Tangled Threads - Completed ✅

17. Course Enrollment Day

Days started rolling by. The extensive course structure of Master’s program kept them engrossed with studies. Her on-campus job was cherry on the top. Aradhana almost forgot to ask Shailesh about his final decision about their relationship because of their hectic schedule.

One such day, Abhay was preparing dinner when Shailesh walked in, tired. He kept his backpack on the floor and jumped on the couch of the living. He looked around to see the mess ‘Did Samuel and Ethan throw house party again?’ ‘Yup. Faiyaz and Ishaan were part of it. How many chapatis (round flat bread) will you have?’ Abhay opened the refrigerator to take out frozen chapatis to warm it on the stove. ‘I will have 3 chapatis. Who the fuck will clean this mess? I am putting a message on group.’ Shailesh dropped a message in a WhatsApp group meant exclusively for his roommates. Abhay generously served curry made of yellow squash along with three chapatis on both the plates. Shailesh walked towards the kitchen’s sink to wash his dirty hands.

Taking the plates, Abhay and Shailesh settled themselves on the couch. Their random talks lead towards Aradhana in awhile when Abhay asked ‘Hey, Aradhana is your project partner, right?’ Shailesh rolled his eyes and gave a nod of agreement. ‘It has been so long I haven’t spoke to her.’ Before he could continue further, Shailesh interrupted ‘What do you want from her now?’ Abhay was taken aback by Shailesh’s audacity. ‘Chill dude. I just want to apologize to her. I thought you knew her schedule’ ‘I ain’t her assistant. You better apologize’ Shailesh got back to his meal. Before Abhay could interrogate further, Shailesh first put his dish in kitchen sink and walked towards his room. Shailesh mentally decided, he won't let Abhay know whatever happened that night.

As another week slipped in, Aradhana marked the date on the calendar as the course enrollment day for upcoming semester was around the corner. Out of nervousness, Aradhana spoke to Sonal. She was clueless about the courses to be taken up for next semester. She has a keen interest to take up Big Data Analysis as one of her course. She was still unsure about other courses. Sonal somehow pacified her and mentioned, she will ask someone to help her out. A few minutes later, Sonal pinged the details of Rudra Rajput on WhatsApp. Sonal stated, he will help Aradhana on the course enrollment day.

It’s course enrollment day. In the state of worrisome, Aradhana almost forgot about Rudra who was suppose to help her in the state of worrisome. ‘Aradhana!’ An unfamiliar voice caught her attention. As she turned around, Aradhana saw a young man quite of her age. He was neatly dressed in rugged denim blue jeans and white chest printed tee shirt. Although his hair weren’t gelled, his voluminous hair slightly played with the wind. His square jawline was perfectly enhanced by recently trimmed circled beard. In short, he look no less than stud. Had Aradhana paid more attention to him, she would have been bowled by his mere look.

As Aradhana was on her way to library, she literally dragged him in. ‘Dude, you are Rudra. Right?’ He nodded in agreement. ‘Don’t you know my enrollment slot starts in 5 minutes?’ Aradhana panicked. Spotting the nearest vacant seats, Aradhana settled down and took out her laptop, little did she know she took a seat besides Shailesh. Rudra sat across her. Shailesh completed his course enrollment and was surfing over some random sites. He did noticed Aradhana taking a seat besides him. She quickly switched on her laptop and logged onto the dashboard.

‘Shit man! The class of Big Data Analysis got closed.’ Aradhana expressed her grief for not getting her only desired course. Rudra shifted himself to a place besides Aradhana. She looked towards Rudra ‘I so badly want to take up that course. What to do now?’ ‘That’s fine. As far as I know, you will complete Foundation course of Big Data this term. You can take Big Data Analysis for some other term.’ Rudra suggested her. ‘I want that course’ Aradhana sounds so much like a cry baby. Shailesh was an onlooker of Aradhana’s new drama.