"Will you remember me?" she tried to sound as casual as she could. It was the night before he was to fly to the US. He wasn't quite sure how to answer and found himself gasping for words.
"I don't know" he mumbled "I mean we have just known each other for a month, right?. You have your whole life ahead of you. Why waste it on the memories of a month-long relationship?"
"Yes, I guess" she said unconvinced. How could she ever forget him? The one month she had known him for felt like an eternity. She first ran into him at her cousin's house in Gyaneshwor. It was New Years eve and he had asked her for a dance and she had refused. She was a conservative girl who was bent on remaining a virgin till she married and she didn't like the idea of dancing with a guy she had barely known for a few minutes.
"Chhyaaa, malai nachnai audaina" she tried to dissuade him when he asked her.
"Just come to the dance floor, I'll show you, it's really easy" he wasn't giving up so soon
"Chhyaaa, nai!" she pleaded but left the door open "Ma sakdai sakdina kya. Aru lai bhana na"
"Come along, I'm telling you you'll enjoy it " he teased as he gently held her hand. She wanted to resist but for some reason allowed her herself to be led to the floor. She didn't want to disappoint him and there was something about the way he talked and smiled that she liked.
"Ma janchu, hai?" she said barely 5 seconds into the dance. What if my dad finds out she thought. Her dad would be disappointed and her mom, who was not at all happy when she went to parties, would kill her if she found out her daughter had danced with a guy. She remembered the time when her mother had yelled at her sister for going to a disco for 15 minutes at midday.
"Ramailo lagena, ho?" he put on his sensitive-guy hat.
"Hoina kya, etikai" she said. Just then the music changed to a super hit song she liked she decided she would sit after this number. Her guard let down a little, she started dancing with him and before she realized they were at the centre of the floor and she was enjoying herself very much
"Ha ha ha" she laughed as the song faded away. "Aba ma janchu, hai?"
"OK, I'm coming too" he said "I need to get another drink"
"Khub raksi khanchau ho timi?" she wasn't sure why she asked that question.
"Aaa...." he said a little taken aback "Kahile kahi. I only drink at parties and all"
"Aan hola?" she teased.
"Honest!" he said. Now, why would she ask such a question he wondered.
She saw a look on his face that she didn't understand and immediately rebuked herself for asking the question. What if he gets the wrong impression? Her mom would kill her, she thought again, if she finds out any of this stuff.
"Can I get you a drink?" he asked
"I don't drink" she quickly replied
"Oh, how about a soft drink" I should have guessed she wouldn't drink he thought
"Haina, mero coke ko glass bhari chhaa"
At the end of the party, he asked for her number, she refused so he scribbled his instead on a piece of paper and handed it to her "If you are ever bored, just call this number" he told her
Her mom picked her up at 15 minutes past midnight and he watched as the tail lights of their car faded into the foggy Kathmandu night. She will never call he thought. He knew those types of girls - timid and easily intimidated by the middle class morality that shrouded their lives. What a miserable life it must be when you are not able to do the things you want to. The paranoid parents, the over-protective brothers, and all the others who controlled what a girl could wear, where she could go, whom she could talk with. Who said democracy had been restored to Nepal? He wondered why he had even approached her.
But call she did and one call lead to another. When he told her he was going to the US in a month for further studies she told herself that she would not take the whole thing too seriously. Yet, she could not get him off her mind. There was something about him that deeply attracted her. He was an outspoken guy - a bit of a rebel - but one who was easy-going and had a terrific sense of humor. She found herself clinging on to his words when he expressed his views on life, love, music, books, sports, dancing, parents, family and all the other topics under the sun they talked about. He seemed to have opinions about every thing going on in the planet and always had an answer for all her questions. They weren't always the answers she wanted to hear but he was never short for words she noticed.
He too was intrigued by her. There was a certain grace to her that he found fascinating. He liked her soft and gentle voice, her calm and confident responses to his questions and her ability to laugh at everything he said. Although he was a little frustrated at her refusal to go out with him lest someone "see" her and report the matter to her parents, he found the whole thing very feminine and fascinating. When he told her he was going to the US, he expected her to lose interest in him, but was pleasantly surprised when she continued to talk to him night after night.
That night she called him at 11 PM, half an hour after the lights went off in her parents bedroom. They had promised to keep in touch with each other but both knew it was a promise that could not be kept.
"What time is your flight?" she knew the answer
"2' o'clock"
After asking a few more questions that she knew the answers to, she had asked him if he would remember her. Now it was her turn to reply.
" I may forget you" she said "but I'll never forget your laughter. Don't mind me saying this but you laugh too loud!"
He laughed again.
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