Return Of The Prodigal Girlfriend

Return of the Prodigal Girlfriend
6th September 2001

Posts are now flowing thick and fast, as I try to catch up with real time and start season 2.

I used to always say that it’d take a miracle. That miracle has finally happened today – leaving me in stunned astonishment.

Today, sometime in the afternoon, Smelly came up to me and expressed her desire to patch up things between us.

It started this morning when she cornered me near the notice board and mentioned something about expressing her undying love for me. I took it as some more rubbish and escaped quickly.

The second encounter happened at the foot of the stairs, when she grabbed me by my collar. I calmly released my shirt from her rubber-like grip and strolled back to class.

Immediately after that she took me aside and asked me why I was ignoring her. I told her that we’d talk later, and we did.

I’ve told her exactly how I felt (and feel) about the entire episode. Thoughts that you may find in a previous episode of FITM. And then I asked her why she’d behaved the way she did.

It seems that she’s gone through a hellish three months, sort of isolating herself from all but a few. Problem was, I wasn’t among the few. That’s what caused the rift. She seemingly couldn’t tell me anything at the time. She talked about how she didn’t like SIMC – the crowd, to be more precise. The people, she feels, are pretentious, and she can’t be that way.

More importantly, on the verge of tears, she apologised for her behaviour. She’s now asked me if we can let that ugly episode remain a thing of the past. I’ve told her that we can try, and so things stand. We’re at a crossroads – we can either go forward in friendship or not at all.

There is just one problem that comes to mind. What sort of a friendship can I expect from her? Will we be just friends, close friends or the way we were in Bombay? Can I trust her to keep her end of the bargain? How long before she cracks again? And was she really using me? I don’t have a single answer at this moment. Only time will tell where we stand.

One thing is clear. She’s going to have to take the initiative to get our relationship back on track. I’ve done all I could, failed and bowed out of the race. The ball’s in her court now.

Legs was right, it seems. She’d predicted that something like this would happen. I’d give Smelly an attitude, she’d sense it and try to patch things up. Gosh, she seems to be almost as good as Nostradamus was. At least where matters of the heart are concerned.

Watch this space for more of this reality series. Only on FITM.

In unrelated matters, I’ve just returned from a 5-day stint in Bombay. Last Thursday, our Director announced that we had the weekend off due to the chaos of the Ganesh Festival. So the Bombayites decided to return to their roots. I planned a surprise trip – only my best friend, DJ and Legs knew I was coming in.

I took a bus at 1915 hrs on Friday and reached home around 0045 hrs. Was greeted at the door by Amma’s surprised exclamation. I then knocked on my parents’ door. Dad was stunned and Mom had her mouth hanging wide open. My sister’s surprised squawk added the icing to the cake.

I decided to return on Wednesday, and so had the time to meet all my friends. I went through traffic, a dodgy clutch and a stalled car to meet Legs on Saturday. I also met Hairy Puttar, Lefty, Clapton and my college gang.

A few hours were spent in college, accepting an invitation to host a Physics quiz later this month. On the whole, I had a ball.

The best part was that I spent a lot of time with my sister. I’ve missed her a lot, and I’m just waiting to return home on the 27th of September for my internships.

The sad part was the death of my old family servant, affectionately called Bhaiyya. He’d been ill for a while now, even hospitalised. I’d met him when I’d returned home for Raksha Bandhan and Ganesh Chaturthi. Each time he looked weaker. He’d insisted on going home, and so that’s where we sent him. I’d had a feeling that we’d never see him again. He passed away on Saturday afternoon, and we got the news on Monday. RIP – we’ll miss you.

I returned to Pune with Groper to give me company. And then arrived at college this morning to be accosted by an adamantly apologetic Smelly.

I have no clue as to what’s going to happen with that dame. Everything happens for the best, they say. I think I’ll believe in that for the moment.

At least for now, I’ve decided to turn to religion to salvage my eternal soul. Miracles do happen.