EP 5

NEO POV:

I Retraced my footsteps. There was no audible heartbeat this time, only pangs of joy, of inexplicable ecstasy. I went to the counter and smiled.

‘Hello,’ I said.

‘Hi, sir,’ she replied, for once, more surprised than rehearsed happiness.

‘Name’s Arora. Nikhil Arora.’ I am the king of clichés, I smiled wider.

She followed suit. ‘Right, Nikhil,’ she said. ‘And you will have one schezwan …’

‘… paneer Frankie,’ I shared the moment with her. ‘That’s right.’

‘Right away, Nikhil,’ she said. ‘Please have a seat.’

‘Sure,’ I said and waited till she called me.

And eventually, call she did. ‘Nikhil, your Frankie’s ready.’

‘Oh yes, thank you,’ I took the roll from her. ‘By the way, there’s something I’ve been

meaning to tell you.’

‘Yes?’ She looked into my eyes inquisitively.

I took in a deep breath. Yes, I can. ‘I love your smile,’ I said.

‘Thank you, sir,’ she beamed, gracefully bowing her head a little. ‘Oh, and there’s

something I’ve been meaning to tell you too.’

I stared at her. This was unexpected. ‘Yes?’

‘My name’s Roshni,’ she grinned, extending her hand forward.

I shook it. This time there was no long lasting tingling sensation, no desperate urge to

smell the palm for a residual fragrance. It was just a warm handshake, the way it is meant to

be.

I went back to my building. All the football players had evaporated but for one guy. Fatso

was shooting against the wall and chasing the ball as it bounced back. I felt inclined to talk

to him but zeroed on procrastinating it—I had socialized too much for a day already. As I

walked towards the lobby, I heard a ‘Dude!’

I turned around to see the fatso calling me.

‘That,’ he said, pointing at the Frankie in my hand. ‘That has paneer in it?’

‘Yes,’ I said, slowly, wondering what the guy was up to.

‘Then share it, no? Don’t be so selfish,’ he said and grabbed at it. I didn’t mind it.

Nothing about his tone was forceful. On the contrary, it was friendly.

‘By the way,’ he said; his mouth full, ‘I am Aditya. And you?’

‘Nikhil,’ I said and extended a hand forward.

‘Good, man,’ Aditya said, almost moaning at the taste. ‘This shit’s good.’

I was amused. The guy was ravenously friendly. Somewhere, not far off, I saw a figure

running towards us. That thing was skipping, almost bounding toward us in excitement.

Aditya recognized the figure and his eyes lit up as the figure too gave a squeal of joy.

‘Dude!’ he said and, dropping the Frankie, hugged her. The girl was about my age, a few

inches shorter than me but extremely attractive. She hugged him back. ‘Oh my God,where’ve you been for so many days?’

Awkwardness started flooding inside me again. Aditya noted my presence and quickly

released her. ‘Dude,’ he said. ‘This is my cousin.’ Then he noticed the mess he created by

dropping the Frankie. ‘Oh shit, I dropped it, did I? Wait, I am going to run and get one for

each of you. Hang in there. Won’t be long …’

‘Well,’ the girl turned from a scampering Aditya to look at me. ‘What’s your name, did

you say?’

‘I didn’t,’ I said almost reflexively. ‘Did I?’

‘Let’s try again,’ she chuckled. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Nikhil,’ I said.

‘I am Roshni,’ she said, extending her hand.

My face brightened. ‘Roshni, did you say?’

‘Yeah, why?’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ I beamed and offered my hand. She shook it.

Was it a tingling sensation I felt?

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