Someone Like You (14 page)

‘What do your parents say about this?’

‘They don’t care and I try not to care about what they think either. I’ve got to do what I got to do, right?’

‘And that includes beating kids at football matches?’ I ask.

‘Oh! So now that you know my age, they become kids? I saw you cheering for me that day. Just because they are younger doesn’t mean they can’t be awesome footballers. Especially Mandar, their elephant-like captain, is a good player.’

‘Why was he so angry at you?’

‘The girl you saw in the gym? That’s Niyati, Mandar’s ex-girlfriend. They broke up a couple of years back, and he thinks that was because she likes me. So, that’s that. And that’s why I was thrown out of the team,’ Karthik says.

‘That’s unfair.’

‘I really don’t mind. With a captain like that, they will never win.’

‘Don’t you want them to?’

‘Never gave it a thought,’ he says rudely. It’s as if nothing bothers him. What he does in life, what others think about him or do to him, he cares about none of that. To think he asked Tanmay my name seems a little odd now. To know that he cares about my existence seems out of place.

He talks a little more about the college and soon we realize that we should get back to college. Though he is in no hurry, he says, since he is done with his thesis and he is just taking his time to submit it.

We get back on the bike again and this time the explosive sound is more bearable. He drives me back to the college campus. As I hold him, I feel a lot closer to him. It feels like a barrier between us is now broken, and I know him. I don’t know why my heart beats faster and the world narrows down to him. I am still confused about my feelings for him. I am still unsure whether I like him or not. Maybe I do, and I am just fighting that feeling God knows why. Maybe.

Way too soon, we reach the college. He stops the bike just outside my hostel, and I get down carefully, holding his shoulder for support.

‘It was great seeing you today,’ he says. ‘You look even better from up close.’

‘Thank you,’ I smile and wave him a goodbye.

When I turn back, I see a familiar face standing with a suitcase and a bag slung across his shoulder.

‘Hi!’ he shouts out to me.

As I stand there frozen, I hear the bike’s engine explode again and Karthik drives off.

It takes me a little time to recover from the shock of seeing Akshat standing right in front of me. His crisp white shirt, black trousers, the perfect shoes and his sheer
beauty
shocks me. And then, reality sets in and I remember—I am supposed to be angry.

As I try to stalk past him, he blocks me and says, ‘Hey! At least talk to me.’

‘What do you want?’

‘I want my time with you. I came all the way just to see you. You can’t just walk away from me like that,’ he says.

‘I can and I will. What do you want?’ I ask.

‘Oh, please. Just—’ his tone is getting sharper, which I don’t like. I cut him off.

‘I am not interested in seeing you ever again, Akshat Verma. And I’ve already made it very clear to you. So stop all this that you’re doing.’

‘Please listen to me—’

‘Speak!’ I shout, suddenly losing patience. With every second that I talk to him, I feel like I’m betraying Simran. I want to get this over and done with as quickly as possible.

‘Okay. If this is the way you want to do this. I know I should’ve told you that I once dated Simran, but there’s more to the story than you think. Why do you think we broke up?’

‘I don’t know. I already told you—I didn’t ask her. I didn’t feel the need to.’

‘Maybe you should have,’ he says.

‘I don’t know whether how you guys broke up has to do with anything,’ I say irritably.

‘It has
everything
to do with
everything
. Niharika, I don’t know how you could just leave me like that … without even listening to my side of the story. And you don’t even know her side! I really liked you. From the first second I saw you, you were all I thought about … but you turned out to be so … so irrational. You didn’t even give me a chance to explain. Okay. Whatever. If this is what you want, I’ll stop bothering you.’

I’ve never heard him use that tone before. Not that I know him well, but he has always come across as such a gentleman. I’m amazed to see that he shouts too. As I stand here, running the scene through my head, I feel strangely disturbed. It’s not like I haven’t thought about him in the days gone by, but I certainly do not appreciate him using that tone with me.

‘I am leaving,’ I say and take long strides towards my hostel gate.

‘I WILL WAIT RIGHT HERE TILL YOU COME OUT!’
he shouts after me.

I ignore what he says and charge back to my room. A part of me knows that he will actually go through with that. He is going to wait. There is just an hour to class and I find it’s been two hours since I first met Karthik.

Maybe I should just listen to what Akshat has to say, because he so clearly wants to say it. And what do I have to lose, anyway? Just a few minutes of my time? At least this way, we can end things on a better note. If not anything else, I will know why Simran hates him so much. I still remember the tone she used when she asked me to stop
seeing him. So, I’ll never see him again. Just this once. He gets his meeting, I get rid of him forever. I will never see his gorgeous face again.

Just as I am thinking about what to do with Akshat, Pia walks into our room, wrapped in a short pink towel, water dripping from the tips of her hair. I look at her and wonder how her boyfriend must feel about dating someone so perfect. He is a lucky guy.

‘Tell me EVERYTHING!’
she shrieks as soon as she notices me in the room.

‘There is nothing to tell,’ I say, my mind still partially on Akshat.

‘Oh yeah? Guess what—we are not going anywhere till you tell me everything that happened with Karthik! You do not have an option.’

I look at Pia, who is standing in front of me in her pink towel, with her hands stubbornly on her hips and eyes looking piercingly into mine, and I realize that there is no way I can get out of it. Giving up, I narrate every bit of it to a sometimes shocked, sometimes ecstatic Pia.

‘So he actually drives that thing?’ she asks excitedly, drying her hair with a towel.

‘Yes,’ I say. ‘Oh crap! We are late for classes again.’ I rush to change into decent clothes.

As I lock the door behind me, I wonder if Akshat is still out there. It’s been an hour since I saw him. Nervously, I step down the stairs, and outside the main gate of the hostel with Pia by my side. He is still there, sitting on his suitcase, tapping on his phone. On seeing me walk out of the hostel, he gets up and waves at me.

‘Who is
he
?’ Pia asks and adds, ‘He is so
pretty
!’

‘That’s Akshat. I told you about him, remember?’ I say and walk towards him. ‘You go to the class. I will join you later.’

‘It’s raining men on you!’ she says nudging me, and leaves for class.

‘I need you to go,’ I tell Akshat, who looks at me and smiles.

‘Can’t we just talk before I do?’ he says.

‘Five minutes. I am late for class.’

He nods and we walk towards my class, though at a way slower pace. He looks at me and tells me that I look good. Somehow, I choose to believe him. And I feel guilty when I feel all the anger against him melt away. I feel like I am betraying Simran. I think I was never angry at him, just uncomfortable and feeling really weird.

‘How have you been?’ he asks.

‘Fine. How are you? Things have been good?’

‘Well, frankly—no. Things haven’t being going well since you left. Or rather
because
you left … Why, Niharika? What we had was so beautiful … Why did you end it like this? I have been thinking about that day every day.’

‘Akshat …’ I begin, not knowing exactly what it is that I am going to say.

‘Did it mean so little to you—what we had? Did
I
mean so little to you?’ he asks with such hurt in his eyes that I cringe. Until now, I hadn’t realized it meant so much to him. After all, we had known each other for only a very short time. And we had met just twice, though they were two of the best days I have ever spent. After meeting him, I remember having felt a strange happiness in my heart.

‘I didn’t have any other option. You lied to me,’ I say.

‘I didn’t lie …’

‘You hid the truth knowingly. It means the same thing.’

‘I didn’t know what to say,’ he says.

‘The truth. What else?’

‘It’s not as easy as you think. There is a lot more to it than meets the eye. Whatever happened was way back and things have changed since then. I have changed.’

‘Tell me,’ I say, bracing myself to face what’s coming next. This has been too much of a mystery. I just have to know now—
why did they break up?

‘Okay. I met Simran when I joined her school in tenth class. I liked her instantly. And I told her so. But she didn’t pay any attention to it. Months passed and she finally started to notice me. This time, when I asked her out, she said yes. We went out for a couple of months. Did she tell you about it then? You were in the same school as us,’ he asks.

‘No. I didn’t know she was dating in tenth class. We never used to talk about all that, anyway.’

‘Hmm. Not really a surprise for me. She wanted to keep it a secret and said it won’t reflect well on us, in case the school’s staff members get to know. I agreed. How could I not? She used to rule my world back then,’ he says. His sensitivity surprises me. A far cry from the carelessness with which Karthik speaks. Careless, but charming … I shake myself back to
now
, away from thoughts of Karthik.

‘But then why did you break up?’ I ask.

‘She left me. I agree that it was my fault … I was stupid. I lied to her a couple of times and went out with a family friend’s daughter. I apologized for days but she didn’t listen. Nothing happened between me and the other girl. I didn’t even like her. It was a stupid mistake and I regretted it. Simran believed me, but after seeing me cry and cringe, she said she wanted her revenge and she never came back.’

That does it. I am angry at him now—not because he hid it from me—but because he hurt Simran and that’s something I can’t take.

‘But that was a long time ago …’ he says as his eyes fill with tears, ‘I am no longer that person. I learnt my lesson back then. I meant no harm to your sister. I really loved her and I cared about her a lot.’

‘Whatever happened has happened, Akshat. I am sorry,’ I say and get up to leave. I am glad I took the decision that I took. He is not worth my time; he cheated or whatever on my sister and he doesn’t deserve her.

‘Wait. This is not why I told you this,’ he lets out, ‘I called you to meet me because … Niharika, I like you. I
really
like you. When I first saw you, I had no idea you were Simran’s sister. I shared a table with you by pure chance, but then when I saw you properly … I just couldn’t take my eyes off you. You’re so … But it didn’t take me long to realize you were related to her. You look like her.’

‘What are you trying to say, Akshat?’

‘I like you. And I want to be with you. I know I should have told you about me and Simran before, but I couldn’t. That doesn’t mean I didn’t try. I was just afraid of the way you would react. And see? That is exactly what happened. You left me. Without even giving me a chance to explain,’ he says.

I stay silent for a while and ask, ‘What do you want?’

‘You,’ he replies simply.

‘This can’t happen,’ I get up to leave. ‘I won’t betray my sister like that.’

‘Betray?’ he stops and takes a deep breath. ‘Are you listening to what you’re saying? I told you it was a long time ago. I have changed.’

‘Akshat, please—’

‘Listen to me, Niharika—’

‘No!’ I shout and a few heads turn to look at us. ‘
You
listen to
me
. I cannot do this. So, please. Just leave me alone,’ I say and storm off.

As I leave, he doesn’t say anything. I don’t turn back to look at him. Though I wonder if he is still looking at me.