Instantaneous

Fed up. That was it. He was just tired of it all. He meant good, he swore on his life. He always meant the best for everyone. But things had a way of messing up. 

It was all ironic though. When he loved, he loved hard. As if the word ‘intense’ wasn’t superlative enough to part justice to his emotions. And yet, relationships weren’t something he was good at – he either got his heart broken, or was too afraid to break someone else’s. Therefore, he decided he was done. Once and for fucking all.

As all these thoughts sank in, his shots arrived.

Yes. Shots would make him feel better. So he’d taken the evening off, ditched his family function and gave all his time to himself.

One shot down. 

Plausible, isn’t it? How a small glass of alcohol could get all of your living pores vibrating back to life. The effect was instantaneous.

Instantaneous – a single word that has sufficed to describe that one moment suspended in time; a moment where everything goes still. Nobody feels it. Not even you, entirely. Just that tiny group of cells undergoing the effect of the ‘instantaneous’, is really aware of the tingle. 

Well that’s how her effect was, too. Instantaneous.

He finished that shot, kept the glass on the table and looked up to see her enter the bar. Almost as if her entry was perfectly timed to the second where he chose to look up to the door. Now, she’d have been any other person who entered the club, just like the many other people crowding it at the moment. Except, she wasn’t.

Unlike all the bling with which the club was filled, she stood out, sold explicitly to elegance!

People chose silver and gold for a Saturday night at the club, she donned red. Coloured highlights and gel in hair was the trend, she dared to flaunt her natural brown locks. And as if she hadn’t already made enough of a rebellion, in a room full of foundations and blushes to bring color to everyone’s cheeks, she simply lined her eyes with kohl and walked in.

Glad to have come back to reality, he realised two things-One, nobody had noticed the creepy him staring at the girl. 

Two, only a total of five seconds must have gone by since her grand entrance. NOT an hour. Thank God!

Instantaneous effects are the most dangerous. They make you notice the slightest things about a person or a thing in a millisecond.

Just when he thought he was back to normal, she took a seat next to his and ordered her drink. 

Color on his cheeks, slight smile on his lips, weird sound of his heart. He ignored it all, blaming the shots. He had only just had one! He was not going to fall into this trap again. So he decided to excuse himself and focus on his alcohol. 

She must be here with somebody, thought one.

More shots. 

Maybe she‘s waiting for someone, thought five.

Numerous similar thoughts later.

Oh, fuck it!

As he turned to her, he felt liquid coming out of his mouth instead of “hi”. 

NO. This is NOT how it is supposed to be happening.

Too many shots. Puke. Everywhere. Please wake him up, this must be his nightmare.

30 minutes later, he opened his eyes to see.. her. He was now outside the same bar, lying on a bench, except people had surrounded him. 

Confusion. Flashback. Red. Girl. Shots. Puke. 

Oh God, no!

He heard a voice then. A familiar one. It was his best bud! Ah, the bartender had placed a call. They were both regulars at this club. How considerate! 

But wait. Where is… she? She was gone by then. 

Ugh. Why did I have to divert my attention to the people around me?

As if on cue, she appeared at his side. Placed a hand on his shoulder.and offered him a glass of water.

“That’s some way of saying hi” she laughed. “Hope you’re better now. Was a task though, getting you out of the bar to get you some fresh air. Eat up next time before having a billion shots! See you around.” She smiled and left.

She stayed! For him?
Brain hit an instant playback of the moment where she entered the bar – as if a hint – that he should have known better than to ignore the blush on his cheeks, slight smile on his lips and the weird beating of his heart.

It was love at first sight after all!