Saturday, February 23, 2008

What now?

They met at a mutual friend's annual party. She spotted him first. He was dancing and she noticed him coz she hadn't seen a man look majestic as he danced! Through the party her eyes kept drifiting in his direction...not that she wanted to catch more glimpses of him! She retired that night with the content of having had an enjoyable evening. After all, these parties were about "meeting new and interesting people" as they say!

As with other parties, present took over past....reality took over fresh memories. The struggle and routine of life kept her busy and as with many other interesting people she had met, this one was forgotten too!

She was workign for a well-established firm as human resource officer. Recruitment was something she had to deal with everyday. Thus, meeting new people, tactfully letting them reveal their dreams and ambitions and assessing whether their relationship with the firm would be mutually beneficial was her forte. After all, we all do this assessment of eachother in any relation we make in this world. Whether we go ahead inspite of the confliciting dreams or part ways inspite of having the same goal is a different deal all together!

As she made her preparations to go through another session of appraisal, she was called for by her head.They had found her some help and wanted her to familiarise the office and work ethics to the fresh member in the work force. As she was introduced to him, a sudden wave of familiarity hit her, but she just couldn't place him. She categorised it as one of those 'deja-vu' incidents and let it pass.

Over the next few days she found him adept and amicable, two minimum qualities that one needs a co-worker to have for peaceful co-existence. Their equation was strictly professional. Neither had made an attempt to get friendly beyond what was minimum necessary. But there was an enigmatic angle to that equation..something that seemed to fit the description of admiration,respect or mebbe venture into the realm of attraction. It was ambigious...neither of them could describe it but both if asked would definitely not deny it's existence.

She was an introvert. Though she was a very affable person and a great conversationalist, there was just so much you could make her reveal. Some people would unanimously rate her the winner of a talkathon while others would swear by her patience at being a listener.She was outspoken enough to get what she wanted. This quality of hers along with the bit of being a conversationalist would throw people off the idea of her being an introvert. But can't this combination exist? Aren't there people who can talk the world to another person but be reticent when it comes to laying their heart bare,no matter how close the listener may be?

The affable side of her once broke the ice or rather crossed the line that the enigmatic angle of their equation had drawn. He perceived it as making the first 'move'. She realised that perception and made a mental note at being more careful about maintaining the line. Did she truly want to cross that line? Did she really want to add another definite angle to the existing equation? Something din't let her answer those questions with credible positivity.

She traced her steps very carefully the next few days. His actions were met with luke warm enthusiasm. He found it difficult to pierce through her defence,there was something about her that was very gaurded. Her careful tread was now perceived by him as arrogance. After all she had made the first 'move'. He decided to step back too. She was not the end of the world!

It was the start of another year. The past year seemed to go by in a jify and the present year seemed to come by in a jiffy! As she waded into the sea of people enjoying the celeberations, she critiqued the decor and ambience of the venue, the fashion sense of people her eyes fell on, the couples that floated around and various such observations. As her eyes went scanning the room, they fell on a pair of broad shoulders that floated on the dance floor with exemplary ease. there was somethign very familiar about that majestic look. As the shoulders turned to reveal the face, a flash from a distant past seemed to culminate with her recent past and the present.

Yes,it was him..the majestic dancer who also is her colleague. What now?

6 comments:

Sam said...

Who is this majestic?

Dhanya said...

Why are we so guarded everything? Sometimes I also wonder...

Novice said...

@sam... it's defintely not u!!
@dhanya....it's probably the fear before you try out something new..just my take..but truly..i wonder too!

Aroj said...

beautiful!!..
. thoroughly enjoyed the writing, the way you have described the feelings...

Aroj said...

we are guarded i think bcoz we are afraid, afraid of our past mistakes repeating itself..and making a fool of ourselves again...

Anil P said...

:)