15:A Connect, An Absurdity:

Sameer opened the lock of the main door and pulled it open, the wide space of which revealing a well dressed Camron leaning onto the wall, causing him to widen his eyes skeptically even as Camron smiled back and greeted the elder man.

“Hey you! I thought you left to attend the party!” Sameer said moving away to allow him inside.

“I thought so too Mr.Gupta, until your daughter called me back to pick her up…”

Sameer stopped in his tracks on his way towards the lounge and turned around to give Camron one of his alarmed look. “You mean?”

Before Camron could answer that they heard the sound of wooden footsteps and the two looked up anticipating Khushi’s arrival, before giving each other another skeptical look. Sameer didn’t know what he expected his daughter to turn up in, but it definitely wasn’t in her pair of tight jeans and a jet black fancy top. The corners of his mouth lifted up, noticing her efforts to dress up as little as it could be.

“You are going to the party?” he found himself ask, absent mindedly, even as Khushi climbed down the last few steps to stand in between the two of them. Camron on the other hand just chose to remain silent.

“What does it look like?”

“----uh, like you are going for a night shift of your work, minus the driving coat?”

“Was that supposed to be a joke dad?” Khushi narrowed her eyes.

“I’m just saying preplanning could have given you time to pick up a dress”

“Is it written in some rule book somewhere? Dresses for parties? No right? Besides I’m not going to flaunt my outfit. I’m only going to shut some good-for-nothing mouths, for once and for all…”

“I see…”  the men in the room nodded in unison, but while Camron acknowledged the explanation, processing the information, Sameer was reading between her lines, with that knowing look. And Khushi looked away, not wanting to give in, into more discussion. “Whatever!  Have your dinner and go to bed, don’t wait up for me”

“Roger that”

“And you!” Khushi finally spoke to Camron causing him to veer his eyes to her, taking them away from Sameer. “Do you have a problem to go with a not-so-well dressed date?”

“Absolutely not” He smiled, as reassuringly as possible.

“Good for you, because I’m not changing even if you have a problem, now shall we?”

“After you…”

Sameer watched the two go, even as he nodded his head dismissing his daughter’s little put up and closed the door behind them, hoping that the sudden break of a tradition of not attending parties, which is a first, might prove to be some good at least.

Khushi on the other hand, had no explanations, no reasons, nor any logics to argue why she was doing whatever she had been doing since Arnav left her room. She for once, didn’t want to answer the logical conscience within her, or had chosen to shut the multiple voices in her mind. Or maybe, it was the mere fact that for once, someone actually didn’t take her no, for an answer. Maybe someone for once spent that extra moment to insist her against her no, as minute as the moment could have been.

Well, she had always ended up giving a tough time to everyone who wouldn’t take her no for an answer; And so people have eventually given up being persistent. But then maybe she had been tired of the monotony of the obedient ones around her. However, she had just wickedly ignored the fact that she herself has worked years to become the way she had become and to have programmed everyone to behave the way she have always wanted them to. 

She finally has been turning into a wicked sadist. Maybe.

**

It turns out, that there indeed was a rule that people are supposed to be come dressed in a certain way to the party. The little cozy glass-walled place was a complete splash of red and white, the floral and artistic decorations, with a dim red light giving the place a look of some vivid theme which Khushi couldn’t definitely make out, but it did look spectacular.

She entered the place, conscious about her outfit, let alone for a bit but that changed as soon as she was embraced with sudden attention from almost everyone around. Everybody around were known, familiar and it was a small private gathering, the fact which has turned her normal, conscious, underplaying entry into a grand one. The first ones to greet her, truly taken aback by surprise was Clare Maxwell, the very host of the very party.

“Good lord K!??” Khushi found herself engulfed in a tight hug, even before she took a few steps into the party room and Camron standing beside her had only been grinning, completely happy anticipating the reaction from everyone.

“K!!?!”

The small cozy room, void of any kind of party music momentarily broke into puzzled utters in the next mere second even as a few of them walked towards her in surprise. Yes, Clare was quite loud in greeting her.

“Please tell me I’m not imagining you…” Clare spoke not wanting to let her go, just when her boyfriend popped his face behind her to have a proper look at Khushi. “It is K!” Steve said, even as Khushi smiled back at him.

“I don’t think it is possible for us two to imagine the same person, at the same time, is it?” he teased standing beside Clare before giving Khushi a bear hug. “Hey bud!” he patted her back and Khushi raised an eyebrow at him.

“Oh my god! look at you! Turned red head?!”

“—she looks gorgeous!”

“---in her unique way of following the party theme”

 Camron, Clare and Steve spoke causing her to grin with genuine warmth filling her nerves, before she was dragged inside, into her own little group of friends, whom she hadn’t really met in ages.

**

“K!?” Aileen looked at the gathering at the entrance, in confusion and Arnav all but veered his eyes away from his drink to Khushi, who was now being welcomed in the grandest way possible into the party. He was surprised too, but the smirk started playing at the corner of his lips. It didn’t take much of his efforts, did it?

“She actually came!” Aileen continued to exclaim and just when she was about to walk to meet her, Arnav held her hand. “Let’s wait until she meets everyone” he said and she nodded relaxing in her stance as they both continued to look at the gathering. Arnav watched as the small group greeted her with genuine surprise and warmth. He could tell everybody was happy seeing her attending the party and that left him to stare at a smiling Khushi incredulously, for the insane one that she is. She actually chose to stay away from everyone just because music plays in a party? Unbelievable.

He wondered if anyone would know her lame, lamest reason ever. Maybe there is one person. Sameer.

As Arnav looked on, he could see her ganging up with a group of guys, and only guys, talking, patting each other, interacting and giggling. She almost had become one of them, ever so easily. That was her, he knew. And it didn’t change a bit. He liked it.

“She seems famous” he found himself say, his eyes attuned to the gang while his lips sipped on the thick liquid.

“Oh she is! She is real famous with the guys back in University” Aileen spoke causing Arnav to give her a probing look.

“In a different way actually. She was the typical ones who found dressing up boring”

“---Tell me about it”

Aileen chuckled. “While we all, as in me, Clare and a few other girlies preferred pajama parties, she would be hanging out with the guys to bowling and snookers. We would want to go pubbing, she would prefer basketball games.  Moter-boat racing in the ocean, snow-skating in winters, beach-volleyballs, were more her idea of hanging out. And she ended up having more of guy-friends than girls. Me and Clare are possibly the only girls she ever spoke to…”

“I’m not surprised..”

“Of course, one could tell with her choosing to be a taxi driver, those long hours of driving! Most of the strong men keep complaining about it. And she drives incredibly easy!”

“How about dating those very friends?” Arnav asked, the question just slipping out of his own curiosity.

“No way. Everyone ended up befriending her, but that would be about it. I never understood why though. It was like she has these list of handsome men as her friends, only to lend them to me or Claire for our dates” Aileen giggled causing Arnav to give her his loop sided smile. “I didn’t know I was invited here to witness a demonstration about ‘The K’!” he was back into his sarcastic mode, rolling his eyes.

“Don’t tell me you weren’t curious….” Aileen commented and it was his turn to be stumped, for thinking the girl to be nothing more than one of his silly, bimbo hook ups. He was actually having a proper conversation with her. Thankfully for him, before he could think of an answer to her statement, the mike went on, uttering that odd, awkward sound following which was a female loud voice, clearing her throat to start off with what seemed like an announcement cum speech.

**

“Hello Everyone!”  Clare turned everyone’s attention to her as she climbed the bar table that was arranged in a semi circle dragging khushi along with her. And that was when Khushi could finally spot Aileen and Arnav, standing at one side of the table. He met her eyes and raised his eyebrows, and she narrowed her gaze, poking, before looking away.

“The announcement was planned at a much later part of the evening, however, my special friend’s arrival here, got me all excited and I cannot wait any longer” Clare laughed, causing everyone to squeal at her in encouragement. “Firstly, let us all say a big hi, to the stranger special one here, K! You have been missed K!”

“This one is for you K!” Steve raised his toast from the table and Khushi hugged Clare whilst everyone raised their drinks to them. Khushi yet again gazed at Arnav momentarily just in tight for him to raise his glass to her, and she kept her eyes intact even as he sipped on his drink looking at her from the rim of the glass. She was proving to him something, he registered as much. He was in turn proving to her something too, which she refused to acknowledge.

“And the big news is, me and Steve have finally decided to get married!” That got Khushi out of her little thoughtful glance and her face broke into a wide grin, before stepping down from the table, lending her land to Steve and pushing him up to stand beside his fiancé. The room broke into celebrations, the champagne bottle was opened amidst everyone’s excited greetings to the couple and Khushi found herself being dragged into a group hug, with Camron holding onto her in excitement even as her eyes were somehow attuned to Arnav, who now was standing at one corner, alone.

After being involved in another few moments of the private celebration, khushi excused herself from the gan and started walking towards Arnav, as if being pulled by some unknown reason. She couldn’t believe she actually was thinking in the terms that she was thinking in that moment. But then, if she reckoned, she couldn’t believe any of her actions from the past few hours. Recalling her dad’s words to treat her guest good and dismissing every other logical argument, she silently walked to stand beside him, almost mirroring his posture of leaning onto the pillar, just adjacent to him.

They stood in absolute silence, both conscious of one another and both awaiting one of them to begin a conversation, when khushi cleared her throat trying to grab his attention. “Steve and Clare met way back in UNI……” she spoke out of nowhere, pointing out to the couple among the group of her friends.

“You are talking to me?” he asked throwing a sideway look at her, before taking a full swig of his drink.

“What does it look like? I’m talking to the pillar??”

“You never know” he shrugged nonchalantly whilst looking away, completely aware of her open mouthed glare at him.

Something was wrong with her. She realized. Because instead of walking away, she decided to try a little another time. There has to be some kind of problem with her right minds. But then, who else better than her would be aware of their ego problems?

“That’s Marty, Steve’s best friend”

“I have met him. Aileen made sure I meet everyone in the party”

“And you still you are choosing to stay aloof?”

“Why? Does that bother you?”

It’s like they were talking swiftly one after another, as if the lines have been practiced well in advance.

Asshole. Khushi muttered just in time when he turned to her completely leaning sideways on the pillar and gave her one questioning glare. “I heard that”

“So? Oh do I look scared? Asshole, that’s what you are!”

“Just because I dismissed your lame efforts to give me some company?”

“Oh don’t give yourself much importance!” she gave him a nasty glare and turned around to walk away.

“Hey listen”

“Do you not find anything weird around?” he said, when she turned around to look at him. She raised her eyebrows when he brought his index finger, poked it in the air at his ear and then his eyes roamed around the place, causing her to look around too. And he shrugged, indicating an absence of something.

There is no music.

She heard her own voice acknowledge his gesture to her. He smirked, the moment he have seen his point register in her eyes, and then leaned away from the pillar walking to pass her. He decided against it, to add something else to that conversation as he found himself standing just adjacent to her, his lips reaching her ear.

“People actually consider my advice sometimes. Seems like Clare have seen my point, when I said the party music should begin once the announcement has been made. Although I stated that it wouldn’t disturb the flow of the party as my reason…”

“---so I wouldn’t turn away, if the music was on when I came?”

“Righto!”

As on cue, Clare announced for the live band to start off the music and the place was suddenly filled with nodes of guitar and beats of drums, all in mere few moments, causing Khushi to stand rooted to her place. It was then that she have noticed the live band, for the first time she entered the place, it was then that she actually realized his main intention to probe her into the party, it was then that her mind have suddenly started exploding with a sound that was a mash-up of millions of musical instruments, all at the same time.

“Let go Khushi”

Before she could register his words, he walked away leaving her alone, amidst the sound that can manage to break her down into pieces. She had this sudden urge to tug her ears with her hands, to go deaf if she could, or to crawl down into the duvet of the ground beneath her and to not hear anything forever.
She squeezed her eyes shut, as if it would make her ears deaf, her fist digging into her palm, but that was about it. It was just about her choosing to hear or not hear it. There was no other psychic reason to it. Anger did fill in her nerves. Frustration did embark into her stance. Weird disorientation did tug within the insides of her. But she wouldn’t die, would she?

She could always choose not to listen to it, right? There was definitely some kind of difference between hearing and listening, no? Hearing is to ears, for listening is to soul. She could shut down her soul. Definitely she could. Lame, lame reasons again! She didn’t have no one to blame, except herself to be in the situation that she is. Why did she decide come again? To prove him something, right.

True. She might have turned away if the music had been on all the time, before she came. Or least, she could have gotten used to it by now, amidst the grand receiving that she had received. He was clever. No strike that. Evil, that’s what he was, had been, always.

“Are you okay?”

She jumped up at Camron’s voice and turned around to face him. He looked concerned and she could tell from his glance that she still looked alarmed, still in her stance. “Huh?” she managed to say that.

“Uh, the music started, I know you can’t stand it. Are you okay?” Good friend he was.

“Oh yeah, right. I can live. Not a problem” she looked around, and talked loud. Much loud.

“Are…are you sure?”

“Yeah! I’m good!” she yelled on the top of her voice.

“K, it’s not the loud music yet, I can hear you. You don’t have to yell”

“I’m yelling?”

Camron just smiled nodding his head, before holding her hand to pull her along with him. He took her back to the people who were indulged in their private celebration, just in time to witness Steve taking Clare for a dance. Arnav watched her come along towards them and found himself asking out Aileen for dance which she happily agreed to, even as khushi remained with the rest of the guys at the bar table, having to witness the slow dancing.

She watched as they sway along the dance floor. If her loud talking helped her to not listen to music around her until then, allowing herself to observe them for moments longer than usual helped her, at that moment. There were two things she could do at that moment, sitting right there along the periphery of the dance floor--- to listen to music and just see them; or to just hear music and keep looking at them. Seeing and looking, holding significant difference. Both the options seemed unhealthy, not too good, and she found herself choosing later. Looking involved reading too much into their body languages, and for the very reason, she was attuned.

They weren’t dancing for real. They more or less swayed along the soft music, in that casual way. He did better slow dancing than what he was doing at the moment. And yet, he could tell Khushi was looking at them in that very Khushi way. The look of hers is her trade mark one. A copyrighted stare. An expression that was most common in her eyes and he wondered if she herself realized it. It could be just staring for anyone else. But he knew better, and he had seen enough of it. She looked at him in that exact way, whenever her mother gave him extra butter on the bread, or an extra sandwich for lunch. She looked at him with that same narrowed eye-stare, every time he would be appreciated for her tune; when Sameer talked to him in that extra sweet way or when Coco snuggled into him for that extra long moment.

As he held both of Aileen’s hands twirling her around, he knew, for sure that Khushi was looking at him with that exact look in her eyes. Jealousy. He knew she sometimes had been jealous of him, but had she ever been jealous in that protective way for him?

As moments passed, just like that, like it happened on the day of the hiking, his mind started playing a weird tune corresponding to the whole of the situation. It was silly in a way, to think of tunes in the most absurd situations, but then that’s how his mind had been working lately. There absolutely was no explanation whatsoever. He had this sudden urge to run his fingers over the naturals of a keyboard, to see where the vague slow tune leads to. He was even having an overdose of the virtual play of strings in his mind, and he had to get that out.

“A musician you are…its fascinating” Aileen uttered amidst her swaying completely oblivious to his thoughts, her eyes turning coyly.

“Would you like to hear me play something?”

He absolutely had no idea, how and why did he think of whatever he had suggested. But he did. Yet again impulsively. Strange as hell.

**

It was like one of the dreams that she had these days. The tune just starts playing out of where in her mind. She had this sudden urge to open a book and write down the notes before she would forget. The similar kind of gloomy background, the similar musical equipment arranged in the background and she was having that similar feeling as if witnessing the same dream all over again, with the same kind of musical notes forming in her mind, emerging into some vague tune. Before she processed the weird resemblance she saw him going to take the place behind the keyboard and just like that, the vague tune that was almost forming in her mind started playing at his fingers. The tune took a form, picked up a note, even as the musicians behind him started tuning along with his strings and she watched on, within moments the tune played into its complete symphony.

She was stumped yet again, for the second time that evening. He played the tune, almost similar to the one she heard in her dreams, or so it seemed. The resemblance was illogical. Impossible. Absurd as hell.

What the hell is going on?