Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Gold Finger

For somebody who, according to reliable sources including own Mom, is beyond the marry-by date it's quite a slow revelation. The wooing game (Senior Division) is a lot complex, and there aren't many ladies out to play. And so you tread carefully. The heart ages, you see.

Consider this. 5 people on a boat. Ok, forget it. Real life scenario. And I can't swim either. You take a fancy. The fancy happens to work alongside. Bad idea to have that kinda fancy whenever 'work' and wherever 'alongside' appears.
If 'outed', the awkwardness can be appalling. So you let it be. For there is indeed a joy in coming to work, staying there, and hoping to return the next day. Now when did that last happen to you. Rains and bombs notwithstanding, the sky has never been so azure since late 1990. And anyway it's your little secret. You go out with friends, you offer her a seat. Out to lunch, you make sure your beau gets more than the fair share. Even if that means your friend, the office ogre, is driven to tears. Smoke less, so you stink less. Crossing the road, stop, stay back. Never, ever, offer a lady your help to cross a road. Ah! Wisdom. That comes from being the other side of the 20s. That, by the way, is the problem. All this coming from an early-30ish, early baldish, lately romantic, gets a wee bit awkward.

It starts with little more than shared loathing. At something (which is good), or each other (which is better). As time goes by, your heart starts to pick sides. Now, this ain't the heart from a decade and half ago. It doesn't skip too many beats; hence you miss out on the vital signs of a coming meltdown. You don't sweat and stammer when you meet the other. You've been there before. You bet so has she. Like I said, you let it be. The only outbound signal would be an excess of parfum. And in my case, a very well groomed mien. (Honestly, my idea of oil-control was always a quality gasket. Until I discovered this lil' blue bottle of goo that cost as much as four litres of petrol, and promises great mileage for my mug).

So you dress up. And dress down. It's not easy picking a color, or a contrast. From "how-would-they-bear-if-i-don't-wear" to "how-would-I-look-in-beige-n-blue". A sartorial revolution is underway. Your friends might smell a rat, though you might explain it away as DKNY. Your ogre friend is especially suspicious. That's taken care of with an extra bowl of noodles. Smooth. The bottles multiply, only now the fermented brew is given a good run by the Skincare 2-3-5 Glycol types. And you thought it went into antibiotics. Life's clear, so's the skin. Yet it never seemed so complicated. The greeting, the chit-chat, the gossip. All the same, yet you feel an edge. A lingering smile, a stolen glance. When caught during either, the old pump for once lost suction. You still let it be.

It's only been few months. Cursory enquiries confirm status as single. Now there is this movie. And there are these friends. Rid the latter and catch the movie, with you-know-who. Dual risk. Latter don't want to know either. Also you don't want your objet du désir to say non. So you decide to trust Ludlum and his 'busy street is best for a kill' credo. 11.30AM is madness at your end. Therefore you slip out. Again, it's quiet on the other wing. So you slip in. Saunter upto the cubicle. And watch her watch spreadsheets.

Mint green. Her favorite color. Pony tail. Colored nails. Well dressed. Good reason to up your FMCG spend. Then you notice something you never caught before. A gold ring. The possibilities are enormous; enormous enough to crush the rest of the week. Maybe month and year. Her fingers are strumming on the side of the monitor. And you are disoriented trying to fix the location of the damned yellow metal.

She spins around. You instantly recover with a toothy grin. A priceless smile in return. Nothing much is spoken, other than that you're there to meet a friend and hence dropped by. Goodbyes later, you can't smother that silly grin on your face. All the way to A-Wing.

It rains outside. But the sky remains blue.

The ring's on the index.

5 comments:

silverine said...

ha ha ha :)) What a build up and even bigger let down. This was damned funny. Lesson of the exp: Make your move fast, wear Nike if you must .... :p

catch22 said...

U really got me there....its funny :)

Me & Ro said...

over 2 months and no posts? are u bitten by the same bug that bit navin?? :)

N A R I YA L C H U T N E Y said...

Hilarious :) . Dont ket go the chance ? :)

Getdfunkout said...

BTW, Is this entirely a work of fiction?

Also, the ogre character reminds me of a certain someone...