Me: Excuse me.
She: Yes.
Me: Can I sit here?
She: Ya one sec let me remove my bag.
Me: Hmm. Thank ya.
She: It’s ok.
Me: What’s that you’re watching?
She: Movie.
Me: Yea I know that. What movie?
She: Before Sunrise.
Me: Oh wow!My favorite.
She: Is it? Was it good?
Me: Not just good. It’s the best love story I’ve ever watched.
She: Ok now don’t spoil the suspense. I’ve hardly started watching it.
Me: There is no surprise in it. They talk, talk and talk.
She: Oh ok.
Me: But you don’t seem to be among the talkative lot. You always come by this train plug your earphones and start watching something in your tab.
She: Oh now that’s a shock. Are you my stalker?
Me: I can’t go so far as to say that I’m your stalker but I do notice you all the time.
She: Well that doesn’t make much difference. By the way I’m…
Me: No stop. I don’t want to know your name. In fact, I don’t want to know anything about you.
She: What?
Me: Yea I love the anonymity between people. The way we discover each other bla bla…
She: You what a psychiatrist or something?
Me: No I’m a writer. I guess I can call myself so.
She: Interesting… tell me more.
Me: I like this anonymity you see. Just ‘me’ and ‘she’.
She: You mean you and I?
Me: No ‘me’ and ‘she’ will look good before colon. I like these error filled sentences.
She: Man you’re crazy.
Me: I like this compliment, especially coming from girls.
She: I don’t like these crazy looking guys.
Me: It still is a compliment for me.
She: Okay. Tell me what else?
Me: You asking me that? Hmm… what else… we both work in the same company.
She: Is it? But I’ve hardly seen you.
Me: Yea I’ve always been this anonymous guy. The guy, you know when the camera zooms in to a person, people go out of focus right. I’m one of them. I mean the one who goes out of focus and when you go for a walk you see millions of people out of which some faces you remember. I’m one of those you’d have seen just before seeing those faces.
She: Ha ha. You’re funny. But come on, in a company with strength of 15,000 people how I could have seen you. The probability is very less right?
Me: That’s an optimistic way of looking at things.
She: Hmm so.
Me: You can close your iPad or tab or whatever it is.
She: What I’ll do closing it.
Me: I’m here na. You won’t get bored talking with me. I promise. I’m a great conversationalist.
She: Yes in fact you are. Here I close this.
Me: Oh you’ve changed your bag. What happened to your multi colored bag of yours.
She: Man how long you’ve been following me.
Me: Just two months.
She: Two months have you been coming by same train and I haven’t seen you. How come?
Me: That’s me, the typical loser guy. I’m not a cynosure of all eyes like you. Only pretty girls like you get noticed here. That too being a North Indian you stand out from the crowd.
She: Ahem ahem.
Me: Really one of my friends is so pissed off of not knowing Hindi because he couldn’t talk to you girls. You girls talk only to your set of boys.
She: Ha ha who’s that?
Me: Just one of my friends. Ok let’s drop the topic I don’t wanna hear you say that I’ve never seen you, I‘ve never noticed you etc.
She: But seriously…
Me: It’s ok yaar drop it. Guys don’t like to hear these things. Things like this and when we message you, girls reply asking ‘who is this?’ We just don’t like it.
She: She might have lost the number. Then how do you suppose someone to ask who you are?
Me: No I’m just saying.
She: Ok fine.
Me: Am I boring you.
She: Not really but you’re not letting me sleep.
Me: It’s ok don’t sleep this one day.
She: Hah you’ve just met me and you’re asking me not to sleep, that too directly to my face. Great!
Me: Why are you reacting as if I’ve asked you for a date? I don’t want to miss out this chance. I don’t know whether I’ll have courage to come and talk to you again.
She: How come you came today?
Me: I don’t know may be the Friday effect I guess. I get all happy on Fridays you see. These window panes, light from the hoardings forming a certain pattern and getting into the train, the time when twilight fades out and the darkness creeps in. Though it happens daily, it’s only on Friday I like it.
She: Is that only you?
Me: Ha ha you too? Join the club. Because I’ve seen people who are so interested in work. I don’t know what’s so interesting in coding.
She: Even I’m trying to figure that out.
Me: Good! You seem to be just like me. I didn’t know that you talk so well. Thanks.
She: So, you judge a person without even knowing them, is it?
Me: It’s not judging it’s just…
She: Mathlab before talking to a person you think about them beforehand itself.
Me: Hmm in a way yes. You instantly get an opinion about a person right? You see someone, you like them. You see someone, you hate them? Just an instantaneous reaction.
She: I don’t do that so I don’t know.
Me: But my instincts have failed with you. I didn’t know that you’re fun to be with. You’re all smiles and all. You know that smile, the way one feels when you’re really smiling. That…
She: Smiling from within huh?
Me: Yea that’s what, smiling from within. That’s the word. That big broad smile that puts others at ease and sometimes makes you dizzy too.
She: Haha. Ok.
Me: You tell me how it feels to be beautiful.
She: What?
Me: Ya because you see I’ve been this ugly duckling all along I don’t know how one feels when you know that you’re really beautiful. You know you’re beautiful right?
She: Man what kind of question is this. I’ve never thought of it.
Me: See I’m sure you’d have got a lot of fans, lot of guys behind you, proposals etc. I’m asking how do you feel when all these things happen? Like, being famous.
She: Oh please. I’m sick of these guys who follow me. I just hate them.
Me: Then if given an option between money and fame what’d you choose?
Continue reading in the below link…
Readers Write In #366: After Sunset
constantscribbles 