"What happened? Your eyes say that you haven't slept yesterday" asked Rohit. He returned from a long queue at the fruit juice stall with the 'Plantain Leaf' caterers and sat down in a black chair in front of Tarun. This Friday morning was unusually hot, at least by the standards of Bangalore. Tarun saw in Rohit's direction but didn't reply. He moved his lean body backwards to make himself comfortable on the metal chair in the open air food court. Rohit understood that the answer will not come easily. His friendship with Tarun started in their under-graduation days and that was good old six and a half years ago. They prepared together for the tests and always did well. Their friendship too went through many tests but they always made it through. They stayed together in a hostel room and remained together even after getting jobs in Infosys, Bangalore. Things hadn't changed much.. except that Rohit kept gaining weight all these years and Tarun kept losing them. Their common friends always joked that the combined weight of Tarun and Rohit was always constant. Rohit showed no intention of giving up. "So, this is your last Friday in Bangalore!" he said with a smile. They have been playing this 'last..' game for over a week now... 'Last Saturday in Bangalore, last Sunday in Bangalore etc.. ' and this is really the last Friday for Tarun in Bangalore. He should report to the Hyderabad office from Monday onwards. "Yes. Last Friday morning to be precise!" said Tarun. "One last afternoon left …" he said with a rather sad smile. "And you already met all of your friends here. Right?" said Rohit Tarun said "Ya. Everyone …" "Except Anamika" completed Rohit with a spark in his eyes. For a moment, he cursed himself that he almost forgot Anamika. His only solace is that they hardly knew anything about her. This Anamika is the lady whom Tarun first spotted in the same canteen around three months ago. Dressed in Navy blue punjabi dress, she occupied a facing seat that was just two rows away. The crowd looked sleepy on that cool afternoon. But she wasn't. She appeared to be amusing herself with a word puzzle at lunch time. The slow and calculated movement of her eyes seemed to provide evidence of the same. Tarun kept observing the lovely pair of eyes. His unceasing gaze caught her attention. He had interrupted the stream of her thoughts. She saw him and gave him a smile: A smile that looked neither encouraging nor discouraging. She started talking with her friends and one of her friends looked towards Tarun, kept seeing him for a minute and then joined her friend’s discussion. “They seem to be discussing about you”, said Rohit who observed all this. “But let’s not discuss about them” said Tarun and remained silent for the rest of the lunch. “Naturally, one can’t talk and stare at the same time” supported Rohit with a smile. From that day onwards, Tarun would manage to occupy the same seat at the same time everyday for lunch as if he expected her to pay a visit. She would disappoint him on a frequent basis and Tarun would describe such afternoons as the 'hide-n-seek' game sessions. There were so many canteens in the campus and it is easy to guess that she might be trying out the food at a different place. One such 'unfortunate' afternoon, Tarun told Rohit that he keeps thinking about 'that girl'. When asked for a name, he named her 'Anamika' to mean 'the stranger with an unknown name'. Rohit coolly asked only one question: "Does she know Telugu?" "Why is that important?" questioned Tarun. Both Tarun and Rohit knew Telugu very well. "Then who will read all those short-n-sweet poems that you've been writing these days...?" asked Rohit with a teasing smile. "Poems?? Which poems?" bluffed Tarun. "Don't act smart.. Tell me who wrote 'nee toli choopulo …' " demanded Rohit "Ok. Ok. Stop it." Tarun resigned. "It is a bad habit to read personal books and a very bad habit to go back to the person and tell him about your 'achievement'." Tarun tried to dominate Rohit on moral grounds to discourage further discussion about his poems. "I've no hopes of seeing her today", said Tarun. "And to be honest, I don't even want to see her today," he quickly added. "What?? Is this some sort of reverse psychology where you wish for the opposite of what you really want?" asked Rohit. "No. If I see her today, I'll know the day and time on which I saw her last. And every year from now, I'll be reminding myself that it was on this day that I saw her last.." explained Tarun. "And if I don't see her today, I will be comfortable with the fact that I don't even know when was the last time I saw her. It is that 'ignorance is bliss' kind of concept. I'll surely miss her presence but I won't have a specific day to mourn the loss of my inspiration" finished Tarun. He suddenly felt relieved. There was finally a way of spending this last Friday and not feeling bad about it. "Oh. I thought you loved her and will express it to her today", said Rohit with a tone of disappointment. All these days he was happy for Tarun. For Rohit, Tarun writing poems meant that Tarun found that 'someone special'. "No. I don't love her. Perhaps, I don't even know how to tell if I'm in love or not. Ayn Rand said 'To say 'I love you', you must first say 'I'. I haven't yet fully understood what 'I' really am. Understanding of 'love' can only come after I'm done with understanding who 'I' am" explained Tarun. "And I'm really glad that I saw Anamika a few months ago. For me, she is a catalyst that encouraged me to look deeper into myself and try to understand what I really am. Writing poems is the result of that encouragement. Until then I didn't know that I can be creative with words. But I understood something more important: I've come to realize that I'm like an onion, with many layers. Anamika helped me peel one layer. I need to dig deeper to see what all is hidden in me. And all of this can take a few years and till then I cannot really love someone." continued Tarun. "Hmm.. This is definitely a new you. I've never seen you express yourself in such detail. Looks like the 'catalyst' is working well for you." said Rohit. "And hey.. guess what?" said Rohit with a sudden spike in his tone. "What? Is she here?" asked Tarun with a tremble in his voice. "No. No.. It is time for my meeting. I must go to a conference room that's about half a kilometer from here. I better get going." said Rohit as he started to get up from his chair. "Phew.. you really frightened me. Anyways, see you at lunch time!" said Tarun pressing his palms on the table to pick himself up from the chair. "Sure. How can I miss that? It will be our last lunch in Bangalore.." confirmed Rohit with a smile. And just like that, Tarun watched Rohit rush and blend into the crowd. The metal chair was getting warmer and so was the remainder of his fruit juice. He took one last sip and disposed of the cup. On his way to his office building, he walked past the table where he first saw Anamika. Just then, he realized that it doesn’t matter if he will see her for the last time at lunch today. Anamika helped him peel the first layer of his onion.