Foe turned friend?

Monday dawned with me arriving yuxtremely sleepy-eyed to the office. Unfortunately, I happened to bump into one of my batch mates whom I have nicknamed Grumpy.

A little bit of history here: Grumpy and I joined at the same time along with a hundred other people. I really thank God that we were not grouped into the same batch; otherwise, I would have had a nice flat forehead due to repeated banging of (my) head against the wall (or whatever) due to sheer frustration.

Our problem was quite simple - we just could not communicate to each other well.

Sarcasm as a witty form of retort – I truly appreciate. But sarcasm as a form of defensive anger – NO. I hate it. And since she used to be angry with me half the time......you can guess the rest of it.

Now two years later, I should admit that I have 'improved' by leaps and bounds when it comes to anger management. Still, I was not ready to risk my hard-earned patience....once bitten twice shy.

Now Grumpy took one look at me and her expression was as if she had seen a Martian. Or perhaps a monkey.....or (even better) a lunatic escaped from a mental institution.

Well....I know I look like a feminine (and hopefully cuter) version of wooly mammoth on Mondays with tendrils of hair all around my face (clips are not of much help on Mondays). Add a tan (thanks to trek) and heavy sleep-ridden eye-lids, the picture is complete.

I stoically endured her gaze till she enquired as to where I had been during the weekend. I explained to her in short and sweet terms. Imagine my surprise when a genuine smile lit her face and she remarked “Hey.....that’s indeed a nice place. Tell me all about it....”

And thus we got along discussing our various trekking ‘expeditions’ until we parted ways.....amicably.

Hoo boy......was I surprised today when I was greeted by her wide grin as I stepped down from the bus today.

Well.....well......people are not as complicated as they seem. At least, not the mature ones.