I shook my head and played with my button.

"Ji." (yeah) He broke the silence after a few brief seconds. "Anyways, what's up?"

"Nothing special."

"How's your boyfriend doing?"

"Which boyfriend?" I chuckled.

"Any, if you have."

"I have none." After a brief pause, I continued, "Jab ek baar koi pasand aa jata hai to koi or nahi aata." (once your eyes get caught on someone, then you can't see anybody else.)

"And who's that person who caught your eye?"

"Just someone," I shrugged.

"If you're sharing this much then tell the name too."

"Leave it."

"Say."

"Arey leave it."

"Tum mujhe chutiya samjhti ho?"
(Do you take me as an idiot?)

"Nope."

"Then? When I know whom you're talking about, then say it out loud too."

"If you know whom I'm talking about why should I say it?" I swear we were talking in riddles.

"Because it would give a different importance after listening to it from you."

"Acha" (ohh)

"Yeah, that's why I'm asking."

"Yeah sure, I will say it and you will cut off again," I said sarcastically.

"No, it's nothing like that. There's a difference between those two situations which you don't understand sometimes."

I rolled my eyes.

"Suno meri baat," (Listen to me) he spoke again grabbing my attention.

"Hmm"

"Main kisi ko pasand karu, ya koi mujhe pasand kare, to un cheezo me sharte nahi honi chahiye."
(If I like someone, or if someone likes me, then there shouldn't be any sort of conditions.)

"What kind of conditions?"

"Like, you don't give me time. Where were you busy? Why do you use that, or don't use that? I don't want these stupid things. That's why I run away from it honestly."

"Achha." (ah, I see)

"Listen to me. It's more like a logical question. What do guys want from girls??

Sex?

I suppressed the urge to become a troller and answered normally, "Loyalty?"

"And?"

"What else do guys want?" I mumbled in deep thought.

"Think"

And then I gave him a list
• One who doesn't annoy too much.
• Have catch up from time to time.
• Doesn't pressurize about anything
• Gives personal space

"And? What else?" I wrinkled my eyebrows as he kept silent. "Tell me??" I asked again, when received no response from him.

"That's it. You said everything."

"Then?"

"I thought maybe you will say something else. Everyone has different opinions."

"Nah. I could only think of these."
And one more option, of course.
But let's keep it for some other time lol.

"Okay, good."

"Then say what were you saying!? About conditions thing."

"Nothing else. You told everything needed, topic over."

"Jeez!" I grabbed my head.
Can I punch this guy?

Just like that our conversations drifted from here to there, with 'Murat being Murat', an idiot guy whom I fell in love with.

"Let me tell you a story," Murat says after our 15 mins of idiotic talks.

"Hmm okay." I shifted on my spot I was sitting at the terrace.

"I have a friend Aamir. He likes a girl-"

"I think I have heard this story before." I interrupted in between.

"-and he sent a proposal to her home," he continued, ignoring my comment.

"Ohhh. This is a new one." I mumbled.

"It's the same," he finally answered.

"Oh?" I tilted my head.

"Yep, his parents liked her. Now her family will come over to make it official."

"That cousin?"

"Nahi, usse to talak hogaya. Dadi or phuppo ne saaf mana kardia."
(No, they got divorced. His grandma and aunt said a big NO.)

"They broke up." I laughed.

"More like divorce. They were husband and wife," He said sarcastically.

I can feel in his tone how cringe they might be.

"Achha." (ohkay) I was still laughing.

"So, all three of my friends are engaged now, and they talk with their fiancee."

"I see."

"So what do they do is, their daytime conversations are different than night ones."

"How so?"

"I mean those lusty talks"

"Ohh"

"Yeah. So in my opinion, if a girl and boy will talk, obviously they will feel sexual attraction and imagine things at one point of time."

"Hmm"

"Suppose you're talking to a girl and she turned you on completely. At one point of time, you will even think of doing stuff with her. But then she will refuse completely, 'no we can't do this or that'. So? You're clowned with your feelings?"

"Hmmm"

"So, if we will avoid talking, then we won't end up in these situations. Simple. No lusty thoughts"

"Hmmm."
Smart move
More like UNO reverse card.

"Now if I will talk with someone and get these thoughts at one point of time, either I will make her understand or say something. But if I won't talk I won't get em. That's why I don't talk with anyone~," he sang the last line like some sort of a song lol.

"Achha" (I see) I said, intaking his words.

"Yeah that's why I want to stay away from everyone," he concluded.

"Hmm"

"And when you talk, you get attached to that person too. By getting attached you start to care about them. Hoping they don't get hurt or cry in the future."

I kept silent listening to his views about relationships, trying to understand him a little more.

After a few seconds, he continued,
"I seriously hate it when I see my friends getting all upset because their girl is complaining 'where were you!' 'Why aren't you replying!' 'It's been 5 minutes!' "

"I despise these types of girls," I chuckled.

"If I will even take his mobile for a second to send some documents?"

"Hmmm"

"Notifications won't stop! It will keep on pinging. 'What happened?', a few angry emojis, 'why aren't you replying??' "

I was trying to muffle my laugh all along as he described with details and mimicking voices-

"Abey chutiya ki l**di, mujhe ek baat to batao." (You dick-headed girl, tell me one thing)

-but laughed so hard at his cuss word.

"If that person is online, can't he do other things? Just answer me this. Or did he named his life to you?"

"Yeah, it happens with me too."
He is right tho.
Girls do get annoying sometimes

"So I don't like these things. Then I give their mobile back to them saying, 'take it, first answer her'."

"Hmm"

"I have lectured them hundred times on this but they keep a deaf-ear and don't talk about this with her nor make her understand. All three of them are the same, and I despise them."

"I have also been through this situation."

"Hmm, what?"

"I was doing that content writing work, and was sending some links to mum's number."

"Hmmm"

"And one of my friends kept on pinging again and again, 'Why aren't you replying? What happened?' I said bro I was doing work."

"Yaar esa tumne mere sath bhi kiya hua hai, jo humari baat kharab hui thi."
(Yaar, you've also done this thing with me once, messing up our situation.)

"Acha?" (oh?) Guilt crawled over me as I concentrated, trying to remember.

When the heck did I did that?

"Hmm"

"Ye kabki baat hai?" I mumbled while closing my eyes, focusing hard. (when did this happen?)

Focus Hayat focus.

"Ab samjhi meri baat?" (Now you got my point?)

And!! It clicked!!

"Achaachaachaachaaa yaad aaya yaad aaya." (yessyessyessyess I remember I remember)

He was talking about the day we argued for the first time, during the time his grandma was unwell. I said something which I thought made him upset and kept on pinging him, 'tum naraz ho?' (are you angry?)

"Hmm yaad agya." (hmm got it) He was calm and relaxed, contrary to my jumpy self.

"It was a different situation back then." I tried to save my poor self-respect which got ruined a few mins ago.

Making me a hypocrite

"Whatever the situation might be. I just don't like all this."

I kept quiet.

"I'm not saying that I'm a very busy person. It's just that, one should understand."

"That happened for the first and last time. I didn't repeat it again."
He was already ahead in the topic but here am I, trying to defend myself despite feeling guilty.

Girls will be girls.

"Yeah, whenever it was."

"Yeah so?"

"And I got irritated that day for the first time."

I kept quiet for a few seconds, but then mumbled again, "it had a different reason back then."

I had this ONLY statement in my DEFENSE.

I was losing the CASE.

"Whatever it was... When I stop others from it, how could I tolerate it?
Now I give them lectures every third day to keep myself in check. If I won't stop them, one day I will also end up in these things with them, ruining my life in the end~ "

I kept quiet.

"Now listen, hello?"

"Hmmm"

"What they do is, they talk 24/7 about the same thing, like 'hi hello, whatsup!', be it morning, evening, or night, and call, video call, or meet-up."

I again muffled my laughter.

"Tell me one thing, you said I want to marry her and even sent the proposal, thus getting engaged. If you don't become capable enough to take care of all the financial expenses you will face in the future of your own family, how will you manage it? How can you think of marrying someone without becoming capable of it?"

"Yeah, point."

"Vo to chutiya hai. Vo to kal ko tumhare gale me aakar bandh jayegi. "
(She is stupid. She will come as your responsibility which will be hanged in your neck tomorrow)

'Dayum he makes situation sounds so funny lmaoo,' I thought.

"She won't see anything. Seriously, she won't see that once you will get married, how will I manage my own home, how the expenses would be fulfilled, etc? She won't think of that, you have to think about that."

"Hmmmm"

"She can even marry tomorrow. But are you capable enough to marry?"

"Hmmmm"

"Then why are you wasting your time in silly talks and not focusing on your career?"

"I can't understand how people can talk the whole day," I wondered.

"They do."

"At one point there would be no topic left to talk about!"

"Nah, their topics are endless, they won't finish."

I chuckled at his comment.

"These couples can talk 24 hours without any problem. And if they don't have any topic left, then they will listen to each other's breaths."

I laughed again.
Way harder this time.

"No this is true love. If they aren't talking, they will count each other's breaths. You took 3 breaths, I took 4. Now listen to my heartbeat."

I was continuously laughing.
Damn! This guy was bottled up I guess.

"Isn't this stupidity? What else is it? Now if a person, who is fed up with watching all of this weird stuff, would he want someone in his life?

My breath finally got in control.

"Tell me, am I wrong?"

"Who is asking you to listen to someone's breaths?" I chuckled.

"You were saying before, 'I liked someone, but what's the point now.' Now tell me, why should I allow you to come closer to me?"

My heart skipped a beat when he said the last line.

.
.
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