by Flame Dragon
“What! Does he know?” Natasha asked.
“Nope and you won’t tell him I won’t allow it,” Sakshi said.
“But why?” she asked.
“He’ll just make matters worse for you,” Sakshi said.
“We’ll I don’t care,” she said and walked out.
“Hey wait up,” Sakshi followed her.
Divya on the other hand was left alone to face the wrath of the girl whom Sakshi had just punched.
She soon found Sachin talking to his friends at the library. As she approached him his friends noticed her and left probably to give them some privacy almost everyone knew about the two of them Sachin had made sure of it.
“Hi! Looks like you chased my friends away,” Sachin said turning to her.
“You wanted an answer didn’t you?” Natasha asked him.
“What answer?” he asked her clueless.
“I remember your song,” Natasha reminded him.
“Well?” he asked her eagerly.
“Its past two months,” Natasha said.
“Okay you lost me there,” Sachin said confused.
“I gave you needed two months to win me over and …….its more than two months now,” Natasha said looking grim and serious.
“You didn’t bother all this time so I am sure it’s just an excuse,” Sachin said.
“Your right it’s just an excuse but doesn’t change the fact that I can’t be with you,” she said.
“Why?” Sachin asked.
“I can’t tell you that,” she answered.
“I have the right to know,” he insisted.
“You won’t like it,” she warned.
“I don’t care,” he said pressing for an answer.
“We are going to be separated by my dad and you’ll end up being more hurt than I,” she thought to herself.
But she couldn’t tell him that, she felt that if he hated her it would be less painful for him.
“I like Mathew more than you,” she said.
“That’s a lie” he said not wanting to believe it.
“I didn’t realize it at the beginning but he did more for me than any of you ever did, he was more than just a friend he was like a—” Natasha tried to explain.
“I care about you, I did things too…I…I.…send you clothes….I…I….I took you to the hotel—” he tried to remember the things that he did for her.
“I am not talking about luxuries,” she cut him off.
“What?” he asked startled.
“He was there for me when I was sad, when I needed company, when I was in danger, when I needed help, he may be annoying, lazy, cold, and sometimes even outright mean, but he is also kind, warm, selfless, patient and most importantly true to himself,” she said.
“So you really like him so much?” he asked her.
“You don’t understand I owe him, I never had the chance to repay all his kindness towards me, but now I think there is something I can finally do for him,” she said.
“And what is that?” he asked her.
“Affection,” she answered.
Sachin turned and left without saying anything.
At that moment she realized the truth that she tried to hide all this while.
The Strange Confession
“Do you think Mathew needs a girlfriend?” Natasha asked Sakshi at the library.
Sakshi placed her pencil down and gave a huge sigh “You silly girl…..he doesn’t need a girlfriend he need you,” she said.
“I can’t,” Natasha said.
“Why not? Didn’t you two kiss?” she asked her.
“Well…..we did but….I kinda slapped him after that,” she explain.
Sakshi jaw dropped in shock “What?! Are you serious?” she asked her and Natasha nodded.
“He’ll never touch you again after this,” Sakshi shouted she was so loud now that even the librarian had noticed.
“Shh…keep it down,” Natasha whispered reminding her.
“Maybe you should tell him your sorry,” Sakshi whispered.
“How can I? Not after that!” Natasha said.
“Maybe you need practice then….practice makes perfect remember?” Sakshi reminded her.
“Its not the same practising in front of you and doing the same in front of him,” Natasha pointed out.
“Hmm true…..wait let me think,” Sakshi said and began thinking in silence.
“Got it!” she said snapping her fingers.
“What is it?” Natasha asked eagerly.
“You can practice your apology right in front of him,” she said.
“We already discussed that—” Natasha started half interested.
“No no.……listen you can apologize in a language that he doesn’t know,” Sakshi explained.
“But what will I tell him?” Natasha asked.
“Just tell him its for a drama rehearsal or something,” Sakshi said calmly.
“Okay that makes sense,” Natasha said.
“When your finally ready you can simply revert back to English the same apology that you would be practising,” Sakshi said.
“Your so brilliant Sakshi!” Natasha said pulling her cheeks.
“You know you can even confess your love for him while your at it,” Sakshi added giggling.
“Hey!” Natasha protested.
“By the way just be careful about your facial expressions some people can read your faces you know,” Sakshi reminded her and Natasha nodded.
“Are you two here to study or has this place become a chatting room for you two,” it was Mr kamath the librarian a tall man who towered over them.
“We were just discussing a math problem,” Sakshi said joining her hands.
“That’s it! Out both of you!” he shouted as he grabbed the two of them by their ears and threw them out of the hall.
“Wait please! We’re sorry!” Sakshi begged but he didn’t listen he just turned around and left.
Sakshi showed him a middle finger the moment he turned around.
But then he stopped midway and turned around “Come back when you have an apology letter signed by the principal,” he shouted before leaving.
“Here’s my apology letter!” Sakshi said showing him two middle fingers this time as he turned to leave.
Natasha did a facepalm when she saw that.
“Sakshi there’s a camera just above you I hope you haven’t forgotten that,” she said pointing to the camera at the top corner of the entrance door.
“Hah! Hah! Okay time to leave,” Sakshi said and ran off leaving Natasha behind.
The next three days Natasha and Sakshi spent their time writing their speech about what to say to Mathew.
“Are you sure about this?” Natasha asked as the two were about to go for lunch.
“Of course! Don’t worry he won’t understand a thing,” Sakshi assured her handing over a sheet of paper.
“But it’s in French?” Natasha asked surprised.
“Yes the language of love!” Sakshi answered dreamily.
“My French is not so good,” Natasha said hesitantly.
“No matter as long as you understand what you are saying your good! Besides it’ll help you build up your confidence,” Sakshi said.
Just then Mathew was passing by with Sukesh, Greg and Salim these four had become close friends recently especially after all those hours they put in practising for the new year.
Sukesh noticed Natasha and Sakshi looking at them “Oh shit! We forgot we have an appointment with our Professor,” he said suddenly.
Salim noticed him wink “Yea! We gotta ah—” he was groping for words.
“We screwed up on our project! See ya!” Greg said and dragged Salim with him.
“What about lunch?” Mathew asked.
“We’ll catch up with ya,” Greg answered.
“Phew! Good thing they are gone,” Sakshi said.
“I don’t think I would have the courage to talk to him with those three around,” Natasha th
ought.
“Looks like he is making new friends,” she told Sakshi.
“Are you jealous?” Sakshi asked her with a grin.
“No I am just happy for him,” Natasha answered.
“I think you are unhappy that he is ignoring you these days,” Sakshi said.
“No I am not I am perfectly fine with it!” Natasha said.
“Okay okay whatever! Off you go now!” Sakshi said pushing her forward towards Mathew.
“Hi!” Natasha said tapping Mathews shoulder as he was walking alone.
“Oh hi! Wazzup?” he said looking back.
“Off to lunch?” she asked him.
“Wanna join me?” he asked her and she nodded.
“Hey you know I need your help with something,” she asked as they were walking.
“What kind of help do you need?” he asked.
“Well you see I and a few of my classmates have decided to conduct a drama sometime this semester so I need your help to practice my dialogue,” Natasha explained, she kept the explanation short Sakshi had warned her not to talk too much she was a bad lair after all.
“You could ask Sakshi to help you out,” he pointed out.
“Well she is busy at the moment,” she said.
“Well okay if you are in a hurry I’ll help you,” he said.
“Great! Lets go somewhere quiet then,” she said.
“Wait don’t you wanna have lunch?” he asked her.
“Oh ya! After lunch then?” she asked.
“Okay,” he answered “Something is not right here,” Mathew thought to himself.
After the lunch the two of them found a quiet place and Natasha handed him a piece of paper.
“What language is this?” he asked her surprised.
“Its a French drama,” she said.
“Okay and where did you learn French?” he asked her.
“From my school days I took it as an optional subject just for fun,” she said casually.
“Wow! That’s cool,” he said.
“I am not too good at it though, must have forgotten what I had learned by now,” she said.
“I see,” he said rubbing his chin.
“Well that’s how it is,” she said “Anyway let’s get started,” she added and Mathew nodded.
“I hope you know that I am illiterate when it comes to French,” he said looking at the sheet of paper.
“That’s why I gave you that paper just read it along with me and you will be fine,” she said.
“You should test it first see how he reacts,” she remembered Sakshi’s advice.
“Okay here goes,” she thought.
“Pouvez - vous comprendre quoi je suis dire? Aucun?”
“This is great!” she thought looking at Mathews blank expression.
“Je n'ai pas le courage de vous parler en anglais encore, alors j'utilse le français, c'était l' idée de Sakshi, vous voyez que mon français n'est pas très bon”
“Wait why is Sakshi’s name here?” Mathew asked.
“Just keep reading,” she said waving her hand.
“Where was I? Oh yes,” she remembered.
“Mais ce n'est pas grave, vous ne coprendrez rien de toute façon, je suis désolé pour ce qui s'est passé ce jour-là mais c'est de ta faute, c'est ce qui se passe lorsque vous embrassez quelqu'un sans permission. Mais maintenant que je pense à cela, je pense que je suis allé un peu trop loin” she starred at him for a while.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing nothing,” she said and continued.
“Peut-être que c'est juste moi, je ne pouvais pas voir combien vous étiez blessé, mais même après tout, vous ne m'avez jamais abandonné toujours compter sur vous quand j'étais en difficulté et j'ai besoin d' aide ou quand j'ai simplement besoin d'une ami j'ai pris beaucoup de toi et pourtant jr n'ai jamais rien fait pour toi, maintenant je sais comment vous sentez que c'est ma chance, je me souviens encore du jour où j'ai pleuré avec toi qui me retient doucement, je ne peux jamais oublier ça. Je dois avoir rompu votre cœur plusieurs fois maintenant, n'est-ce pas? Eh bien, j'ai décidé d'accepter tes sentiments c'est ma façon de dire merci”
“How did I do?” She asked.
“Brilliant! You were so good I did not understand a thing you said,” Mathew said.
“Well that’s the point of all this,” she thought smiling.
“By the way what other languages do you know?” he asked her.
“Pardon? I mean pardon? Wait they both mean the same thing!” she said realising that both French and English shared the same word.
Mathew chuckled “Looks like you still have a bit of French left on your tongue”.
“It can be a bit confusing sometimes,” she explained.
Just then the bell rang signalling the beginning of the afternoon sessions. They both frowned at each other in disappointment.
“Well it’s getting late,” Natasha said waiting for Mathew to leave.
“Yea,” Mathew said hesitant to leave before her.
“You should go,” she said releasing that he wasn’t leaving.
“Yea,” he replied still sitting.
“Like.......right now!” she insisted.
“What? Oh! Well…..I’ll….leave then….have a nice day,” he said standing.
She had to point to her right indicating him to leave before he finally moved. Even as he left he looked back at her once or twice, Natasha finally felt at that moment she was making progress.
The One True Love
Natasha was talking with some girl in the class when she was suddenly grabbed and pulled off her seat.
“Out of my way that’s mine!” Sakshi roared.
“Your being a bully these days Sakshi,” Natasha said looking unhappy.
“I am just stressed!” she said.
“Why?” Natasha asked.
“Because of you! Your doing everything your dad told you not to do, I am the one who’s gonna face the heat you know!” Sakshi informed her.
“Sorry about that it’s a mess these days,” Natasha answered.
Natasha had made the habit of carrying out her French confessions in front of Mathew every day since the last 14 days but was still feeling nervous about finally telling him the truth and Sakshi was not happy with the slow progress.
“You better wrap things up fast cause your time is running out,” Sakshi warned her.
“What do you mean?” she asked her.
“Never mind! So are you gonna do it today?” Sakshi asked changing the subject.
“I think so?” Natasha said unsure.
Sakshi shook her head in disbelief “You have been saying that since last week”.
“Well its not easy you know,” Natasha informed her.
The lecturer entered the class and soon Natasha and Sakshi got busy taking notes.
Sakshi was not really sure if an apology was what Natasha was after. She had began noticing the two of them often chatting after the usual rehearsal and that too smiling. But she was sure of one thing though Mathew had drawn a line between their relationship and was trying hard not to cross it. So she decided to have a chat with him one day just out of curiosity. So when she had a chance she met him near the basketball ground. Apparently Mathews new friends loved basketball and managed to convince him to join them and he was quite good at it too.
“Hi! Where’s Salim?” Sakshi asked Mathew as she arrived, noticing that he was missing.
“He’s sick,” Mathew replied “I could give him your number though if you want,” he added.
“No thanks I have his number already,” she said.
“He’s been sickly ever since you rejected him coldly,” he informed her. “maybe a hug from you will make him feel better,” he added chuckling.
“I’m not going anywhere near him from now on,” she said dismissively.
“Your so evil,” Mathew said.
“Says the criminal drug lord,” she retorted.
“I don’t think you came here j
ust to trade insults now did you?” he asked him finally.
“Is it true? Do you secretly love her?” she asked him.
“Did that moron tell you?” he asked her after a long silence.
“I don’t need some moron to tell me that, its anyone’s guess,” she replied.
“Well doesn’t matter anymore, I made peace with my feelings,” he said.
“So that’s it you just give up?” he asked him irritated.
“She looks happy, her boyfriend is back and we are all friends once again, I don’t want to ruin all that,” he said tying his shoe lace. “When I tried to kiss her the last time it tore her apart, I wont force her to choose between me and him. I would rather see her happy I am not that selfish you know,” he added.
“Your just a coward you got slapped once and you just decided to keep away,” she scolded him.
“Why are you so worked up anyway? Its none of your business,” he asked her.
“Of course it is! I am like a sister to her, besides even though your an idiotic lazy lying pervert you are a pretty decent guy most of the time. You deserve her more than that self serving prick,” she said.
“Tell that to your dad who threatened to kill me if I don’t do as he says,” Mathew shot back.
“That’s a lie!” she shouted back.
“Its true he told me to be her disposable boyfriend, to break her heart when the time is right,” he explained to her.
“I cant believe you actually feel for that!” she said laughing loudly.
“Its true he was a hit-man once, did he tell you that?” he asked her.
“He was a former hit-man but that’s long past, as for the threat Mr Rodriguez wont allow it. He may be a scary dad and ruthless businessman but there is one thing he is not and thats a murderer, he is a man of principles and its especially true after his traumatic childhood”. she declared.
“You seem awfully sure of yourself,” he said frowning.
“I’ve known him since the day he was born, so trust me when I say it,” she said as Mathew heaved a sign of relief.
“Do you have any idea how much I wished I had a boyfriend like you, someone who would come and save me whenever I am in trouble and always treats me like a goddess, all the while looking sexy and cool?” she asked him.