Fari Hadi Saga II

Me and Tina met on a February afternoon and went for Italian cuisine. There’s a really nice one here in Lahore. We ordered stuff by mutual consensus. It was really wonderful that day, I still remember, the spring sun had such a consoling happy affect that I still miss it. Moreover, first time I was openly gay with Tina and checking out the guys around me, being as much stupid, funny, and cheapu (Cheapster; yes it’s fun to be one at times, especially with friends) as possible. Eating from the same platter, sharing drinks, putting spoons full of food in each other’s mouths (which was usual for us, but that day it was something special) , people were thinking we were a couple and Tina added, “Poor people, they don’t know how they have been visually exploited.” And I was like, “Whatever.” She had started making sketches and brought few of them with her and I took two sketches I liked the most, you know why??? Because it was my day and I was so much happy and at peace with myself and with Tina. After, the long long lunching session, we started walking on the road Tina was telling me about Fari, rather she was telling me how much similar we both were. We both love rains, Oscar Wilde, are emotionally expressive, can cry when we want without caring much about the masculine prototypes of the society which dictates men never to cry. She said we had a unique sense of juvenility in us, even at this age, which is rare and lastly the way we both smiles, which she opined ‘a unique cute signature smile’ no one can forge, was also similar. It was enough to raise my excitement and I was eagerly waiting for him to join in the café where we had finally settled down to have tea and wonderful chocolate cake and triple chocolate brownie. After the sunset, he came and as he did not know the place I went out to get him. I was standing at the juncture of the adjoining roads when I saw a guy, little shorter than me, in stubble, wearing red jumper and crossing the road and I thought he can be Fari and called out, “Fari” and he looked back at me and gosh that frame froze forever in my memory. He came towards me; we shake hands and moved towards the café.
The café ‘s rhythmic music was enough to unwind me and I was kinda showing moves which he was noticing and appreciating with his twinkling eyes and need to tell, this attention was driving me more crazy. The sublime feeling of him across the table was romantic enough to make me happy; he had that kinda intoxicating effect on me. Every cell of my body was yelling “Fari Fari Fari” in chorus and I think Tina felt that resonance if not Fari. I broke the news to Tina “He’s gay, he’s gay” through my non-verbal cues. We all were talking and enjoying a lot and I was wondering at the comfort level I had achieved with him so soon. There was an instant fuming chemistry between us; he was telling me things which people have to earn after years of affiliations (Tina told me so afterwards) and I was feeling the way I was feeling very first time in my life. After a while Tina left both of us and we started walking on the road to the bus point. And we were talking about our families, our ambitions, our lives, even our problems. And then his point came and he left and I came out of a trance like situation. Really he was mesmerizing and yes he smiled like me and I got a wonderful smile like him. We vowed to meet each other again soon.


(Image Courtesy:Jefferson Sestaro)