MIDSUMMER CRUSH

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Heart broken, Giselle walked back to her abode and sat over her workstation in the kitchen. She sat there staring into oblivion for hours without realising  it was time to feed Crusher. Lost in deep thoughts, she failed to hear her phone ringing in the bedroom. It was only when Crusher came in carrying his bowl for food, that she realised it was evening.

Giving him few treats and a bowl of milk, she checked her phone and noticed three missed call from her mother. There was even a reminder that she had set to pay the rent.

Reluctantly, she slowly stepped out and  glanced at his door before heading downstairs to Mrs. Partridge's apartment. "I've come to pay you the rent as promised , Mrs. Partridge," She said as the lady welcomed her in.

Relieved and delighted that she had given her cash instead of cheque, she offered Giselle a seat. Though Mrs. Partridge was a weird old lady, who accused her of things she never did,  she was good at heart and treated Giselle like a daughter.

"So what have you thought?" she suddenly asked and pulled her out of her thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Giselle looked at her and appeared disoriented.

"I feel you should marry your boyfriend, he wouldn't have to sneak in your apartment then. You both can live together comfortably," Mrs. Partridge asserted while Giselle simple smiled.

"That's a neat idea, but I don't want to marry him," She looked out the window and watched the yellow cabs zooming by.

"Why what's wrong in him?"

"He's married," She blurted without realising what she had said.

"Oh my! You're having an affair with a married man?"  Mrs. Partridge gasped and asked the Lord to forgive Giselle.

"He's not just married, he has a kid too," Giselle noticed how dark and gloomy the weather had turned before a sudden downpour of rain blurred her view. Tracing a heart over the fogged window, she lowered her gaze and recalled the memories shared with him.

"I suggest you break all ties with him immediately, he's a father, how can you have an affair with him?" Mrs. Partridge fretted and lectured her about going to hell if she played a home wrecker. 

It wasn't long before Giselle realized what she had done and felt embarrassed standing in front of the landlady. "I better leave now Mrs. Partridge, Crusher is waiting upstairs," She turned red and excused herself before Mrs Partridge could stop her.  On her way up, she ran into Aariz, avoiding his gaze she pretended to talk over the phone and walked past him just the way she  would do in the corridors of St. George.

"Hi..." he greeted with a smile, but failed to get a reaction from her.

Giselle reflected on the day's events and pondered if it was true that after all these years she still had feelings for him. She had long forgotten him, then why did her hear beat like a teenager the second he came before her?  Giselle argued in her mind for she clearly remembered getting over him the year he married and disappeared from her life to begin his own. 

"Was I rude?" She questioned and ran to the balcony to catch a glimpse of him leaving in his car. "Damn...why did he have to make a comeback in my life after all these years?" She hit her closed fist against the railing and shed a tear. Twitching her lips, she reached for her mp3 player and darted out in the rain. Tuning into her favourite radio station, she ran on the street as fast as she could, unfazed by the rain that had drenched her from top to bottom. Feeling uneasy I pulled my hair and walked straight into my bedroom. Running like she was in some marathon, she suddenly lowered her pace when she heard them play one of Avril Lavigne's old hits, Complicated. No sooner the vocals began, Giselle's mind drifted to an event in time when she  had sung the very same song during the Arts & Motion Film festival at St. George.

  If I could say what I want to say

I'd say I want to blow you, away

Be with you every night

Am I squeezing you too tight

If I could say what I want to see

I want to see you go down

On one knee

Marry me today

Guess, I'm wishing my life away

With these things I'll never say  

she sang along till the end and wiped her tears. "Why has the past come to haunt me?" she felt disturbed and returned home as the clouds roared like angry Gods. Exhausted from all that sudden running , she failed to change into dry clothes and instead sat by the heater. As she continued listening to her mp3, she heard Derek's comforting voice and felt relaxed. Much to her and other listener's surprise, he had come on air in the evening, when apparently his show timings was in the morning.  Nevertheless she was glad he had come just when she needed him the most. Like many fans, listening to him always cheered her up.

It was when he explained why he chose to air his show in the evening, that she realised how similar they were. Apparently it was a weekly off for him as well, but since one of the other radio anchor got sick, he had agreed to fill in that evening.

"And so my lovely listeners , our topic for this evening is all about Crushes! School crush, college crush, work place crush, wherever and no matter how long it lasted, we would love to hear it straight from you," he announced while Giselle hit her palm against her forehead.

"Derek, why  did it have to be this topic? Duh..." she frowned and felt tempted to unplug her headphones.

"I'm sure everyone had a crush at some stage of their life, apart from listening to your experiences, we will indulge in a fun debate. The debate is whether it's easy to forget a crush or not? Many people say that a crush lasts hardly for a month or two and is forgotten when one finds love, but to some, forgetting a crush is a long and painful process. So I'm waiting for you to call up and tell me what you think and don't forget if you have an interesting experience, do share it with us," he explained and immediately started receiving calls from excited New Yorkers.

Giselle sighed and rolled over to check the messages in her phone. Most of them were from friends asking for favours. She replied to each and simultaneously listened to every caller's experience and viewpoints. Most of them debated that a crush could never be easily forgotten, and that some still remembered theirs. To her surprise even Derek agreed and supported this view.

"What's wrong with you, Derek? A crush is meant to be forgotten, that's why they are called crushes," She frowned and without thinking twice and rung him on the hotline number.  Aware that it would go unanswered like every time, she held on and decided to hang up when all of a sudden someone answered it.

"Good evening, and who do we have here?" Derek's crisp voice entered her system and left her panic stricken. She flung the phone in mid air and caught it before it could hit the floor.

"Hello? I can't hear you...hello? Anyone there?" he asked while she held the phone and trembled.

Giselle was numb and couldn't believe that after all this time, she had finally struck gold by getting through his number. Having no prior experience in talking to a radio anchor, Giselle  merely held the phone and pondered what to say. 

"Erm..It looks like we've lost our caller..." Derek  sighed before she hurriedly answered.

"No I'm here! Hello!" She protested and ran her fingers through her wet hair.

"Whoa...that was some reaction there! I guess we got our caller back, so tell me what's your name and which side are you on," Derek asked while she continued breathing heavily.

"Ermm...Hi...I'm Giselle here and I..Uh..." She stuttered and clinched the towel while she struggled for words in her head. Talking live on air with Derek was something she had never experienced before.  She wondered how  to continue until Derek helped.

"Oh, hi there Giselle! That's a lovely name you've got, so what do you do?" he asked to break the ice and make her feel comfortable.

"Uh...I'm a waitress" She hesitantly revealed and wondered if her friends listening to this would recognize her or not.

Derek took an abrupt pause before replying. "Oh a waitress, that's really cool! So then, Giselle, what do you have to say about Crushes? Do you or do you not agree that crushes are easier to forget?" he enquired and waited patiently for her answer.

"Erm...I strongly believe a crush is easier to forget," she blurted. "Crushes are just a part of growing up, it's an infatuation that people easily get over when they have other things to worry about," She added and felt more like she was convincing herself.

"Really? You mean once they grow up they don't tend to crush on anyone?" He enquired curiously.

"No, I meant crushing on someone at any age is no big deal that they will take ages to forget it. I heard many of your callers stating that the time they took to forget their crushes were more than the time they crushed on someone. It sounds ridiculous," she explained and amused him.

"It's not ridiculous, there are people who take longer to forget their crushes. We're talking about like what...three or maybe four five months," he argued and ticked her off.

"You're wrong!  Life goes on, people move on. Being a New Yorker I know how busy a city goers life can get, we don't have time for love, how do you expect someone to invest months in forgetting a silly crush?" She asserted and rolled her eyes.

"You mean to say busy people have no time for love?" 

"Not exactly, but...the point is crushes can easily be forgotten. It's ridiculous when people say it wasn't easy to forget them," She argued and felt agitated.

"Meaning you've forgot yours quite easily, huh? " 

Giselle paused and wondered what next to say. "Uh...Yes of course I did! In fact I forgot him in a week."

"Ahh, interesting! You had a crush, whom you forgot in a jiffy?" he felt amused and chuckled. "I have a feeling you had a bad experience with your crush, am I right?" he asked and caught her off guard.

"No, it's called being practical. My crush lasted for three years and it took only a week to forget him," She exclaimed and played with her hair.

"Three years? My dear, sounds more like you were in love..." he commented and startled her again.  "A crush lasts only for 4 to 5 months, what you're talking is about love," he added and left her tongue tied.

"I...I don't know...no it wasn't love. I wasn't in love with him... it was just a midsummer crush that lasted three years..." her voice trailed off while she wondered whom was she fooling.

" Three years...you're amazing...So Giselle, why don't you share your experience with our listeners? I'm sure everyone listening to you right now would be as curious as me to learn about your midsummer crush...." He requested and  put Giselle in a fix.

"You want to hear my experience?" She gulped and turned tensed.

"Yup, come on Giselle, you're live on air. I would be delighted if you could share it with my listeners," he insisted and waited patiently until she agreed.

"This is crazy, but...oh well, I don't mind sharing it..." She mustered courage and drew in a deep breath before narrating the story of her midsummer crush.