Arrogance and Assumptions

Changing sides

“Tongiht was a crazy night.” Paayal says as she plops on my bed. “Yeah!” I agree changing into sweat pants and long sleeved v-neck. “Akhil looked hot when he was mad, and dude he has an arm on him!” she laughs. “I know, did you see Wahid's face swing back?” I joke and do a physical replay.

“So, have you talked to him?” she pokes, “No, I don't have his number.” She sits up and checks her phone, “here.” she says showing it to me. “How'd you get this?” I'm lost. “I asked Rishi before we left, I thought you might need it.” she dials the number on my phone, hands it to me and then says good night.

I smile at her and as she leaves I press talk. I get about four rings until it rolls to voice mail. I don't want to leave a message but decide I must. “Hey Akhil its Chandani, I was just checking to see if your okay. Wanted to know if your lips feel good...I mean, your busted lip. I hope its okay. Well call me when you can. Bye” I quickly hang up, forcing myself not to push pound and then the number two to review my message.

Within minutes my phone rings, I hesitate but answer it. “Hello?” I smile. “Hey, sorry I was laying down, and then I didn't recognize your number.” he informs me. “Ah. Hows your lip?” I ask. “Its fine, nothing major. Don't worry there will be plenty of time for that.” he laughs.

“Oh, shut up. You know what I meant.” I turn off my light and lay down. “Yeah I do, and I'm telling you. So how was the rest of the night?” his voice low. “It was okay, our entertainment was gone but things settled down. My father has been singing your praises by the way. Your his Mike Tyson.” he cracks up and softens his voice to sound like Mike “well you know I do what I can.”

I bust up and continue, “That was spot on!” I can hear him laugh, and then “So, you want to go see a movie with me?” I stop and think this over. The man that first snubbed me, then annoyed me, now has a pull over me. Maybe he always had this pull over me, as I was attracted to him from the first time I saw him. I allowed my pride to cloud my judgment, and created this evil character with Akhil's face.

I quickly tell him, “Sure. Akhil...” I take in a swift breath, “Yeah?”  I tell myself to swallow my pride. “I'm sorry I didn't give you a better chance, I-” he stops me. “No worries. But I am sorry that I hurt your feelings.” his voice is warm. For a second I forget what we are talking about, as silence overtakes the phone.

Its not that awkward silence, when there is nothing left to say. Its that silence where two people feel comfortable enough to just lay there, lost in thought. I pull the covers around me, and close my eyes. He breathes deeply and within a few minutes we both fall asleep. 

I wake up and pull my phone from beneath my ear, the time on my phone still going. It is seven in the morning, I clear my throat before speaking, trying to avoid a hoarse voice. I hum with my mouth closed as I do when I am trying to hear how my voice sounds. Then softly say “Akhil?” I can hear him breathing still.

His breath quickens and he coughs as I say his name again. “Yeah?” he finally says realizing that we are still on the phone. “I think we should hang up now.” I smile. He jokes, “How long have you been awake? Wasting my minutes.” I roll my eyes and play back, “Please you know you have no one to talk too.”