Chapter 2

Suha Brar

I never thought that someone would be as dumb as I am to have come here at this point in time. Now I know that there are people in my category too. I just did not expect HIM to be in my category. I mean, he is a celebrity for crying out loud!

He seems to be a nice guy though. He hasn't introduced himself nor has he mentioned his profession and started to boast about his movies. He is just like any ordinary guy yet extraordinary by the way he has mimicked me! I definitely didn't look like that!

He laughed with his hands over his tummy as he almost dropped on his back. "Your expression was priceless!" he said. I didn't argue to that, instead, I joined him. It felt good to laugh to my fullest. I guess I didn't laugh like that in ages. A few minutes later our laughter came to a pause.

His hair was messed up, they came all over his face. He looked at me intently. I didn't feel like being checked out. His eyes were childlike, innocent, and mischievous.

"What," I asked looking at my hands.

"Nothing," his eyes still fixed on me, "You should smile like this often. Not that your intense look doesn't suit you, it does, but this one's a lot better."

I can feel the blood rushing through my face and my cheeks turning slightly red. God, I can't be blushing! This is so embarrassing. I lowered my head letting my hair fall over my face and giggled. It's then that I've realized that I have not heard anyone giving me a compliment in a long time. It feels good.

"Man, look at your face! I could at you all day doing nothing else," he said. I first thought that he, by mistake, said something on his mind but the confidence in his voice confirmed that it was meant to be heard by me. He was so open, frankly speaking, whatever comes to his head.

"Shut up, now," I said sheepishly. "You're being nice."

"I'm not," he snapped. "I'm just telling the truth, I swear."

I looked in his black eyes and I know that he is telling the truth. I just realized that I was staring at him for too long and I moved my gaze.

"What happened," he asked. "Am I not charming enough for your attention?"

"Go away," I said, giggling, giving him a slight push on his shoulder. He obviously was well built.

"Come on, Admit it," he insisted. "I am charming, aren't I?"

"Nah," I said with a smile.

"No?"

"Not even a bit."

"Liar," he said, and we both brake into laughter. I didn't have such conversations with anyone. Not even Ryan, my boyfriend. This guy is something.

"Do you live in Mumbai?" he broke the silence which had followed.

"Nope. I live in Thane," I answered. Thane is a city usually referred to as a sister city of Mumbai.

"Oh! That's far away. What brings you here?"

"Marine Drive," I said. "I come here to spend some time with myself. It is actually my fifth visit here. The first time felt good. I thought over a lot of things, took many decisions, got over my insecurities, and then went home."

"Oh," he said. "Then I must be disturbing you."

"No, it's ok," I said almost too immediately. almost regretting what I had said.

"As if I were leaving had you agreed to my point," he chuckled making my embarrassment of saying the previous line fade away.

"And what are you doing here?" I just don't want the conversation to die.

"I am walking down the Marine Drive to give lonesome people a friendly hand," he said. I creased my forehead wondering whether it was the truth. "Chill," he came to my rescue, "I'm kidding. I was just tired of my day's work. I just needed some peace of mind."

"And you live here?"

"Yep," he said and pointed at a 20 plus floored building."I live there."

"Lucky you. You can come here whenever you want." He nodded.

There was a brief silence between us wherein we just kept looking at each other. The silence didn't even feel awkward which really made me feel weird. Our silence was broken by a phone call. We pulled out our phone and learned that it was his. I placed my phone in front of me while he ignored the phone and kept it beside him.

"I'm sorry-" he was about to say but was cut off by another phone call. A girl's picture flashed on the screen with the name 'Charlie'.

Oh! It's Charlie Pels. She was a new face in the industry. I wonder why she would call him up at such an odd hour. I'm not worried or jealous or anything. I'm just curious.

He scratched his head, gave a sigh, and then finally picked up. "Do you realize what time it is," he said on the phone. "it's 4:37 a.m. You should be sleeping."

I wish I could hear what she said from the other end but not all wishes are granted.