It’s been four years but I still remember the whole incident as if it happened yesterday. Ashwin and I were in the same class in college. During the freshers’ party, every girl was paired with a boy to dance and that is how we became friends. There was an instant chemistry between us. Numbers were immediately exchanged and we started texting the same night. After two months of spending our days together in college and talking for hours on the phone at night, we finally started dating. I was in paradise. He was the best boyfriend a girl could ask for… Caring, romantic and extremely kind. The only thing that bothered me was that he was very private about the relationship and insisted we tell no one. But I disregarded my worries as baseless at the time.
Anjali and I had known each other for quite some time now and we ended up in the same college too. However, she and I had different circles in college. One day I introduced them to each other. Little did I know, that this would prove to be a huge mistake.
Eight months into our relationship, I got a call from my best friend, Diksha, one evening. She was really angry and unsettled. ‘Listen, what I’m going to tell you next will shock you but you have to believe me. I think Ashwin is cheating on you.’ she said. ‘What? That’s absurd,’ I replied. My brain still hadn’t processed the news. My next question, funnily enough, was- ‘Who do you think the girl is?’ She replied, ‘Anjali!’
Shocked is an understatement to what I was feeling. I was suddenly sick to my stomach. I told Diksha that I’ll call her back and immediately called Anjali. Without a preamble, I asked her what was going on between her and Ashwin. She told me that she and Ashwin had been dating for almost a month now. ‘But you know he’s my boyfriend and we’ve been dating for eight months now!?’ I protested. How could she not? I introduced these two. She told me she had no idea we were dating. Ashwin had told her that I was in love with him but he only considered me a best friend. He had also asked her to never ask me this because it might humiliate me and hurt my pride. She genuinely sounded just as perplexed as I felt. We both realised that he had conveniently been playing both of us and had made a fool out of the two of us. We decided to confront him.
The next day, I asked Ashwin to meet me outside college at our usual hangout spot. Anjali, Diksha and I were sitting together when he walked in. Boy, was he nervous and scared to see us together waiting for him, our indignation clear on our face. As soon as he sat down he took my hand in his and apologised for whatever happened. He said Anjali had seduced him and it was a momentary lapse in his judgement. He was really sorry for what had happened and declared his undying love for me. Before I could even say anything, Anjali slapped him really hard. For God knows what reason, I started laughing so hard, it left me breathless. I found the whole situation hilarious and could not believe that my friend and I were dating the same guy. I could be fooled so easily, it was horrible. I told him it was over and walked away.
Everybody in college found out what he had done and our common friends stopped talking to him. He spent rest of the time in college trying to make new friends, unsuccessfully so. Today, I have no clue where he is and what he does. Anjali and I are still friends but it can never be the same between us. As for me, I’m dating somebody right now. Thankfully, I’ve not lost the faith I had in love but I’ve removed the rose tinted glasses I used to see the world through.
* Names changed to protect privacy
Images: Shutterstock
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