82, 82, 82...the number rang in Rohit's head the toll of a death-bell. He had sunken into a hole deeper than before. Simi looked like a distant memory. He got up the next morning, and it was coincidentally a holiday, all the more time for him to mull over his misfortunes. He brushed his teeth, went through his daily routine with uncharacteristic silence, his mind still occupied with thoughts about his diminished chances with Simi. Glancing through the morning paper, he saw something that made his blood freeze and boil both at the same time. Screaming at him from the paper were the words
EAT SLOWLY, CHEW WELL TO REDUCE OBESITY RISK.
He wanted to rant and ravage, he wanted to hit something. He wanted to call the newspaper men and tell them what nincompoops they were for printing this. He however made do with a loud, deranged laugh, devoid of any joy. Then he proceeded to crush the paper, and burn it over the gas flame.
Mr. Rohit's dad would not be reading the morning news that day...
He couldn't take it longer and decided to go out for a walk round his building, listen to some music. And without a word, he slipped out of the house, and settled into a gentle amble, his i-pod playing all the while.
He kept walking rounds of the buildings, but it didn't help things much. The anger and frustration was building within like a pulsating beast. And before he knew it, he was making a dash for...god only knows where. He ran till the song ran out, he ran to the beat till he was beat, and by the time got over, he was finished. He sat down on whatever resembled a seat and panted like he had never panted. That's when a light turned on in the remote and unused corners of his cerebrum. He could use the music to distract himself from the pain and tyranny of exercise. That's what he would do, he decided, he'd give it a shot.
If someone could see God, he would right now see Him doing a delighted little jig. His belief, that even that His dimmer creations could come good at the end of the day, had been validated. Time to convene that meeting with the Titans, He wanted to see them argue about promoting polymaths NOW...
Anyways, back to our underdog story. Like we were saying, Rohit had decided to run it off, and true to his word, he ran, and ran...and ran. All that slouching, the finding easier alternatives, all of that was gone. There came a point after which he didn't even care about slimming down, he just wanted to keep running. He would line up an entire playlist and run, sometimes for hours on end, pausing very rarely.
The excitement had begun. School was a week away, and Rohit had lost ten kg's in the last three months. He had gone from a waist size 36 to a size 32. His double chin was gone, his lean body and chiselled face showed character, his eyes had a light in them. He had the confidence that he could do anything, and he was sure Simi could be his.
School came. It was wonderful. No one could believe their eyes when they saw Rohit, and kept questioning him about he. He answered them with a smile, that widened all the more when Simi asked him about it. The following weekend, he decided he would go to her house and tell her all of what he felt. The only problem was he knew her apartment complex, not her flat number.
Then another brilliant idea hit him. This was happening with alarming regularity with him nowadays. He knew exacty what to, he knew how he would win her now.
And so, it was after an hour and a half a tired Rohit rang the doorbell, to find Simi opening the door, all dressed up and looking beautiful.
His tongue remained firmly attached to the roof of his mouth, and at this crucial juncture, his already limited mental faculties seemed to have gone vacationing in Hawaii. He had planned upon telling her first why he was here. He found himself telling her the how part of it instead.
'Hey Sim. I actually wanted to tell you something, but I didn't know where exactly you lived. So i rang up every door in every block, till I finally found you here.' He gave her his most winning smile.
She opened her mouth in amazement, then closed it. She placed her hand on his cheek and smiled. 'Why did you do that Rohit? Why did you go through so much trouble to find me?'
'Because...because I know that finding you would be finding me. And without you, there is no me. I could find all there is to find in this world, but without you, they would all be meaningless. And-' he could not continue, because Simi chose that moment to clasp onto him and hug him tightly. He slowly brought his arms around her, finally feeling complete...
SCREECH!! Honestly, this is not a Nicolas Sparks novel. If it was, the mushy parts would be better written. Let's get the facts straight, this is what actually happened after Rohit gave her his most winning smile.
She stared at him for a second, confused. 'But why Rohit? You could just ask the watchman for my flat number, why go through all the trouble?'
Rohit could do more than rearrange his features in a sombre expression and gape at her.
'You're really funny at times man, really you're just so stupid at times Rohit! Anyways, whatever you have to say, it's gotta wait. I'm running late for a movie with Vinit.'
'Vinit?'
'Yeah. Oh didn't you know? We've been seeing each other for some weeks! Anyways, I'll catch you later, bye Rohit.'
He stood there as she trotted off in a hurry. Eventually he made his way to the street, trudging all the long way home. There was no rain, no loud songs in the background. Just a shrug of his shoulders at best. But there was a consolation, he had at least regained his health in this whole affair. And there was a single thought running through his head, the one thought that gave him a modicum of peace.
Well, you don't get it all...
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