Sugarcane Juice: Episode 07

Chapter 10

Pritam reached Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport an hour early than the time he was supposed to report in. Considering the heavy-traffic on the way to airport he had called airport-cab bit earlier to pick him up. But that proved quite too early!

Anyways, he had nothing to lose from that and went straight to the waiting room. The waiting longue was bit crowded that day. He took a casual look to find any empty seat. He managed to locate one of the few unoccupied seats in the corner.

He quietly moved there with his baggage and sat down. He looked up to see the details of various flights which were being scrolled in the big screens. He knew he had enough time for check-in. So he pulled out a novel he had packed in his bag, dragged the marker to reach the page where he had left last time and ‘dived’ in it!

The books are one of the best ways to keep ourselves engaged. While reading, we do not just imagine the characters as explained by the authors. Of course, the credit goes to the authors for giving attention to details, if any, but it is us – who try to paint our own colors to the imagination. The appearance of people in the story, the way they behave, and the scenes – all combined, becomes our own customized movie! Additionally, sometimes, we correlate ourselves to some of the roles or situations that come across! We find ourselves in some characters, whereas in some other instances, we would wish to be like some!          

‘Excuse me,’ a female voice ‘Is anyone sitting here?’ pulled Pritam’s attention away from the book he was engrossed in. The seat by his side was empty.

He looked up to reply! He wanted to say ‘No one! You may sit down, please’, but could not!

He wanted to pinch himself to make sure it was happening in real!

It was her!

The ‘special girl’ from the campus!

That instant, he did not notice the peach colored t-shirt she was wearing with matching lip-gloss! It was those shining grey-eyes that glued his sight to her face! After all, it was those pair of eyes which had made him fall for her!

In that awestruck expression, Pritam looked stupid and clueless! She thought of laughing out, but then controlled herself from doing so and limited it to a light smile.

‘You… Ummm… well…’ he finally managed to say ‘Khali hai seat,’ it was unoccupied ‘please sit down!’

‘Thanks!’ she said, took her seat pulling the luggage aside.

Pritam could not believe his luck! She was sitting next to him.  He was speechless with the turn of events - Starting from the first time he had seen her, the lunch time, the Sweet Zuse, his birthday, missed opportunity, that desperate search, and to finally find her at most unexpected place!   

But he had decided to learn from his mistake!

Not to miss the opportunity when it stares hard at you!

‘You are from our…’ Pritam decided to start conversation by saying he had seen her in the company campus.

Even before he could complete the sentence ‘I was there…’ stressing the ‘WAS’ part with a smile, to convey him that she had left that company!

‘I resigned few months ago… I had to get busy in exam preparations!’ bending slightly to the left to adjust her hairclip with her left hand, still looking at Pritam ‘Higher studies, you know!’ she quipped.

The cool manner with which she was speaking told more about the self-confidence of that cute girl.     

‘I am Pritam…,’ not sure whether to offer a shake hand ‘your good name?’ he asked, finally!

‘I am Smruti…’ Offering a shake hand she said ‘Nice to meet you!’    

‘Glad to meet you too!’ he was beaming with the proud feeling of discovering something he thought he had lost!

‘I had seen you many times in the campus,’ he confessed ‘but I always wanted to ask this question!’

She looked at him, with a hint of surprise, anticipating next words!

‘Your eyes,’ Pritam decided to compliment her at least ‘those grey eyes, are they real?’

She got blushed before bursting into laughter. That reaction made it unnecessary for her to explain how much she liked that!

‘I mean, they are gorgeous and unique, haven’t seen anything like that!’ She did not hear him saying that as she continued to giggle!

Though he had made up his mind to tell her further, how he feels about her, he was little apprehensive about it.

‘And you had the chance to say that much earlier…’ Smruti did not want to say that, but the moment got the better of her! She was slightly embarrassed at herself once she realized what she just said, unknowingly!

That was the start! Then they talked, talked, and talked!

Although, neither of them were ready to confess it, it was clear for both of them that they liked each other!

She was not surprised to hear from Pritam that he had missed her even without knowing her name. Smruti went on to explain her side of story.

Smruti had been trying to get into her dream college for higher studies. After writing the entrance exam for the same, she had a few months’ time before the results were out. Additionally, she had decided to work for a while as she was not too optimistic about the results! To her credit, it turned out that she had cleared the test and declared eligible to join the college. With a little hustle with Human Resource department at the company, she had broken the service agreement that she had had committed.

Though it was not the easiest of jobs to break away from the organization so early into her appointment, she had to do it for the sake of perusing her dream! Amidst all these, she had missed the first batch at her college and that made her to wait for another two months for second batch of admission.

Everything in life happens for a reason!  A good reason, perhaps!

‘So, that’s how you disappeared!’ Pritam was much comfortable to talk then.

A sweet smile was her answer, again, pushing her flicks back and fixing it being her ears.  

Smruti congratulated him on hearing that he will be working from USA.

It was icing on the cake for him, when he got know that her college was just about hundred miles away from his new office!

Most of the movies are inspired by real life incidents. But the dramatic way they portray, for entertainment, rarely happens in real life!         

So, unlike the happy-endings of a romantic flick, they were not about to travel in the same airplane, sitting next to each other holding each other’s hand! But the ‘magic of coincidence’ had made it sure that timing of their departure was almost the same.

They had exchanged their contact details before realizing it was time for the check-in.

‘Shall we have a cup of tea or coffee?’ Pritam asked casually as they both got from their seats to leave.

‘Well, a glass of sugarcane juice would do fine, perhaps!’ she winked, unlocking wheels of her trolley bag!

Both of them burst out into laughter simultaneously, as they put their first and memorable step towards miles of journey – miles of journey ahead in life!

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The End

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