She moved like the wind, quick, easy, and mostly, unnoticed. Her lithe, agile
body facilitated brisk, quiet movements. And the fact that she was more an
observer than part of the world played to her advantage. Libraries were her
favorite, coffee shops with cozy corners came a close second. She was reading
"Alice in Wonderland" today. Finishing actually - the book as well as the large
cup of coffee.
"Still she haunts me phantomwise Alice moving under skies Never seen by
waking eyes"
She looked up, feeling a pair of eyes on her and noticed a young man in another
corner of the yard. He had a lost expression plastered on his face, like an
abandoned kitten, stuck out in rain. She looked back in to her book :
"Ever drifting down the stream Lingering in the golden gleam Life, what is it
but a dream?"
She let the words linger as she closed the book and got up quietly. He was still
waiting to be helped. This time she held his gaze until he was prompted to take
action. He approached her saying "British Council Library". She nodded and
directed him to the registration desk, while she handed over the borrowed copy.
Twenty minutes later as she was walking back to the metro station, the lost
kitten-man still followed her, keeping a safe respectable distance. She stopped
and looked at him again, prompting action. "Would you like to hangout?" he
ventured. There was a boyish hesitation in his expression and a slight quiver in
his voice. The poor kid must've been forced to take up this dare of asking a
stranger out, she thought. Who was she to deny amusement of victory to a young
fellow. "Sure" she replied nonchalantly and continued to walk. It wasn't until
she reached the station that she noticed he was still around. "How about now?"
he said, a little more confident than the last time. She looked around half
expecting to lock eyes with a group of amused youngsters watching the scene play
out. Not finding anything discernible in the surrounding, she replied "Sure" and
got in to the train. The boy was confused but neither did he have the time or
the choice, he was pushed in by the volatile crowd at the door of the train. He
slowly waded to the corner and managed to say "How about a coffee? I know a
great coffee shop near by, we can get off at the next station".
For the first
time in the entire conversation, he saw semblance of a smile; it wasn't a smile
to be honest, just a twitch of the lips. But he could see her eyes light up in
amusement as she was beginning to realize this was not a teenager playing "Truth
or Dare" anymore. "No" she said. "Next time". "Okay, that's no problem. So can I
have your number?" "No". "So I wait till I see you again in the library?" "Yes".
A twitch of lip again. "Don't you think that's a bit unfair? You're leaving it
to chance. That's.." She barely heard the last few words as the doors closed
leaving him still inside the train while she continued to walk out of the
station.
-------------------------------------------------------
She was humming
the tune to "Oh! The places you'll go" on the way to the library.
"All Alone! Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you'll be
quite a lot And when you're alone, there is a very good chance you'll meet
things that scare you..."
"Hey", she heard an unusually chirpy voice directed at her, that made her jump
out of her seat. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." he said
apologetically. She knew he meant it, so she just nodded and moved to make space
so he could sit. "So we meet again", he said. She smiled, not the twitch of
lips, but a beautiful smile perched on her lips, like the rays of first summer
morning. "This is the stop where we get down, the coffee shop is a 2 minute walk
from here" he said, leading the way. A brief moment of thought passed over her
mind, but she got up and followed him. Minutes later, they were sitting in the
coffee shop, across the table. He spoke for the two of them, she spoke
measuredly, with a quiet confidence, carefully choosing her words and never
giving more than what the conversation demanded to carry on. He was a doctor,
just graduated from medical school, working at a clinic in the southern
section of the city while considering his options for specialization. They
talked about music, movies, books, cricket and philosophy of life, in no
particular order for more than a few hours.
The food and coffee re-fills were
beginning to make her drowsy. Large amounts of coffee made her sleepy, it was a
strange thing but it was true. She must have been sleeping for a few minutes
when a hand jerked at her left elbow. "Excuse me, are you alright? I noticed
you...", he was speaking, as he always did, he was the talker between them but
they were no longer in the coffee shop. She was sitting under a tree, in the
yard, the "Alice in Wonderland" book was lying on the ground. It must have
slipped off her grip as she dozed. It took her a few moments to realize she'd
been dreaming. Her imaginative mind played the scene for her : a lovely
scene of a chance encounter with a stranger leading to charming conversations at
a coffee shop. He was still talking, checking her pulse when she focused back on
to the words coming out of his mouth. "You're fine, you dozed off for a bit.
You'll need to rest, please stay away from caffeine for a while." he noticed a
strange expression on her face and clarified "I'm a doctor". She smiled, the
kind of smile you'd give if you saw a unicorn while being stuck at a traffic
jam. "Now, could you point me to the British Council Library Registration desk
please?" he asked not noticing the amusement on her face growing by the second.
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