It was a blind date of sorts. Maya and John were set up by their college friends. Maya had a crush on John in her sophomore year just when he graduated from college and left for higher studies in the UK. She never got a chance to meet him then, but his personality, popularity and charisma were the talk of the college and just by listening to his constant praise, she knew she liked him. 

She was now in the final year, enjoying some popularity among men. John had returned to India and had begun as a senior associate at a data firm with a handsome salary.

They both decided to meet at a popular coffee shop in the city while chatting. When they reached, they both realised it’s a “nothing much” place. Nevertheless, the talking began, first at a surface level, but soon a good conversation was unfolding between the prospective romantic couple.

Maya had ensured that she donned her best look, looking somewhere between “trying not too hard” and “excited to meet one of her past crushes”. Two cups of cappuccino were followed by two cups of Americano, some garlic bread, a plate of sun-dried tomato spaghetti, and some extra sides.

The conversations were see-sawing from exes to career plans, first kisses to passion projects. After an hour and a half, John casually asked Maya out of candidness and slight curiosity, “Hey! Are these acne scars? These are pretty common, my ex-girlfriend suffered with this shitty problem, too. Are you seeing a doctor? I know someone really good if you need my recommendation.” The question came as a personal attack to Maya. In shock, she couldn’t speak a word at first. She suddenly felt that the caffeine had hit her brutally and she had suddenly lost her senses. 

Bringing herself back to the moment, in a state of passive aggression, Maya replied, “It’s just acne, I do not care. I don’t want to see a doctor and I’m very very confident in my skin.”

Though these words made her beam with pride in that moment, at the back of her mind, a scene from last night was replaying without pause. And with all her will, she was just trying to forget how she sat with her selfies the previous day and removed the tiniest of visible scars with the help of three editing apps before posting them on Instagram. What was even more haunting was when people complimented her for her flawless skin, she had replied, “Let me know if you guys want to see my skincare routine, I can make a video on it.”