DAY 2 – ENTER FIGHTS and OTHER FRIENDS | 50 Days until I loved him

28-July-2019 (Let’s call it Day 2)

Cambridge, UK

Cloudy and Sunny

 

‘Friends-turned-dating seems to be a common thing these days. Maybe it's the close bond you form that blurs the line between the romantic and platonic. Maybe understanding each other means you're more likely to look at your best friend in a more-than-friends way. But is it always a good idea to take your friendship to "the next level"?’ – I started writing in a blank word document. Every time I started; I couldn’t get past ten lines. Usually writing about my dating stories have been very simple and something I always enjoyed recording in the form of words. This time I felt things got too personal that it stopped me from writing them – that which I loved more than anything else in life.

Last night was weird and super-uncomfortable to face my own flatmate that I sneaked out of my bedroom window.  

 

‘I have heard that girls are tempted to move too quickly if they date their friends. Seems to be totally true in your case’ – said Mia. You guessed it right – Mia is one of my closest course mates in Cambridge and we worked together at a local magazine as a part of our internship module. When it comes to TV show relationships, I’ve always found it bonkers how quickly the characters introduce their date to their respective female friends. But, in my case, telling Mia about what happened the last two days was more difficult than I imagined.

 

Mia is two years elder to me. That’s one reason why most of her advices turn out to be true and something I should listen to. Although I remember why she ended her last relationship, which I felt wasn’t a mature enough reason. Her boyfriend got her a cat for their love anniversary unaware that she’s allergic to cats.

 

I still remember how she described it – ‘Really, why can’t he just be one of those normal boyfriends and just name a star after me or something?’. Damn, it’s like forcing your boyfriend to do dumb stuff when he has already done something dumb by buying you a cat. With female friends, the advices are just one way – they give you the perfect philosophies to lead a happiest life but never follow it themselves. Anyways, enough of Mia’s story.

 

‘You might not even be aware of it, but given the amount of information you’ve told me, it strikes me as a reasonable assumption. Re-examine your relationship with him’ – Mia told me all such cliched lines. Although fact is, when you’re confused you tend to take any cliched or even stupid suggestions from the people around you, because you feel deceptive when things don’t go the way you planned or imagined it to be.

 

This wasn’t the only piece of advice I listened to that day - ‘Weren’t you guys already dating? I thought you both were living together’; Let's not forget about my extended group of friends who are now trying to see us as a couple instead of two close friends – ‘It’s so exciting that you’re taking your friendship to the next level, even if it’s not always easy’. All these were mere responses to a stupid quote I posted that morning that made people discover that there’s something happening in my life. Sometimes I just feel why can’t I shut myself away from the social media life. But then, I just go by the popular belief - we are more or less obsessed rather than using it as a tool of communication.

 

Mia suggested that I stayed over at her place to avoid getting into uncomfortable conversations with Ryan. Her apartment is one of the worst places I have ever been to in Cambridge. There’s a couple living above her room. We always hear the couple ascending the staircase. We hear their footsteps, giggling, the fiddling of keys, bodies bumping against the door, keys being dropped, kissing and moaning and the sounds of passion. Obviously, I turned down her offer. Although I asked her to come over to my place and she agreed.

 

We returned to my apartment and entered my flat. Ryan seemed surprised to see Mia, but he was welcoming as usual. He always liked having people for dinner. Dinner is the only meal he rarely attempts to cook and sometimes succeed at it too.

 

‘I have made chicken spaghetti for dinner. We could have it together’ – Ryan suggested predominantly looking at Mia.

‘I hope you still remember that I’m vegetarian’ – I said rolling my eyes.

‘Al, I thought you weren’t coming home tonight. I can make something for yo-‘

‘No, it’s fine. I’ll make the frozen pizzas’ - I rejected his offer before he finished his sentence.

‘Okay. Then I’ll see you guys in 15 for dinner’

Okay. What-the-hell. He didn’t even push me into having something that he could make.

 

We had dinner for around forty-five minutes with awkward silences at places. Mostly, the conversation stayed fine because Ryan and Mia were talking, and I kept quiet. In some time, we went off to bed. I was trying to sleep but didn’t get a sound sleep. So, I woke up and went to the living room only to find that Ryan was up as well. I said to myself – ‘Al, please don’t repeat yesterday’s episode now’ and walked to the kitchen to grab some cold water.

 

Ryan was quiet throughout, which was weird. I asked him – ‘Why aren’t you asleep yet?’

‘Nothing much – wondering how many more friends you’d bring for the remaining 48 days’ – he replied.

Sarcasm – the best tool to make me talk my mind out. ‘You already stopped making dinner for me. Time to find new friends, I guess’

‘Aleana, you kissed me. And you’re calling me your friend? You created the discomfort and you’re bringing over people to avoid me. What’s all that?’

Using my full name – second best tool to make me start a fight. ‘Ok, my mistake. Forgive me. And stop coming to my bedroom hereafter – even if it’s about a random earring that you wouldn’t even notice usually. I’m going to bed’ – I said angrily and went back to sleep. Fighting let’s you get good sleep if you’re not on the receiving end. Indeed, I had a good sleep. We didn’t talk to each other for another week.

 

Continued … DAY 9.

Link to Day 1: https://astroakshara.blogspot.com/2020/08/day-1-knows-me-little-too-well-50-days.html

Link to Prologue: https://astroakshara.blogspot.com/2020/07/50-days-until-i-loved-him-prologue.html