CHAPTER 2: Drunken Love
Rishabh laid in bed that night and took out that photo he had. He stared at her like he did every night, admiring her beauty. “Call me, will you!” he grumbled to himself. “How much longer will I have to wait, Miss Psycho?” He smiled slightly.
He cherished the little time they spent together. But it still hurt. The emptiness which never bothered him before he had met her. Before he took that flight.
**Flashback**
He had just finished reading his mail when he looked up at his co-passenger in the flight. Her eyes were glued to a book. He looked back at his phone. He was bored. No more mails. Nothing much to do. He grinned. Let’s have some fun.
“Psychology, interesting!” He said. She looked up at him almost snapping out of her thoughts realising she was on a flight. He grinned.
“Can I ask you a question? If you don’t mind.” He asked.
“Ofcourse.” She replied keenly. My charm is so undeniable.
“Aren’t you too beautiful to be a psycho?”
He watched her as she glared. Bullseye! He thought.
“So innovative.” She said sarcastically.
“I’m sorry but I was just being honest. Don’t they teach you not to hurt people’s feelings in psycho class?” He looked at her trying to understand what type she was but couldn’t reach a conclusion yet.
Prerna rolled her eyes. “They taught us how to look through a person’s bullshit in class.”
“Oh really? So you can see through me?” Oversmart & Blunt. Not my type.He thought.
“Yes.”
“Okay, Ms. Psycho, tell me something about myself.” Let’s prove her wrong & tease her a little.
“You are only irritating me because we no longer have internet on the flight and you can’t do what you were doing on your phone anymore.”
Rishabh couldn’t believe it. ON POINT. He thought. Wow, now I have to know more.
“Or,” he said turned towards and her and looking deep into her eyes, “I am not on my phone because I am sitting next to a beautiful girl whose name I would love to know.”
Rishabh knew what he was doing. He had done this many times.
“Okay, I’ll go first.” He said. “I am Rishabh Bajaj.” He extended his hand to hold hers.
“Prerna Sharma.” She said.
Prerna Psycho Sharma. He registered. Something about her was quite amusing.
“So Miss Psycho,” he continued. It was quite visible from her face that she was getting irritated by the word psycho so he continued to use it. “What is taking you to Goa?”
“Why?”
“And you can’t mind your own business because?”
“Has a client ever told you the same thing?” Rishabh laughed. The irritation was so clear in her voice. It made the experience all the more fun.
“Very funny!” She said turning away and opening her book again. She tried hiding her face in the book. Rishabh smiled seeing that. Cute. He thought.
“Acha listen naa, sorry. I won’t irritate you anymore.” He said with utmost sincerity.
She slowly looked at him over her book.
“You were right, I was quite bored. But now I’ll behave. I promise.”
She gave his words a second thought and shut her book.
“My friend is getting married in Goa.” She said.
“No kidding! Mine too!”
“Tamanna & Akash?” She asked.
“Oh god yes!” He was surprised. “What a small world!”
She smiled.
“By the way, can I ask you a serious question?”
She looked at him sceptically. Then nodded.
“How did you know what my reason was to talk to you?” He really was intrigued.
She grinned. “You didn’t once look up until you finished what you were doing. You glanced at me when I entered but continued with your work. If you really thought I was beautiful you would have looked twice. Its general psychology. People have to look twice at something pleasing to the eye to actually completely register it.”
“But you are beautiful” He blurted. He was quite serious this time. He didn’t know what made him say that but he said it anyway. And as she looked into his eyes she knew he was speaking from his heart. It was their first moment. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t or did he just not want to?
***
Miss Psycho you could understand everything I didn’t want to tell you but when it was time to actually use your super skills how could you not understand?
He shut his eyes and kept that photo back in the drawer. He knew he should move on. He knew he had a hundred options every day. He knew he could be happy with someone else too. But he didn’t want to be. He wanted her. He wanted to feel her presence one more time.
He opened his eyes. He couldn’t sleep. He made himself a drink. He then made another. Then a third. And when he could no longer keep track of how many he pegs he had drank he sat in his car and drove on. He stopped at the same place. He looked up at her window. He knew which one it was because she had waved from there a million times. He could see her there. Her hair up in a bun. Her eyes staring out into the sky. A book in her hands. He finally felt at peace. He watched her. He looked at the same moon and smiled. He finally felt her presence.
Everything was okay in that moment. It just was. Just looking at her made things okay. Why was it like that? Who knew. He didn’t want to go into the deductions. He just wanted to feel the peace. He just wanted to look into those eyes again. Every time he was drunk or upset he came here to look at her. Some days she wouldn’t be sitting on her window. Those days he waited for a moment. He hoped for a moment & then drove off disappointed.
Once he saw her crying near the window. He wanted to console her. He wanted to ask her what was wrong but he knew he had lost all the right to. He watched her intently. He shed a tear. She wiped her tears and went back inside. He wiped his and drove home.
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