Part 1
It had been an hour of jogging in the park for Geet. She liked the feel of the light white snowflakes on her hands and face. The whiteness around her gave her a feeling of peace and she loved feeling the purity of nature on her skin.
However, the flurries had started to get heavier and snow was now blanketing the ground. She had stepped out of the house without a hat and scarf feeling that she really didn't need them, but now with the hood of her sweatshirt constantly being flown off by the wind her ears were becoming red and her dark brown hair with red streaks was untamed and all over her face.
She had jogged across a long distance and now was at the other end of the park, meaning 7-8 blocks from her residence hall. As she stepped out from the park onto the sidewalk her sneakers wouldn't stick to the now very slippery ground. She held onto a nearby post to gain back her balance.
While on other days she would just walk/jog back to her apartment, that seemed near to impossible in this weather, she decided that she should just take a Taxi. She had kept a sufficient amount of money in her sweatpants in case of emergencies. Thank God for that she thought!
She pulled out her hand, signaling for a yellow colored cab.
One pulled up and the relentless wind continued blowing her hair across her face and she entered the taxi not giving one look at the driver.
She sat down on the black leather seats in the back and said "Brittany Residence Hall, East 10th street please"..
She proceeded to fix up her quite disheveled appearance, after clearing away her hair from her face she looked up and saw the back of the driver.
It appeared that he was wearing a warm winter jacket, a hat and a gray scarf wrapped tightly around himself. And yet she saw he was shivering.
There was a glass wall between them with only a little window from which he could speak to her.
Geet noticed that it was rather freezing inside the taxi, and her teeth starting chattering as well.
Geet: Excuse me, but is there some problem with the heat in your cab?
The driver looked at her from his rearview mirror, but she still couldn't see his face.
Driver: Yes I am really sorry about that, actually had to go to the autoshop to get it fixed but the weather kind of ruined my plans.
Geet: Oh, it's okay I should be fine, my place isn't too far anyway she said trying to feign a smile. She was freezing and put her hands across her chest and continued to chatter her teeth.
The traffic was jammed and it was taking Geet forever to get to her apartment. It had already been 15 minutes and the damn traffic just wasn't moving. Everyone seemed to be driving extra slow because the roads had become very slippery. Geet's hands were all turning red from the cold.
The driver was noticing Geet for a while from his rearview mirror.
Driver: Seems you are very uncomfortable, he started opening up some drawers from the front and pulled out something. It was a red pashmina shawl.
He passed it between the little window, "maybe this will help you", he said.
Geet was surprised: Wow you just happen to be carrying shawls around in your taxi? She said, grabbing the shawl which seemed as warm as a blanket inside the freezing taxi and she wrapped it around herself.
Driver: Well you see people always happen to leave things behind in taxis and I just keep them here just in case they may come back for them.
Geet: Well I am glad that someone left this here, she laughed, her shivering now easing up.
Geet's eyes caught the digital reading in the front that read the fee, and OMG it just kept going up, because of all the minutes they were idle due to the heavy traffic. The price had already reached $5.50 and she wasn't sure she would have enough money to pay, oh no what would she do she thought? She told her mind to stay calm. , she was smart. maybe she could think up an excuse
Geet: Uh'before she could say anything, the driver said something that surprised her.
Driver: Aap Indian hain?
Geet: Ji?!! Her eyes rounded. Did he just talk to her in hindi?
Driver: Mainay pucha aap Indian hai?
Geet: Jee, jee, uh aapko kaisay pata chala? She was rather shocked, with her fair skin and streaked hair it was rather easy for her to pass as an American girl, and very few people recognized that she was Indian.
They continued to drive almost reaching her place now.
Driver: Apno ko toh nazrein lakho ki bheer mein bhi pechan leti hain'he said in a very husky voice. His voice was rather appealing and soft on the ears.
Geet: Ji?
Driver: Matlab pardes mein ab apne des ke hi log apnay hotay hai na?
She smiled.
Geet: Aap kafi achi baatein karthay hai.
She so wanted to see his face and tried to switch her seating in such a way so maybe just maybe she could get one look at him.
Then her eyes fell on the digital meter again, it read $14.25.
Geet: Oh shoot, I only have $10 she thought in her head.
Just then the driver turned into her street and she got ready to get off. She still hadn't seen his face and closed her eyes saying a little prayer, hoping that maybe she would get to see him, he seemed like a very sweet person and at the same time wondering how he would react to the fact that she didn't have enough money to pay.
She slipped the money from the little window between the glass and his hand went to grab it, for a second it looked like their hands would touch, but he grabbed the $10 bill from the other side not touching her hands.
Geet just waited for a second, wondering when he would say something about her payment being short.
But surprisingly he didn't and then he turned'and she saw his eyes'..a bluish green color. The rest of his face she couldn't see, his nose down was covered by that gray scarf. But those eyes, they had something about them a spark, a twinkle, they were deep like the sea and she felt she could stare into them forever. She was lost and didn't blink for a good minute.
And then he said something: Don't worry about it!
Geet: Huh? She said coming out of her reverie, and then realized he was referring to the money. Oh, thank u soo much, I am so sorry, I really owe you one.
Driver: Yup you do, he said as she opened the door to step out, aur waisay bhi ab toh mulakatein hoti rehengi, he winked.
Geet wondered at what he just said.
Geet: Lekin lekin, main aapko pechanun ki kaisay?? She said as his cab drove away.
She held out her hand and was just turning to walk into the building when she looked back towards the cab, and there they were those same pair of eyes staring back at her, lingering on her face, and for some reason that brought a smile to her lips.
She didn't know who he was, how old he was, for all she knew he could be a damn uncle's age, yea a very sweet uncle, she laughed at her silly thoughts. But for some reason she wanted to know him, she felt a connection to him..well maybe it was because of what he said about apnay des ke log being apnay and all'his eyes looked into hers, and how she wished that she could see the rest of his face, his expressions'.she sighed and turned back, what had gotten into her, going after a cab driver, sheesh, she slapped herself on the side of her head and walked into her residence hall.
Little did she know that as she went inside, the taxi driver smirked for he too was lost in thoughts of her and her silky brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes...as the two were lost in thoughts of each other, the sky cleared and the flurries stopped only to be replaced by the bright yellow sun, seemed like that ray of hope and happiness had finally entered Geet's life!!
Precap: Jaane pechane se yeh ajnabi ;)
Part 2Please like/leave comment guys and tell me what you thought!! Also just add me to ur buddy list if u wanna be PMed!!!!
Edited by desigirl_18 - 13 years ago
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