Chapter 9: Let the alcohol talk
We ate dinner and were done with it by eleven thirty.
“So what’s the plan? Are we watching a movie or what?” I asked Kabir as we all were sitting in the living room doing nothing but just surfing around music channels.
“Well I have a surprise for you all.” He said.
“And what is that?” Simran asked.
“Even though I know none of you will be able to, but still I will ask any guesses before I take out the surprise.” Kabir said.
“Let it be anything but I am not going to play ludo or snake and ladder. They are just too boring now!” Ayesha said guessing it to be a board game.
“It’s not a board game Ayesha. Any other guesses?” Kabir said.
“Chuck the guess thing Kabir, tell us what is the surprise. I am getting bored now.” Simran said.
“Okay. Ladies and gentlemen let me present to you a bottle of Vodka and two bottles of beer.” Kabir said and took out the bottles from a plastic bag which was right next to him.
“What the hell! What’s wrong with you Kabir?” Simran said.
“What the fuck man. Do you even realize apart from you and Simran we are minors here. We aren’t allowed to drink.” I said surprised and shocked what he had just brought up.
“You still a minor? Seriously?” Kabir asked me.
“Yes. I turn 18 next month if you remember my birthdate but seriously are you that dumb that you just grasp that part of what I said and just overlook the drinking part.” I said.
“Oh come on bro nothing is going to happen. This is just a onetime thing. I know nobody present in this room is going to do it ever but I want to do it just once and I want all of you to be a part of it.” He replied.
“That’s insane Kabir. Where did you get these anyway?” Ayesha asked.
“From dad’s closet, I sneaked out the keys.” He said.
“Do you even realize that if anyone ever finds out that we are going to do this you can go to jail Kabir.” Simran said.
“What do you mean by we are going to do this. There is no way we are going to do this.” I made it very clear.
Surprisingly, Tanya was playing my role at the moment, sitting in a corner absolutely mum on the topic.
“Okay lets vote. We are five people here which means it will not end in a tie. Let’s vote. We do what is in the majority.” Kabir said.
“Fair enough. Let’s vote.” I was pretty confident that all the four of us were going to deny which meant we ultimately had to drop the idea.
“We start with you.” Kabir said to me.
“My vote is no. This is just idiotic and you are insane for even bringing this up.” I said.
“Okay. Simran.” Kabir said.
“I am in.” Simran replied and gave me the shock of my life.
“Have you gone crazy? Do you even realize what you are going to do?” I said angrily.
“Yes I know and it’s just a onetime thing, besides, there is nothing wrong in trying something new.” She tried to clarify. I was nothing but disappointed by her reply.
“It’s 1-1. Okay………..Ayesha.” Kabir said.
“No way.” She replied keeping it short and harsh!
“Okay…That makes it 1-2. Okay……Tanya. It all depends on you now. Let’s make it 2-2 because they already know my reply.” Kabir said.
Tanya thought for a while. She was confused even though I failed to realize what was there to be confused about. Not only it was unethical it was illegal at our age! She would have said a straight no but she was still lost in thought.
“Come on Tanya. What’s you reply?” Kabir asked.
“Let me think. I am confused.” She said.
“Okay take your time.” Kabir said.
“Will you promise that this is going to be a onetime thing?” Tanya asked.
“I promise.” Kabir said and smiled.
“Are you sure nothing will go wrong. I mean what if we all get high and do something idiotic. In that case we all will be screwed.” Tanya asked.
“Nothing of that sort is going to happen. These are mild. Nobody is going to get high. I promise.” Kabir said.
“For God sakes Tanya listen to yourself. You know this is wrong.” I intervened.
“You have no right to intervene in her decision. Let her make her choice.” Kabir said.
“What about your dad? He will come to know that a couple of bottles are missing in his closet. What if he asks?” She said.
“Don’t worry about that. I am going to fill water in these and put them back where they were. He rarely drinks and when he does I am the one who takes it for him. I will handle it all!” Kabir replied.
“Okay.” Tanya said.
“So what’s your vote?” Kabir asked.
“Yes.” She replied.
“That’s like a brave girl. That makes it 3-2. Get ready guys we are going to do this.” Kabir said all excited.
“I am just disappointed in all of you.” I said and shook my head in disgust.
“Shut up grandpa. Can’t you just stop being a grandpa and enjoy a night just like grandma is trying to do.” Simran said.
“What’s this grandpa and grandma thing all about.” Ayesha asked.
“Will tell you about it later. So who is drinking what and when do we drink?” Simran said.
“I will tell you all. Wait for a while. First question first. Who is going to drink what? For that I will show four fingers, choose one and that decides what you are going to drink. Kiddish for sure but it works. And FYI I am having Vodka.” Kabir said.
“Very convenient.” I said.
“You want to have Vodka? Okay no problem with that but if you do it will be unfair. Let’s leave it to destiny and my mind what you are going to drink, which kind of alcohol you are going to taste for the first and the last time.” Kabir said.
“Okay. As you say.” I replied.
“Okay so let’s start with Simran. Please choose one.” Kabir said pointing out four fingers towards her. She chose the ring finger.
“You are having vodka. Now…Vishal. Choose one.” Kabir said. I chose the index finger.
“You are having beer. Good for you. It’s very mild completely eliminates the chances of your getting high so if any of us freak out kindly stop us from doing something stupid.” Kabir said. I was kind of okay with that. I trusted what he said but it did scare me a bit when I thought, what if the situation goes out of control.
“Next up is Tanya. Choose one.” He said. She picked the little finger.
“You too are having beer tonight.” He said.
“Very convenient.” I said again.
“It’s destiny bro. It’s inevitable.” He replied.
“It’s grandpa grandma kind of a thing. I get it Kabir. Good one.” Simran said as she high fived Kabir.
“So that means Ayesha too is having vodka tonight. Are you okay with that?” Kabir said.
“Oh I just can’t wait to have a sip.” Ayesha said trying to make a really excited face even though there was sarcasm in every word she spoke.
“Okay. Now, the second question. When do we drink? Well we play Jenga for that.” Kabir said.
“What does Jenga have to do with all this.” I asked.
“It has to do a lot. We take a sip every time we take out a block and put it on top of the stack.” Kabir said.
“Nice. I like it.” Simran said.
“Well the idea is nice. I can’t deny that.” I said.
“You too now?” Ayesha said. I just shrugged my shoulders as I had nothing better as a reply.
“So shall we start?” Kabir said.
“Let’s do it.” Tanya said pretty excited.
The Jenga was out and placed properly on the table. It was Kabir who was going first; he took out a block from middle of the stack and placed it on the top, poured a small volume of vodka in a glass and drank it.
I was next. I also took out a block from the stack, placed it on the top a
nd took a sip from my beer bottle. As soon as I tasted it I felt like puking. It tasted awful.
“It’s awful.” I said.
“Don’t worry. You will start liking it after a couple of sips. The first sip always feels bad.” Kabir said.
It was Simran’s turn next and she too took out a block, putting it at the top of the stack, took a sip of Vodka which Kabir had already poured for her.
“I don’t feel anything. No taste whatsoever.” Simran said.
Then it was Ayesha’s turn. She also took out a block and put it on the top of the stack. At first, she was a bit tense and didn’t want to take it but after a bit of persuasion from everyone she decided to go ahead.
“I too don’t feel any change. Is this even real?” Ayesha said.
“Wait a while. After a couple of sips you will start feeling the change. Vodka is the best when it starts working .” Kabir said.
Finally, it was Tanya’s turn and as was expected she too took out a block and put it on the top of the stack. She then took a sip from her bottle of beer.
“It’s awful. Why is it that the beer tastes awful and there is no effect of Vodka?” She asked.
“Beer has an awkward taste to it whereas Vodka most of the time is tasteless in general.” Kabir said.
The first round was over and everybody had a sip of it.
The same continued for the second, third and fourth rounds. Surprisingly, I did feel good about it after a couple of rounds. The taste was gone and even though I was feeling a bit dizzy yet it did bring calm within me. A much needed one at that!
Simran and Ayesha still didn’t feel any difference whereas Kabir’s reaction showed as if he was on verge of getting high now. Another shot and he might collapse.
I was finding it difficult to concentrate on the blocks now, as it is, the pile became pretty sensitive given that almost all removable blocks had already been removed. I tried to take out one but just couldn’t do so and the tower fell.
There was still half a bottle of beer left for both Tanya and me. Similar amount of Vodka was left so we decided to play another game just to finish it off.
We started playing again. I remembered a couple of rounds but what happened after that was nothing I could remember. I blacked out at some point of time but I didn’t remember when.
The next morning or rather afternoon I woke up at 1 P.M. and when I did my head felt heavy. It felt as if someone had been banging it against a wall every second again and again without any break. Hangover is the general term that people use in such a situation. I tried to remember what happened last night but couldn’t really remember anything other than the Jenga and drinking.
“Oh look who is finally up.” Kabir remarked.
“What happened to me?” I asked.
“Nothing happened. Hangover is what you are going through. Here have some lemonade.” He said and handed me a glass.
“How the hell are you all up? You didn’t have any hangover?” I said seeing the three of them sitting in the room.
“It was just you. Looks like you have no alcohol consuming capacity, less than Ayesha even! Poor boy!” Kabir said.
“Shut up Kabir. I didn’t even want to drink in the first place. My head is about to burst” I said.
“Take rest Vishal as it is we have a lot to talk. Let your partner in crime come then we will talk.” Ayesha said.
“Partner in crime? What are you talking about? That reminds me, what the hell happened last night? I hope I didn’t do anything stupid?” I said.
“You did do a lot of things last night but I wouldn’t term them as stupid exactly. A bit explicit is what I would say but we will talk about that later. Take rest for now.” Simran said.
“Is this another prank from you guys? Because if it is, this one is so not cool. You guys are scaring me to shit now. Please tell me what happened.” I said.
“We will. Let Tanya come back. You take rest till then or if you want to freshen up then do so. She will be here in around twenty minutes I guess. We have also ordered the food so go freshen up or sleep, whatever suits you.” Kabir said.
I decided to freshen up because if I had decided to sleep I would have got nightmares given that they weren’t telling me what happened yesterday and I would have started making up things which would have led to dreadful nightmares so I decided on getting up instead. I trotted towards the washroom to freshen up. My head was spinning while I walked and I cursed myself for consuming alcohol all the more. Nobody was telling me what had happened last night so I was feeling all the more scared. I just couldn’t wait to hear the story, given their reaction I was getting vibes that something had gone terribly wrong.
By the time I was out of the washroom Tanya was already sitting with the rest on the dining table. The food had been delivered so Ayesha and Simran were unpacking it for all of us to eat. Tanya was sipping lemonade which pretty much proved that she too got high.
“So when are you guys going to tell me what really happened last night?” I asked.
“Wait till you are done with lunch then we will tell you in fact show you both what happened last night.” Simran said.
“You too were high!” We both said simultaneously to each other.
“You both were.” Kabir said.
“Now have lunch fast if you want us to tell you both what happened.” Ayesha said.
We had no other choice and as it is I was starving so we ate lunch. After around half an hour we all were done with it. “So what happened last night?” I asked again.
“Patience my boy, patience, it always helps.” Kabir said and winked.
“Enough shit I have taken from you Kabir. You are the reason I got drunk in the first place.” I said.
“Okay angry young man. Wait in the living room all, of you. I will just be back after connecting the mobile to the television so that everyone can see what happened.” He replied.
Tanya and I both were pretty anxious as we both had no clue of what had happened last night and as far as the way the people around were reacting it gave a feeling that it sure wasn’t good! We tried to wait patiently but we were just too anxious.
“Aren’t you done already?” Tanya said.
“Just a minute.” Kabir replied.
After a minute he came out and said, “We are ready. Are you sure you both want to watch this? I think you both will be better off if you don’t see this! Just my advice rest it’s your personal decision.” Kabir said.
“Shut up and put it on.” I said.
“Okay.” He said. He then changed a couple of settings on the television to set it on mobile.
“Here we go.” He said and played the video.
The video started and as soon as it did, I was already regretting wanting to see it. I was trying to take out a block from Jenga but just couldn’t get hold of one. It was as if that I had lost clear vision and couldn’t figure out the exact position where the tower was kept on the table. I tried to catch hold of one but my fingers clicked which meant that bricks weren’t there and so I started grinning and then started laughing at myself.
“Oh he just can’t get hold of a brick.” Tanya said in the video and then started laughing and clapping.
Finally, I get hold of one but as soon as I do, the tower starts to fall, I try to blow into the stack to prevent it from falling but it falls. I still am laughing.
“I lost again. Hell yeah.” I said and started laughing like crazy. The rest also started laughing on seeing my reaction.
“You are such a loser.” Tanya said and laughed.
“Yes I am a loser. A pretty big one for sure.” I said and laughed even louder. The way I was laughing was much more funny than the conversation and that was the reason the people around were also laughing, apart from Tanya, who visibly was high.
Soon my laughter turned into loud howls and I started crying.
“Why are you crying bro? What happened?” Kabir asked.
“What do you think why am I crying? I am crying
because I am a fucking loser. I am a fucking loser at everything.” I said.
“That’s not true bro. You are pretty decent at getting high. Nobody can get high as soon as you got today.” Kabir said.
“So I do win at something. Nice.” I said and started laughing again.
“Well not exactly. Tanya gave a reaction before you did so she is the winner.” Simran said.
“Yayyyyyyyyyyyyy……………I beat you in this as well. You are such a big loser but you are pretty sweet!” Tanya said.
“You do know how to insult me don’t you. Not only are you calling me sweet, you are calling me a loser as well.” I said.
“But calling you sweet is much of a compliment rather than an insult Vishal.” Ayesha said.
“Yeah for you it is but she very well knows I hate it when someone calls me sweet. It kind of sounds gay to me. A sweet guy is often gay. Words of wisdom from a drunk man!” I said.
“Well said bro.” Kabir said.
“I wasn’t insulting you. I was genuinely….genuinely calling you sweet. Why do I sound different to myself? It’s creeping me out.” Tanya said.
“You sound different dumbass because you too are drunk and high!” I said.
“I am not a dumbass. You are a dumbass.” She replied.
“Oh so now I am a loser, a dumbass and sweet. Any more insults you have for me?” I said and started crying again.
“You are such a cry baby. Oh my baby…….Come to mommy it’s time to change your diapers.” Tanya said and laughed like an ass.
“You are not my mommy. I have my own and she is thousand multiplied by thousand raised to the power one by infinity better than you.” I said.
Everybody laughed as if I had said something really idiotic which now I realize I had.
“But anything raised to power one by infinity is equal to one which means that you are calling Tanya as sweet as your mom.” Simran said.
“Oh you called me sweet as your mother. Thank you. I like you. You too are sooooooooooooooo sweet.” Tanya said and smiled really sweetly.
“What’s wrong with you people? Now you expect a drunken man to do physics right as well. And you Tanya stop calling me sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.” I said.
“You are sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.” She said.
“I am noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot.” I replied.
We had now started fighting like children do by giving emphasis on a letter in a word which we thought sounded good and proved our point of view.
“Yeeeesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss” She said.
“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.” I replied.
We both kept saying yes and no simultaneously for the next two minutes stopping only to breathe while the rest three of them are seen laughing.
“This is awesome. I love it.” Kabir said making the camera face towards him and then laughed like an ass.
“Okay stop it you both. You both sound like losers at the moment.” Simran intervened but we weren’t interested in stopping and let the prolonged yes and no continue for another minute.
“Shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup. Keep quiet you both.” Ayesha shouted.
As soon as she shouted we both stopped.
“Finger on your lips.” She shouted again.
Tanya and I judiciously followed her instructions.
No one spoke for the next ten seconds. Right after that Tanya started to cry.
“Why are you crying now?” Kabir asked.
“Ayesha is a very bad teacher. She shouts at us.” Tanya replied still crying.
“Yes she is a very bad teacher. I also don’t like her.” I said and started crying as well.
“Shut up you both. If any of you cries I am going to beat you.” Ayesha said again pretty much irritated.
“Now she wants to hit us. Please help us.” I said.
“Please help us.” Tanya also said the same as we both kept crying.
“Okay. Stop crying now. I will help you. What should I do?” Simran said.
“She shouted at us so you shout at her.” I said.
“Yes yes and shout very rudely that she cries.” Tanya said.
“I am not going to shout at her. Give me something else.” Simran said.
One thing that I was amazed to see was that other than Tanya and I none of the other were even a little bit high!
“She wanted to hit us. You hit her.” Tanya said.
“Yes hit her.” I said.
“Hit her. Hit her. Hit her. Hit her. Hit her. Hit her. Hit her. Hit her. Hit her.” We both kept shouting so as to leave Simran no option other than hitting Ayesha. She hit her very softly but that was enough for the us drunkards.
“Yayyyyy… I love you aunty.” I said. My reaction had so much rejoicing as if Simran had hit Ayesha so hard that there were no chances of her recovery!
“I love you too aunty.” Tanya said.
“I am not an aunty. Shut up you both.” Simran replied pretty mad at us for referring to her as an aunty.
Tanya and I looked at each other smiled and said in unison, “Aunty.”
“Stop it you both.” Simran warned.
“Aunty. Aunty. Aunty. Aunty. Aunty. Aunty. Aunty. Aunty.” We kept repeating again and again irritating Simran all the more every time we said it.
“Shut up. You both are such big losers.” Simran shouted and we both fell quiet again.
“Even aunty thinks I am a loser.” I said and started crying again.
“You are not a loser. You are sweet and caring.” Tanya said and smiled.
“I am not. I am a loser. I fuck up everything. Since the day I was born I am fucking up everything good that was ever going to happen to me. I had a dream and I fucked it up when it was going to be a reality. I studied hard to get good grades but then fucked up my exams and then………” I said and paused.
“Then what?” Kabir said.
“Then she came in. I liked her so much. She was the first woman I actually liked apart from the women in my family.” I said facing Tanya.
“You like meeeeeeeeeee. I like you toooooooooooo.” Tanya said with the smile constantly stuck on her face.
“The first time I saw you, I fell for you. I knew you were the one and I could see that in your eyes too. But it was never to be. I fucked that up as well. I so wanted to be with you. All the pranks you played, even though I showed I was irritated but inside I felt happy. There was someone who loved to play with me, let it be pranks I don’t care. I never ever thought a girl will ever intrigue me as much as you did. But I fucked it up. I fell prey to peer pressure. I behaved as a kid thinking that the ‘fuck you’ thing will fuck my remaining school life. I behaved as a fucking retarded. I moved away from the only woman who touched my heart. I am a fucking loser. All this while, I kept saying that I hated you even though my heart kept weeping and kept longing for you. I just couldn’t stop thinking of you.” I said saying all of it while tears rolled down my eyes.
There was pin drop silence for the next thirty seconds. Nobody could understand what was to be said and all of us patiently waited for Tanya’s reply who appeared as awestruck as the rest, even though she was pretty drunk.
“You don’t have to talk like that. I like you too. In fact, I too fell for you the first time I saw you on my birthday. Our eyes met and I knew you were the one, the one I wanted to spend the day with, the one I wanted to know better. I played all those pranks on you because I wanted to grab your attention. You were just not paying heed to whatever I did and I wanted you to know me. I thought if I joke with you, you will like me but I didn’t know you are one of the few sensitive, simple boys left. You are sensitive and simple that’s what makes you sweet and cute. I hated you that night when you said that you hated me because that night I was going to tell you that I liked you and want to spend time with you but you were just too busy talking about your own thing, your issues with me, that you just didn’t care to listen
what I had to say. I like you and if you are a fucking loser, then so am I.” Tanya said also in tears.
She was completely broken. She covered her face with both her hands still crying pretty badly. Still nobody had anything to say. They all waited for something and I couldn’t understand what.
“Oh you don’t have to cry please. It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I am sorry.” I said and walked towards her or rather trembled my way towards her.
“It’s my fault Vishal. I shouldn’t have played all those pranks. It got a bit out of control.” She said.
“No. It didn’t. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. I am sorry.” I said and held her hand in mine. Now even though we both were having a serious talk, we were still smiling, the alcohol was still talking!
“You mean it?” She asked. I looked at her in the eyes. Even though she was crying she still looked beautiful. I just wished I could remember what was going through my head when I saw her eyes. I didn’t have to wait long to hear what it was.
“Yes I am. I mean it.” I replied still looking straight into her eyes. A strand of her hair fell on her face and I set it right tucking it behind her ear.
“I love you.” Tanya said. Everybody in the video, apart from me, looked shocked after hearing what she had just said. It was as if they just couldn’t believe their own ears but it was true. Tanya and I were shocked on seeing it on the video. I looked at her but she had no words.
In the video, I was still looking at her in the eyes.
“I love you too.” I said and hence came the words that most probably were going through my mind at the time I was looking straight into her eyes.
Ayesha was about to say something but Kabir stopped her from doing so.
Tanya and I looked pretty much lost in each other. It was as if we just forgot that there were people around. We both reiterating the last two dialogues again and again
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Finally, a tear fell down from Tanya’s eye and I kissed it away.
“You don’t have to cry. I am with you, forever.” I said.
This time, out of the video, Tanya looked at me and I had no reply. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing nor could I believe what I was saying.
“You promise?” She said.
“I promise.” I said and nodded my head. She then kissed me on my left cheek. We then kissed on the lips after reiterating the same dialogues.
“Break it you two. You are minors. You aren’t allowed to do that.” Kabir said.
“Fuck you man. You are the one who has brought us in this illegal shit. You made us drink.” I said.
“I guess it’s my turn to be irritated by the drunkards.” Kabir said, regretting having interfered.
Tanya didn’t say anything but used her ‘right hand fuck you rule’ starting with five fingers and finally unleashing the middle one.
“Well that’s all folks. Always remember, a drunk man always speaks the truth so here we have two lovers who hated each other around an hour ago but alcohol brought them together. So do remember alcohol is not a bad thing. The only thing is, by tomorrow morning neither of them might remember that anything of this sort has happened but now that we have it on tape, we can prove it to them. That’s all from here. Good night.” Kabir said and the video came to an end.
Out of the video, Tanya and I were still pretty shocked at what we just saw. We had no words nor any explanations for what had happened for we didn’t even remember any of it.
“So………I guess you guys have a bit of talking to do. The rest of us are waiting in the other room. Call us if you want anything.” Kabir said as he, Ayesha and Simran stood up to walk to the other room. They shut the door behind them.
What followed was a couple of minutes of awkward silence. Neither of us knew what the right words for the situation were because to be honest it was all on the video.
“So.” I said and broke the silence that was persisting for the past few minutes.
“So.” She iterated.
“How is the headache now? Feeling better?” I asked.
“Um yeah it’s fine. Feeling a lot better than when I woke up this morning. How about you?” She replied.
“Oh it’s definitely better as you said even though I do feel a bit of heaviness in the head but should be perfectly normal in an hour or so I guess. That’s what Kabir told me.” I replied.
“hmmm. Nice. Do you think that whatever we said and did last night was true?” She said finally trying to bring up the topic for which we were made to sit in the room.
“If we go by what Kabir said, a drunk man never lies. That does apply for a drunk woman as well. I can assure you of that.” I said.
She smiled and yet again I was lost in it for a couple of seconds till the time she spoke again.
“Fuck what he said. What do you think? Whatever you did last night is what you feel?” She asked getting a bit serious now.
“I don’t know actually. To be very honest, the feeling that I had for you before we got drunk was of pure hatred. I know it might hurt you but yes that’s the feeling I had.” I said.
“So you mean to say that what you said on the video was not from the heart but it was just the alcohol talking and in that situation, without any emotions behind, you said ‘I love you’ to me.” Tanya said. I was flabbergasted by her question. It was very precise and to the point. She sure should go to law school after her 12th, she sure has the ability of being one!
“I don’t know. Was that what happened to you?” I said trying to make her spill the truth before I said what I wanted to tell her even though I was pretty confused what I had to say!
“I asked the question first. It’s you who should be replying before asking me.” She said. A lawyer in the making for sure!
“I am a bit confused about what I am supposed to say so maybe after listening to your reply I can finally come up with words what I have to say on this topic.” I said.
“This is not a joke Vishal. It’s pretty serious. We both proposed to each other last night. Surely there is a reason for it.” She said.
“Alcohol is the reason for it as we all know!” I replied.
“So you do think that it wasn’t what you meant from the heart but it was the alcohol.” She said.
“Stop twisting what I say. Are you taking lawyer lessons from someone or what?” I said.
“I am not taking any lessons nor do I require one. It’s in my gene. My dad’s whole family is filled with lawyers. More on my family history later, but you do believe that it was the alcohol which was talking.” She said.
“I am confused. It can be true but I am not sure because who knows deep down inside some part of me still likes you and maybe loves you.” I said.
“So now you mean that there might be some part of you that loves me which means you don’t love me whole heartedly. Right?” She said.
“Is this a court where you are the judge and I am the convict because I feel like one! When do I get the chance to confront you?” I said.
“Once you answer my questions I am all yours, I mean you can ask as many questions as you want. So you said you don’t love me whole heartedly.” She said.
“I never said that, you assumed it to be.” I replied pretty irritated with her for twisting everything that I was saying.
“So does that mean you love me whole heartedly?” She asked.
“I never said that either.” I replied.
“But you just said that you don’t love me half heartedly which means you do love me whole heartedly!” She said.
“Stop twisting my words please.” I begged.
“Okay, so you are confused about it all.” She gave her final verdict.
“I kind of am. So, now do I get a chance to confront you?” I said.
“Sure go ahead. Even though I know the end result would be that I too will end up saying I am confused but we can try if you want.” She said.
“We will
wait and see. So do you think that it was the alcohol talking and any part of what you said were not from the heart, not even a single word that came out from your mouth is what you feel about me?” I asked.
“Well that’s a pretty long question and a pretty strong one too but I don’t know. I will reiterate your answer. It might be, it might not be. I am confused.” She replied.
“Okay.” I replied.
“That’s all you had? You would have become the worst lawyer in the country if you had tried to be one!” She said.
“Shut up. I have a lot more questions but none will lead us to a conclusion of what we feel about each other so why waste time on that.” I said.
“Yeah. You sure are a loser!” She said.
“I guess I am pretty much a loser.” I replied after a brief thought.
“I was just joking. Why do you have to be so sensitive all the time and take everything I say so seriously?” She said.
“Because I am pretty much a serious human being!” I replied.
“Stop being so serious Vishal. Seriousness kills! Okay?” She said.
“Okay.” I said.
Silence
“Okay I have a question which might lead us somewhere.” I said.
“Shoot.” She replied.
“Last night you said that you hated me the day I told you that I hated you because that day you were going to tell me that you liked me and wanted to know me better and spend time with me.” I said.
“That’s what the video showed.” She said.
“Did you mean that?” I asked.
“I think that part of it was pretty much true. Yes I did like you back then, but as of now the feeling that you have for me is mutual!” She replied.
“So that means I was the one who fucked it all up.” I said.
“I think you did but I was at fault as well. I did things which irritated you a lot and which compelled you to start hating me. I should have known the line and shouldn’t have crossed it but I guess I did.” She replied.
I just nodded. I had exhausted everything I had in my vocabulary. This was the first time or most probably the second time, after last night, that I had given so much input in a conversation. My mouth had started to pain now. Tanya too seemed to have exhausted everything she had as far as her lawyering skills and vocabulary were concerned.
“I think we should go out. There isn’t going to be a solution to this. I hate you and you hate me back. That’s pretty much the truth in our real life. If the drunken Vishal and Tanya love each other let them because they are not going to come back again as yesterday was the first and the last time we consumed alcohol.” I said.
“Speak for yourself!” She replied.
“Okay. Yesterday was the last time I consumed alcohol which meant that even if the drunken Tanya is around when Vishal is present, the perfectly normal Vishal won’t love her back. Is that fine now?” I said.
“Yeah. Pretty much, apart from the part that you missed where you should have apologised for kissing me yesterday night.” She said.
“Excuse me. It wasn’t I who kissed you. It was us. We both made the move.” I said.
“Yeah yeah whatever.” She said.
“I hate you.” I said.
“The feeling is pretty much mutual as I have told you before!” She replied.
Just then the light went out. The weather was already bad with a constant cloud cover since the time I woke up, a thunderstorm was setting in. As soon as the light went out, the room got dark but still there was some visibility. The windows cranked due to the strong wind that was flowing. As soon as this happened, Tanya came close and held me tight.
“What happened to you?” I asked.
“I don’t know I am just feeling scared. Please don’t leave me alone.” She replied.
“Don’t worry I am here. Let’s get out of this room.” I said and she nodded without saying anything. I tried to open the door but it was jammed. I just wasn’t able to open it. I tried calling out to the three of them but no one replied. It appeared as if they were in the balcony enjoying the weather so couldn’t hear us.
“What happened?” She asked her voice a bit shaky because of the fear.
“I don’t know. The door is jammed. It’s not opening!” I replied.
The windows cranked again and the rustling of the leaves outside got stronger, the clouds were getting darker and the room was close to pitch dark now. I could rarely see Tanya who was standing right next holding my hand
“Please don’t leave my hand.” She said holding my hand all the more tightly as all this was happening.
“Don’t worry Tanya. Nothing is going to happen. I am right here. The light will be on in a couple of minutes. Everything will be fine. Trust me.” I said.
“Are you sure?” She said.
“Yes.” I replied.
“You promise?” She said.
“Yes. I promise everything will be fine.” I said and smiled.
She now looked at me straight in the eyes. It was as if my smile did comfort her. The fear was subsidising slowly. Even though I could barely see her, our eyes met and got locked onto each other. I lost track of everything around, of the weather, of the time, of the place, of the electricity. All I knew was that I wanted to be with her. We both kept looking at each other for the next couple of minutes and neither of us uttered a word. It was pure magic. I almost felt my heart skip a beat. I so wanted her right now. I was so deeply in love with her. There was a whole world in those eyes, a world that I wanted to discover and live in. It was as if they spoke to me and I was the only one who could understand the language of this particular pair.
“It’s going to be fine.” I said and put one hand on her left cheek.
“I know.” She replied softly.
The stare continued and we were again lost in thought.
“I love you.” I uttered. The middle word of the last sentence was not even in my dictionary whenever I spoke to or spoke about Tanya but it was as if it came out automatically without me even trying! I immediately realized that I had said something wrong but before I could say sorry Tanya had already uttered her reply.
“I LOVE YOU TOO.”
“I love you.” I said again.
“I love you too.” She replied again.
She took my hand and put it on her face. She then leaned forward and moved towards me. I too leaned forward. Our lips were not more than a centimetre apart when she looked at me. For a second I thought the magical moment was over and she was back to her senses but nothing of that sort happened.
“I love you.” She uttered very softly, the air she exhaled while saying it fell on my face. I enjoyed the warmth of it.
“I love you too.” I too uttered very softly.
We both leaned a bit forward as our lips finally touched. We both kissed over and over again. I was getting addicted to her lip gloss. I don’t know we kissed the right way or not but there was pure intimacy in that moment. As the windows cranked again, she hugged me tightly. The smell of her hair was addicting as well. It was as if I was getting addicted to her already. I didn’t know this happened because of the moment or because we both had it in our hearts all this while but we just didn’t want to speak it out. I wanted it to last forever. I wanted to be with her as long as possible, forever was just a beginning of it! We kept hugging and after around five minutes the light came back on. I softened my grip around her.
“Are you alright?” I asked softly.
“Yes.” She replied softly with the sweetest smile imaginable.
“I told you everything will be alright.” I whispered and smiled.
“I love you.” She whispered.
We both looked into each other’s eyes yet again and were lost for a couple of seconds, again! I kissed her on the forehead and hugged her. She seemed happy with how the things were going and I too was pretty happy about it. I had no clue that something like this might happen but it did and I was enjoying it. Maybe I was in love.
; “No, I am sure I am in love!” I said to myself.
Tanya then fisted me in the chest.
“Ow. What did I do?” I asked.
“You are an asshole.” She said.
“Why? What happened? Did I do something wrong?” I asked.
“You confessed your love for me for the first time when you were drunk and the second time when I was scared. Couldn’t you have done this on a normal day when everything was normal. Why did you have to make it this dramatic! Moreover, we were talking what not shit for the past half an hour. Couldn’t you just have said ‘I love you’ as soon as they went out and I could have ended it with ‘I love you too’.” She said.
“I am sorry.” I said.
“See you still didn’t say it. You are such a dumbo.” She said.
I put my index finger on her chin and moved it up so as to make her face me.
“I love you.” I said.
“See. It was that easy but no, you just had to make it dramatic. Idiot. Duffer. Dumbo.” She said and kept hitting me on the chest.
“You too are using the wrong words at the moment!” I said.
“I love you.” She said sweetly and smiled.
“Should we go out now? They all would be waiting. It’s been over an hour since we have been here!” I said.
“What’s the hurry? Let them wait. Besides, who knows when again we might get this opportunity to be alone in a room with the door jammed.” She said and winked.
“Stop being naughty Tanya even though I wouldn’t deny that I have already slept with you once if you remember.” I said and winked.
“Shut up. I wasn’t talking about that idiot. I was talking about this.” She said and hugged me.
“But I want to do this.” I said and kissed her.
“Whatever you say.” She said and winked again.
“Well let’s not get into that. If we do whatever I say, the things might get a bit freaky out here!” I said and winked back.
“You are such a…..” she said as I interrupted her.
“Idiot, duffer, dumbo, insanely mad and a cheap person.” I completed her sentence.
“No. Such a sweet, simple, sober (not at the moment though), lovely, gentle person whom I love.” She replied.
“Somebody’s attitude is changing.” I said.
“Shut up. I guess the words you used suit you better. I was just being sweet!” She said.
We kept the hug going. After around ten minutes of hugging, kissing, flirting, and talking a bit about last night, the door was finally knocked.
“Aren’t you guys done yet? It’s taking a lot of time. I hope you both haven’t murdered each other already.” Simran said.
Tanya and I hurriedly separated and tidied ourselves up.
“We are done. You guys can come in but there is a bit of a problem.” I said.
“What is that?” Ayesha asked.
“The door just wouldn’t open. It’s jammed.” I said.
“Oh don’t worry about that. I had locked it from outside so neither of you could leave before you had the talk.” Kabir said and opened the door.
“You are an idiot.” I said to Kabir.
“Thank you for noticing.” He replied.
“By the way bhaiya, Vishal and I wanted to talk to you about something.” Tanya said.
“And that is?” Kabir asked.
“It’s something about what happened last night.” I said.
“What about it? Everything that happened was on the tape.” He replied.
“Everything? Are you sure?” Tanya asked.
“Yes. You can ask them. They both saw it all as well. The part that we left out was the part where we went to the room to sleep. You and Vishal were inseparable so the girls had to sleep in the other room so as to prevent ‘something’ from happening.” He said.
“We are not talking about that part Kabir.” I said.
“Then what are you talking about? Why the hell am I being interrogated? You two were having the talk and what was the ultimate decision you both came up with?” He asked.
“Well I and Tanya believe that you played foul on us both.” I said.
“What foul?” He asked.
“Well, first you were the one who decided that who was going to drink what by making us choose fingers and calling it destiny. You gave me and Vishal beer while you all drank Vodka. Vishal and I had serious taste issues whereas Simran di and Ayesha who were also drinking for the first time didn’t really had any taste issue. After that, Vishal and I were the only ones who got high even though we all had consumed equal amounts of alcohol. So by all that I just said it just goes to show that something was wrong with both the Vodka and beer.” Tanya said.
“Vodka being less concentrated whereas beer being highly concentrated is pretty much impossibility given that brands they were are trusted ones as even us, the ones who don’t consume alcohol do know the company’s name. Which leaves us with only one possibility that you rigged the bottles purposefully?” I said completing what Tanya was coming to.
“I guess the banter last night wasn’t good enough. They are now rapping me with their words.” Kabir said.
“Shut up. You both have your answers on the tape. That wasn’t the end. We did ask him the same question. Let me play it.” Simran said and played the video forwarding it to the part where they asked Kabir the question.
“What the hell is wrong with them? How can they get high on beer which has so less alcohol content whereas we who drank Vodka which has much more alcohol content don’t feel anything?” Simran said to Kabir in the video.
“You won’t because you didn’t actually drink Vodka.” Kabir said.
“What do you mean?” Ayesha asked.
“This bottle was already empty; I had filled it up with plain soda. Vodka as it is has no colour so no one could tell if its soda or Vodka. Only the one who has previously had the authentic one could feel the difference which you both hadn’t.” Kabir said.
“Why did you do that?” Simran asked.
“I did it because these two need to talk to each other!” He replied.
“Shut up Kabir they are high. They are talking nonsense!” Ayesha said.
“What did you do with their beer?” Simran asked.
“What do you think, where did the Vodka go? Half bottle had beer and half was filled with Vodka. I drank the Vodka that was left in the bottle but that’s a different issue.” Kabir said.
“You are an asshole Kabir. There was no need for doing anything like this.” Simran said.
Then the part where Tanya and I were making fun of the three started off and the topic was lost. Simran then paused the video.
“There you have it. That’s why you both were high last night.” Simran said.
“Simran is right. You are such an asshole Kabir. Why did you do that?” I asked. Tanya didn’t say anything because she supported what I had just said.
“I did that because you both were pissing me off. You both just won’t speak to each other and when you did, it was nothing worth listening! You needed to have the talk to finish the cold war. A heated war is much better than a cold one for it ends faster and that too with a result.” He said.
“But that doesn’t mean you will make us drink. We could have solved this like adults, even though we are a couple of months short from being one but still our mind set is most probably like one.” I said.
“No. It’s not like an adult Vishal. If we would have tried anything else you would have never had the talk and even if you did you wouldn’t have said what you actually felt about it all. You both would have lied to each other. You would have held back your feelings. I know that.” He replied.
“How can you be so sure of that?” Tanya finally spoke.
He wasn’t too keen on answering that question but he spoke after thinking for a minute.
“Because something similar has happened to me before and I am sure it would have happened with the two of you as well.” He said, his face sank
and he looked visibly upset.
Simran put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
“Why don’t I know about this?” I asked.
“We! Why don’t we know about this?” Ayesha said.
“Because it happened a long time back, you weren’t old enough to understand what it all meant.” Simran said.
“Who gets to decide that?” I asked.
“Common sense says so.” She replied.
“Okay break it all of you. Enough. No one is going down the memory lane anymore. Past is past. Whatever happened in it should be forgotten or at least not be spoken of if it hurts someone. I am sorry Kabir bhaiya if we all hurt your feelings in some way. I am glad you care for us and came up with something, no matter how wrong it looked, no matter how wrong your plan of action was but your intentions were good. You wanted all of us to be happy. Thank you and I am sorry.” Tanya reasoned. She was right about everything she spoke. Even though Kabir’s method wasn’t the best one in the world, at least we didn’t think it to be, but he had good intention behind his action.
“I think Tanya is right. I am sorry Kabir.” I said.
“Learn something from her boy. She is so sensible. The ‘talk like adults’ would have worked if it was for her and someone else but you sure are a kid.” Kabir said to me.
“Shut up.” I said.
“What was the end result of the talk by the way?” Ayesha asked.
“Yes yes. I almost forgot the reason why we are here! What did you people come up with?” Simran said.
“Why should we tell you?” I said.
“That’s completely inappropriate question. You should tell us because we are asking you and because you should tell us!” Simran said.
“I am sorry if I sound rude but I don’t think that we owe an answer to anyone out here. Whatever happened was between me and Vishal and it will stay that way.” Tanya said.
“Tanya! I never expected this to come from you! I am your best friend if you remember, apart from being this stupid’s cousin.” Ayesha said.
“Hey why do all of you have to abuse me in everything you say? What have I done?” I said.
“You aren’t telling us what happened and there is nothing more important to us at the moment. In short if you don’t tell us we will become fucking insane and will try to make up things of what happened between the two of you? As you know I am not good at making assumptions because when I do, my stories get a bit freaky, in fact a lot freaky.” Kabir said.
“Get as freaky as you can get because only Tanya and I know what happened in this room and we have no intentions of telling anyone of you!” I said.
Tanya’s mobile phone rang in the meantime. It was her mom. She went out of the room for a couple of minutes to talk to her.
“I have to go now. Someone has come over and mom wants me to meet them. I will be back in an hour. Sorry guys. Bye.” Tanya said.
“Bye.” Simran, Ayesha and Kabir replied in turn.
“It was great knowing you Vishal. It was good while it lasted. Good bye. Have a great life ahead.” Tanya said to me, kidding of course.
“Good bye Tanya. I hope the same for you.” I replied. She then went back home.
I too started walking out of the living room to our designated room to grab some rest, for my head was still pounding. On my way, I saw shocked faces of the three people, and I know that you know who I am talking about.
“Is that it? That’s the end you came up with after all the alcohol and the talk?” Kabir said still surprised by the brief good bye forever Tanya and I exchanged.
“I told you bro, I am not going to tell you anything that happened.” I said.
“What did the good bye mean? Wasn’t that a sign in itself what you too had decided?” Simran said.
“Well it’s for you all to figure out.” I said and winked.
“Tell me Vishal or I am going to kill you both. I am dying of curiosity and anxiety both at the same time!” Ayesha said.
“No one is going to die Ayesha, nor is anyone going to tell you what happened in that room while the three of you had locked us in. If you do, then good for you, if you don’t then good for me. I am off to grab some sleep. My head is still paining because of last night’s Vodka-beer combo.” I said and went off to my room to sleep.
The surprised faces just got meaner and scarier. It was as if they would torture me to death if I didn’t tell them what really conspired in the room!