From his own word,
I gifted her a book that I had never read before, on Valentine's Day, and ended up with something that I would have never expected.
This was a girl whom I knew very well and was 100% sure that I had zero percent chances of dating her. Yet we were good friends and were in the same group in the lab. Till to a week before, I had no intention of buying a gift for her, nor was I infatuated with her. But in the week before Valentine’s Day, something got into me and I started to believe that I liked her and she liked me too! (Alas, I was such a dumb ass back then, *sigh* )
So I decided to buy something for her. I knew that the girl was a nerd and she wouldn't like it if I bought her a teddy bear or a greeting card. I started to browse the Internet for suggestions and finally settled down on buying a book for her. Now, I wanted to buy a romantic novel for her. I thought of several classics, that I have already read and rejected them for the same reason—she must have probably read them. So I decided to consult the Internet once again for help. I searched for "most romantic novel" and found, Outlander (novel), on the top of many lists. That was the first time I'd heard of the book, but I was somehow convinced that it was a great book and I ended up ordering a copy on Flipkart.
The book reached two days before, and I had to rethink several times before getting it gift wrapped. I was so sure that I was certain that I was deeply in love with her. On the day, I decided that I will give it to her in person after the class is dispersed, and when no one is in the vicinity. Once the class was over, I slowly walked towards her and the following conversation occurred:
le me : I have bought something for you.
she : oh I see, but for what?
me: today is February 14th.
she: (innocently) so what?
me: That is Valentine`s day.
she: oh I see, but we are not in love, are we?
me: No, but I bought this for you. ( I was starting to get frustrated)
she: So I can`t accept this gift.
me: dude, I am not proposing you, I bought this for you. YOU CAN HAVE IT!
she: but that will imply a lot of different meanings, I don't want it!
me: Okay, you don't need a relationship, but we are friends, right? what's wrong in just accepting this for my sake? (yes, I took things too emotionally back then, I am a changed man now)
she : Actually I like you, but not in that sense, could you please leave me alone for sometime? (Even if she told me to fuck off, I would have felt much better)
me: Okay, this will lie here, I bought this for you. I don't want to do anything else with it, I bought it with love, so I can't use it for anything else. (I deeply regret for me saying this, and it will follow me to my grave.)
I left the gift there and left. The moment I left that room, I felt 'true love' evaporating from inside me, and it was the first time I realized that we could very well be tricked by our own mind to believe that we loved someone, though you could find no substantial reason for it and this feeling could fade away in time, no matter how much real we felt about it.
The interesting thing happened two days latter. I got a text message, just before I was going to bed. It read, "I have read a tale so dipped in love that I could see the tenderness in your heart, who bought this book for XYZ. I think that she is too arrogant to reject you. I found this from your classroom, and I thank you for giving me an opportunity to read it. May God bless you!"
I was overjoyed, I knew that at least one person has been benefited from a precious share of my pocket money, which I wasted in vain for a hollow romantic venture. I needed to find who was this strange person, who send me this message. A chance existed that it would be a girl, a beautiful girl, and she would have developed a tender feeling towards me. I started searching for her. But none of my friends could identify the number. I lost all hope, and decided to call her back. I really needed to know who she was, and I seriously felt that she was the last ray of life existing in my miserable life. (Oh God, how pathetic must I have been?)
Finally, I mustered all my courage to call 'her' back. I dialed her number and waited and waited till she attended the call. I was shattered, when I heard a male voice on the other side. I was bewildered when I found that it was the sound of an elderly male. I was ruined when I found that it was my Maths teacher, who came to collect the forgotten attendance sheet, after I left the book in class!
I never ever dared to celebrate Valentine's day in my life again, and I think I never will be.
. Not for Reproduction
friend's name:Hashin Jithu
