Recap: Part - 1
0505 to 0606 Hours:
As I got out of the washroom, I saw Geetika Raghunandan talking animatedly into her phone. (Wait a sec, that didn't sound right. It wasn't Raghunandan, what was it?). She was speaking swiftly, this time in Tamil, with her left hand over her head, gripping on to her hair, and walking from one end of the room to another. I observed a black thread tied above her right ankle. An age old practice of warding off evil spirits and eye. With Geetika, the black thread was actually attracting unwanted attention towards her legs and her black nail colour. Once I was done with the observation, I realised that Geetika had stopped talking and was staring silently at me. I looked up awkwardly at her and tried to come up with a good enough reason on the spot,
“ Hmm…I’ve seen that thread somewhere else too, what does it do?” I asked as innocently as possible.
“Well that? ... It's nothing... Just a custom at my place!” she said with an apprehensive half smile.
“Oh ok ok. Good. Anyway, let me not keep you. I'll just take my laptop and go ", I said and stepped towards my luggage.
“Yeah, about that. I don't think you need to go anywhere else. I'll just remove my stuff from one of the rooms and you could maybe stay in ", she said checking her phone continuously, while she spoke.
“Hmmm, are you sure? Because I can find myself a place. I'm totally cool with that! ", I said sincerely, though highly relieved inside. No room hunting was good news.
“Yeah Yeah, No problem at all. I was, as it is, planning to go out by 10 and come back tonight to get my stuff! "
“I’m sorry, when's your booking done?” I said placing my laptop bag carefully on my luggage again.
“It’s at 12-15 tonight. Then there's the check in and security procedures, etc. So I’ll have... to leave by 10 at the earliest !” she said completing the sentence after an intermittent yawn. And smiled again as she leaned onto a wooden bookshelf, which was emptied of the books. I could totally get used to that smile.
“Cool. That's. Yeah well, then, I'll take my stuff to a room?” I said, trying to guess which one it would be.
“I just forgot only! Wait a second. Let me get my stuff from, yeah, that room. That one's the least stuffed and it's got a working AC ", she said walking to the left of the hall, and opened a door. And after a minute she came back, dragging a few boxes stacked one another, by clasping the side slits on the bottom box. And at that precise moment, after everything was done, my slumbering chivalry woke up
“Mind if I help?” I said walking up to her, but maintaining a “safe distance” between us so as to not intimidate her. I might be a total psycho, but a well-mannered one at that. She stood up and turned to face me.
“I’ve got a couple of boxes left. I've pushed them to a corner, but if you like it, you could push them under the bed ", she said, untying her bun by pulling off her white hairband and wearing it around her right wrist.
“That won't be necessary. Though I can bring them out as well, if you want that is!"
I walked back to my luggage and picking up the bags.
“No, no, they are fine inside. I'll keep a water bottle on one of the boxes here and if you need anything do call me”. She kept smiling pleasantly all the time, and walked into the other room. After a few moments I heard a click and thereby she had locked her room.
I dragged my luggage into the allocated room, closed the door behind me, removed my shoes and as mentioned before, literally crashed on to the bed, which to my good fortune had a pretty comfy mattress on it. And it didn't take much time before I started dreaming in 1080p HD.
After about ten minutes, as I drowsily checked my watch, I felt incredibly cold. Winter had come afterall. I needed to find a bed sheet ASAP. The chore however wasn't going to be an easy one. I definitely brought some bed sheets with me, but forgot the bag in which they were packed. Numb brain, remember.
Seeing no other alternative, I switched the lights on by pressing all the switches at once. And start digging in my luggage for a bedsheet. CDs, Clothes, Shavers, Some Sweet boxes, but nothing to cover myself. Evidently I couldn't find it. All there was left for me to do was to lay on the mattress and with a bit of luck to get some sleep. I made a mental note that I needed to buy some bed sheets, if and when I visit Big Bazaar, the nearest hypermarket somewhere in Ameerpet.
The cold made me start missing home. I wondered when I'd go back, if at all, not even a day into this city, and the thoughts had just started to flow. Kirti's wedding was in a month, which could be a valid excuse to apply for leave. I had to apply for it before anyone else..... That had to be my first priority... It would be February then, and I would...
"Yeah. Thanks." he smiled at me. Yet for reason unknown to me still stood there.
I was in no mood to entertain him further and so dragged my feet back into my room to finish up with my pending packing. I took out my pink sandals from inside the rack and wrapped them up in a sheet.
Even Rakesh, had wanted me to be more organized. Interestingly, that had been the thing that made me fall for him. His neatness and clarity. A rare thing in men. But then, that again had been the reason for our breakup. My lack of clarity about life (his words). I knew what I wanted and how I wanted it but he didn't find it practical enough. I didn't try to convince him otherwise.
I looked at the clock hoping an hour would have passed in me packing my one pair of shoes. As it should, it didn't. It was still 5:15. I once looked around the room which was empty but for these cardboard boxes. The one bed which I had was occupied right now and I had over an hour to kill. Why was the day moving so slow or was it just me? I wondered. I moved a few boxes to a side and made some space on the floor.
I flipped through the pictures smiling at some and frowning at some. The kitchen at Taj. I loved that place. But Something’s have to be left behind how much ever you choose not to. Because things relate to a time. They can't break their time brackets. And my dream was in a different plane of time. And I wanted to make that dream come true.
After an hour, I got out of my dreams. It was only routine now to change into a more traditional Kurti from the T-shirt. It was morning after all.
Should I wake him up for coffee? I debated for a while but then decided to wake him up. I loved to see the expressions change when strangers tasted my coffee. Priceless.
How deeply does this man sleep? I thought, knocking on his door for the fifth time. Just as I was about to knock again, he opened the door and I had to purse my lips tightly to stop myself from laughing. He looked so funny. His hair was standing on end, his eyes looked puffy and tiny and the best part was the mattress pattern shaped imprint on his left cheek.
"Hii! I was wondering if you'd like some coffee. I'm making some myself, so I thought I'd ask” I asked, quickly getting a grip on myself.
Chai Bisket's Story Series - Double Ka Meetha (Part - 2)
