"Again?"
I grin sheepishly at my roommate for the second time.
"This is the second time, Anamika." She scolds.
I pour more bournvita into a bowl and add a spoonful of water in it. This was my go to snack which I knew was unhealthy. But I loved it.
This was my second serving by the way. And that is why it made her mad.
"I love you." I say kissing her cheek. She shakes her head but lets it go. I was stubborn as well.
I take my usual seat in the balcony seat of our small apartment.
"Niya won't be coming home today." I hear my roommate, Mira say.
"She's gonna get pregnant at this rate." I grin to myself. Today I felt kinda nice. Maybe it was the chocolate or a gut feeling. Something was going to go well.
Mira snatches the stool that I put my legs on and glares at me. "Don't say something like that. Her dad will kill all of us."
I laugh. That was true. Being close since our kindergarten, we were allowed to rent an apartment together. Our parents were all different with various views. But in the end all it came down to our strong bond.
We sit in silence ad we stare at the scene unfolding in front of us. Near the big tree, stood two people arguing. They were so loud that they automatically drew attention. People didn't quite wait for them but for people who were bored it was an entertainment.
"Love either goes here or there." Mira chuckled.
Mira had never loved anyone. Except her book boyfriends of course. She's never had a day's romance in her life. Not with her dad who she loved so much that having a boyfriend felt like betrayal to him.
The figures weren't as clear as their voices.
"Listen to me." The boy yelled. The place goes quite and the passerbys glance at them and walk away. It was rude to make a scene in public but no one bothered to tell them that.
The girl moves away. And I assume she's hella mad at her boyfriend when she storms away walking towards our building...
"Wait." Mira stands up. I snort.
"It was...our girl after all." I say.
"She's gonna sulk all day and pretend like she's all good." Mira says. "Again."
"Has it been the third time this week already?" I ask. Mira nudges me to stop. I shrug.
We hear the opening and closing with a loud thud. Footsteps and the door to the balcony slides open.
"You okay?" Mira asks.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Niya asks trying to look unbothered. But her golf ball like big eyes said it all. She was forcing her tears to stop. I especially didn't like this time of our friendship.
"Just break up, gurl." Mira suggests. "He's not worth all the sulking you have to go through." Now don't get her wrong. She doesn't mean it. And I'm saying that to defend her. She wanted Niya to let her tears out. Even if it meant sacrificing her time fighting with her.
The rest was expected. It was the same cycle again. Niya would defend him by saying he loves her so much. More than anyone she'd ever know. Then Mira would get riled up about how people do love her.
On this one I was with Mira. There was something about Niya that I always felt odd. She had the world's love but was never satisfied. I knew her. I was good at reading her feelings and mind after knowing her for nearly eleven years.
But when it didn't go as planned, both Mira and I were suprised when she said. "You're right."
"What?" I ask.
"You're right. I'm not going back to him again. We're over." She says determined. There was a look in her eyes that I had missed. The one that said the fights weren't the reason why she wanted to break up. There was more to it than that.
"But..." Mira doesn't continue.
"It's fine. I'm fine. It's not the first time my heart broke. It's always like this." She shrugs with her eyes shimmering with water.
When she walks away, Mira and I look at each other. She's concerned. I'm scared.
"You're ready now." Mira says finally after making me change into nearly fifty t-shirts. Well okay I was exaggerating. But I did change many times until she finally agreed on a peach plain shirt with a small pocket on the left side of my shirt and blue jeans with sports shoes that we borrowed from Niya.
"Thank you." I say gratefully.
She gives me a big smile. "I love you." She says.
I chuckle.
"I have to go now." I say. I take my keys and leave for my part time job.
I leave for the bus stop. It was filled with a crowd as usual. I hold my bag tight and dive into them. I get pushed, sometimes pulled but successfully I conquer a seat. Or I almost did.
"Seriously?" I groan.
"Yup." The scum who took my seat says, making himself comfortable.
"Have a good seat." I say sarcastically.
"Thanks." He winks.
I roll my eyes.
Okay Anamika. Don't sweat it. Today has to a good day, I convince myself.
After a hell of thirteen minutes of watching the stranger sit comfortably while I get pushed at every stop, I get down.
The place I needed to go was just a walk of thirty seconds from the stop. Well that was atleast a good thing.
I open the large glass door that had accepted me. The cashier was empty and there seemed to be no one until-
"You..." I am not able to continue. I close my eyes and try not to pull my hair and run away.
"Hey fellow traveler." He greets me.
I sigh. "Do you work here too?" I ask.
"Yeah." He says happily like he didn't know.
"Well me too from now." I inform him.
I put on my tag that he points at with my name. I was going to work here now. Well it was part time. The store owner was a friend of Niya's dad so I got the job more easily.
"What's your name?" He asks. "I'm Jay."
"Anamika." I say.
I don't do much that day except learn my job that was to arrange the books and clean the place. The rest was upto Jay.
I glance at him stocking the books in the shelf. He was well built just like a jock. He must play some sport to be that fit. He was nearly six feet with tan skin and a good body. He almost resembled like a puppy. His hair was always a mess and he was hella clumsy.
I shake my head for the fourth time when he drops his sixth book of the day.
When the next part timers came and we had to change the shift, I took off my batch and put it in the small locker that was given to us, just enough to put your bag inside.
"What are you doing?" I gasp.
Jay stops in the middle of taking his shirt off as he gives me a confused look. If it weren't for the weird situation I'd probably pat his head like he was some dog.
"How can you undress with a girl standing here?" I almost yell.
"What girl?" He asks taking it off completely. My eyes automatically start staring at his perfect abs and muscled arms. He looked like a delicious chocolate right now.
"Stare all you want." He chuckles.
I avert my eyes hastily. I was stupid. This was the first time I'd ever seen a boy naked. I mean not full naked but still half naked. Stop saying naked, Anamika. I tell myself.
"Let's go." He says excitedly.
I sigh and follow him. What had I seen?
"We're friends now, right?" He asks. "We have to be. We will spend so much time together. Plus you saw me shirtless."
"What does you being shirtless have to do with our friendship?" I ask. We stand at the bus stop among the crowd of people.
The red-white bus stops before us and people go crazy again. I try to jump in before a hand catches my wrist.
I look at Jay who was standing tall in the crowd as he makes way for us to get in. It was easier with him.
We finally find a seat and sit down. I let him take the window seat. Never been a fan of them.
We stare out of the window as the bus moves, stopping at every stop.
"Thank you." I say as I stand up.
"Dosti main no sorry no thank you." He grins. He was adorable.
The bus was pretty less crowded now. When the bus stops, I climb down and wave one last time at Jay. He waves back excitedly. He really was adorable.
"Shit."
"Shit." I gasp. I had just collided with a little kid as soon as I turned around. Maybe Jay's clumsiness was rubbing on me.
The kid falls down and stares at me for a full one minute, taking in what just happened before bursting into a loud cry.
"I'm sorry." I say as I try to make him stand up. He sobbed even longer. "Does it hurt?"
He stops his wail and stares at me. "Ice cream might help the pain." He says with a straight face.
I don't know if I should burst into laughter or get annoyed. I decide to both.
"Where is your mom?" I ask trying to be heard above his wails.
He grumbles a few words that make no sense. And keeps on crying.
I sigh. Kids were unbearable. I promised myself then and there I will never have kids in the future. Not that I planned to have then before.
"Fine. Ice cream." I shout.
He gives a very faint smile and nods. But when I smile at him he frowns. I don't mind him and take him to a small ice cream stall. I buy him a candy.
"Are you okay now?" I ask as I watch him lick the candy.
"Your fault."
I roll my eyes. "Fine. My fault. Aren't you too young to be alone?" I ask.
"Yet you pushed a little kid down." He says. "I'm seven."
He was smaller than he was. Only physically ofcourse. Mentally he was a brat.
"Now that you have your candy can I take my leave?" I wipe the orange mess he had made up near his mouth. Kids were cute to look at but painful to look after.
"Wait with me." He bites it down despite the faces he kept making. I smile to myself.
"Are you waiting for someone?"
"My dad. He went to take a call." He says.
"Okay." I might be bad but not enough to leave a small kid alone so late at night.
We sit in silence. Apart from his smartness, he didn't bother me much. I did not have to make small talk with him.
His eyes stared at the passing dogs and he scooted closer to me. I put a hand on his back and patted it. Once upon a time I was scared of dogs too.
"I'm not scared." He says, yet not moving away.
"Liar." I say in a low voice. His head turns around and glares at me.
"I am not, okay?" He yells.
"Don't yell at me." I yell back.
"I'm telling my dad you pushed me." He says getting up from the bench and rushing towards someone.
My eyes widened. Sweat tickled down my face and I felt a small tug in my chest. It felt alive.
The boy asks the father to lean down as he complains about me. The duo are now walking towards me.
I expect a fight but I was ready.
I stand up and stare right into the man's eyes. Fight me dude.
"I didn't push him. It was an accident. I even bought him a candy." I blurt before he can ask me.
He gives his son a look before nodding at me. "It's fine." He says. I'm in awe. Not like I expected him to be nice to me but atleast he not talk like he was the one forgiving me.
They turn around and walk hand in hand towards their car. I couldn't tell the model but it did look .
The kid stuck his tongue out at me while his father drove them away. Just for one mili second our eyes meet again. And it was the most scary moment of my life.