Confessions Of A Drunken Man

Writing Prompt: A drunken man sits next to you in a bar, thinks you are his buddy, and starts confessing the truth. Write about the truth. Here it goes:

I sit at the corner table waiting for my best friend to arrive. The bar is full of people – some tapping their feet to the loud music, some watching the club dancers, and some lost in their worlds. Just when I am about to call my friend to check where she is struck, I see a man in his thirties approaching my table. The way he tries to balance himself while walking tells me that he’s totally drunk. To my surprise, he makes himself comfortable on the chair opposite to me, and starts speaking to me.

“Hey! How come you are here? Have you come searching for me again?”, he asks in a groggy voice. Do I know him? I observe his face and realize that I have never met him before. Before I ask him if he knows me, he speaks again.

“I am sorry for what happened last night, Sanju. I know I was rude. How on earth did you find that old photograph? I hid it…”

“Hello! Excuse me, I think you are mistaken..” I try to interrupt him, but he doesn't let me speak.

“Please don’t stop me. I owe you an explanation. That pretty girl in the photo who I was hugging was my batch-mate in college. Her name is Pooja. I saw her first in our college library, and I fell in love with her. She looked so beautiful. I always wanted to talk to her. Finally, after a few months, we met through a common friend. From then onwards, I followed her very closely. I met her every day making it look like we just happened to cross each other’s paths. I think she too realized that I was interested in her, but since girls enjoy confusing boys, she remained silent. I made the next move, and proposed to her. After making me wait for a week (seven long days!), she said yes. I was over the moon. I was totally enthralled by her. A day without meeting her was a day wasted. As you can imagine, our grades went down. Our parents were worried. But we did not care. After passing out of college, we worked at different locations in different Companies. The long distance between the two cities made it difficult for us to meet even on weekends. Both of us were very much absorbed in work that we hardly had the time or energy to talk to each other. Finally, the distance between us grew bigger. We met only twice in the year after passing out of college. And that was the end. Each of us just moved on in our lives”.

The man seems to be deeply moved by the memorable events in his life. Poor thing, he feels he is confessing to his wife. He would be shocked if he finds out that he has been talking to a stranger.

“Hello, sir”, I pat on his wrist. He holds my hand, and says, “I am really sorry to hide this from you, dear. I always felt that you would suspect me if I told you. But, believe me, it’s a thing in the past. College romances are quite common. Less than 5% of the couples make it to a marriage. What happened in college was just infatuation. Neither I, nor Pooja had the maturity to think about our future. My true love is you and only you”.

After saying this, he drops onto the table. I call out the bartender, who gets the man’s driver, and within minutes they are off. I wonder how mindless people are when in college. What has this person done? Wasted four precious years of his life romancing a girl, and he’s not even serious about the relationship. Wake up, guys!