What if .. - Page 3

The train doors opened. Arnav dragged his luggage in and moved it to the side. He heard the buzz of the doors closing and was about to sit down when he froze. He turned around to see a beautiful young girl running towards him, her hair flying in the wind. She stretched her hand out as if yelling to stop the train. Arnav looked at the door; the doors had started closing. He stepped forward to stop the door and her eyes opened wide with shock. She crashed into him and Arnav fell backwards into the train, the girl on top of him. The doors closed and the train started moving.

Arnav opened his eyes and looked at the girl lying on top of him. Her eyes were shut tight and she had pressed her lips together scared. Arnav looked down and realized that she had grabbed his shirt tightly. He put his hands on her arms and asked, "Are you alright?" The girl opened her eyes and Arnav looked into the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen before. She looked into his eyes and blinked. She looked down at his shirt and then at his face, gulped, released his shirt and jumped up on her knees.

Khushi picked up her handbag and stood up. She looked around; the train was mostly empty except for an old man who was ogling her and a young brunette who was engrossed in a book. She turned around and picked up her luggage, which had fallen down next to her. She walked away and sat down in the far corner of the train, ignoring the guy who she had fallen on top of. She turned around and looked over her shoulder outside the window behind her, pretending to enjoy the view but looked at his reflection in the glass window.

Arnav stared at the girl as she stood up, picked up her luggage and walked away. Crazy female, I just helped her the catch the train and she doesn't even mutter a word of thanks. Indians! How typical! No sense of gratitude. He scoffed and stood up, brushed the dirt off his jeans. He picked up his passport that had fallen out of his jeans, blew the dirt off it and sat down in the nearby seat. He looked straight ahead outside the window. Her eyes! Arnav shook his head, what are you thinking? Why are you thinking about some random girl? Random girl.. Arnav turned to the right to look at her. Her bright red top complimented her curves and her blue leggings showed off her long sexy legs. Her diamond nose pin sparkled in the sun. Her hair was long and wavy and came up to her waist. As he watched, she put her hair up in a jaw clip, a few strands of hair fell over her face as she did it. She brushed her hair off her face and looked straight at him. Arnav raised his eyebrows and looked away. Dammit, why did you do that Arnav? Now she will know that you were looking at her! Fool!

Khushi dragged her luggage and stepped out of the AirTrain on to the platform of JFK Airport. She had watched the guy step out earlier and had waited for him to leave before she left the train. As if falling on top of him wasn't embarrassing enough, he also had to catch her looking at him. Well he had been looking at her too. Man, was he good looking! Khushi remembered the deep brown eyes, the chiseled jawline and the bulging biceps. She gulped. Khushi! What are you thinking? She walked into the airport and followed the signs to the check-in line. As she walked there, she opened her handbag to take her passport out. Where is it? She searched her bag frantically for her passport. She sat down on her toes and started taking out the stuff from her bag. Out came her boarding pass, a wallet, a comb and a transparent bag containing a face wash, eyeliner, kajal, toothbrush, toothpaste and a lipstick. Dammit! Where did my passport go? She stood up and turned around and looked at the floor around her. Did it fall somewhere?

"Excuse me?" "Sir, may I have your passport?" Arnav was confused. He had given the officer his passport. "This is not you!" The female office showed him the picture. Arnav's eyes opened wide. The girl! Arnav checked his shirt pocket and took out another passport. Dammit.. I must have picked up her passport on the train. Arnav looked at the officer, "I'm sorry, ma'am." He grabbed the passport and hurried past the line in front of the security check. Now where will I find her? He looked around; she was nowhere around the security check area. The check-in lines, he thought. But there are so many check-in counters? Where will I find her? He started running towards the check-in lines. Just as he turned around a corner, he crashed into someone.

"What the.." Khushi exclaimed as she crashed into someone, dropping her handbag. "Can't you see.." Her eyes opened wide and she asked, angrily. "You.. again?" Arnav's eyes widened. "Yes, next time watch where you are going. But if you still crash into someone, at least make sure you have all your stuff with you." Arnav said, through clenched teeth. He handed her her passport. Khushi's mouth opened wide. She grabbed the passport from his hand. "How dare you? Did you steal my passport?" Arnav's face was fuming with anger. "What the..? I could have walked off with it and left you stranded here. Instead I searched for you to return your passport and you accuse me of stealing?" He shook his head, turned around and walked away to the security check line, leaving Khushi with an annoyed look on her face.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" The young blonde woman looked up and shook her head. She smiled, as Arnav sat down next to her. Tall, dark and handsome wearing a black t-shirt that showed off his bulging biceps and his flat abdomen, Arnav knew the effect he had on women. He had noticed a few female heads turning as he walked into the gate; he smiled. His smile disappeared. In front of him sat Khushi; her legs crossed, engrossed in a Nicholas Sparks novel, munching on chips.

Khushi looked up as Arnav sat down opposite to her. She lifted her book slightly higher and prayed that he wouldn't notice her. She started munching on the chips quickly, to avoid thinking about him. She slowly looked up and saw that Arnav had taken out his laptop and was staring at the screen. "Excuse me, is this seat taken?" Khushi looked up and saw a young man grinning at her. She shook her head and looked back at her book. "Hi, my name is Shyam." Khushi looked at the guy next to her, confused. Shyam wore a dark blue plaid shirt and had a wide smile across his face, showing off his sparkling pearly white teeth. His hair was spiked with gel; the smell of his gel and his cologne was so strong that Khushi wanted to puke. She gave him a fake smile and looked back at her book. "Are you going to London?" Khushi raised her eyebrows and looked up at the screen in front of her. Khushi turned to Shyam and said, sternly. "Well if you are not going to London, then you are at the wrong gate." Arnav chuckled. Khushi looked at Arnav, with raised eyebrows; he was still staring at his laptop screen.

Shyam cleared his throat. "I am going to London as well and from there to Delhi." Khushi looked back at her book; oh god, it's one of those! Soon he will be telling me what he had for breakfast. "I wonder if it will be hot in Delhi. You know I haven't gone home in five years now." Khushi ignored him. "I am so hungry, you know I just had a bowl of cereal in the morning". Khushi tried to control a smile. "You see I was busy at work all day. I work at Goldman Sachs; I am an investment banker, you see. I make a lot of money. That's why my parents want to get me married off. They are worried that I might fall for a gori me'em (foreigner). Are you married?" Khushi stared at him. Shyam gulped. "If you are not, can you give me your phone number?" Khushi raised her eyebrows. "British Airways flight number XXX to London is now boarding." Khushi picked up her bag and stood up and walked away; Shyam cleared his throat. Arnav closed his laptop and smiled. Interesting! he thought.

Khushi pushed her carry-on bag inside the overhead compartment, turned around, picked up the headphones from the seat and slumped down into the seat. She was tired; she had flown in from California the previous night and then taken the train to New York City earlier this afternoon. She had gotten very little sleep in the past two days and she was looking forward to sleeping on the flight. She sighed and closed her eyes. "Excuse me." Her eyes flew open. She smiled and looked up; her smile disappeared. "You?" Arnav grinned, "Yes, me!"

***

This is one of my not-yet-fulfilled desires.. sigh! .. every time I travel alone to India and back.. I wish I would meet someone interesting.. but no, never! Ok, honestly.. when I started writing this, I was really excited.. but now I'm wondering if it's boring.. let me know.. do leave your comments!