I seldom put my thoughts in writing.
But let me try.

Sanjiv woke up late for work that morning. It was almost 11am and he was still in slumberland. He had an appointment with a potential client who was interested in the mineral pot which he sold. As usual the 24-year-old bachelor's morning began with the ringing of his handphone alarm at 8.30am. Sanjiv would get up and walk over to his desk which stood by the bedroom window. He'd switch off the wretched handphone and took it to bed before getting back to sleep. Of course, hours would pass before Sanjiv magically wakes up. That moment would consist of a very dramatic "Damn, it's late" exclamation as he looks at his watch in horror. Damnation, it's 10.30! He'd squeal. A split second goes by when Sanjiv contemplates a downward spiral life- one where he becomes a professional bum- pretty similar to how he lived before starting his sales job three years prior. This thought required him to snooze for another 20-odd seconds.

But always, rationality grabs hold of Sanjiv. He sits up in bed and lazily takes his bathtowel before heading for the shower.It was 11.05am, but heck, what the hell. Sanjiv would always think that way.My client would be late, he thought. He always thinks that way.As he stepped out of the shower in his towel, Sanjiv looked over his handphone.

There was a text message which arrived during showertime.It read: "How r u? Wat u doin 2day?"It was a mesage from Subashini, whom he had met a week earlier.Great. It was just what Sanjiv needed. Someone whom he meets only once a year, practically. And when he does meet Subashini, she would ramble on about every overseas trip and every guy who flirted with her in clubs or bars or departmental store, or whatever floats her boat nowadays.That's fine, Sanjiv thought. I do the same bloody thing, he said to himself - I go to bars and clubs. I flirt with the cute girl at the cash register. But having Subashini text-messaging Sanjiv like that was unlike her character. It was never "Hello how are you" text messages. It would always be "Sanjiv, I'm atthis spanking new club in Bangalore. I'm dating this engineer, and we plan to go to Spain for the summer". It was these messages that Sanjiv didn't care for.
Yes, lovely Subashini, or Su as Sanjiv called her was a dish. She was the same age as Sanjiv but with her mixed parentage, she was known to turn heads back home in Madras. I'm not Indian, you know, she said that night they both met last.
Sanjiv had forgotten Su's famous story about her Scottish/Sri Lankan father and her Thai/Tamil mother. Her three hour stories over dosai and brewed coffee were utterly unnecessary.Sanjiv was surprised to have found Su at a bar that wretched Saturday night one week ago. She never called when she was back in town.And Sanjiv had to endure stories about men (yes, men, not man) she had locked lips with just before Sanjiv arrived at the bar.Do I have to listen to your nightly conquests? Sanjiv asked Su, whilst glaring at her in jest. Alas, Sanjiv and Su were only casual friends. Though it could have been more than a platonic relationship. Sanjiv regrets with a passion the night when he confessed his infatuation for Su.

Take a bath and I'll drink the water that you leave, Sanjiv wrote in a letter to Su. So what if he had quoted a rock song from Stone Temple Pilots. Typically Su never replied that letter.That was several years ago, and it seemed like an eternity. How could all that lead to that Saturday night?Where did all the time go? Now Su was sitting beside Sanjiv and sharing several shots of Tequila. Su was spitting the limes to the floor. What happend to this town? she asked Sanjiv, where have all the men gone?They're happily married to beautiful wives, Sanjiv replied, and they're probably fucking their brains out right now as their three little kids sleep snugly in their plush bedrooms. By that point. Su was indeed the drunken princess of the night. It was the usual, Su and her posse hanging out at the Blue Diamond club every Saturday. It wouldn't be the same without her around.Sanjiv had learned to ignored Su's stories. He could hold off the earthly urges. (????) Similar to Su, Sanjiv was a man who kept his eye on the prize. He might be quiet and attentive like your best confidant, but Sanjiv always had ulterior motives, though not in the cruel sense of it.He loved talking to people. He loved listening to their stories. He was a good listener thanks to his salesman job. But he sucked at persuassion. Believe it or not, the man whose job is primarily (though not entirely) is to persuade people into buying his wares lacked persuassion in real life.
Sanjiv and Su downed a few bottles of Coronas and two shots of tequila each. Talk shop ensued and later Su did her 'thang'--chatting up a shaven head English guy sitting at the end of the bar. Could he be any older, Sanjiv thought to himself as he watched Su giggling with the Englishman. He's like what, Sixty, Sanjiv said to himself.Not one to become bitter, Sanjiv scanned the bar for women. There was this girl with her hair dyed golden brown. She couldn't be more than 25 and sitting with a girlfriend at a booth by the corner. She was drinking a very bluish drink with an umbrella in the glass. That's not a good sign, innit? Sanjiv thought. Her girlfriend's kind of cute too. Freckles. Shoulder length hair. But she was too tall for Sanjiv's liking. I mean let's be real, Sanjiv stood slightly more than five feet. He'd dated several lanky tall women before, but typically for Sanjiv, they never worked out. As a matter of fact, no relationship has ever worked out for poor old Sanjiv.
Then Su interrupted Sanjiv's train of thought by plopping back at the stool next to Sanjiv's. He's from Dover, Su said, bloody hell, isn't that where the hovercrafts are? Su was excited. Anyways, we're going to his hotelroom, she said breathlessly before giving Sanjiv a peck on the cheek. She then ran off with the grandfather version of David Becham. Within seconds drunked up Posh Spice Subashini and Grandpa Becks were out of the Blue Diamond.Great, Sanjiv thought. Now he could possibly chat up the cute gold-haired girl.

But why did Sanjiv end up in bed with Su later on?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I like this a lot! Great stuff
Anonymous said…
I think the 1st part of the story has too many numbers in it. One famous politial writer once told me, the best literature never started with numbers or a figure, I suppose it rings true when it comes to having too much figures inside a paragraph. Just give a rough idea of the time lapses. Happy re-editing!
from, Fles citirc....
Hayden Ahmad said…
thanks Han solo and Anonymous. appreciate the critique

Popular Posts