CHAPTER 5
"Are you serious?" Siddhant chuckled.
"Trust me I never thought it could be such a weird reason."
An hour after the drama, Siddhant had run into Sayali in the lobby, while he was returning from a small shop right opposite to the camp.
" Anyway is it all fine now? And you guys missed the breakfast. Here, take this.I'd been to the shop" He handed over a polythene bag to her, after taking a pack of batteries out of it.
Sayali accepted without the slightest of hesitance. In fact she was thankful.
" We're back to normal. She is not upset with me for THAT anymore, but for missing the food. The girl gets hunger pangs all the time. You just saved my life, Thank you." 😃
He laughed. He had seen that already.
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" He actually bought these for us?" 😲 Madhumita asked, utterly surprised.
"No. He got it for himself. Stocking up apparently. Or maybe he's a glutton like you. Just gave it to me as we're famished. This man is something Madhoo, I tell you!" she said battling her lashes, faking a dreamy look.
"And haa. We've to be in the main hall by 11:30 for the inauguration."
Their roommate had walked in, luckily after Madhu and Sayali had wrapped up the breakfast drama. The last of campers too have arrived.
"Would you like to eat?" Sayali asked.
" No didi thank you. I had on the flight. I'll just freshen up". Nazreen removed her thick glasses and headed towards the bathroom.
She was a girl of average height,quiet stout and was younger to them. She had a very calm,kind face. From the brief interaction that they had, Sayali and Madhumita could easily judge that she was one those quiet, shy and harmless girls. Madhumita was happy that such a girl pushed herself to join the camp. She was impressed that people break stereotypes and go out of their ways to keep themselves happy.
" I wonder what actually the camp is gonna be. I'm just waiting for the desert days." Sayali said.
She sat on her bed and opened the bag to find a packet of mini croissants, some biscuits and a big bottle of chilled mint lemonade.
"Woah ! This fellow belongs to your league Madhu!" Sayali said, staring at the bottle and then placing it aside. Madhumita's heart skipped a beat.
' I don't like citrous drinks.' She recollected his words from last night when she offered him the Mojito. Also, he'd seen her obsession for them.
The question she had asked Sayali when she saw the bag first, now had the answer.
The answer that she wished to hear.
------------------------It was with great embarrassment that Madhumita entered the main hall, because of the morning fiasco. The campers were all settled on the floor mats in random clusters. She purposely decided to walk in last, and settled down at the back of the hall with Sayali and Nazreen . Naveen waved at her from his seat, and she returned it with no enthusiasm.
It wasn't hard for her to spot the tall Siddhant among the crowd,few rows in front of her.It was however, hard for him to see her or even sense her entry into the hall from behind. Nevertheless, his telepathic radar sniffed her presence and he turned around to catch her staring at him. She made it look natural by thanking him for the food through lip movements and hand gesture, to which he gave a thumbs up and a wink. A wink, that cast a spell on her.
Soon their game was interrupted when the girl they'd seen with Siddhant in the lawn, started talking to him. In fact he was with the very same gang.
Meanwhile, two girls Shreya and Pooja, who sat near Madhumita and her friends, initiated a conversation with them.
"Hehe! That's no big deal Madhumita. We all call each other names. No one would be bothered enough to remember it, let alone judge you" Pooja said.
"And I'm scared of both lizards and cockroaches." Shreya admitted, making Madhumita less embarassed.
"Actually quite a few here are from my college. This group keeps conducting camps all over India and one of their main men happens to be our batchmates uncle. He keeps informing us and pulls us in. But honestly they're doing an excellent job. I loved the Roopkund Trekking Camp last year."
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Vijay Deshpande, who insisted to be addressed as Desh, seemed a perfect choice to be the head of a camp. He was in his late thirties and was fun, erudite and experienced.
" You know, this is not one of those camps that some of y'all might have attended as kids. We are associated with some organizations from different fields. Tourism, Geology, Archaeology, Human Welfare etc etc... We do some relevant and specific tasks for them. It's some serious business and that's why we are hosting it for people of the age group 24-32. This camp is gonna be the best way for you guys to contribute your bit, with the bonus of having unlimited fun.
That is, you get to be responsible citizens and free spirited kids at the same time."
Thoroughly impressed by the presentation and sense of humour, the crowd instantly fell in love with Desh. Soon the campers began introducing themselves one after the other and Madhumita just waited for that one person. A few of them cheered as he walked up to the mike and said a Hi, as coyly as a man could get.
"Siddhu is from my college too. A little shy, but he is everyone's darling."
The words made Madhumita smile. She did not need an introspection to realize that she is already infatuated with him. In less than 24 hours of having known him, she has developed a feeling that she had not felt for anyone in a long time. She knew it was too early to be called anything like love, but she also knew he was easy to fall in love with. Such was his charisma. Sayali who sat spellbound right next to her, could vouch for that.
She listened with great interest as he described about his passion for film making and his past ventures.
"Why MAKE films when he could be the hero?" Sayali whispered.
He did not talk a lot, but his gestures and smile reflected extreme simplicity and humbleness. As he walked back, Madhumita noticed that his eyes did focus on her for a second. She wondered if he too had similar feelings for her. She did pick up few hints in the short time, but did not dismiss the possibility of it all just being a part of his general conduct. She recollected how Pooja referred to him as everyone's darling.
"She could make it into films also someday. I mean, look at her!"
The 'good looking piece' who was with Siddhant, was now speaking. Merlyn was indeed very beautiful. All her features seemed to be of the right sizes, and were in the right places.
" A lot of male campers are gonna be sleepless! Look at them all"
"Haha, true. But would be in vein as she's already taken. She is Siddhu's girlfriend. It's been quite some time now. And you can see right? They are still going strong."
They all looked at Siddhant and Merlyn and found them happily involved in a deep conversation.
While Sayali had yet another 'Why God,why again?' moment , Madhumita felt an avalanche.
An avalanche, that viciously displaced and reduced the castle that had been rising inside her, into mere rubble.
-End of Chapter-
Feedbacks Appreciated 😊
Wow this was an indeed an awesome update!!😃😃
So Siddhant already has a girlfriend Merlyn... Wonder what madhu will do nowKeep writing...Thank you so much for the update👏And also Thank you so much for the Pm😊Cant wait for the next update..⭐️
He's shy and everyone's darling.
And... TAKEN.I LOVE THIS TOTALLY OUT OF THE LEAGUE STORY.
This is so refreshing. I look forward to this update every day, nearly.
The intro at the Camp went off smoothly. But there are emotional hitches already. While Sayali is infatuated, it's Madhu who is realising that she indeed likes that guy, but that he's taken.We need to see more from his perspective thoughAnd yes, that breakfast part was sweet.😊Pl update soon
Originally posted by: aaradhaya1688
<font color="#990033">Pls he just cannot be taken</font>
<font color="#990033">Madhu likes him</font><font color="#990033">That was a shock</font><font color="#990033">Loving the story</font><font color="#990033">Thanks for the pm</font>
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