The Curse Remains!!!

"Milk is on the left counter ".
"Thanks". Of course I know that milk is on the left counter. Why couldn't I think of any other way to start a conversation. Probably she didn't recognise me. And there she walked away and here I am just going towards the left counter.

But still I had one more chance.She was sitting at the counter. This time I am going to ask her out. I cant wait any longer now. So now I stand in the queue. I hear some big thumping sound. It gets more noisy as I move towards her. Oh wait a minute. That's my heart beat.
Take long deep breath. Calm down Vaibhav. This is Sweden. Nothing wrong can happen here? Come on dude just ask her.
Ok there she is. The time has come.

" Hey ".
"Hello".
She starts putting my stuff through the machine. Say something you coward.
"Hey did you read the note I gave it to you ?".
Puzzled look.
"The yellow note I gave you yesterday".
" Yeah".And then she just started smiling. Is it a smile? Or is she laughing at my stupidity? Is she blushing? Did she even read it or she is just making fun of me? Should I say something or should I wait for her? Should I....
" Twenty three kronors".
"There you go. By the way my name is Vaibhav".
" What?".
"My name...V A I B H A V". And I am the biggest dumb ass in this world.
"Oh Ok My name is Ashlee."
"Thanks".

And I walk out of the store with my head hidden behind the hood of my jacket so that no one recognizes me after this greatest act of stupidity in the history of mankind. Not only have I acted like a fool, I have also rubbed her off. Right now she would be making jokes about me with her friends. I am never going to this store again.


After one week:

Come on man. You like her. You gotta tell her. After all what will happen. She might say no (Strong chances of that). Or maybe her boy friend would drop out from the back and give me a good bashing. Suddenly the scene from DCH flashes across my mind :"Mard ban..Be a man". Aamir Khan is right. After all its Sweden.

And so again I walk out of my hostel towards the store. But this time I just stand outside and wait for the store to close.

Its 8.15 pm and the store closed at 8pm. She is still not there. probably she is doing some stuff inside.
8.30 pm. Whats happening? Where is she? Has she gone away through some secret door. Or did she see me standing outside and...
There she is. Again I hear that thumping sound. But I ain't gonna stop this time.

"Hey".
"Hey".
"Can I talk to you for a minute".
"Yeah sure".
"Thanks. You might not recognize me but I am a regular visitor of your store" What am I saying ." But that's not important. Actually I wanted to tell you something but just couldn't muster any courage to say so". Enough of your self praising. Come to the point.
"Ok.please go ahead".
"Well actually I don't mean to hurt you". Hurt her? I don't even know her." But I think you are really cute and sweet. Please don't be angry I don't mean anything bad but it would be great if we can go out for a coffee". There I said it in one single breath.
"That's very sweet of you, but..."
"Oh I don't mean anything more than just some friendly conversations. Nothing more than that".
"Thanks , but ..."
"Oh I see you have a boyfriend..Or maybe you are very busy. I am sorry I should have known that".
"No it's not like that". Again that smile. Or is she laughing again. On my face.
"But you see I am here for two months and I don't have many friends so I thought maybe we can..."
"Wait listen". And then she showed me her finger. Wow now even a Swedish girl is showing me her finger. Some level I have achieved.

But hey it was not her middle finger.Then why is she showing it? Is it some Swedish way of cursing.

Oh wait a minute. There was a RING on her finger. Something crashed somewhere.
"Oh f*#k...I mean I am sorry. Shit. I am sorry, I mean I didn't know you were engaged".
"I am not engaged". The hope is still alive.
"Then?".
"I am actually married".Now I know that wasn't a crash. That was my heart being shattered into a million pieces.
"What.F#*k. I am so sorry. I mean not sorry because you are married. Congrats. But how?".
"What how? Don't you think I can get married. Am I that bad?".
"No no. I mean you look so young. And so I thought maybe you know...".
"Ha ha.Yeah I know. I am just 22 but last year my boyfriend and I decided to get married".
"Just like that?".
"Yeah. Just like that. Actually well me and my boy friend were really drunk and he proposed to me. I said yes and so we got married the next day at the church". Once more a scene flashed across my mind: Friends season 5 final episode: Ross and Rachel. But I never thought that it could happen in real life.
"Oh wow. That is so amazing. I think you might be the youngest bride in the whole of Sweden"
"He he. Maybe".
"And your hubby the luckiest guy in the whole world".
"How sweet. Thanks". I am sure this time it was a smile.
"Well I don't know what to say. I am just a little embarrassed. But congrats again".
"Thanks and don't feel stupid. It was very sweet".
"Yeah. By the way how's your husband. Any chances of divorce in the near future".
"What?".
"Nothing I am just kidding. I make stupid jokes when I am embarrassed". Please no more of self praising.
"Ha ha.It's ok. Nice to meet you".
"Ya same here. So hows your work going?".
"Nice. In fact I am going for a vacation to Singapore day after tomorrow. For a month. My second honeymoon". A wink.
"Oh so no divorce in the near future". One more wink.
"Ha ha yeah. Touch wood".
"Ok. Good luck for that. And I hope to see you around again sometime".
"Yeah sure. Are you from India?".
"Yeah. Nice guess".
"Wow. Amazing place".
"Ya it is".
"Anyways I gotta go now. Will catch you sometime later".
"Ok. Bye." Shake hand. I was hoping for a goodbye kiss.

There she walked away towards her car. And here I am just standing feeling more stupid than ever.
"And hey".
"What?".
"I think Shahrukh Khan is very hot". Wink. And the door is closed. She drives away.
Shahrukh Khan. Of all the actors she thinks SRK is hot. Oh come on. The street dog in my locality is hotter than SRK. Lucky that she was married. I mean SRK!!! What a bad choice. Glad that she didn't say yes to me.

Thank God the curse still remained!!!