.. no errors…..no useless length…..” armaan analysed.


“hey!!! Why did you change my song? “ esha inquired
.
“you have got a very poor taste of music, gal!! just adding a flavor to your music…the real music “ armaan grimmed and smiled!


“ no taste??….wtf! lucky ali sounds meaningful atleast and the rest in my playlist don’t scream and wail as your dear rock bands do ….as if mourning on someone’s death…” she forcefully turned the screen and switched the previous soundtrack on.


“why do you girls fall for this nitwitted and buncombe lyrics? I mean how can be some one soo silly to cry with such fantasies and that too all time. ? “ armaan chuckled .


“ ohhhh..please! emotions armaan….emotions!! something that is out of your reach. “ esha gave him a fake smile.


“hmmm…. Quiet engrossing..haha!! “


“you are sick. And that is the reason you don’t have a girlfriend.”


“girlfriend!!!!! Now this is something out of the blue….. anyway as per as my knoweldege the reason I don have a girlfriend is that I never proposed any girl till date. “


“whaaaat??? Seriously !!! you never did? You don’t look like a timid boy!!! “ esha asked in her same innocent tone .


“yeah kiddo!….. whats so surprising. Its just that I have never felt for any girl seriously and for fun I have many chicks to go around with me .” he winked. Armaan was counted among the heartthrobs of the college and he actually was the most eligible dude for making a decent boyfriend. And esha cant deny the fact as she had heard alot about armaan in her hostel.


“oh yeah …mr.indian tom cruise :P .But I really don’t believe this…that you never felt for a girl.”


“and why do you think so?”


“because you are the perfect boy friend material….atleast your outlook potrays that”.


“perfect boyfriend material…sounds interesting….kindly elaborate.”


“will certainly do…once we finish this story.” Esha showed the red light to the out of content topic and they shifted their gazes back on the respective lapton screens.


"by the way....you als odont have a boy friend ....that means you are also rude!" armaan pulled her leg.


" shut up! " esha snarled as armaan grinned.


Another tacit hour passed. The pedagogues squirmed on their places in definite time intervals and some kept being on and off for coffee breaks.


“don’t you think you are forgetting something? “ esha brokethe silence and questioned armaan who was busy scribbling on paper.


“huh? What? “ he gave a shufti to her and started scribbling again.


“ its aman’s birthday tomorrow. And I guess you ought to wish him as the clock strikes 12! Aint u? “ esha said pointing towards the clock .


Aman and armaan were friends since the first day of the college. Both of them were each other’s soul. From pranks to play they almost did everything together.


“fuck! How can I forget that? “ armaan searched his pocket for the cellphone.


“hey bro! janmdin Mubarak ho yaar” he wished aman with a grin. “And esha too wishing you the same”.


After few gestures armaan fixed her gaze on esha who was busy typing something on her laptop. Esha noticed it and raised her eyebrows intending to ask “what happened?”


“ohk ill be there in 10 mins” armaan answered aman on phn.


“don’t tell me... you are planning to take a break for a birthday treat.” Esha reflected
.
“please sweetheart! Its aman’s birthday. I ll be back in 20 mins . and invited both of us …lets go and take a short break” armaan tried convincing her in his most seducing voice.


“armaan!both of us know it wont be a short break. We are running short of time ,I hope you remember that. And aman is very well aware of the urgency of your presence over here ,I m sure he wont feel bad if you don’t go over there now.” Esha protested his idea of taking a break from the work.


“oh! C’mon esha. It wont take more than half an hour. Lets move.” Armaan kept persuading.


“ohk then ! do whatever you want but I m not coming. I ll do the joining part of the write ups! “ esha growled.


“you are really a sweet kid . thanx sweety…I promise Il be back in 30 mins. “ armaan picked his jacket and bid her bye.


“don’t forget to bring my share of birthday cake. And convey my apologies to him” esha smiled.


“sure” armaan vanished from the place in secs.


Esha started her work again . from joining all the write-ups and making soft copies of armaan’s scraps.With many other soundtracks ,passed another heavy hour . esha though slowly but kerp working on the story.
It was at 2;30 when armaan hurried back in the almost empty reading room.
He prepared himself mentally for facing esha. He was feeling damn guilty and whole through out his way he kept repeating the words of apology that he was about to say the girl.


As soon as he got back to his seat , he found esha sleeping.




The hold of a pen in her curled fingers was exihibited that she dozed pff while working. Armaan habituated hands reachd her head with an intension to wake her up. But he stopped and simply swayed his hands on her hair. He took his seat as softly as possible for completing the work. . the almost done work arouse the pathos and dug his guilt even more. He gave a caring look to the poor gal who was sleeping very deeply. Armaan stared at her for more than a min and closed his eyes to wishing to wake her up and apologise. But he didn’t ‘cause he knew how desperately she needed rest and how much she deserve to take a break.He took the headphones out from her ears and tried taking her laptop without making a sound. After fifteen minutes he realized that still the story was incomplete …the end was not yet decided and thus was not written. Armaan finally decided to wake her up ‘cause he couldn’t decide the end alone…. He stood up and sat beside her.


“esha! “ he wishpered in her ear.


“esha…wake up ! hey! “ he tried once again and patted on her hands.


Esha was sleeping so profoundly that armaan’s efforts didn’t result in any fruit. Armaan couldn’t take his gaze away from her face. Her innocent face which was looking prettier was delighting his senses. Unlike when she is awake…her face was peaceful ,serene …with no worries ..without any responsibilities …without any pressure…without wrath…without any irritation…it was just “her” in her own world. Armaan kept his head on the desk just to come in level of her eyes.
He muttered again…”esha! Wake up gal”


Armaan’s extremely lovely and soft voice was unusal for esha’s ears and so her deeply sleeping brain hardly ordered any of her nerves to wake up. Armaan patted on her cheeks and spoke again.
His hands denied to move away from her soft skin and he simply kept soothing her cheeks. HE himself didnt realise why he wanted her so much at that moment. He kept reminiscing every moment he spent with her in past 1 year. the way their friendshop boosted and how she became a part of his life. And how she was a lilltle devil and angel at the same time for him. How he annoyed her ..at times to an extent which was out of her capacity to handle. .
the more he hated himself ...the more he felt the existence of love for her in his mechanically working heart.
He was falling for her more and more with every second.He finally realized what he wanted and what he was missing. He kissed her forehead and got his laptop in front of him.
The night passed and the clock stoke 10 in the morning.


“ excuse me!! Hello….guyz wake up!! “ a gal spoke as she shook esha .
Esha opened her eyes and found armaan’s face on her side. She then put her head up and answered to the gal… “yes?”


“Can I use the charging point if incase your laptops are charged ?” the gal smiled .


“Sure” esha said and got up to took her charger off the switch board.


“fuck! Its afternoon! Armaaaaaaaaaaaan!!! Wake up!! Dude …..we are dead…wake up!!! “ she screamed as she realized about the hour.


“GET UP!! “ she doddered him .the girl who was standing for the charger as well as the other people in their vicinity fixed their eyes on the fresh morning entertainment show.
Armaan woke up and gave her a smile.


“you are smiling. WE ARE SCREWED ARMAAN. Its 10 AM …u ge t that 10 AM!!! We were supposed to submit the draft by 9!!! And at latest reach the college before 11! We are not even done with the ending. “ bewildered esha kept howling.


“calm down sweety . nothing’s wrong…. Everything’s on track.” Armaan said as he kept his head down on the desk again for a nap.


“ you are still in your dreams.. armaan !! we have not submitted the draft.!! “


“ I did. Actually aman did. He ought to give me a return birthday gift” he winked .
“whaaat?”


“Yes” armaan announced it proudly keeping his head on his palm .


“and you completed the story without me” she was almost crying.


“ yeah..i tried waking you up ..but you were sleeping very deeply.”


“ you could have thrown a glass of water on my face. How can you do it armaan ….how can you end the story without my acknowledgment. You know it very well that for me it was something more than a competition….it was the first grand platform for my writing thing. You have really hurt me. “ she said packing her bag and stood up to leave her place. Even the girl standing next to them and the only viewer remained of the chit chat show gave armaan a disgusting look as if saying “all men are dogs”.


“Hey hey….hold on” he reached for her hand and stopped her.


“trust me…it cant end it without you. Just keep your faith in me for next 2 hours and then I ll accept whatever you decide.the end is still not ended” armaan said holding her face in his hands.


“I m not getting you. You said you have sent the final draft. Now only jugmnent time is left . be more clear armaan.” She demanded.


“Lets move to the venue and talk” armaan pleaded.


“ ohk”


The gal standing next to their table was baffled by this time .


Stefen’s college , DU!


“They are gonna announce the result in next hour” armaan said esha giving him a glass of sof drink. ” They have made the top short listed stories public . its over there ..you can take a copy and read it! “ armaan pointed towards the stalls just 1o meters away from them.


“hmmm….. you are not coming? “


“ NO! I need to meet some of my friends in DU. They are waiting for me in cafeteria .join us when you are done.” Armaan spoke as he stood up.


“ohk .fine. but armaan m still not feeling good at it”


“I m sorry for everything. I hope you will write a better end than me. trust is all i can ask for” armaan left the place.


Esha went to the counter of the write-ups . after having a glance on other write ups she finally picked up the pages showing the red and black title “YOU”…. Some Destiny written by esha gupta and armaan Mehta. She took a deep breathe and sat on the chair to read the final draft of the most awaited dream. She went through the initial pages fastly as she was aware of the content . finally she turned the last part of the story titled ” m hoping….m waiting”
She started reading the lines…..she is still reading it… from the mention of their first meet till this line….she read about the last night and what change it is gonna present in her life…. she read everything…… she felt the touch of armaan's kiss the moment she read about it.
The dumbstruck gal kept reading and reached to the last lines of the write up….
“ now since you have read what my heart stores there is only one question I wish to ask ….. will you be my date?
I m madly in love with you sweetheart!
This was the end from my part and m still waiting for an end…. From your side.” em>