To be on the other side

“You will not believe what just happened.” He heard her voice from behind him. Sliding towards one end of the wooden bench, he gave her some space to sit next to him. He was staring blankly at the open fountain in front of him, which was constantly gushing out water and spraying liquid all over in the vicinity. The park was serene, as always; the peace interspersed with the occasional chirping of the birds.

 “I had to tell my boss that you met with an accident to get the day off,” she continued with a grin on her face. He let out a half–hearted laugh. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. She dropped her bag to the ground and parked herself next to him.

“Hey, what’s up?” she asked, concerned.

He straightened up, and looking at her, he said, “Nothing. Why do you ask?”

“You seem to be very quiet today.”

“How perceptive of you,” he quipped.

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise at the unwanted sarcasm. “What's the matter?” she prodded gently.

“Nothing,” he said again, and then added, “nothing important.”

“Ah, so there is something,” she said smiling.

“Don’t bother. Long story,” he said morosely, “and a boring one at that.”

“Well, this must be your lucky day,” she said, crossing her legs and settling back comfortably on the bench. “I am all in for long boring stories, mister.”

He responded with a smile. She noticed the lack of glamour in him which always used to be his appealing quality. Picking up her bag, she started searching in an unsystematic manner. “Also,” she said, while pulling out two bars of Snickers, “I have the right accessories to go with them.”

“Thanks,” he said, taking one of them. “But, I’m not up for any narration right now. “

She looked at him, puzzled. “Okay seriously, you have to get this thing off your chest now,” she said, getting slightly annoyed at his lackluster behaviour.

“I’m just having a bad day. Try to understand,” he said.

She gasped and opened up her arms in frustration.

“How will I understand if you don’t say it?”

He simply shrugged.

“You were perfectly all right yesterday. What’s gotten into you? Your mood has just swung to the other extreme overnight,” she said, making a sweeping movement with her hands to emphasize her statement.

“Right. I’m not entitled to sudden mood swings unless I have a fluctuating blood sugar level,” he retorted.

She looked at him with her mouth half open, trying to digest what he said. He maintained a straight face all along, but the twinkle was back in his eyes. Then, her eyes widened in comprehension.

“Oooh, you did not!” she said slowly, stressing on each and every word.

His face broke into an impish grin. He was back to his charming self again.

“Now you know how it feels to be on the other side,” he said playfully.

She punched him on the shoulder and snatched the chocolate from his hand.

“Hey!”

“Go get your own,” she snapped back.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” he said. ” I understand what you go through, but I thought you should know how I feel as well. And come on, you should have seen the baffled expression on your face,” he said grinning from ear to ear.

She smiled despite herself and tossed the chocolate back to him. Unwrapping it immediately, he popped the whole thing into his mouth.

“Anyway, it’s not actually that bad, right?” she asked curiously.

“wu aa wo eyaa,” he said with his mouth full of caramel and nuts. He munched on for a couple of seconds more and repeated, slowly shaking his head, “You have no idea.”

She punched him harder; this time, eliciting a loud groan out of him.