Session 1:

“Hey, how’s the job going?” A WhatsApp notification popped up on my phone. It came from Arjun. It was not a “Hey, how are you?” or a “Hi, it’s been long.” It was a straight question. That is how friendship between two male friends is - straight to the point, with fewer words, and always able to pick up where we left off. I remember the last time we talked, we discussed arranging an offer letter for me. He has good connections, or I must say, good networking skills. I lack that entirely. He immediately offered to help, even if I only needed it for three months. “So what if my connections go bad? If I cannot use them for my brother, they are not worth having.” He sure did force the word “dispose.”

“Finding reasons to get fired, any suggestions?” I replied almost instantly. How free are you, huh? That must be the reaction of some people when we text back immediately. They do not understand that some texts are perhaps silly, but the person sending them may be important. And boy, did I reply with an unreplyable text, you can say. I am like this, throwing one conversation killer after another. It is not easy to converse with me. I am not rude, just an introvert, you can say. An introvert with amazing social skills, yet I hate to converse. Hate would be a strong word in another sense. Let us say I prefer silence more. I cherish silence more than speaking. Similarly, I do not like eating. Can you believe it? I do not like eating. I am not fat, I am not slim, I do not like the idea of eating.

“Try sleeping with the receptionist, it always works.” Damn, no wonder we are good friends. He knows how to reply to my weird conversation killers. I never had it in me to, you know, not reply. It is not my cup of tea. I had to reply to this. I cannot lose. It is becoming competitive now. I do not know why, but it has turned into a competition. My next reply had to be a damn conversation killer to maintain my self-righteous image.

“Yeah, if by receptionist you imply the work desk.” Ooh, no one can reply to that. As the winner says, eat dust. I killed the conversation, but yes, it was soon revived with the usual. “Damn, PJ, you still kill conversations. How’s life going, man?”. We had a normal conversation after that, you know, catching up.

It ended with “Take care of yourself” and some complementary but unnecessary bad words. We respected each other. I wonder how a small conversation with a friend from college can make your day. A day that was almost lost because you did not smile, but in the end, a smile is worth all the shit you went through. A smile is worth a good night’s sleep. A smile that you get after eating your favourite meal. I was having that. Man, I miss my college days.

“The dwellings of the past will come. That is what the past is. We cannot run from it. It is good that it is coming back to you in such detail. We are making progress here,” she said while nibbling on the rubber tip of her pencil for a moment and then back to scribbling some notes on her notepad. I was sitting there with my hands pulling on my now-grown beard.

"We will continue day after tomorrow", She said and left the room.