Attraction and Chastity - Episode 5

After a looong looong hiatus, the Attraction and Chastity series is back with its next episode. My apologies to all of you who have been visiting my blog to read whats happening with Nattu and Gattu and have been disappointed cos of my inability to find some time to write it. And my snicere thanx to those who have appreciated it so far. wud try to be more regular from now on...promise!

Recap: Gattu has been chasing Nattu for sometime now, getting increasingly confused if Nattu is infact interested or not. He offered to take a step back and got a reply back to his mail, which made him hang on. He has been asking her out for a coffee and she has been skirting the issue one way or another. From this point on, we pick our story back and proceed...
In this episode too, i am going to quote emails exchanged between Gattu and Nattu in a conversational style.

Episode 5

Days go by. Gattu and Nattu see each other during lunch hour or whenever they happen to come downstairs for a break at the same time. Looks are exchanged, the 'turn and look' thing still going on, prodding Gattu not to lose hope. Then one fine day, on his way to his office in the afternoon, Gattu finds Nattu waiting for the elevator too. He stands there besides Nattu thinking if he should say something or not. While his super slow brain is busy calculating the possibilities, the elevator doors open and so they have to go inside with a bunch of other people. Gattu comes out at his floor(he is one floor below Nattu) and is cursing himself for having lost the opportunity. He goes to his seat and writes...
Gattu: So finally had the fortune of bumping into you...well ..almost...just now in the lift. I dont know for what reason you keep on choosing to not reply to my mails...though you dont want me to stop writing either...why cant we meet and talk?
btw...why were you looking so damn good today?
Nattu: oh so u were that [adjective]guy.then u cud have spoken to me rite?????????

(Time out !! time out!!!...what the hell does she mean you were that [adjective]guy??? i mean comeon!..these guys have been eyeing each other for like ages now and she is asking him if he was the one in the elevator. what the hell was the email "i think you have reached the right person" about...and what the hell was that 'turn and look' thing all about. what kinda game is this??...i tell Gattu boss there is still time..you are going to end up one embarassed jerk with this one. just leave it at that and turn around. but then, if they say love / lust / attraction (whatever tag you wanna put on it) is blind...there is a reason behind it.
Meanwhile, in a more meaningful and self respecting life, Gattu has to go out of town for a few weeks. He wants to meet Nattu in person before he leaves.)..anyway, lets continue with the emails..

Nattu: oh so u were that [adjective]guy.then u cud have spoken to me rite?????????
Gattu: sure could have..but i figured the amount of air time i would get there would be just a few secs...before the place is thronged by others...and since somehow inexplicably you say you dont recognise me...wanted to get that part sorted out first.plus i was too busy gawking to say anything :)).(dont take off..am just kidding).i am going out of town this weekend for a lil while...can we meet once before that? a 'yes' or 'no' would do for an answer.
Nattu: (no response)

Another scene
**************

Gattu is roaming around somewhere in a mall and finds this toy, looking at which he immediately thinks of Nattu. The toy is a plastic pumpkinhead in a lantern with a knob. The moment one turns the knob, the pumpkinhead inside the lantern glows up and starts making eerie and sinister sounds. Gattu finds it amusing (some ppl just dont listen now, do they?) and picks it up.

Next day he goes straight to the courier guy and sends across the toy to Nattu with a note which reads..."Since i ll be gone for a few days, here is something to remember me by".
The courier reaches Nattu, she hasnt opened it yet and she writes back...
Nattu: btw did u senfd me a courier?what is it?was it for me
Gattu: Yes

The day passes by without any further correspondance from either side. The next day there is again a mail waiting for Gattu as he reaches office at 12 in the noon...
Nattu: free for 5 mins anytime today?

Gattu doesnt know whether to be happy or sad. Does she want to meet? has she changed her mind? has sense finally dawned on her? ....or hey, is it that she wants to throw the gift back in his face? he doesnt know. my advice is sought...and i tell him she is confused...and she wont keep the gift...at least not now. besides if he is getting to meet her (even though only for 5 mins...he should go and talk. if for nothing else then just for the sake of finding out what kinda person she is...i mean talking face to face is better than making your BP jump up and down waiting for emails isnt it?
with his heart racing and pacing, he writes...
Gattu: sure
Nattu: can i cm to ur floor now?only 5 minsNth floor rite?
Gattu [senssing trouble]: "can we meet downstairs please...say near X shop.. i wouldnt be totally comfortable at Nth flr (obvious reasons..you dont want to be yelled at by a girl you ar crazy for in front of your colleagues)one request though...if its the kind of thing you know already i am not going to feel very good about or like, please lets do it on email itself. else, X shop sounds like an OK place.
lemme know"

Gattu has a grim satisfaction on his face...having made his point clear that if she wants to return his gift or yell or anything unpleasant, better just yell over email and not in person. Me..... i am confused between "Gattu is naive" and "Gattu is a first class idiot".

Nattu: i dont know whr X Shop is.............N floor is fine for me.
Gattu: ...if you come down at the fountain where you were sitting in the afternoon today and look around, you would see me standing near X Shop at 5 30. i really wont be comfortable on Nth floor. if you still insist, will meet you in the stairs between Nth and Mth. lemme know
Nattu: hullo u there?
Gattu: very much..i was waiting for your confirmation of the time
Nattu: ok
Gattu: so whats the time finally dear :)
Nattu: i went there silly................u were not there
Gattu: but you dint confirm any time...i have been there twice myself ..once at 5 30 and then at 6. ...and you werent there both times :)). and in last mail i asked you also whats the time finally :)) this is funny..i guess our email servers arent that fast.why dont you call me on 12345678 ?

So they have their first conversation on the phone and decide to meet downstairs at a not so busy spot near X Shop. Gattu reaches there first and is waiting for Nattu. And there, he sees Nattu approaching. his heart misses a beat..he is feeling a bit stupid in a teenage kinda way but his beat is racing with excitement. Finally he is getting to meet her in person and talk. (fool of a guy isnt he for getting happiness out of such small things).

Nattu is walking slowly towards him. but hey!, whats that in her hand? Gattu's heart sinks to see his gift box in her hand. He stands there, a little calmer now, waiting for her to reach where he is standing. Once she is there, they exchange greetings and the how are yous and all.

Nattu: your gift was nice but uncalled for. i cant keep it.
Gattu: why? its just a small toy...i bought it especially for you.
Nattu: but i cant keep it. i dont accept gifts from strangers <what is it with her and strangers???>
Gattu: hey but we have been conversing thru email for a while now. i was rather thinking more on the lines of we meet up and get to know each other a lil better.
Nattu: look how can we be friends. you are neither in my team, infact not even my company either.
< wtf!!...is she in school? > Gattu is thinking may be he IS the guy her mother might have told her to stay away from :)) He has no clue what to say now. Would changing his company and working for the same one as Nattu make things easier? :)
Somehow Gattu manages to say something. i dont know if that was dumb or smart...whatever it was...wud have been better than that awkward moment. conversation moves on to other things and he gets to know a lil more bout her, and that she is writing CAT that year. Coincidentally, so is Gattu. so they talk bout that for a few minutes. During this entire duration, she hasnt looked Gattu in the eye even once, which Gattu is feeling very uncomfortable and awkward about. (does she think he wud hynotize her if she establishes eye contact..:). He mentions that to her and she says she is doing it on purpose. (may be she DOES think he might...lol). and then they come back to the gift...

Nattu: Please take it back. i cant keep it.
Gattu: I cant take it back. i got it for you only. Why cant you keep it?
Nattu: then i would have to give you something in return.
Gattu: no you dont. and trust me i dint go out looking for a gift for you. just that i saw this and thought of you immediately...so picked it up for you.
Nattu: please..i cant accept this
Gattu: you dont have to read so much into this. its just a very small gift. please dont give it that much importance.
Nattu: No please dont insist.
Gattu: I cant take it back. what am i going to do with it?
Nattu: give it to someone else
Gattu: (Laughs)....if you bought something specially for someone, could you take it back and gift it to someone else?
Nattu: But i cant keep it.
Gattu: see i cant take it back. if you really want to not keep it so bad, please go ahead and throw it...
Nattu: i cant do that. please keep it
Gattu: if you insist, i ll take it from you. but i ll have to throw it into the trashbin myself then
Nattu: you dont have to do that...just keep it with you then
Gattu: cant do that...it ll keep reminding me of how you didnt accept a small plain gift.
Nattu: please
Gattu: ok...i ll take it. but i will have to trash it.
Nattu: no please dont do that
Gattu: then please keep it.
Nattu: you are blackmailing me.
Gattu: thats a tall allegation :)...anyway, i really dont intend to do blackmail you. If i take it back, would you go out for coffee with me?
Nattu: (smiles..more than smiles infact)..No
Gattu: Comeon...why are you being so cruel to me
Nattu: we shall see about coffee after CAT
Gattu: so we ARE going out for coffee after CAT ?:)
Nattu: we shall see.

Nattu hands over the gift back to Gattu. they start walking back towards their respective offices. On the way, Gattu throws the toy into the trashbin cos he knows he wont be able to keep it or give it to someone else either. Nattu tells Gattu that this act hurt her a lot. <i wonder why...if she doesnt want anything to do with it, why wud it hurt her to see Gattu dumping it. poor chap has made a fool out of himself, is still gracefully taking the whoel thing and has done what i myself wud have done in such situation...so he gets my vote>
Gattu is heartbroken and walks up to his desk quietly to get entangled in his sorry life. Bout Nattu, i dont know what went thru her mind that night. was she angry at him, was she sorry for acting like that, did she now feel may be she could have kept the gift and not made such a big deal out of it. what crap am i saying...may be she wouldnt have wasted even a thought on all this after that moment!

So this, ladies and gentlemen, is how the meeting ended. Gattu doesnt know if he is ever going to write to Nattu again, whether he should or should not, if there is a point anymore. He is confused, the usual confusion that follows for a couple of nights after such incidents, before life wakes you up and shows you it doesnt have time for all this.
The story has not ended as yet. quite a bit happens after this, which we would explore in the coming episodes. In the meanwhile, do let me know what you think of both Gattu and Nattu.....and what you think would happen next :)