Chapter 1
Its late in the night and I am driving towards home. Its a regular feature for me. I don't have anyone waiting for me at home for me to rush earlier. So this is my usual time of winding up work and heading back to home. Rains in Mumbai are a regular feature, but why does tonight feel different? Why is the rainy night tonight reminding me of a similar rainy night of a different time and a different place? Its been five years since I left those horrors behind, but then why am I suddenly remembering them again? What is it about tonight, that is making me feel so restless? Damn it, as if my uneasiness wasn't enough now this stupid car had to break down too in the middle of the road. Now where will I get a cab in this rainy night? Aah there is a bus stop just a few metres away. I better go and try my luck with the bus. At least the shade at the stop would prevent me from getting soaked. Oh, what is this that I see? A young girl standing all alone at the bus stop in this stormy night! Just my luck! Now maybe this wait won't be so horrible.
"Hey Beautiful! Waiting for Bus?" I tried opening up with her.
"How do you know I am beautiful when you haven't even looked at me? And what else would one do at the Bus Stop? Wait for their chartered plane, hunh?" The girl shot back, without even turning towards me. Whoa! She surely had sparks. I like such sparky girls who aren't those timid shy types always acting like some damsels in distress. I think I have always liked girls who could take care of themselves well. Maybe that was the reason why I got attracted towards her. Oh! Not again! Why am I again thinking about her? What is it about tonight that is making me think so much about her? Even this girl! Why is her voice so much similar to her? In fact its almost the same; the only difference being their attitude. She was mysterious, seductive while this girl is cheeky. But I don't think she has any mystery about her. Its good that way. I think I have had enough of mysteries to last me a life time.
I can never forget a similar night five years back in Dehradun where I had gone to escape from my father's business. I wanted to make my mark in the field of photography, and had gone to Dehradun to capture some serene nature shots to mark my beginning. I have been struggling for almost 2 years, clicking shots from various angles, covering rarely known birds and animal species and then sending my photos to various magazines and competitions. But so far I had cracked no luck at all. No one was willing to publish or award my photos or to give me a job as their photographer. It was one such day of rejection when I thought maybe I should try my luck with some night shots. I was walking towards forest to capture its night beauty when it suddenly started raining. I had no intention of letting my camera get damaged as I didn't have any money left for its repair. In fact, my debts were piling up and I had not even paid my apartment's rent for the last 3 months. So, I decided to take shelter under the nearby bus stop and that's when I saw her. She was standing a little distance away just round the corner of the forest getting drenched in the rain. She was wearing a black net saree with a near backless blouse and the rain was making her transparent saree more transparent and the saree was clinging to her body very seductively. I was a young hormonal guy that time and I felt it a pity that she was having her back towards me which didn't present that much of a view. After staring at her sexy back for a few minutes, I decided to try my luck and thought of flirting with her. I called out in a louder than normal voice, to no one in particular, "A dark stormy night and a girl standing near forest all alone. Not really the safest option, or so I have heard."
"Why, are you scared of me?" She had asked back in a husky seductive voice which made my already over charged hormones take yet another jump, before I registered what she had asked. Me, scared of her. Wow, that has to be something to laugh out loud. What harm could this fragile woman possibly do to a young strong built man like me? But I liked the fearlessness in her voice. There was absolutely no trace of fear in her voice and I felt awed by that. In fact, the way she had asked me if I was scared of her, sounded almost like a genuine question, which should have made me worry, but probably I felt too attracted towards her to give heed to my own mind. Suddenly I wanted nothing more than to know her more. I somehow managed to calm my hormones to reply confidently, "Me? Scared? Why would I be? It's you whom I am scared for pretty lady!"
"Pretty! Nice! So you know that I am pretty by just ogling at my back, hunh?" She laughed naughtily and I was stumped for a while for getting caught at ogling her. I wonder how she even knew it without turning back, but I guess she was one of the women who knew they were attractive to men and who actually enjoyed their attention. I liked such bold confident women, and so once again, I masked my embarrassment and replied confidently, "Of course! One who has such an attractive back, has to be deliciously pretty!"
"Delicious! Hummm... I like your choice of words, so are you planning to eat me or something?" She asked in the same sexy mocking voice of hers which did wonders to my already screwed up brains and I ended up answering something I would not have imagined saying to a stranger even in my wildest dreams, "Well, what kind of man would not want to eat you up my beautiful lady, but if you are so willing to be my meal, at least first let me have a look at your gorgeous face!" She turned around at this, and my world had changed with one look at that inhumanly gorgeous face with that juicy and inviting red lips, violet blue eyes and luscious black hair. I knew somewhere that the rest of her body was probably more seductive right now because of the net saree and the rain, but I could not move my eyes lower. I stood there entrapped in her hypnotic eyes.
I was brought back to present by this cheeky girl asking in her shrilly voice, "Hey, are you OK? Or have you fallen asleep with your eyes open and still standing?" I shook my head to come to present and looked blankly at her only to be shocked beyond any explanation. The same face was staring at me like I was a mad man having some fits. The face, the features were the same, only the lips were natural pink, eyes baby brown instead of violet blue and curly frizzy hair instead of those luscious black ones. But the face was the same. How was this possible at all?
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