Valentine’s Day

He waited at the canteen foyer for her to finish her class and come down. As usual he had bunked a couple of his lectures and was waiting for her to arrive. She, unlike him, was regular with her classes and hardly missed any. So he waited, listening to Solitary Man by Neil Diamond on his Walkman.

It was a busy day in college. Every Valentine’s Day usually was. It was a day when all the different categories of lovers would come alive and the college would transform into a sickly stage of puppy love, adolescent romance, teenage romp…however one wished to describe it. Girls with roses, cards, shiny gift-wrapped boxes or soft toys in their hands had that air of superiority about them over the girls who didn’t have any such “symbol of love”. Guys were following their respective “girl of dreams”. And sometimes others’ girl of dreams just in case they didn’t quite make it with their own. It was a busy day in college.

She finally came in to the canteen. However he hadn’t heard any class bell ring so obviously she hadn’t come down from one of her lectures. He was surprised to see that she had a guy walking along side her. The fellow had a grin on his face that instantaneously irritated him. She walked up to him and said, “Hold this bag for me please, will you, I’ll just be back” and saying that, she went with the guy towards the woods.

The woods were just a cluster of trees bunched together, adjacent to the canteen. It was a breeding ground for romance. Every pair of any worth in college would take trips to the woods, whispering sweet nothings etc. it was the place to be, if you were a couple in college. He was seething from inside to see her with him taking rounds of the woods.

She was smiling as they walked. Sometimes she even laughed. Her hair bounced away whenever she did so. He loved her even more when she laughed. But today was different. Why was she with him, in the woods…laughing? The songs on his Walkman flowed from Red Red Wine to Shilo to Song Sung Blue. But he didn’t care. He wasn’t even listening to them, as his heart pounded away preparing himself for the worst.

After what seemed ages (fifteen minutes actually) she walked back towards the canteen. The fellow was not to be seen. She came and sat next to him. He took a deep breath and pulled the earphones off his ears.

“You know he wanted to give me a valentine day card. Can you believe his cheek and audacity? Just because I smiled at his corny jokes once or twice? I burst out laughing”, she said. The words sounded like honey to him. “Get me a coffee please”, she said adjusting herself properly on the canteen pillars. “Sure I will”, he replied, suddenly discovering a new vigour in his voice and a spring in his steps. “Just get my bag will you, there’s something inside for you”, he said, as he got up to get her coffee.

“A valentine day card for me?” she smiled in anticipation looking at him in a manner that made him go weak in his knees. He smiled at her as he walked to get her coffee.

As he reached the coffee counter he turned back at the canteen to see her reading his hand-made card and smiling. He hoped she didn’t find the mixed tape he’d made for her. He wanted to give that to her himself. He was smiling to himself thinking of how he felt when he saw her with that guy in the woods.

He felt calmer and more in control now.

He loved Valentine’s Day this year.

Copyright (c) Pratik Majumdar