THE UNFORGETABLE NIGHT

The girl sitting in a black dress on the bed in the hotel room threw a quick look once
again at the man sitting on the chair. He looked something around 25 but his
mannerism showed he was not feeling at home with her.

“So is Cynthia your real name?” Mark asked her. His nervousness made it clear that it
was his first time. Cynthia threw a rapid look into his eyes and then again started
looking on the floor, as if confused whether to speak or not.

“I am Mark, by the way.” Mark tried again to make her speak. His attempts were
turning futile from the last 10 minutes.

“Doesn’t matter to me.” Cynthia finally spoke after some 5 minutes in a very low and
soft voice. Mark was astonished to find her voice also mesmerizing as her beauty.

“What doesn’t matter to you?” Mark asked.

“Your name.” Cynthia replied. “We are not interested in our customer’s name. Money is
all we are interested in.”

“I’m sorry. Actually it’s my first experience with a hoo-, I mean; I am not used to going
out with girls like you.” Mark explained rather shyly.

“Girls like me, you mean; hookers.” Cynthia told him.

“I’m again sorry. I wasn’t showing disrespect towards you.” Mark fumbled.

“Are every of the customers like you?” Cynthia asked.

“Your first time too. Isn’t it?”

“Yep.” Cynthia wanted to add something else also, Mark noticed but then she became
quiet again.

“So how come you in this field?” Mark asked revealing his curiosity.

“Curious? Aren’t you?” Cynthia asked.

“You’re right.” Mark preferred this conversation rather than sitting quiet wondering
what should he do, where he should begin from.

“I know I’m, in fact, I always am right when it comes to psychology that, understands
the mental reaction and behavior of the humans. Psychology helps in understanding
the thinking process of the persons and his way of perception and such other things.
Like I know from the very start of this meet, that you’re a kind of nervous and
confused.”

“You seem to know a lot about human psychology.”

“I should, after all, I am planning to do my graduation and post graduation in it.”

“What? I mean; why are you here then? Don’t you think you shouldn’t be here?” Mark
was astonished wondering why such an ambitious and intelligent, as it seemed to him,
girl is in this room as a hooker.

“Do you think you should be here?” Cynthia countered his question.

“Actually I don’t.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Well you may say circumstances or more appropriately needs.”

“Same is the case with me.” Cynthia answered. Her eyes were quite teary as Mark
observed and as if she noticed him noticing her tears, she turned her face away so as to
wipe them off.

“What happened? I know I am not allowed to ask such a personal question to you but I
cannot, as you say in psychology, let go off my curiosity. So if you don’t mind-“

“You haven’t paid me to listen to my story.” Cynthia told him.

“But I really am more interested in your story at this time rather than you.”

“Over curious mind, you have.” She said and then she started telling her story even
without knowing what she was doing.
“I wanted to graduation and then post graduation in human psychology. I took a job as
a waitress but after working 2 years, I found that the savings aren’t enough for getting
admission in the college and if I saved at that speed I would need another 5 years to get
admission. So I took the most difficult decision of my life, become a hooker. I knew in
this way, I would be able to get admission in just one year and then after 5 years, I
would be a psychiatrist and I won’t need to be here.”

“Didn’t you think of trying for scholarship? I’m sure you don’t need to be here. You will
be easily getting scholarships.” Mark asked.

“I did try but may be I am not good enough to get the scholarship.”

“Why didn’t you ask you dad to pay your fees? May be, you can repay him afterwards
if you want to make your career on you own.”

“I cannot because I am an orphan.” Cynthia literally had tears in her eyes now.

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“It’s okay. I have to face the fact.” Cynthia said, wiping off tears from her eyes.

For the next 10 minutes, there was a pin drop silence in the room. Neither Cynthia nor
Mark could decide what to say and how to say.

“So how did you manage in your school?” Mark asked

“Well I was in a government school and there I was a genius. It wasn’t difficult in
getting scholarship over there. But when I stepped in the outside world, I knew there
were more intelligent persons than I am.” Cynthia started narrating her school
experiences and to her surprise, Mark was really interested in listening to her. Mark
was amused listening to her deep knowledge in human psychology.

“But how did you get all those books? I mean you didn’t have enough money, did
you?” Mark asked

“No but I got it sometimes as gift from friends, some times as a sign of gratitude from
the students whom I helped out for getting good grades in psychology and some times
I would buy me a book as a Christmas present rather than a dress. Wasn’t that difficult.
“Hey it’s already morning and you didn’t even touch me. So the deal’s off, isn’t it?”
Cynthia suddenly remembered.

“What does that mean?”

“You’re not going to pay me the money, are you?”

“Of course I am. Believe me; I never had more fun in my life than I had with you.
Thank you. You are just amazing.”

“Thanks.” Cynthia took the money and headed towards the door.

“Well I was thinking we can be friends, right?”

“No we cannot. Imagine if you call me in parties thrown by you and anyone including
your friends or girl friend notice me and ask you how come you know me, what will
you say?”

“Good bye then.” Mark said and took leave.

Cynthia sat in the room wondering if she’s ever going to meet a nice human being like
Mark but she knew the answer. It wasn’t possible to meet good persons all the time.
Then she got out and took her way. She had to go to her job also.

In the evening she read a book on human psychology and at various quotes in the book,
she would remember Mark and her time with her. Then she got ready for it was time to
go for earning extra money for getting admission in the college.

She reached the hotel room. Her agent had called her to reach there for her customer
was waiting for her. She knocked the room quite unwillingly. Some thing in her was
resisting her to become a hooker; she didn’t know what it was. She entered the room
and saw her customer sitting on the bed with the lights turned off.

“Mark was right.” She couldn’t step in the room.

“Sorry?” her customer said.

“Actually I am sorry I cannot do this. I am pretty happy with my job and I can do
without going to a college. Mark was true I do think I shouldn’t be here.”
“Okay then tell me is Cynthia your real name?” the customer turned on the light and
faced her.

“Mark, you here again.” Cynthia stood horrified.

“I a sort of wanted to meet you and didn’t know where to go and find you. So I came
here instead.”

“So why were you finding me?”

“Actually I broke up with my girl friend this morning.”

“Why?”

“She asked me where was I the other night. I told her the truth that I was with a
beautiful hooker.”

“So she dumped you?”

“No, she didn’t. On the contrary she told me its fine with her if I go astray sometimes.
Isn’t that weird?”

“You have a great girlfriend then. And why didn’t you tell her that actually you were
just listening to my story?”

“I know about you a lot and you know nothing about me. That’s why you are telling
her great. Forget about it for the time being. Just answer me honestly. If it was your boy
friend telling you that he was with a hooker, what would have you done?”

“I would have perhaps dumped him then and there.” Cynthia said.

“That’s it but my girl friend didn’t. I knew she was never with me. She never liked me,
forget about loving me.”

“You are mistaken. She didn’t dump you because she must be in deep love with you.
You are such a good human being and she didn’t want to cut her relations just because
of some of your stupidity.”

“Thanks.” Mark said, “But she wants our relations to sustain not because she loves me
but because I am rich, you can say; now I am rich.”
“I didn’t get you.”

“Actually my parents divorced when I was hardly five. I didn’t hear of my father after
that. My step father lived a very modest life and so I didn’t really have money to enjoy
life. You can say I was exactly like you- poor but unlike you I was neither too intelligent
nor handsome. So I never really had a girl friend or many friends.”

“But you’re a really good person. This is what matters more than anything else.”

“Then something strange happened in my life some one month back. My father died
leaving me an enormous wealth. I suddenly became the most eligible bachelor of the
city. This girl used to be in my school and she was always my dream but she never paid
attention to me. I wasn’t good enough for her, you see. But when I became rich, she was
the first one to call and pay condolences for my father’s death. She must have known
that I am now rich and I knew it but just didn’t want to believe it. So we began dating
each other as now we were a perfect couple, she was beautiful and dumb and I was rich
and dumb.”

“That’s so mean.” Cynthia said.

“My friends advised me to visit a hooker before proceeding further with her. And I, like
a stupid, agreed. But then I met you and I realized that I was going on a wrong way.
She wasn’t there for me but for my money. I thought if I told her that I was with you,
she would break up but she didn’t. For the first time I behaved sensibly. I broke off with
her.”

“It’s okay. A kind person like you deserves somebody better than that mean girl. So
why did you want to meet me?”

“I wanted to thank you. I also want to give some thing to you as a token of gratitude for
you helped me fight the realities. Here is it.” Mark held out a rectangular box to her.

“Well thanks.” Cynthia opened the packet and was astonished, “Are you kidding?”

“Of course not.”

“Then what the hell is this cheque for? Are you pricing me?”
“Not in the least. I just don’t want you to do all these things for getting admission in the
college. This amount will help your admission and you sure can repay me when you
start earning. It’s a loan, you can say.”

“I never met some body so kind and generous like you.” Cynthia was over whelmed.

“And I never met some one so beautiful and talented like you.” Mark said.

Cynthia ran to him and hugged him. “You don’t know what this mean to me.”

“And one more thing, I have decided I don’t mind having a smart and talented friend
like you.” Mark said. “So can we be friends?”

“That’s it?” Cynthia said. She could see he wanted to speak something else too.

“Is Cynthia your real name?”

“Why do you think it isn’t?”

“I just don’t feel it’s your real name.”

“Actually you’re right. Cynthia isn’t my real name. It’s Elena. And for your knowledge, I
am free and single.”

“Excuse me?”

“I thought you’re going to take decades to ask me out for a date. So I gave you the
ground. Now be a gentleman and ask me.” Cynthia, i.e., Elena said.

Mark didn’t move a muscle. He stood there like a statue confused and nervous.

“Come on, Mark, we both know why you broke up with your girl friend, don’t we?
And you should also know that this whole day I have been thinking of you again and
again. We both do like each other. You know the answer. Now be courageous.”

“I am no match for you, Elena. We both know it, don’t we?” Mark’s confusion showed
itself.
“Of course you are. You are a good human being and that’s what matters to me the
most. For your satisfaction, you should know you’re handsome if not very handsome.
So we are a good match, no, perfect match for each other.”

“Are you kidding?” Mark was still doubtful.

Elena stepped forward and kissed him. “I cannot wait any longer for you asking me
out. You can now say, we are dating each other.”

“Well if you say so.” Mark kissed her back.

“So are you planning to join the college with me? We can share a lot of time together.”
Elena asked.

“Forget about it for now.” Mark said, pulling her out of the room, “Tell me; have you
seen the beautiful lake that is 5 miles away?”

“No but I would love to see it.”

“So here we go.” And Elena went with Mark on their first date or long drive, whatever
was it.

After 3 years, Elena graduated from the college with a gold medal. She was
immediately offered posts for assistant psychiatrist my many established psychiatrists.
When Elena reached home, she was glad to find a surprise party organized by Mark for
her.

“Wow! That’s so nice of you.” Elena kissed her.

“You did a great job. I always knew you were great.”

“So are you.”

“Friends, as you know, Elena has completed her graduation. This party is for her.”
Mark announced.

“Actually there is one more reason behind this party. We are getting married.”

“What?” Mark couldn’t believe her.

“Of course we are. You are too stupid and coward to propose me for marriage, and I
happen to know that. So I took the initiative.”

After the party was over, Elena and Mark sat in the living room.

“Remember, we met about 3 years ago on a night.” Elena told him.

“Yeah I always consider it was the weirdest possible place to meet where we met. Don’t
you think so? What kind of impression would I have given on you for the first time; I
don’t want to think about it.”

“It was a weird place to meet but then it was the best thing that has happened to me
since my birth and your first impression was not very bad. You were a perfect
gentleman.”

“Do you remember the hotel?”

“I don’t want to remember anything of my past when you were not with me. The only
thing I want to remember is that we met and are going to get married now.”

“Did you forget the night?”

“How will I? It was the most unusual and unforgettable night I ever had. I won’t ever
forget how that night introduced me to the best person on this earth.”

“Yeah even I won’t forget that night. It presented me the most beautiful lady on this
earth and now she’s going to be my wife. I love that night.”

“And what about me?” Elena asked.

“You know I love you.”

“I know but just want to hear it from you again and again. And I love you too.”