Tulsipur cafe was mostly renowned for its game night each Tuesday. Bondhita had the habit of going there with her girlfriends on those nights. Tonight she was late. She saw the cafe from afar and picked up the pace to reach the door. Once inside, she felt the warmth of the fireplace and the smell of the freshly roasted coffee.
Naina noticed her first from where she was sitting and rose her hand. Bondhita smiled as she saw her friend and approached the table.
"Finally !" Saudamini whined. "We've been waiting for you for hours."
"Oh come on Mini, she's just ten minutes late." Sampoorna smiled.
"Sorry girls, the metro was packed and I had to wait for the next one. When are these rains going to end ?" Bonshita wondered as she took off her bright yellow rain coat and put it on the back of her chair.
She gestured to the barista to order a coffee and turned back to her friends.
"Please tell me you've gone to the florist." Sampoorna told her.
"Oh Shit." Bondhita exhaled and put her head in her hands.
"Bondhu ! The wedding is in 2 months."
"I'm sorry. I'll go there tomorrow. I promise."
The waitress put the coffee in front of her; ending the conversation and Bondhita smiled at her.
"Hello everyone." The voice of Somnath Roy Chaudhary resonated in the small cafe. "Welcome back for game night. You all know the rules, each team gives five hundred ruppees and the winning team chooses the charity the proceeds go to."
The crowd cheered at this. Bondhita put her hair in a ponytail, readying herself for what was about to happen. She had always loved a little competition and in the past few months she had taken those quiz games quite seriously. One of the waitresses put one buzzer on their table as Saudamini gave her a five hundreed ruppee note.
"Everyone has a buzzer ?" Somnath asked, meeting with nods. "Good, let's get started then. Question 1 : When you flush the toilet, in which direction does the water drain away ? A. Is there even a direction ? B. Counter-clockwise. C. Clockwise. D. In whichever way, the water does whatever it wants."
Bondhita almost spilled her own drink trying to get to the buzzer. "B. Counter-Clockwise." She answered. Her friends looked at her, wondering how she even knew the answer to this question.
"One point to the red team. Nice to see you Hermione." Somnath greeted her, they were in the same college and often crossed paths.
"Question 2 : How many squares are there on a chessboard ? A. It depends on the size of the squares. B. It depends on the size of the chessboard. C. It depends on the pieces. D. 64 squares."
The four girls looked at each other and laughed at the absurdity. Bondhita went to press the buzzer but she heard someone being faster at the back of the room.
Bondhita eagerly turned around and saw a tall man standing by his table with a coffee cup in his hand. His hair was perfectly styled and he had a shit eating grin on his lips that wiped Bondhita's smile.
"D. 64 squares." The man answered. His mates all clapped as he found the right answer.
"One point to the green team." Somnath announced.
"This question was too easy anyway." Bondhita mumbled. "A child could have answered that." Naina and Saudamini shared a knowing glance at their friend's attitude.
"Question 3 : One of those superheroes is made up. Which one ? A. Spiderman. B. Sandman. C. Elastic man. Potato Man."
The sound of two buzzers could be heard and both of the players speaking up the same answer at the same time. Bondhita, her hand still on the buzzer, turned around once more and glared at the man, his hand still on the buzzer too.
"I pressed it before you." Bondhita told him matter-of-factly.
"No, I did." He shot back.
Bondhita turned towards Somnath and asked him "Somnath, I was the one to buzz first, right ?"
"Oh of course, ask your friend !" The man snickered behind her.
"It doesn't mean anything that he's my friend because I'm right." Bondhita snapped.
"Keep telling yourself that."
"Calm down guys, it's just a game." Somnath tried to defuse the tension. "Actually, green you didn't really press the buzzer and the yellow team did. Bondhita, you buzzed last. So it's the yellow team that has to say the answer."
"D ? Mashed potato man ?" A shy girl from the yellow team said, not that Bondhita and man were paying attention to it. Their eyes sizing each other up "One point to the yellow team." Somnath cheered.
Bondhita was still looking at the man, a small smirk on her lips as he lost the point.
"You lost too, you know ?" He finally told her, reading her mind.
"I don't talk to other teams." Bondhita mumbled before turning back on her chair.
Her three friends were all snickering, clearly making fun of her highly competitive self. Bondhita mouthed the word "what ?" then waited for the next question.
"Question 4 : Among those Smurfs, one doesn't exist. A. The purple smurf. B. The astro-smurf. C. The smurfette. D. The smurf who doesn't exist."
Bondhita hadn't had the time to laugh at the question that she was already shouting the answer, her left arm colliding with her coffee, and the latter ending up on the floor with a clatter--she didn't care. "D. The smurf who doesn't exist."
"Bondhita, you really need to calm down." Somnath laughed. "It's only a silly game."
Bondhita felt her cheeks heating and slowly lowered her head, a little embarrassed.
"Ok, a second point to the red team. It's time for the theme round. As you all know, I'll give you a theme and some clues. Tonight's team is Monsters. Let's get started. Which monster has a zip on its face and was created by a mad scientist ?"
"Frankenstein !" The man almost yelled, apparently as much competitive as Bondhita was.
"Good answer ! 1 point to the green team." Somnath smiled.
"Excuse me ?" Bondhita snapped. "That is not the right answer." She faced the man and got up. "Frankenstein is the name of the said-scientist, not of the monster."
The man put his cup of coffee down without taking a sip and took a step forward. "What would you call it then ?" He sneered.
"Frankenstein's monster." Bondhita replied as if the was the most evident answer.
"Come on ! It's the same." he replied, stepping forward
"No it is not. Check your facts." Bondhita too stepped forward. They were both only a couple of meters away, the entire bar could feel the tension and the chemistry between the two rising up. This small argument rapidly turned into something nastier. Slurs were thrown. Suddenly, Bondhita felt a light pressure on her arm and saw Nilochan sir, the owner of the bar, taking her outside.
"Nilochan Uncle?" She asked, quite shocked. The door opened just a moment later and Bondhita saw the man being escorted by Binoy sir, the co-owner.
"You two stay here until you're calm." Nilochan said before getting back inside.
A silence settled. As the man shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around aimlessly, Bondhita took out her phone. She mumbled something.
"Come again ?" He asked.
"I was right. It is the monster of Frankenstein and not just Frankenstein."
"Are you seriously still on that ?" Bondhita pouted and crossed her arms on her chest. She started shivering from the cold air post rain. The man rolled his, sighed and took off his coat. He approached her and draped it over her shoulders. She rose her head to meet his eyes and took a step back.
"Let me stop you right there. I'm not interested." She simply told him.
"And ?" He genuinely asked.
"I can see where you're going with your coat and all of that." She moved her hand close to his face. "I'm not interested in a relationship. I am focusing on my education"
"Good for you, so did I. But can't you just say thank you like a normal person ?"
She looked at him and said "thank you" under her breath.
The door to the bar opened and two people came out of it, one being Saudamini--her attention breifly on the man before turning to her.
"Bondhita, the game is over. We won. You can get back inside." She told her.
Bondhita gave back his coat to the man standing and went to join her friend when the other person spoke up.
"Annirudh, let's hit Sameer's party."
She looked at the man, Annirudh. He nodded at his friend and stared at her for a couple of seconds, before Saudaminin pushed her back inside the coffee shop.
Anupamaa
