??? ?? ?? ???? III

I won't call this one Men in my Life III because the title sounds totally ridiculous. I was planning to alter the previous posts also but then whatever comes out here is unedited stuff mostly, so we let them be.

Tonite, I will tell you another story.

I met a guy some three years ago at some kind of a gathering back home. And I am going to write a pretty dispassionate account of it. There were a 'couple' of common friends. And there came a moment when all the couples got busy amongst themselves leaving the lesser mortals with nothing much to do. That's when exactly I and the guy got talking. That's when I 'had' to shed that put-on curtain of inaccesibility.

Honestly I found the place quite wild to my standards.. jam packed room, dance floor, rough music. It was pathetic to be sitting and just sitting. So casual hi's got us talking. The discomfort was probably very evident on my face. I couldn't say much to begin with.

And after five minutes I realized that I was purely listening. Yeah, I wasn't being asked anything. The guy went on and on. And somehow I chose that over talking because sometimes, you know I blurt out stuff to strangers or semi-strangers and regret heavily later. Spontaneity is one big devil sitting inside my head.

It felt better that I wasn't sitting totally alone and was being talked to, atleast. The discomfort began to diminish. He then felt like a long lost friend. He started talking about his life. I asked him about girls. Yeah, that I do to spice up conversations. People get very engrossed when you touch those love cords. Later he started talking about one female in particular. The latest one, probably.

Sometimes I had to try hard to pay attention. Sometimes I felt irked. Smoke seriously turns me off. I almost snatched the cigarette butt from his mouth and crushed it in the ash tray. That struck him hard, probably left an impression too.

After a day he called me. Wanting to meet me was an excuse. His story had not been wound up that evening, I remembered. He wanted to be listened to. He wanted the stuff out of his mind. It could be me, it could be the walls, green trees...

In the cafe', I sat still. Smiled at exactly unequal intervals of time, so that he wouldn't know they were totally voluntary. I heard him in and out. Formed the female-in-particular's face in my mind. Really don't know what made her appear slightly chubby with curled locks. But anyway, I also came to know about her ex-boyfriend, present boyfriend, future-boyfriend..! All in details, besides other things.

After it all, I realized I had this flair for listening. Listening to distressed souls. Could be because I am tremendously patient. Could be because I seriously don't give a damn!

Whatever the reasons be...when guys my age have confessed to me that they see the 'understandingmother' in me, hardly anything is left to be said ;) Chapter stands closeD.