First day at office, I didn't have any idea of what it would be like. It was only fear that blanketed my mind, to be honest. It's true that there was also an excitement in me; a tad more than my friends I'd say as I was there at the office two hours earlier than the expected time.
Of all that I thought would happen on the first day, you weren't one. But, without any second thought, you seemed to be the best of all. A spark, as some would call, was what I felt. I still couldn't figure out why you chose the desk next to me. Was it the same spark that made you do it? No, you would say. I can only guess. I will never know.
Well, the days we spent together, of course, working (or not), the hours we consumed for our chat, the minutes we spoke in silence, the seconds we looked into each other's eyes. If only it was a two-seater cubicle instead of four. Know what, most of the days, the other two didn't exist for me. Seriously. I mean, did they? Not, at least, in the world of conversations we had.
The stories you told, the disappointments you shared, the happiness you made me to be a part of. It didn't seem I met you after twenty years of being in this world. It rather seemed I was with you since your childhood. I'd had lied if I said I didn't feel I met you late in my life. Yep, twenty years too late.
Your first love was the funniest story I had ever heard. I was secretly glad that it didn't materialize, you know. And whenever you bumped into a guy, a friend of yours, at the cafeteria, or at a shopping mall, or at the theatre, a shiver ran down my spine. It only vanished when you yourself assured me that he was just a friend. I was happy you always had this urge to mention that to me. What were you thinking of me then? More than a friend, no? Looking back, you spent more minutes talking to a guy than to a girl with me waiting nearby. And what were those giggles for? Did you do it purposefully? To make me feel jealous or something? If so, you won. I was.
Your desk was the temple I visited before I started my work. You were the Goddess I went to for my peace. You probably didn't know, but you made me function appropriately. Yes, you did. You were the reason I excelled in what I did. Not to impress you, but simply to be in par with you. You were smart, and made me smart (or more so.)
It was amazing that there was nothing common between us. You liked to go to office earlier, while I preferred to stay late. You preferred breakfast; lunch was for me. Music means ARR to you; YSR occupied my playlist. It was no wonder that Maniratnam vs. Selvaraghavan became our frequent leisure time talk. I had nothing against Maniratnam, but I loved to see the anger that sprayed on ur face every time I had a point against him. Ah, how I wished it would go on forever. You were North; needless to say, I was South. Opposite poles attract each other, my teacher had taught when I was a kid. I didn't believe it back then although I pretended to agree and wrote the same to get good marks. It was only when we had a common ground among these contradictions that I realized how right he was or rather the scientist, who proved it, was.
You were the missing piece of my unsolved puzzles. When you weren't, you had it somehow. Always. Without you, I didn't know how I would have survived. I didn't even know if I would have in the first place. There were days I wondered what the reason was for me to get to office every day. You or the work? The question flashed in me often. Every time, the answer was You.
What is it that we have, I had questioned myself many a time. Acquaintance? No. Friendship? Not just. Crush? I was there. Infatuation? Certainly not. Love? Maybe. I was not sure yet. You weren't either, I thought.
'The office' fevicol affixed us more than it should had. You, I, and the office. What a story it had been? I hope you too get it one day.
