 The Reply
by Jayashantha Jayawardhana
When Waruni entered the canteen
with her friend Tharindi, Priyanga, one of their batchmates regarded
them from the newspaper desk, where he had been practically spying on
Waruni as she sat in the summer-hut by the mango tree with other girls,
her friends. Although he seemed to be so completely engrossed in the
Sunday Observer, he knew he hardly made out anything on the paper.
He had a crush on Waruni, so he took every possible opportunity to
stay as close to her as possible. That way he could both show his love
for her and keep the rivals away from her. Where he could not possibly
do that, he would watch her from a distance as he did now.
 He stopped reading the newspaper and followed them into the canteen.
From the tap, he watched them buying lunch and sit at a table by the
television. He too went to the counter, bought lunch and considered how
he should approach her without giving her the impression that he had
been following her quite intentionally.
Sure, he wanted her to know that he was interested in her, but
preferred not to act too flagrantly. So with his plate on his right
hand, he walked in the direction where the two girls were sitting but
just looking straight ahead of him.
As he was about to pass their table, he slightly averted his eyes and
caught Tharindi watching him. Showing his surprise at stumbling upon
them then and there, he took the seat opposite Waruni`s. Tharindi who
had anticipated his reaction almost giggled at his play-acting but
stopped short as Waruni pinched her on the forearm. They knew
instinctively what he was up to.
They were all from the new management batch of Faculty of Business
Studies and Finance of Wayamba University. The rag season having come to
a close, they were now free to wander around the campus. Priyanga was
from Moneragala while Waruni and Tharindi were both from Kandy.
Since the end of the rag season some two weeks ago, he had been
trying to communicate his feelings to her, but had not been able to
muster enough courage to express himself when he found her alone. Also,
her friend often stood by her, which made him feel rather awkward. When
he had asked for her phone number, she had given it to him without
hesitation and had asked for his in turn. This, he viewed as a positive
sign. However, she forgot to add his number to the contacts in her
phone.
In the lecture-hall, Priyanga always showed up by the chair next to
Waruni`s and would be seen talking to her whenever the lecturer gave
them a short break. After the lecture, he would accompany them back to
their boarding-house, a couple of houses from his. His friends knew he
was mad about her and occasionally teased him about it. However,
Priyanga knew that he was not the only guy courting her and that he had
to open his heart to her sooner rather than later.
It was with a strong resolution to communicate his feelings to her
that Priyanga phoned her at 10 O`clock on August 14, 2006. His call was
not connected and the built-in voice record said, `The number you
dialled is switched off or not in a service area. Please call again
shortly.’ He redialled her number and was happy to hear her phone ring.
It was picked up shortly. Priyanga spoke, `Hi Waruni, you are in the
lab, aren`t you?’ ‘Hello, who`s speaking there?’, a male voice inquired
from the other end.
Priyanga was startled and thought he had misdialled her number in his
confusion and said, `I`m really sorry I guess I dialled the wrong
number, it was Waruni that I wanted to speak to, I`m just so sorry...’
The guy at the other end said, `No, it`s Waruni`s number that you have
dialled,’ he added, ‘I`m Nalaka, her boyfriend, and we are on our
way...’
Before Nalaka could finish his explanation the line went dead. |
