In The Eyes Of The Beholder
Chapter 4
Three months after he'd received it, Maan stood looking at Hades's painting mounted on the shabby walls of his rented room. It should have looked incongruous in it's less than stellar surroundings, but instead it became the focal point that detracted from the ugliness of the room. He sighed as he walked out and made his way towards the library. This was the first time since he'd joined college that he was going to that hallowed place, but then desperate times did call for desperate measures.
He'd failed yet again this year, not that it bothered him much, but his dad had been raging mad. His one and only son and the heir to his vast business empire was not toeing the line. His father had gone ahead and confiscated his bike, his luxury apartment and last but not the least, his gym membership. Everything that he had thought of as a part of his identity had been taken away from him. It was to rectify one of these shortcomings in his life that he was on his way to the library.
He entered the quiet building and rolled his eyes at the dead silence in the reading room. He looked at all the students and some professors sitting quietly like obedient sheep, heads bent over whatever they found fascinating in the black and white scrawled pages. He heard a loud squeaky giggle and a bunch of shhh's followed, as people looked and frowned at whoever had dared to break the golden silence. He grinned and gave a mental thumbs up to the squeaker. He himself had the strangest urge to march right up to the center, scream, fire, run and watch all hell broke loose. However, if he did that his purpose for coming here would not be served and that was the most important task that he had set for himself today.
Just then somebody gave him a deliberate hard bump from behind. He whirled around and looked at a seething angry young man literally standing nose to nose with him.
"Why the hell did you push me?" Maan glared at him.
"Let's take this outside shall we?" The angry guy retorted through clenched teeth.
"No. Let's continue this right here. Who the hell are you and what do you want?"
"What the hell did you say to my girlfriend?
"Dude, buzz off. I have no clue who your girlfriend is and neither do I give a damn."
I am Vikram from St John's college and Shilpa is my girlfriend.
"Shilpa? Who Shilpa?"
"The girl you harassed yesterday."
"I didn't harass anybody. If I recall correctly, a girl named Shilpa was flirting with me outrageously yesterday and I thought it only polite to reciprocate, as I am a very chivalrous kind of guy."
Vikram flew into a rage at that statement and suddenly lifted his fist ready to slam it into Maan's face. Maan ducked to avoid the punch and heard a loud howl from above him.
Somebody had slammed a book between Vikram's fist and his own face and his fist had connected with the hard covered volume. Maan bent over howling with laughter at this sudden turn of events and finally straightened up to take a good look at his rescuer. However, before he could see who it was, a piece of paper with something scribbled on it was slapped on his face.
He moved the paper away and read,
"This library is only meant for studying and does not serve a duel purpose."
He once again cracked up looking at the word play of the underlined word.
He finally looked up to thank his savior, only to see a vaguely familiar disappearing back, covered in a riot of curls and a knee length grey T- Shirt.
Vikram cursed and with dire promises of retribution at a later date walked away, nursing his sore hand.
Well, for a place that he'd always given the wide berth, it had not been bad at all. He had barely entered the place and found more entertainment in a few minutes, than he'd found in the whole of last two weeks after disaster had struck him in the form of his father.
He felt duty bound to go over and thank the girl, but first he had to accomplish the mission he'd come into the library for.
He walked over to the librarian's counter matter-of-factly, as if nothing untoward had just happened. He bypassed the starchy looking old dragon at one of the counters and instead approached the pretty young girl who blushed slightly when he gave her a lazy grin.
"How...how may I help you?" She stuttered.
He read the name plate attached to the lapel of her blouse.
Miss. Mariam Abdul-Rehman.
"Hey there. That's a long name for a pretty thing like yourself."
The blush in her cheeks intensified.
"Well, Miss Pretty. If a lovely girl like yourself is a librarian, it must only be because you love books, am I right?"
She nodded dazedly.
"Can you tell me which is the fattest book in this library?"
"Excuse me. You mean a book about body fat?" She looked confused.
"No. No. I mean, the biggest and the thickest book in the library."
"Ha...Ha. That is a strange request." She laughed nervously.
"Right? But you see I'm an extremely fast reader and usually I run out of things to read. I am leaving on a short vacation and need something to take with me which will last me a few days.
"Oh yes, I understand totally. That sounds just like me. I too am into heavy reading...size wise and also material wise." She laughed.
"Well actually the biggest and the thickest volumes we have are on physiology and anatomy. I don't think you'll be interest...
"Fantastic. Maan jumped in.
"I am sure they will do just fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes absolutely. I have always been interested in the human body." He grinned at her as he gave her the once over. She blushed prettily once again and pointed towards the other end of the library. "
She nodded her head towards the other end of the room.
"You see the student over there, with the grey T-shirt and curly hair? She is currently referring to them and you can make a request to her.
Maan nodded his thanks, flirting completely forgotten as he made a beeline for the girl with his books in her hands.
As he approached her, he heard the same squeaky giggle he had heard when he'd just entered the library. A few heads looked up, but nobody shushed her this time. He supposed that after all the excitement he and that idiot Vikram had provided, a giggle was pretty tame stuff. He also recognized her as the same girl who'd broken up the fight between him and Vikram.
Well, this was just perfect. He could ask her for the books, along with thanking her for her previous actions.
He approached her desk and cleared his throat, but she was too busy looking at something on the book, while giggling away and ignored him completely. He cleared his throat once again ...loudly and deliberately. Still no response, though many of the heads in the library snapped up to give him an irritated look.
He felt a slight twinge of familiar irritation and looked at the curly head bent over in concentration.
His eyes slowly narrowed in suspicion.
No impossible. Don't be stupid Maan, it can't possibly be her.
He slowly walked around and stood in front of her.
He looked down at the familiar unibrow and let out a deep sigh. He should have known shouldn't he?
Suddenly his eyes fell on the two fat volumes in front of her and he sighed in satisfaction. They were perfect. Then his eyes widened to their fullest extent as he looked at the page the book was open on and the various drawings she had drawn of the male anatomy. The page heading boldly stated the title.
"The Male Reproductive Organs- It's Functions and Anatomy."
It wouldn't have been so strange, if he had not seen her reproductions of the male anatomy on various papers strewn in front of her across the desk.
Well, well, well, Miss Handa wasn't as innocent and ignorant as she pretended to be was she?
So this was what she'd been giggling away about, had she? Well, this was a strange fixation wasn't it?
He slammed his hand down on one of her drawings and then snatched it back when he saw what it had landed on.
She gave a small yelp and literally jumped out of her skin at being so rudely disturbed.
"What..What... Who?" She stuttered.
He smirked down at her and raised an eyebrow, as he nodded his head towards the books.
"I need to check out those books." He said.
She instinctively grabbed the book to her chest as if he was about to run away with it.
"Why? Are you a medical student?" She looked at him suspiciously and then quickly lowered her head.
Well at least his motive was purer than hers wasn't it? So he saw no harm in sharing it with her. After all he was not going to use it for doodling away the male or the female reproductive systems was he?
"I need them for weightlifting."
She gasped and looked up once again.
"You what? That's outrageous"
"Ha!! Look who's talking? And what may I ask are you using the books for?"
"I am studying for my next class."
"Oh puleeze!! I don't want to know what kind of class that is."
You...you.. you.. what do you take me for? I have a life drawing class next.
"A what class?" he asked confused.
"A life drawing, meaning we will be drawing a live nude. Ummm I...I was just practicing for that and trying to get comfortable."
"And having a little too much fun, by the looks of it." He retorted back.
"I was not." She denied hotly.
"Anway, I am done with the books, but I am going to tell the librarian why you want the books."
He snatched a bunch of drawings of the desk and held them gingerly between his forefinger and his thumb.
"Then I will show her these and swear on my life that you are the biggest pervert I have ever come across."
She snatched the drawings back from him and stuffed then in her bag.
"You are the bigger pervert if you cannot appreciate beauty of the human body and oh.."
Suddenly she had a strange light in her eyes.
"Do you work out regularly? From what I can see, you must have a strenuous exercise routine. You must be extremely dedicated if you are even willing to use books as tools for exercise.
"Would you like to.."
"No." He literally yelled the words and a few shh's went around the room yet again.
"But you don't even know what I'm going to ask you?" She whispered.
"I know exactly what you are going to ask and the answer is still no. I am keeping all my clothes on around you, especially after I have heard the way you giggle.
"Oh well." She shrugged and her head disappeared inside her cavernous bag in search of something.
He quickly collected the fat textbooks and started making his way towards the front desk.
"Hey. Psst." She called out.
He ignored her and started walking faster. He was almost at his destination and he could see Miss. Mariam giving him one of her sweet smiles.
But the devil behind his back jumped in front of him and handed him a paper.
"This is in case you change your mind."
Geet Handa
Ph No: 1234567890
And she walked away.
He looked at the piece of paper in his hand and flung it away angrily.
It went and landed right on Mariam's desk and when she looked down at it all the color drained from her face. He heard a dull roar in his ears as he walked towards the desk with laden feet and stared down at the piece of paper Geet had handed him. It had landed on the opposite side on which she had written her name and number and it was a very real and life-like depiction of the male organ.
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Chapter 5
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
CID
Book Talk
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