1/19/12

The Love Game
By Sanchari Sur


she didn’t mean to ask him out. it had been unplanned. impulsive. she didn’t even pay much attention to him when they were introduced that night at nuit blanche. all she could think of was, oh-my-god, he smokes. how disgusting. but then she had been tired. and cold. and cranky. and had sworn at her friend, the one who had introduced her to him. used the f word twice. that’s when he had smiled at her. wait, no. he had smirked. this brown boy from delhi hadn’t run in the opposite direction out of fear and disgust. instead, he had been amused. that’s when her heart had skipped a beat. this was romance to her. she had suddenly had had the urge to know him. so, she had messaged him on facebook. two whole days later (as had seemed decent), after surreptitiously finding out that he was single and on the market. and he had responded with an invitation for coffee and his number. she had reveled in her sense of sudden empowerment. look at me, she had thought, asking a boy out all on my own. so grown up. they had met and gabbed. coffee had turned into dinner and then, another coffee. he had been a true gentleman. holding open doors for her. offering to pay each time, even though she had insisted on going dutch. refraining from lighting up all night. she hadn’t been sure if she wanted him as a potential boyfriend then, but while parting, he had flashed that smile. the one that made his eyes disappear. that’s when she knew she had wanted to see him again. if only for that smile. so she had waited for him to make a move. which he did, two days later. and she had waited two more days before responding (oh, the rules of dating). and now, it was a week later. and silence on his end. so, this is how it ends, she thought. this game of love.


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Sanchari Sur is a Bengali Canadian who was born in Calcutta, India. Her poetry and short fiction have been published or are forthcoming in Asia Writes, Corvus Magazine, Red River Review, Red Poppy Review, Urban Shots - Crossroads (India: Grey Oak/Westland, 2012) and elsewhere. You can find her at http://sursanchari.wordpress.com.