Aks

It was a sultry Sunday afternoon. After browsing through the NY times best seller list, being a book worm I am, I couldn’t stop myself and rushed to the Inorbit mall. Surprisingly for a Sunday, the mall wore a deserted look. As I hopped through the escalator, my eyes caught a fleeting glance of a pretty face going down.

‘Should I turn?.’ and then what?. ‘Talk to her?? Sure…nothing can be lamer than that. What would I talk about?? That you are pretty and I thought I should stop and talk to you. Anyways I always fuck things up while talking to girls. I should probably be heading towards Crossword.’ As I stood there transfixed pondering over things, a mellifluent voice struck my ears.

‘Hi’. I turned around to see the very same cherubic face standing right in front of me. ‘I’ve been looking for the Crosswords outlet here and frankly, for the past half and hour or so I’ve been going up and down the escalators. Can you help me out?’ she blurted out after a hesitant start.

She wore a sexy black halter with a deep V neckline with crossover details. An argent matinee necklace sat on the top of her cleavage. The waist was banded with a mock belt buckle. Neatly ironed tresses sat imperviously on her naked shoulders. Silvery white hoop earrings with black beads added a tinge of funk to her appearance. The mascara on her big black eyes added a mystic aura to her visage. She also smelled good…I was guessing something floral maybe.

‘Umm…I think I’ll try finding it on my own’, her voice trailed off in a quaint manner. She narrowed her eyes trying to understand my mesmerized stance. ‘Thanks for your help.’ She added reluctantly before turning around to walk away from me.

‘Stop…err…wait…Umm…I am going there too. It’s actually right around the corner. You can come with me.’ I finally managed to open my mouth.

‘Oh…Ok.’

‘You know…for a minute there, I really thought you were dumb, not the foolish dumb but dumb as in a disability’, she said clarifying things. ‘But I can understand my revealing couture coming as very strong to you.’ She smiled as she adjusted her hair. I smiled back sheepishly.

‘So are you looking for some specific author?’ I asked trying to strike up a conversation. ‘Nah, I am more of a NY Times best seller reader. I like John Grisham though. What about you?’

‘Me too. And I am not making this up’, I added hesitantly. A wry smile spread across her face.

‘How may I help you?’ The man at the front desk offered his assistance.

‘Two copies of ‘4th of July’. Isn’t it?’ She turned around looking for my approval.

‘Yeah.’ I nodded in agreement.

Collecting our copies we headed out. ‘Today’s hot. Ain’t it? How about a cold drink or two before heading out. What do you say?’ ‘Sure.’ I said. How could I say no to such an enticing offer from an equally enticing lady. Things were looking up for me. It was looking like a surreal dream as we stepped onto the escalator.

Grabbing our cokes we sat across a table in the food court. As we sat beneath the glass skylight overlooking the naturally lighted atrium, I noticed we were the only people left there. She began to check the messages on her mobile as she sipped on her drink. I continued gazing at her. A long and eerie silence followed occasionally disrupted by her gentle tapping of fingers. Her nails were properly filed and shaped. From what it looked like I think they were polished in ocean blue color.

‘Say Something.’ She finally broke the silence. I usually don’t have much to talk about and this situation was nothing new to me. I knew I would end up saying something really stupid. She looked at me, intently waiting to hear something.

‘You …are… pregnant.’ I blurted out with apprehension.

She leaned forward to rest her chin on her palm. ‘What???’ She was bewildered beyond bewilderment. I wouldn’t have blamed her if she had chosen to bludgeon me to death with her high heels.

‘I am sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean to hurt you and it was nice meeting you. I am sorry. Sorry again. Sorry.’ I decided to scamper out of that place keeping my life intact.

‘Whoa…Whoa…Whoa…Where do you think you are going? Come back here and explain what the fuck just happened?’ She was furious. I stopped in my tracks, pretty sure that she had her stilettos on her hands hiding beneath the table.

‘There’s nothing to explain.’ I replied as I came back to sit. ‘I observe things and draw conclusions from them. For e.g. the dress you are wearing is obviously to divert people’s attention from your slightly swollen abdomen towards your strapless back and your long legs. You have a freckled nose. You also have a motion sickness patch attached to the back of your neck and well, your breasts have outgrown your usual bra size. Try 34C’s. I’m guessing it’s your 3rd week.’

‘Impressive.’ The ire in her eyes had subsided. ‘So, do you act this creepy with every girl?’ ‘Sort of, yeah.’ I replied shrugging my shoulder.

‘You know, I’m kinda relieved that you found out about the pregnancy. Wouldn’t you wanna know who’s the father of the baby? It’s you.’ She said it with a straight face. I broke into a nervous cackle. ‘I know what you are doing here. I had freaked you out earlier and this is your way of getting back at me.’ She maintained her stoic expressions. ‘But it is in fact not the case judging by your staid expression.

‘What’s going on? Care to explain.’ My surreal dream had taken an uncanny turn. Crisscrossing her legs, she leaned forward. ‘You think this is the first time we are meeting today. Well, I’ve got news for you. I’ve been running around you for the past five years. You forget me after each day and so I have to start afresh each day. Not being able to find Crossword when it’s right in front of you is a pretty lame excuse, don’t you think?’

The situation looked like a direct rip-off from ‘50 First Dates’. I sat in complete silence as I tried to sink what she had just said. ‘Now see you are not making sense. You said you’ve been following me for the past five years but you’ve pregnant for 3 weeks only and I know I wouldn’t sleep with a girl just after 1 day.’ I myself didn’t sound very convincing. ‘Did I?’ I asked with a parched throat.

‘No, you didn’t. But things are not as simple as it looks. You’ll have a clearer picture once I get rid of you today.’

Nothing made sense. ‘Get rid of me?’ I asked perplexed by the turn of events. ‘Yeah. It’s time that you move on.’

‘Move on to what?’ I asked trying to figure out her statements.

‘You’ll know when you get there.’ Another piece of inconclusive remark. ‘What is this girl up to?’  I thought to myself. ‘Let’s go.’ She stood up to leave the Restaurant. We didn’t talk as we walked unhurriedly towards the escalator. ‘How’s she going to get rid of me?’ I thought to myself. She slowed down to lean against the railing. ‘It’s time.’ She smiled. I noticed that someone had sliced right through the top rail as well as plate of the balustrade.

‘Wait…Stop.’ I screamed. But it was already late. The railing gave in to her weight as she flung across it. I leaped forward to catch hold of her arm just in time. ‘So this was your brilliant idea to get rid of me. If you wanted to get rid of me so bad, you could have just walked away and never come back the next day. Gosh! you are heavy.’ I blabbered as I gasped for breath.

‘I told you it’s not so simple. You don’t understand now. Just lemme go.’ She was down to tears as she spoke these words.

‘What?? No, no, no. Look, all you have to do is extend your other arm and then I’ll pull you over. We can then have a nice discussion about it and I promise, I’ll never forget you after this.’ I tried to reason with her.

‘You are not paying attention. Just let me go and everything will be alright.’ My eyes turned blind with confusion as her serene face turned all battered and bruised. Her black dress turned violet as she began to bleed from all over her body. My mind went numb as I felt all my neurons firing up at the same instant.

‘Let me go.’ She pleaded as I felt my grip losing over her and her velvety hands slip by mine.

‘I’ll always love you.’ She whispered as she went down. My heart went cold with fear. I know her…I realized.

‘Shhweettaa…’ A man screams out of his comma in Breach Candy Hospital. The calendar by his bed side displayed:  8 p.m., Tuesday, 26-11-2013.