Asterix and Call of Duty

Sometimes when things go wrong we decide that it is the work of one Mr. Fate. Well Mr. Fate is just as cruel as you think. I’ve been screwed over by fate many times but this story is about how when Mr. Fate decides to play with his prey before devouring it

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“This is awesome man! You’ve got to come and check this out!” screamed Vikram through the phone.

He was talking about the new “Call of Duty 2” game that he got recently.

“Dude stop SHOUTING!” I yelled back.

“But you’ve got to see this one man! Come over right now!” he hollered.

“Dude you live miles away and I’m not in a mood to jog. I’ll come over some other time.”

We lived in a complex that was spread out for almost five kilometres and we lived at two ends of the complex. The only method of commute other than jogging was if you had a personal vehicle.

“Shut up and get here fast. Man this is AWESOME! I don’t want to hear anything from you now.” He shouted.

“If you don’t stop howling I won’t be able to hear anything EVER!” I said and hung up.

The problem with being best friends for years is that you can’t say no to anything. But this time I decided that I won’t go for sure.

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Ten minutes later, I found myself getting out of my building with my iPod, and high expectations for CoD2.

 I decided to walk instead of jogging.

Now, why would I do that? I usually jog in order to reach faster. Not just because I’ve so much concern for time but also because I love the feeling. But today I decided to walk.

About five minutes into my walk and about two songs later, it began to drizzle. Now is the time to run. But I still didn’t. It was a great feeling. Walking through the drizzle, listening to John Denver sing “Leaving on a Jet plane” was a splendid feeling.

Slowly the drizzle began to change into a downpour and I had to take shelter in a nearby building. Genius that I was, I forgot to bring the one thing you never forget during the monsoon-My Umbrella.

The weather changed from bad to worse. Instead of running back to my place I went in the building that gave me shelter.

Everything was new and I had never seen anything like it before. I wandered around and asked the person sitting behind the desk, busy scribbling something,

 “Bhaiyya, yeh kaunsa building hai?” (Which building is this?)

He looked at me, top to bottom and then back to top again and gave a glare of contempt. I’ve never been looked at like that ever. That look made me remember my granny’s face when she saw me for the first time in a Slipknot Tee and a low-waist.

“Library ka naam suna hai?” (Ever heard of a thing called as Library?) And he went back to scribbling.

No Wonder everything felt so new! So this is how a library looks like.

Now that I’m in one of these I might as well read something. I thought.

Hmm…Let’s see…Fiction, Non-Fiction, Science, Reference, Biographies, Autobiographies, … where the hell is… Ahh, there you are – Comics.

I picked up the Asterix Comics and looked around for a seat. Unable to find a seat I roamed around a little more and saw another door “Reading Room”.

Benches and tables were arranged in rows on both sides of the room. The whole room was empty. I jumped over the first two rows of tables and sat on the third row. I made myself comfortable, using the wall as a back-rest and my legs spread out on the bench.

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I was so engrossed in my book that I did not see her come in. She came and sat on the bench in front of me. It was only after she kept her books down that I noticed that someone had burst into my bubble of comfort.

I sat up with a sense of alarm. I looked at her.

I don’t know whether it was the fact that she had the most innocent face that made her so look so awesome or the teasing smile she had on her pink lips that made her look like the most beautiful girl on the planet. She had wonderful curly hair that flowed down till her shoulder and ended in spirals.

Oh! Mr. Fate, I cannot thank you enough for this. How else could one explain all the events that took place that day? Me, the person who never step foot in a library before, was sitting there opposite the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.

“I… I’m really sor… sorry to startle you like that. I was so immersed in my book that I didn’t notice you coming”

 I tried hiding my book, but I guess she had already seen it.

“You were ‘immersed’ in Asterix?!? Which was the part that really touched your heart?” and she smiled again.

“The part where Asterix talks about having a food fight.

 I’m sorry, have we met before? 

Oh! And by the way, I love you.”

Beauty and sarcasm. What else does one want?

“Yeah I don’t really read much and I got in here because of the rain.” I replied.

“Yeah that explains a lot!” she said.

She was talking to me as if we have been friends since childhood. And I don’t even know her name. Or did I? Was she really an old friend and could it be that I’ve failed to recognize her? No way, I would never forget a face like hers.

*Awkward Silence*

Say something you idiot! Anything will do! She has spoken, now it’s your turn! Say something! Introduce yourself!

“The rain is gone” she said.

“Hmmm… Then I probably should get going.”

WHAT!?! NO! Talk to her you dumb moron!

“I’m Tanisha, by the way.”

“Oh! I’m Anoop, Nice meeting you. Do you live around here?”

Phew! Well at least you are good-for-something.

“No, I’m here visiting my cousins.” She said.

“Oh! Ok!”

“Bu-bye then!” She said.

That was abrupt! Don’t judge her too soon. You don’t know her. Be cool. Go with the flow.

“Bye.” And I shook her hand.

My GOD!  Her skin was silky smooth. It felt like running your hands on velvet. 

.

.

.

.

Dude, LET GO!!

I left her smiling and went back to the bookshelf, replaced the book and got out of the place, flashing a huge grin to the grumpy librarian.

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“Where the Hell were you? It took you so long to get her? What did you do? Crawl?” welcomed Vikram.

“Yeah, did you know it was raining cats and dogs outside?”

“That was about an hour ago. Any ways look what my cousin bought me. ‘Call-of-Duty-2’ baby!”

“Your cousin?”

“Yeah! She just went down to the library...”

(How was it? This is my second post. Please comment –irrespective of whether you liked it or not. And thank you for bearing with me through this. I sincerely hope to pester you with more of my posts)
Read the second part : Asterix and Call of Duty (p2)