Chapter 68: Humiliation

“Oye, what were trying to say back there, huh?” Cabir growled softly.

“Hmm? Well, obviously, about Pri-”

“Can it!”

“You are the one who just asked me!” Reyansh looked affronted.

“Exactly! And you are to say, ‘nothing’! Forget about it.”

“Why? It’s not bad to like someone.” Reyansh looked at his friend with eyes expressing clear confusion, which suddenly cleared. “Oh, you don’t want people to make fun of you?”

“Bah! What people? Those two do it all the time!”

“…then, what’s the issue?” The man kept asking questions one after another.

“…” Thinking about it for a minute, Cabir realised he really didn’t have any explanation for it. It was embarrassment…but without any clear reason. Pursing his lips, the man smacked Reyansh hard on the back, “That’s enough. I was the one who pulled you over to ask questions. Why the hell are you interrogating me?”

“In essence, you don’t have an answer. You were behaving irrationally.” Reyansh nodded, as if understanding what was going on, which he was, thus making Cabir’s eye twitch in annoyance.

“Now that you are done sorting and figuring things out oh so logically,” Cabir began sarcastically, “Why don’t I figure some things out too?”

“There’s no need to use sarcasm when a person is simply trying to clear some things up.”

“Oh, as if you weren’t trying to make fun of me in your own regressive way!”

“I wasn’t. It was genuine curiosity.”

Cabir felt like holding his head in his hands, “Aren’t you an adult? What’s with this pure-hearted curiosity? Only children do that! Adults are supposed to act snidely.”

“You have a skewed way of thinking. Children, in fact, are the ones who are more into playing pranks and making fun. Adults are normally composed. Not that anyone is supposed to be anything; that’s stereotypical.” Reyansh’s expression was wooden, as if he was simply stating facts which required no emotion.

“Oh, as if you weren’t having fun teaming up with Aanya!”

“As I said, nobody is supposed to be anything. And it’s not like one cannot be curious and composed at different times. Rather, as an adult, you should be wise enough to differentiate. Wisdom comes with age.”

“What kind of conversation in this?!” Cabir bemoaned, his head spinning at the seemingly sensible yet somehow idiotic lines Reyansh was spouting.

“Philosophical?”

“Not logical?” Cabir enquired.

“Philosophy works using logic. So, yes.”

“No. It is nonsensical. What we are talking about is utter nonsense.”

“Well, you aren’t Aakash, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.”

“Hey, you were the one talking!”

“People lose brain cells being near you. I, of course, am also no exception, sadly.”

“…can we please end this…uh…” Cabir was so vexed that he didn’t even want to call their exchange a conversation anymore. Not even a nonsensical one.

“I believe the word you are searching for is, ‘humiliation’.”

As Cabir glared at him straight in the eye, Reyansh offered, unhelpfully, “Yours, of course, In case you didn’t catch that.”

“Oh, thank you soooooo much! I am indebted to you.” Cabir bit out.

A slight grin appeared on Reyansh’s face, replacing his wooden expression. Slinging his arm around Cabir, the man was just about to turn around when he felt an elbow to his side.

Shifting his gaze back towards his friend’s, he was confronted with a question, “So what happened between you and Kajal?”