Love Story !??????

Monday mornings are always the same. The weekend spirit being reluctant to leave, she always oversleeps and misses her usual bus. This Monday was no different. The next bus being a comfortable 15 minutes later, she went around humming a catchy tune from the lastest flick, much to the chagrin of her still-lost-in- neverland roomie. Taking care to dress presentably is always fun. She stepped out with a cheerful smile to the landlady, the sun shining as though party to her buoyant mood.

She had to cross to get to the bus stop. She didn’t mind the waiting for the little green man to shine on the traffic signal. It gave her time to look around, and take in the pleasant breeze and the colorful buzzling crowd around her. “This lady looks friendly” , she said to herself as she gazed at woman hailing an auto rickshaw. “And that little fellow with her looks so naughty and cute!!”, she smiled indulgently at the toddler tagging along with the ‘friendly lady’. Her attention swayed over to the opposite side , where a sizeable crowd had gathered to cross the road. One particular face struck her as uncannily familiar.
She tried to recollect.. Was he from school? Were they at college together? Had they met in office? She remembered seeing him at close quarters. Just as she was lost in thought, , she caught herself staring at him, and worse still, this Mr.X was also staring back with avid interest. Instinctively her eyes lowered to her sandals. Something about her sandals inspired the realization. Damn it, man… This was the same guy they had seen in the restaurant. She and her friends had the time of their lives making fun of him. They had been to this South Indian Restaurant that weekend after a movie. It was rush hour, and they had to wait till eternity, or go upstairs. They generally avoided the tables upstairs,because of the dense seating. But, this time they had no chocie. She and her friends went and sat in a corner of the room. Once they had placed their orders, they realised their mistake. Famished as they were, still their appetitites were no match to the amount of food the restaurant provided. While they were struggling through their meal, a couple of guys in the next table, were cruising through a multiple course lunch, ordering almost everything on the menu card. One of them, stopped eating , awestruck by the guys remarkable ability to stuff themselves. She found the situation really funny. Whenever provoked suitably, she can come up with an avalanche of PJs.. And when a few girls giggle (few = any aribitrary number greater than 1), all hell can break loose.The oldest in her group, assuming a matronly role, tried to shush them up, fearing an embarassing situation. Intoxicated with the mirth of the moment, she had defended “ Relax yaar,those guys don’t know us, we don’t know them.. Once we leave the restaurant, we ll be perfect strangers.. Lets have some fun at their expense”….

What a premature statement that was! There he was, the same guy who had worn bathroom chappals to lunch, and gorged the entire kitchen off. She immediately looked at his feet. Thank God!, he was wearing formal shoes. He must ve slept late that day, and must ve woken up directly for lunch, without bothering to dress up for the occassion. How come all that didn’t occur to her pea brain when she went on making up all possible reasons for his bathroom chappals?

Now here he was, staring at her. She tried to keep her face as expressionless as possible. "Chill girl, he’s gonna cross the road any moment now, you can mingle with crowd and be gone. And we’d be perfect starngers again!". She looked at the timer .. 129 seconds .

"Come on comeon.. just keep your cool and it will all be over." She mustered up courage and looked at him. He was looking away.. Good.. She heaved a miniscule sigh of momentary relief. The timer read 93 seconds.

She kept looking at him, trying to detect even the faintest signs of recognition in him. Hope he didn’t recollect her face. She was in sporty attire the other day, and now she was in a formal salwar suit. She really wished clothes made a difference.A real big one at that. He looked at her. "Stay Cool. Act Casual". She pushed back a strand of hair that the breeze had blown away. She no longer had the inclination to enjoy the till-then-pleasant morning weather. A crimson 80 blinked at her from the timer.Time can come to stand still, if it chooses to. Weary from the effort to stay calm, she had entered into a stupor. Dimly aware of herself, she returned his gaze more out of duty, than anything else. 48 seconds to go. “You can make it, jus keep going gal” .. She was great at pep talks, but somehow to her, this one sounded feeble. Any moment now, they ll cross each other, and the fatal flash of recongnition can strike. She began to move. He was still standing. She had taken the plunge. He also began walking.They were a couple of yards away from each other. She met his eyes. There was no indication of recognition, no cinematic recollection. Her lips curled in an imperceptable smile. Of Triumph, relief, and joy.He also smiled. She convinced herself, it must have been directed at someone else on the other side of the road.
She could see he was working for a software company and a couple of his collegues were waiting for the bus on the opposite side. She walked on. She could imagine his eyes boring through her back. She wanted to turn back and check on him. But was too scared to push her luck any further. She looked up at the heavens and thought to herself , “If God ever existed he must be absolutely elfish!”.


Disclaimer :

In acceptance of the bait thrown by catch 22, the above work of fiction* came up.
* The sequel is as fictitious as its predecessor, not more, not less.