Aaaaccchhhooooooo

I have caught a very bad cold. There is no other sickness that is more inconvenient than a cold. Tissue after tissue is being deposited in the dustbin. My nose is red. I have already sneezed around 25 times. Monday morning not treating me too well. But then when did a Monday go good for me? Aaaaccchhhooooooo…. There I go again. I am feeling already miserable and Aaaacchooooooo…! and I am going to get a throat infection by day after tomorrow. I can feel it itching its way out. Aaachhoooooooo….. I think my nose will no longer be a part of me. Either it will come off in my hands because of the force I apply to blow my nose or it will be thrown off my face due to force of my sneezing. (Groan….). Aaachhoooooooo….. I do not know how to mute my sneeze. wierd looks from colleagues are reaching me, every time I sneeze. I smile at them and sneeze again. Aaachhoooooooo…..

Not my day at all. It’s not been my days since past few days. Why is Kabir not picking my call? He is being so mean… Here I am sneezing my life out through my nose and throat, there he is (where?? I don’t know where he stays) doing…( doing what? I dont know that also!). Some friend I am. Or I was? Sh!t… Aaachhoooooooo….. All my lofty ideas about myself came tumbling down. I believed I was bold, practical and sensitive. But it turned out I was none of these. Aaachhoooooooo….. How quickly I gave in to the tell-tale stories and branded Kabir. I didnt even check for a… Aaachhoooooooo….. second source.

I needed to drink something hot. My throat was irritating me too much. So I went to the cafeteria and got a cup of steaming coffee. Disaster. I was walking out to the balcony when a gigantic sneeze began to build inside me. I needed to keep the coffee somewhere. There was nothing in the corridor. I could hardly open my eyes, and I could feel my face all scrunched up in an attempt to control the sneeze and save myself from being burnt by boiling hot coffee. Time was so less. The sneeze threatened to come up any time and I saw a pair of legs approach me.

I thrust the cup at the person in front of me, turned behind and gave in to the sneeze.

AAAAAAACCCHHHHOOOOOOOOOO

Ahhhh…. what a relief. I felt the movement in my brain. Even the next door company might have heard my sneeze. It was nothing short of an earthquake. My sneezes are all one+one. So I was waiting for the next one to come. One.. Two.. three.. maybe it’s not there this time.. four… Aaachhoooooooo….

Done.

As I wiped my nose, squeezing and pulling, I saw…

I saw that the pair of legs belonged to the Hero and he was standing there patiently holding my coffee cup and waiting for me to finish my sneeze. Already I was red, with all this sneezing and cold, now add a shade of embarrassment to it. I was positive I looked like a beetroot. Sheeesh….

“Are you okay?” he asked me, giving me back my coffee cup.

“I am fine. Bad cold. Sorry.”

“So I heard.”

I looked at him through my puffy eyes. What a great time to tease me. Idiot.

“That was some sneeze. Never heard one that, you know, exploded.”

“Are you surprised that I still have my hair and nose and ears on my head? Or did you expect me to shoot my hair out like porcupines shoot their quills at enemies???” Shit. What am I saying! Porcupine???? Seriously… Jeeeezzzz.

“Porcupine? Well, in this case I would say, cute porcupine.”

Whaaat?
Aaachhoooooooo….
Half of the coffee is on the floor and little bit on my shoes. Thank god, nothing on me or on him.

He laughed and he walked away.

I think I am burnt a little. Especially my nose. He was looking at my nose. Aaachhoooooooo… Did he call me cute? I chose to ignore the porcupine part though…

Aaachhoooooooo….