"Am I not trying to pull the mountain of love with a thread of hope?‟ he thought on his way. 'Come to think of it, she hasn't even given me any scope for hoping! After all, it's my idea to induce her to think about me. Well, if I were to win her love, won't occupying her mind be the prelude? Or is it just wishful thinking?‟
As doubts about the theories of seduction he'd read about crisscrossed his mind thick and fast, he saw the futility of putting them in practice.
'Oh, how she haunts me,‟ he thought all over again. "Let me be content seeing her, at least, to my heart's content. Damn the theories of crystallization of love. I would love to see her, no more of this self-exile for me. How stupid I was to have missed the pleasure of seeing her today in the misplaced hope of possessing her one day.‟
Yet, he couldn't desist from reviewing the ways and means to make her his wife. Long into the night, and exasperated at the end, he remained where he began, in the tunnel of confusion.
"Can love ever be prototyped for production?‟ he wondered. "Is there any foolproof blueprint for that? The impulse of love seems to have a streak of irrationality in it. If not, how could I have fallen for her knowing that all my love may not be worth a damn for her! Since love is blind, looks like it loses its way for the most part. Won't it seem love is a silly emotion besides being an obsessive sentiment? Oh, where would my obsession for her lead me to? Let me see.‟
That night he felt his love was too dear to his soul to be left to his beloved's caprice. Hence, he set out to think about the ways and means of bringing her around to the altar. In the end, he felt he needed to be bold and forthright with her. But as he recalled the fiasco of his dashing move of yore, he was apprehensive about the intended advance. Nevertheless, he decided to proceed for want of a better move and try his luck just the same.
As planned, the next evening he reached the park and headed straight to the spot in anticipation. But, on reaching the hedge, his legs became logs. Nithya, who saw him thus, stood in apprehension. But as the attraction he felt for her propelled him over the hurdle of his hesitation, he lunged into the nook in a fit of emotion.
“I want to tell you,” he blurted out.