Present day

Abishek woke up to the shrill sound of the alarm on his old Nokia phone. He snoozed it and went back to sleep. Ten minutes later, it rang again. He switched off the alarm, got out of bed and looked at the mirror, eyes still groggy. The beard made him look old. He squeezed the last drop of toothpaste onto the brush.

She was still in bed and watched him get up. She loved the beard and that’s why he had chosen to keep it. It had been almost two years since they had met and six months since they moved to Shillong. The place was bliss, compared to the hustle and speed of Delhi.

He brushed, stretched himself and made himself a cup of coffee, black, no sugar. The sun was rising symmetrically in between the two pine trees. He watched it everyday from the front porch. Today was going to be like any other. He would jog for ten kilometres to the government park where he taught Football. He loved spending time with the children and showing off his skills as they watched in amazement.

Twenty months ago

Abishek’s day started with his mom emptying a glass of water on his face. He woke up and got out of bed. Admiring himself in the mirror, he brushed and sprayed deodorant all over himself. He put on an old unwashed jeans and a five year old fading T-shirt and started for work, all in ten minutes. Thirty seconds later he ran back home, took his lunch box consisting of paranthas and dropped it into his bag, before starting off again.

He was getting late for work, like he did everyday. He took a cab to the Chandni Chowk metro station. It was expensive. He walked briskly to the platform and boarded the first train that came along. There was just enough space for him to stand in one corner. He was thankful the trains had doors which meant no one could fall off due to lack of space.

He was wiping the sweat off his face, when he first saw her for the first time standing right opposite him, a few feet away. He couldn’t take his eyes off for the next five seconds.

‘The next station is Chawri Bazaar’, blared the automated announcement.

It brought him back to his senses. He slowly raised his head again to look at her face in between the dozens of hands of commuters.

Her beautiful almond shaped black eyes were staring at the door. She wore a yellow kurti and yellow earrings to go with them. Her headphones were yellow too. She had a white doctor’s coat over her shoulder. She smiled through a corner of her mouth and he wondered which song was doing that. At that moment, he noticed that she was looking at him too. He looked down. Five seconds later, he looked up again at the eyes. She was back to staring at the door.

She got down at AIIMS. He thought about following her and introducing himself but decided against it.

Abishek woke up an hour early the next morning. His mother was shocked. He got ready and pressed his best set of clothes. Thirty minutes later, he was at the station, watching the entrance from the window. He noticed her coming in five minutes before the next train. She was in a bright blue dress today, a blue pair of earphones around her neck and the white coat on her shoulder. He got into the same compartment as her.

She got down at AIIMS and he followed her. Ten seconds later, she vanished amidst the crowd. Disappointed, he took the next train back to work.

The next morning, he was at the window again. He could not spot her till about two minutes was left for the train. Frustrated, he turned around towards the platform and she was there, looking at him, her hands on her hips. Her eyebrows arched up when she spoke.

‘Are you stalking me ?’

‘Me. What ? No. Who are you ?

‘I’ve been watching you for two days now. What’s up ?’

He looked up.

‘Fans’

‘I’m not in the mood for jokes. Stop doing this or I’ll call the cops.’

‘Okay, I’m sorry.’ he said and walked away fast towards the train.

The customary glass of water splashed over his face and Abishek woke up. He reached the station just in time for the train.

He was in and heard a familiar voice beside him.

‘Hi’

She was there. Orange dress, orange earphones and an orange bindi.

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ He tried to move away.

‘I’m sorry too. Perhaps I was a little rude yesterday.’

‘It’s fine. I wasn’t stalking you though.’

He introduced himself. She did too, and went back to her playlist on the phone.

‘Bye Abishek.’ she said, as she got down at AIIMS.

They went on the same train for the next one week. The conversations increased in bits and pieces and he knew he was falling for her.

‘Hey, would you like to have lunch together? I’ll be at AIIMS today afternoon.’

‘Oh. Why?’

‘To have lunch with you.’

‘You and your sense of humour.’ She hit him on the shoulder with her bag.

‘1 pm at Cafe Gobble.’

She smiled as she got down and waved a bye. He smiled back. He noticed that her eyes became small when she smiled like that.

Six months later, he had graduated from waiting at the metro station to waiting for her at restaurants, parks, multiplexes, her guitar classes and outside her college. He knew he would do it happily, for a lifetime.

Seven months ago

He hired a car to pick her up. She was in green today, a dress he had gifted her. She looked beautiful as she walked gracefully towards the car and got in.

‘So, what plans?’

‘Let’s go on a drive.’

‘Where?’

‘You’ll see.’

He drove towards the Chandni Chowk metro station as she told him about her day, animatedly.

They got down and walked towards the train. She had an inkling of what was going to happen.

He proposed. With a new earphone and a bar of her favourite Lindt chocolate.

‘Yes, I will. Yes, I will. You idiot. What took you so long?’

The entire station had their eyes on them and they rushed out, embarrassed.

He was driving to drop her home. His heartbeat was elevated and he could not wait to tell his friends and family. He looked at her for a second, taking his eyes off the road.

The last thing he remembered about that day was seeing the number plate of the bus two feet away from his car.

The newspaper headline the next day read ‘Bus driver loses control. One dead. One critical.’

Present day

He jogged along the curved mountainous road like he had done since the day he moved here. The mountains gave him calm. It was cold and there was a light breeze hitting his face.

She floated alongside him, not wanting to leave him. He continued jogging, unaware of her presence.

She still couldn’t leave him for the other side, not just yet.

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