The Wedding

The Whole Story :P

The Wedding

"Oh my God!

"What? What is it?"

The girl grabbed onto her friend's wrist and her eyes went round. She forced them both to a stop and pulled out a magazine from her backpack and flashed it in front of her friend's face.

"Yeah. Buddhadev Sen Gupta...So? Why are you getting excited about a magazine you bought ten minutes back?"

She turned him to face the other side and pointed, "Because he's sitting right there in front of us!"

I sighed. The beard and all black outfit were clearly not a good enough cover-up. I adjusted to sit more comfortably on the sofa in the hotel lobby.

The teenagers neared me with a polite hesitation and the girl mumbled, "Excuse me, sir?"

I looked up and said, "Hi..."

She broke into an even bigger grin and gushed, "Oh my God! I knew it was you! This is the best day ever! I am so excited! I love you! I mean...uh...I love you as...a fan!" She turned red in the face and her friend took over for her.

"What my friend is trying to say is she would love a photo with you. If you don't mind."

I nodded and raised myself from the sofa and said, "Of course." I looked at the girl and flashed a grin to say, "Thank you. You're very sweet!"

The girl looked as though she wanted to hug me. She restrained herself and pushed the phone into her friend's hands. She then hesitantly looked up at me and asked, "Um...would you mind signing this magazine for me?"

I accepted the magazine and saw a happier version of myself staring back at me. This guy seemed to have it all as he posed with a big rather famous smile, holding up the shiny gold medal dangling around his neck. The words "Buddhadev: Swimming towards Glory" were emblazoned in bright yellow across his bare toned chest.

I took the pen from her hand and scrawled my sign and then added a heart as an afterthought. I didn't think the girl could smile any wider. But she did. I handed back the magazine, smiled and walked away. Just then, another girl spotted me and squealed. This was going to be a long night...

It was still dawn when I stepped out of the cab and walked towards the entry gate of the Delhi airport. The early morning February air was pleasantly cold.

I was travelling to Bengaluru to attend a college friend's wedding. It had been four years since we graduated from the same college. This wedding was also going to be a reunion of our batchmates. But what I didn't know was that the reunion would begin much ahead of time; right in the queue in front of the airline counter.

I was almost sure it was she. Same height! Same long hair! Same complexion! Curiosity had my eyes glued to her. And then about 60-odd seconds later, when she turned, she proved me right. My ex-girlfriend stood two places ahead of me in that queue. We had never met after the college farewell.

I stopped staring hurriedly and took a few steps back. I stepped onto a foot and turned around to apologize. The guy looked at me with irritation and pain and then I saw his features visibly change as recognition hit.

"Oh my God! Darling, look who it is! It's Buddhadev Sen Gupta!"

I could almost see her turning her head and trying to see what was going on. Without thinking twice, I moved out of the line and held the shoulders of a person right in front of me. I lowered my tall frame and hid behind her.

My ex looked around for a few seconds and then turned around with a suspicious look on her face. I breathed a sigh of relief and straightened myself. The person in front of me turned around and looked at me with a strange look. I looked down and felt a swooping sensation in my navel.