Perfect Strangers

PROCEEDINGS

"So, I'm your new PT&D mentor. Would we get to know each other?"

"What's PT&D?"

"Personal Thinking & Development. Since you have successfully been accepted into the Club, you have been assigned a role or purpose, which is the sole objective of this place. Your friend who has served as a reference was a Writer and she contributes to editing a bunch of magazines and writes her own books, as she must've told you by now. And you..."

"How are these roles decided? How do they get to decide who is what?"

"They asked you some questions when they made you register right? The panel?"

"Yeah, I mean there were like three of them."

"Correct. And now tell me... what did they ask you... and what you answered to each question."

Bhuvan was her mentor. Or, was it, partner?

"Should I call you a mentor or a partner?" Mona asked. She was beginning to like the place, with its former library aura, and a very old-world charm that dripped from its arching ceilings to the oakwood doors and the colourful tinted windows that looked newly made as compared to the rest of the centuries -old building. Despite being so old, it certainly looked well-cared for.

"You can just call me your friend. My name is Bhuvan. So, my job is literally to... listen to you?" I hope you know you aren't working like, an actual paying job as a member here," Bhuvan said quickly. "This is just... timepass. Like, a club you know. You ain't getting any money from this."

"So, it's just something you do coz you like it?"

"Precisely. Last year, there was a lady called Ally. She became a member and then resigned as soon as she realised, she wasn't going to get paid for anything."

"So, what's the end result?" Mona asked curiously. There had to be something concrete in this.

"Nothing. Every year, on New Year's Eve, all the members get invited to share whatever they want to, like something they achieved in the past year and so on. But its optional of course. This whole place is optional. You stay here because you want to."

"So- what am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing much, they gave you one of the more simplistic roles I will say. You and I constitute a 'couple', wherein both of us just need to function as a collective unit. To put it simply..." he changed his linguistics as Mona looked even confused. "You talk, I listen. We will be like friends, but I have to write an annual entry that constitutes my understanding of you, an INFP, as Joel, he's one of the panel guys, told me."

"You mean I'll be a test subject?"

"No no, not like that. It's just for individuals to want to get to know the intricacies of forming an interpersonal relation with other individuals given their specific unique traits. It's like friendship but you write to have a diary entry about it at the end of every year."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing, just say anything you have in mind. Anything absolutely. The more random, the better."

Mona frowned. No matter what he said, it didn't sound any less weird to her. Mona was not used to this at all. She felt like a test subject. Or maybe he was just abd at explaining what the intentions were.

"So, if I tell you things, you're gonna write those in your entries? And other people would read it?"

"I will judge you and I will write those judgements down." Bhuvan said, seriously. "Since you're so suspicious, let's make me the villain," he laughed.

For some reason, his laughter gave Mona butterflies. Ridiculous. She didn't even know him.