THE LADY IN THE RAIN

MUSIC OF THE HEART

‘Ritz, what a pleasant surprise, huh!’ exclaims Rubel.
‘Whatever! No need of being so dramatic now.’
‘But how the transformation...? I mean...you...you never listen to us. We have tried to explain you the same thing several times. Then what’s the miracle today?’ Pihu asks.
‘Love. It can make impossible possible,’ Ritwik  quotes with a satisfying smile on his face.
‘Means?’
‘Oh! Did she...?’ Rubel playfully pushes Ritwik ’s arm.
Ritwik  blushes.
‘Awe! You are looking so cute, Ritz!’ Pihu exclaims.
‘By the way, who’s that special girl, huh?’ she raises her eyebrows and asks.
‘Erica Ma’am,’ informs Rubel.
‘Whoa! That’s insane. Are you seriously into Erica Ma’am?’
‘Yes baby.’
‘Is she aware?’
‘No, Pihu. This dumbass is waiting for that shubh muhurat,’ Rubel smirks.
‘And when will that muhurat come?’ Pihu asks.
‘Never. This asshole is extremely shy. He’s not gonna do anything by himself. We’ll have to help him out.’
‘C’mon,  you guys are not planning anything, okay? And I am not shying away. Just that I now want to establish a well defined relationship with Emma. That’s it. After that romantic confessions and all...’ says Ritwik  in his defence.
‘Yeah! Your wish. But before leaving this school, kindly confess,’ Rubel says.
‘Sure. Now we’ve Chemistry class. Shall we go to our class?’
‘Good reminder,’ Pihu remarks.
The trio walk towards the class.
                                 ***************
Ritwik  and Rubel are walking on the pavement with school bags on their shoulders.
‘This Organic chemistry sucks. I don’t know how do you manage to remember everything so easily, Ritz?’ asks Rubel.
‘Nothing like that. Sufficient practice and attention. That’s why I always tell you to study. But you remain busy being a lovey dovey.’
‘C’mon after so many hardships I finally got Raima. How could I let her slip from my hand? You know...we are about to have our first kiss.’
‘When?’
‘Maybe today evening.’
‘But we have to train Tanmay, you remember?’
‘That’s your responsibility. You promised him. Not I!’
‘Wow! What a buddy you are! This is what we must expect from our bosom buddies!’
‘Okay, no need of being sentimental now. I’ll come.’
‘I love you,’ Ritz giggles.
‘Whatever,’ says Rubel.
‘Such a dry reaction!’ exclaims Ritwik .
Ritwik  notices Pari in her school uniform walking alone on the street. She is lost in her world, singing in the middle of the road. He sees a car coming towards her with a great speed. He throws his bag on the ground and runs and pulls her away from the road.
Emma sees everything.  She immediately rushes to them.
‘Pari, you okay?’
‘Yes, Mamma. Ritwik saved me.’
Emma turns towards Ritwik  and gives him a smile. She then plants a kiss on his cheeks. Ritwik  freezes there completely.
‘Thank you so much, darling. Hope you didn’t hurt yourself!’
Ritwik  did not hear her. His heart is strolling in the garden of her thoughts! The music of his heart is loud enough to prevent him from listening to outside noises.
‘Ritz? Ritz?’
He still didn’t respond. Emma laughs on looking at him and leaves with Pari. Rubel comes and gives a hard pat on Ritwik ’s shoulder. He then comes back to his senses.
‘Did she kiss me?’ he asks.
Rubel nods happily.
‘Pinch me.’
‘Why?’
‘Pinch me.’
Rubel pinches him. He jumps out of happiness.
‘It’s a dream turned reality. You know I have never been so happy even when I stood first in class or won the scholarship. I just couldn’t explain my happiness in words.’
He happily jumps and walks away towards his house, alone. Rubel is witnessing all these, still confused.
‘This is lunatic!’ he remarks.
                                     **************
Ritwik  and his teammates are in the school playground.
‘Sorry guys! Actually some guests came uninformed. That’s why it was impossible to practice in my house.’
‘It’s absolutely fine. You managed to convince the school authorities and see...we got such a big playground,’ a boy consoles.
Ritwik  smiles.
‘So, Tanmay come. I’ll teach you some basic techniques of throwing the ball into the net,’ Ritwik  says.
Tanmay comes to him holding a ball in his hand.
‘Listen...the most important strategy...only focus on the basket and nowhere else. Your focus should be of a cent percent. No hither or thither, okay?’
Tanmay nods.
‘Let the basket be Pallavi.’
Tanmay looks surprisingly at Ritwik .
‘I know, dear. Now concentrate.’
Tanmay focuses but yet misses the target. Ritwik  looks furiously at Tanmay initially but suddenly remembers Emma's words.
‘Fine. It’s okay. Let me show you.’
He takes the ball from Tanmay.
‘Firstly, twist both your palms in the forward direction and then get a hold of the ball properly between the two hands tightly with your fingers. And then...here you go!’
The ball goes inside the net. Everyone claps for Ritwik .
‘No need of clapping, boys. Let Tanmay make the shot first. Are you ready?’
Tanmay nods. He takes the ball from Ritwik  and follows the same technique and aims towards the basket. The ball successfully reaches the target. All look both shockingly and happily at Tanmay. Ritwik  gives a hug to Tanmay.
‘Bravo, hero! Bravo!’
He hears a clap from behind. He turns and sees Emma clapping for both the boys.
‘Fantastic! This is how you should rectify. Now Tanmay is also a champ, right?’
Tanmay shyly nods in yes.
‘I’m proud of you, Ritwik . You really proved yourself worthy of being a captain as well as a responsible senior,’ Emma praises him.
Ritwik  blushes.
Emma leaves the ground.