Meet Me Again

Sara and Rahul were talked into a blind date, thanks to their common friend Natasha. Sara; being the carefree spirit; was delighted at the prospect. Yet, as blind dates went, she had no clue how it was going to be. They decided to meet at this rustic café close to her place.

She took a corner table, by the window that had a nice view of the lake. It was 8:15,  and there was no sign of him.  “What kind of a guy does that ? Whether he is late, or not coming at all, he is done for. First blind date, and this is what I get, Well done, Sara, what a wonderful idea,” she thought, while cursing her punctual self.  Avoiding curious eyes, she decided to scan the menu while formulating plans of leaving politely. He finally arrived half an hour late,  and he was radiant. One look at him, and all her temper melted away, he was incredibly handsome. She decided to let go of the well thought out plan of excusing herself from the dinner.

“I am really sorry, I’m late. I got stuck in traffic.” Rahul said, seating himself on the table.

“It is okay. Shall we order, I have been here a long time” Sara replied.

“Absolutely,  you look lovely by the way,” Rahul told her.

“Thank you” she replied pleasantly, silently considering maybe he is not so bad after all.

But, the rest of the dinner was like a blur. Rahul didn’t speak much, he was sweet, sure, but there was nothing interesting about him. He didn’t seem to be enjoying himself or her company. She wished she hadn’t cancelled her girls’ night out. At least they would be listening to her. He was not into music, didn’t watch movies either. It was as if she had painted a beautiful picture of him and now that was slowly fading away. By the time dinner was done she had made up her mind on steering clear of him, and so they did.

They said goodbye and went their separate ways.

“But how could it be so boring, I know him and I know you too, I totally believed you would connect with each other. What happened ?” Natasha enquired.

“He called, a  couple of times, I did not return his calls. I am not interested, Natasha, he might be a super charming, nice guy, but he was not my cup of tea. All we did was talk about a few books that we liked, and the rest of it, I am sure even he doesn’t remember. Anyway, I think it is better to just leave it here.” Sara replied, dismissively.

“Ohkay, as you say. Chapter closed Captain, now let’s go for lunch, I am starving.” Natasha told her.

And just like that, Sara forgot about him soon enough.

Six Months Later

Natasha and Sara were at a book reading event. Natasha had introduced her to this wonderful romance fiction author, she loved his work so much. This book, in particular, was a huge success, and Sara was very excited to meet the Man of the hour.

At the event, each of the readers was asked to choose a passage, which they enjoyed the most.

At her turn, she read aloud,

“Meet me again, maybe? Because I was too caught up in my own mini-universe to pay attention to what you had to say about your hectic day at work. Perhaps, I could have heard you better without the distractions but didn’t want to hurt your feelings. What if I deserve a second chance at knowing you, without the risk of judgment in a 15-minute conversation. Maybe I was just nervous back then.

Do not let me go only because you met the flawed me instead of your ever so perfect, idea of me. I could be someone you had been wanting to meet. Sure, I might not be your cup of tea, but would you give me a chance to become your morning coffee? Yes, I am not sugar-coated, I am sour, sometimes bitter, but hey life with me would not be all so dull.  I may not be a cool soothing breeze, I could be a tornado, an outrageous downpour of emotions, but honey I promise you a splendid roller coaster.

If you do meet me again in my fine hours, I could be a patient listener, an active contributor. In my elements, I am a nonchalant talker, fun, and witty too, who knows. There are so many layers to me.

Try to delve before dismissing me as insignificant.

Beyond judgments, beyond insecurities, beyond rationalizations, and beyond reasons. Just try and meet me again, maybe?”

While she was reading it, Rahul’s face suddenly flashed in front of her eyes, she wondered if she had done the same, to him.

After it was over, Natasha asked her why she looked so upset and Sara confessed how she felt. Natasha smiled, “What a great coincidence, of all the lines you could choose, these are your favourite, the ones that are for you. ”

Sara was appalled. Surely enough, there he was, standing in the corner, beaming at her. The man behind her favourite book was no other, it was the guy she had met and dismissed. She looked at Natasha, “You knew ?”

“Sorry hon, he told me to keep it a secret, until you met.” She said.

Sara was beyond embarrassed.

She went up to him and told him how sorry she was.

“I know, I know and it is absolutely okay, in fact, you gave me a wonderful idea to write about,” Rahul told her.

But Sara couldn’t get over it, she apologized profusely, but he kept smiling, and said,

“Listen Sara, We misunderstand someone many times before we begin to really understand them.

So it is okay to make your mistakes, and it is also okay to believe in second chances. “So we are good, right ?”

To this Sara replied,  “Okay, sure,  we are good, so Would you…you know, umm care to, Meet me Again, Maybe? ”

Fin.