First Impressions

“That number always belonged to Suhani; I lied to you when I told you that it belonged to Suraj. You should have understood long ago that it was another girl, babe”, said Akash. His phone was in Shruthi’s hands and he could see that she was hyperventilating. He could not get himself to believe that Shruthi actually was gullible enough to trust him when he said the new number belonged to a guy called Suraj.

Akash and Shruthi had met 3 years ago at ‘School of Living’ an organization founded by a popular spiritual guru. Shruthi had hated Akash at first sight. He was one of those guys who came across as an incurable flirt, trying to get his way into the pants and skirts of all girls he met. Shruthi had always liked guys who were nice to women, respected them and didn’t always try to hit on them. She couldn’t get herself to understand how there could be men who thought all women existed only to be dated or to have their babies.

Akash, in reality, was exactly what Shruthi had thought of him. He loved hanging out in the most happening watering holes in the city, with arm candy. And he was almost always on the lookout for someone new to ‘hang out’ with. He still had no clue what he doing in ‘School of Living’. His mother had forced him to attend an introductory talk by one of the senior teachers of the school and he was hooked. What a Casanova like him was doing here was just beyond his comprehension. He wasn’t a big fan of spirituality, was an atheist and lived life his way, no matter what anyone thought of him. The moment he set his eyes on Shruthi, he knew this girl was out of his league; maybe he wasn’t even interested to impress her. She was a girl who wasn’t hot and was dressed unlike most youngsters her age, but there was a blazing look of conviction on her face and a twinkle in her eyes that drew everyone to her, instantaneously.

When Shruthi met Akash, it was very clear that there was a clear dislike between them, but there was also this very strong undercurrent amongst them. Neither could fathom what it was.

Shruthi always visited SOL [School of Living] with her friend Sumana. Sumana was 18 but acted 12. Sumana had fallen for Akash, she loved him to bits. She thought Akash was one of the best looking guys she had ever met. She, obviously, failed to see though the whole farce when Akash had tried to be extremely nice to her. She immediately thought he was in love with her and nurtured similar feelings for him. Shruthi always knew this wasn’t true but hardly had the heart to tell her friend. The revelation came pretty soon when Akash told Sumana that he felt nothing for her, and maybe they could be good friends. Sumana was broken hearted for a week but recovered pretty soon. Sumana and Akash were best buddies and so were Sumana and Shruthi. Somehow, Shruthi never felt too safe meeting Akash in Sumana’s absence.

“Hey Sumana, you know what? I think I like this friend of yours. Do you think I can take her out on a date?”, asked Akash one day out of the blue. Sumana spit out the coffee she was drinking. She hadn’t seen this coming. She knew Shruthi hated Akash but didn’t know how to spill the beans to him.

“Let’s try to get both of you out on a date Akash. But, don’t hope for too much, she might not want to do this. I’ll give it a try”, Sumana promised Akash to help him take Shruthi out on a date. It was not totally on her to bring two hearts close, or so she thought!

“No Sumana, I’m never meeting that creep alone. I feel so insecure around him”, Shruthi was trying to knock some sense in Sumana’s brain and to wriggle out of this silly date she had set for her.

“Aren’t you just over reacting Shruthi? Stop being so unreasonable and give the boy the benefit of doubt. He really likes you”, said Sumana.

“That makes it even worse, Su. You just won’t understand. Why on earth would you think that you could set me up on a date with that loser? And how could you ever think I’d be ok with that?”, Shruthi fought further.

“Fine, I’m sorry. I’m never gonna do this again. But just go this one time, for my sake. Please Shruthi. Pleaaasssseeee. Go, won’t you?” Sumana knew this would work.

“Fine, just this once Su and just for you. I hope you know I’m gonna hate you for this, forever. Bitch!” Shruthi could see no way out but to just go ahead with this foolishness.

Shruthi didn’t even bother trying to dress up like for a date, she was doing her friend a favour and that was that. She reached the designated place for the evening, an expensive cafe in the heart of the city. Out of habit, she reached 10 minutes early. She waited for 20 minutes, her patience was thinning. She decided to give him another 10 minutes. Akash finally reached 30 minutes after she reached. He was plain lucky not to have received a slap across his face.

“Hey Shruthi, you look so hot!”, said Akash as soon as he lay eyes on her.

“I’d rather not be called hot, Akash. Maybe you want to try a different line”, she was curt.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I should’ve said you look very beautiful, like an angel! I know it sounds so clichéd, but I’ve never ever seen anyone as beautiful as you. Gosh, now I know why I so love you”, Akash blurted out. He spoke so fast, he failed to comprehend all that he had spoken.

“Shut up, Akash. I don’t know if you don’t if Su told you, but I swear I hate you.” Shruthi managed to say. But she knew she was blushing and Akash noticed.

“Why don’t we just go in and drink some coffee? I know you love the mocha you get here!”, Akash chipped in. It wasn’t going to be long before Shruthi fell for him, he knew secretly.

Shruthi didn’t realise how long it had been after that date. She had fallen in love with the guy she had hated with all her heart. She had spoken to him for so long; she felt that she had had a misconception about him all along. Akash was actually a very nice guy, and yes, he did love her a lot. All the stories about him being a big flirt turned out to be absolutely false. He had a lot of friends but not girlfriends, like everyone had said. He had eyes only for her; he spoke to her all the time. The only time they stayed apart was when they had classes to attend.

Akash turned out to be the ideal boyfriend. Shruthi could not believe her luck when people complimented her and Akash as a couple.

“I can’t believe I had once said I don’t want meet him, Su. What would happen if you hadn’t forced me into it?” Shruthi confessed to Sumana.

“See, that’s why you are supposed to trust friends, once in a while!” Sumana wouldn’t let go this chance make fun of Shruthi. Sumana was extremely happy that her two best friends were now a couple. Not for once did she feel jealous for Shruthi. She was happy being best friends with both of them.

Shruthi was totally in awe of Akash. She specially loved how he looked into her eyes whenever he said ‘I love you’. She didn’t want to be too possessive of him and took special care to see to it she gave him his space and freedom.

The same couldn’t be said of Akash. Initially, he felt he had loved Shruthi. But, later on, he felt that she was too boring for him. She loved to read, to go on long walks with him and to enjoy a cup of hot coffee when it turned too cold. Akash hated the sight of books, loved fast cars and fast girls. He thought the ideal way to pass time was to party the night away. Shruthi wasn’t going to fit in his scheme of things. He had started dating other girls and going out with them. He just didn’t know how to tell Shruthi, he still didn’t want to hurt her.

One day during an extra class arranged with a different class, he saw Suhani. Suhani was everything he had ever wanted in a girl; he felt the same things he had felt for Shruthi, all over again. He approached her in his usual style and she was swept away by him.

“Hey Suhani, give me your number. I’m sure you want to talk to me all night!” he had said and Suhani had handed over her number to him. Akash no longer spoke to Shruthi all through the night. He spoke to Suhani. He had once seen Shruthi going through his phone and messages, so cleverly he saved Suhani’s number in the name of Suraj.

Shruthi had begun to feel something amiss. Akash never seemed interested to meet her or talk to her. The guy who once met her all seven days a week suddenly didn’t have the time to talk to her even once during the week. She decided to talk to Sumana.

“You are over reacting Shruthi, I’m pretty sure he’s just busy with studies. There’s nothing like what you are thinking” Sumana said.

“Since when did Akash get interested in studies Su, you know him as well I do, don’t you? I’m scared Su, I don’t know what to do” Shruthi confessed.

“Alright, let’s do this. Let’s go over to his place. You can meet him and speak to him; he will clear all your doubts for sure” Sumana pacified Shruthi. The girls waited for tomorrow with bated breath.

“That number always belonged to Suhani; I lied to you when I told you that it belongs Suraj. You should have understood long ago that it was another girl, babe”, said Akash. His phone was in Shruthi’s hands and he could see that she was hyperventilating. He could not get himself to believe that Shruthi actually was gullible enough to trust him when he said the new number belonged to a guy called Suraj.

Shruthi was shocked when she checked Akash’s phone and found messages that said ‘I love you babe, you are so so hot.” The number that the message was sent to belonged to some Suraj. That was when Shruthi knew that there was no Suraj and the number had to be of some other girl. Shruthi and Sumana confronted Akash, and found out that he was already seeing someone else. Akash did not find anything wrong in what he did. Shruthi was heartbroken, so was Sumana. Sumana could not forgive herself for setting her best friend up with a cheat, a liar. Shruthi had just one thing to tell herself. 

First impressions were always right, your gut can never be wrong.