Another Incomplete Love Story # 2

His Side of the story 


Raj was thankful to God for letting him know Tina so well...

How well…?

They were best of friends... almost inseparables. In the little time they'd known each other, they had discussed everything about each other, they  shared troubles, advised each other, helped each other overcome difficult times. And the best part was... Tina was Shalini's friend.

He had liked Shalini for a while now. The minute he saw her pass by, he'd forget everything he was doing or thinking. He remembered this one time at the canteen he'd stood right behind her at the counter queue, he'd got a whiff of her shampooed hair that fell like dark brown silk threads, straight down, right till her waist. He liked Tina's curly long hair better, they made her look mysterious as an added advantage of her dark kohled black eyes and a slight duskiness in her complexion (He had imagined Cleopatra to resemble Tina often)  ... But Shalini looked like an angel... her skin was almost white and her flawless skin with lips that were the lightest shade of pink and twinkling little eyes made her appear like a carefully created heavenly creature.


He had told Tina about his liking for Shalini and she had time and again tried her best to mention it to Shalini in a way so as not to offend her and yet get her to like him. After weeks on end of begging she'd finally agreed to introduce him to her. He imagined shaking hands with her. So delicate her hands looked ... it was as if she were some precious piece of china that deserved to be shown off proudly and be handled with utmost care. The way she looked made him want to take care of her. It was just a crush he was sure...but the liking was beginning to grow. It made him nervous around her.

He had often considered Tina though... the reason he got about talking to her in the first place was the (hidden) fact that he'd actually liked her... She was this sort of a rebel... with music all around her. She was on every performing arts team, the music band the dance group, the reading society, the social service group, the women’s activist, she was a good orator, a crowd puller and she was so bouncy that it was hard to spot her steady at a place for long. She was seen on rallies supporting environment cleanliness often and was a little too loud for her tiny self. He liked her for being so outspoken... And then he'd even doubted that he would probably fall in love with her Cleopatra looks... 

But in time he’d realized it was impossible… She never looked like she needed someone to take care of her… She was happy on her own… she wasn’t fragile like the other girls were… She cribbed sometimes, but it was so short lived that 15 minutes into making fuss about something like a tornado had hit, she’d be seen eating an ice-cream with friends and laughing away like nothing in the world bothered her.

Shalini on the other hand was calm… and lady-like and looked fragile…

The day had finally come, tomorrow he’d be meeting Shalini… He kept his best clothes ironed and ready.. He’d even gotten his hair cut neat. He’d been trying to sleep for the last one hour, he had to wake up early, but sleep just wouldn’t come!...

Raj was not fickle minded… it was just a passing interest he had for Tina which had developed into a beautiful relationship he wanted to keep. Asking her out would have turned disastrous… It wouldn’t have worked out he often convinced himself… He was glad she was his best friend.

Somehow tonight he couldn’t stop thinking about her…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Her Side Of the Story…

As she looked into the mirror and brushed her hair she wondered… Would this guy be the one?

The first time she’d seen him… she had noticed him for the way he looked… She remembered commenting on his looks once when she sat with Tina on the park-bench watching him play basket ball with the other guys.

She did feel a pinch of jealousy when she came to know he’d come around to talk to Tina a few days later.

She’d heard Tina speak of him on and off… Sometimes she thought Tina liked him too.

But gradually she’d started mentioning of his interest in her. At first she thought Tina was making fun of her and didn’t consider it seriously… but she caught him quite more than a couple of times staring at her unblinkingly often and had wanted to giggle… but always managed to suppress the giggles.

He looked strong and the kinds that would take care of her… She knew he wrote well, she’d read his writings on the magazine… But that’s all she knew about him. She agreed to see him because she had been impressed by his persistence.

Shalini wanted to get out of her family… Her parents got divorced when she was in High School and her dad had married again… Her step-mother was a high maintenance lady who didn’t give Shalini any trouble till she had her own child. Her dad also seemed to be less attached to her and more attached to the new baby... He did not however forget his duties of educating and sheltering his first daughter. She’d started hating her family… Being in class was more of an escape for her. Raj’s interest in her in a way made her hopeful…

She got up from the stool in front of the dressing table and put away her comb… She climbed into her bed and thought of him as sleep gently came to her…

She didn’t come to know when she fell asleep…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Next Day


The entire day had gone by very slowly for both Shalini and Raj… There was no class it was a holiday…

Tina was supposed to meet Raj at the Coffee place. Shalini would be coming with her… They’d fixed it for 5 in the evening… Raj looked at his watch for the 100^th time since he’d reached here… 4:45… why did the clock look dead when he wanted it to move faster…?  

A few minutes later he saw the girls walk in… She looked wonderful… the light pink frock she wore made her skin look pinker than ever…

He could feel his heart skipping a beat…

Tina ‘s voice chimed in and broke the silence…

Raj…  Tina…

Tina… Raj…

Intoroduction was done…

She spoke for a while to Raj casually, asked both of them what they’d like to have and then got up and went to the counter and left them to talk. Placing her order Raj saw Tina, telling the man behind the counter something while she pointed towards the reading corner… He nodded and she walked to the bookshelf and began looking at the books… She picked out one and sat on the bean bag under it to flip through the pages… He wished she’d look at him once… It would have helped him gather courage to start talking…

For a few minutes he kept staring at Tina and forgetting what he was here for… She looked so innocent, he wondered if he actually liked Tina more… what if this would be the end of their friendship… what if Shalini in course of time disapproved of their friendship… If he had to choose between Shalini and Tina… he knew he’d have chosen Tina… but here he was … sitting at the same table with the girl he thought he was almost in love with… while staring at his best friend… Someone he wanted to keep for life…


Their coffee came… Tina got hers where she sat….Shalini and Raj spoke for long… Tina watched them on and off to see if the conversation had ended… and then went back to reading her book…

The last time she looked up, they were laughing… Raj’s eyes met her… for a second he thought he saw her eyes brimming with tears… but she smiled and looked back at the book.. He must’ve imagined…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Third side of the Story

The latest entry in Tina’s Diary:

Dear Diary,

Today they met… I don’t know what made me think it would be easy to watch Raj laughing away with another woman… I know he likes her… And I know Shalini needs a guy like him… She needs to get out of the bad part of her life… she deserves better… She’s the most harmless soul I’ve ever met…

And Raj is the most decent and caring guy I’ve met…

What I did not know was the fact that no matter how noble a work it seemed, to get them together… it would mean giving up on a man I’d finally liked… When David had left me I had decided I’d never like another man again… I never knew I’d actually start liking Raj…

It’s all well I believe… I’ve been over with something worse than this… guess I’ll come to terms with it…

I’ll just cry this one off for a while…

Ah well…I just hope the two make each other happy…

I should go to sleep now… I have band practice early tomorrow morning… and the guitar needs new strings…

Omg...I don’t want to go to class…!

Tina