What a day!

He could not believe it. For the past few years he had been dreaming of this and there it was, right in front of him. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and read the letter aloud for the fifth time,


"....Mr. Salil Agarwal,we are pleased to inform you that you have been appointed as a Field Application Engineer at Chips Inc...."

Years of hard work had finally paid off. He remembered the day he had landed at the San Fransisco airport. Almost two years ago, he was just a student - an International student on F1 visa - like thousand other F1 guys. He had to start right from scratch in this new country. A whole new world. He was high on expectations then. Now he could see nothing but a blur. Wiping his moist eyes, he called up his parents back in India to tell them the good news. He could imagine the look on their faces while he talked to them. Everyone was exhilarated. Later, the calls continued - family, friends, roommates.

But not her. He wanted to give the news to her in person and had made sure no one ruined it for them. Though neither had confessed, he knew they had something special; she knew it too. It was just a matter of time before they made it 'official'. "What better day to go for it than today!" he thought. As usual, they were supposed to meet at the bus stop in the downtown. He still had an hour. He hurried to a nearby jewelery store and bought her a beautiful necklace. He assumed a ring would be too American. He was not an impulsive guy and loved the fact that she was neither. But he was high on life today.

There were ten more minutes for the bus to arrive. The clock seemed to tick a few seconds backwards as he waited for the love of his life. He had no idea what he would say to her. This seemed more difficult than the Computer Architecture course he had aced last semester. He remembered the day they had met in the cafeteria, about an year ago. She was a fresh International student struggling with the coffee machine's menu. As an Indian, she was not used to black coffee. She wanted something as simple as a hot mixture of milk, water, sugar and of course coffee to keep her awake through the boring lectures of Database Systems. She noticed that Salil, an employee at the cafe, was an Indian and asked for help. He had been a perfect gentleman and helped her get a smooth latte, much to suit the Indian taste buds. That was how it all began.

The screech of the halting bus brought him back to the present. He saw her get off the bus. She was beauty simplified for him. Her simple yet elegant sense of dressing melted his heart. Her smile drove him nuts. Before he could say anything, she ran close to him and asked, "How was the interview? Did you get it?" He simply smiled and nodded. She shrieked in joy and gave him a warm hug. He held her close and tight, never wanting to let go. "How clichéd!", he thought. A moment later, he let go of her and then took out the offer letter from his bag handing it over to her. She read it with the cutest smile and tearful eyes. "I'm so happy for you!", she exclaimed. A moment passed and neither of them said anything. Both were lost in each others' eyes.

Out of nowhere they heard a husky voice,"Hey....hey...ain't she pretty...jus...just look at her...ain't she the cutest of all..." A bum was standing next to her and blabbering. Startled, she snuck up behind Salil's back. He grabbed her hand tight. The bum continued uttering the same words over and again. It was obvious he would not let go easily. Salil had to get rid of him as smoothly as possible. She was growing highly uncomfortable by the second. Suddenly it struck him. He had an idea. Looking the homeless guy straight in the eye he said, "What..? You think she's cute..? Then you have got to check out the babe who just passed by this street." The bum replied, "Wh....what babe..i don't see any one but her....ain't she just cute...." Salil continued,"A girl walked down this lane just a second ago. She was the cutest girl I have ever seen in my life. She had big blue eyes, the face of an angel and smokin' hot body!!". He noticed that the bum was falling for it and so he kept on describing how beautiful the girl was and finally tricked him into crossing the street and taking the next right turn in the pursuit of the so-called babe.

Salil turned back to see that she was sitting on a bench, with her head down on her lap. With a sense of heroic pride and achievement, he walked towards her. He had proven to be her knight in shining armour. He could not believe how delicately he had handled the situation. This was the best day of his life. He sat beside her and held her hands. But before he could say anything to comfort her, she suddenly got up, slapped him hard on his cheek and with bloodshot eyes snapped at him, "You pig!! All men are pigs. I always thought you were crazy about me because of my simplicity. But the truth finally came out today. Catch hold of the hottie you just saw. I know that's all you guys always want - a hottie. Don't ever talk to me again. Follow your babe and marry her. I don't want to see your face again, ever." Throwing the offer letter at him, she took off. As he tried catching the letter carefully, lest he tore it, he watched her cross the street hurriedly. For a moment he stood there, numb, like a log.

"Was that supposed to be funny?" he wondered as he scurried to catch up with her.