A Cold Morning

"Are you thinking about your girlfriend, big brother," a 10-year-old boy placed a plate of hot steaming dosa along with coconut dip sauce as he asked the person who was in a daze as he looked at the crowd on the street.

Aditya snapped back from his reverie as he knocked the head of the boy playfully as he smiled," you did not start wearing pants yet acting as if you are grown, wait for five more years before you talk about girls with me."

This kid who everyone called as 'Chintu' helped his mom sell breakfast in a roadside stall every morning in the street where the garage where Aditya worked was situated. Aditya had been eating at this place ever since he had started living here. The food was tasty and cheap. So, he developed a good rapport with this kid who started addressing him as a big brother. He was a very sharp kid who always stayed happy even if he had to work hard every day. This attribute of his was appreciated by Aditya very much.

"Don't you usually go to school by this time, what happened today?" Aditya asked as he dug in his dosa with relish, he was very hungry today due to last night's events.

"Big brother, you are so dumb, today is Sunday," Chintu laughed loudly as he pointed at Aditya with his finger. The other customers also looked at Aditya and smiled when they heard Chintu's words. Everyone was almost regular customers here who saw each other's faces every morning, so they at least recognized each other. Aditya lowered his head with mild embarrassment as he concentrated on his food. Since he started working in the garage, weekdays or weekends did not mean anything to him, so he didn't keep track of days of the week.

"Chintu, what did I say about mocking others, apologize immediately," His mother who was busy making dosas and other items chided her son.

"It's okay aunt," Aditya smiled at the lady as he said," it's nothing, really, he is just a small kid." he didn't really mind.

"Learn from your big brother, you shouldn't always pick on other's faults. Also, if someone points out your flaws, you need to learn to accept them without bearing any grudge on the other person." Chintu's mother utilized this opportunity to teach her son.

Aditya's pupils trembled when he heard these words as his mother used to say these same words to him when he was small. Aditya used to tease and taunt Kranthi's physique when they were in middle school very much. But after Aditya's mother saw this once, she said these very same words. Afterwards, Aditya reflected on his mistakes and later befriended Kranthi and even defended him when other's bullied him in school. Now hearing a woman, so busy and hardworking that she was sweating profusely even in this chilly morning, taking time off to educate her son, Aditya felt his heart touched at the marvel that is 'mother'.

"Sorry, Big brother," Chintu said in a low voice as he placed a cup of green sauce in his plate. Aditya smiled as he rubbed the small kid's head and gave a cherry-flavoured lollipop to him which he accepted with a bright smile.

"Adi, that's mine," a crying sound was heard in his mind as Aditya rolled his eyes and said," it's okay I will buy another."

Aditya bought an extra parcel of Idli (fermented steamed rice cake) as it is easily digestible for Hamsa who was suffering from fever. He also bought some women clothes and flip flops for her though he was not sure about her sizes. He did carry her a distance of 200 m last night so he tried to 'calculate' her sizes and brought the clothes. Last night Dr Saanvi had changed the wet clothes of Hamsa and used his spare clothes as there was no other option. She told that she would try to bring some clothes this morning but Aditya also bought just in case. He also bought a set of daily utilities like toothbrush, towel, milk bread, honey etc.

For Aditya, making money became very simple as long as he could spend them immediately. Because he never knew when the balance in his bank account would suddenly turn into a big zero as in the case with his parents.

Aditya was sure that 'the organization' which took away his parents operated at a very large scale that there was a very minute possibility that he would be in 24-hour surveillance and monitoring but still he did not want to take chances with his safety. If he showed that he could do complex programming like eating peanuts, it wouldn't be surprising if he disappeared one fine morning. So he had to forcefully control both earning huge amounts of money and showing off any abnormal skills.

"Maybe I should turn all my earnings into hard cash or even gold," Aditya thought as he climbed the stairs to his room. In that case, he could have a minimum guarantee. Was he being paranoid? Aditya shrugged as he placed the food parcel and utilities on the table. He took a look at the 'sleeping beauty' to see that she was sleeping peacefully. He grabbed his towel and dove into the bathroom for his bath humming a kid song. These past few days of Tya's waking call of kid songs has finally started to show it's influence.

Water, water everywhere

We're gonna get wet

Won't you come along on the river ride ♪♪♪

Water, water everywhere

We're gonna get wet

Watch us get tossed by the tide ♫ ♫ ♫

"Good singing, Adi,"

"Thank you."

While Aditya was bathing, the woman who was sleeping woke up with a jolt as she looked around. Hamsa did not know where she was? How did she get here? Who kidnapped her? All she remembered was the scene where five gangsters had dragged her forcefully into a car and she had fainted after that. She looked at the worn-out pale yellow painted wall and the old furniture in the room. Her heart trembled when she heard the sprinkling sounds of water from the bathroom.

She looked at the laptop on the table which had its front camera blocked with a black tape and a very cheap mobile phone which seemed to have no other function except calling. She noticed the food parcel, bread packets on the table. A male scent slipped into her nose as she noticed that it was emanating from the bed that she was sleeping on. Her heart froze she noticed that she was wearing new clothes as she reached her trembling hand towards downwards and felt around. She was a doctor herself so she knew what to expect from her examination. After some time, her violently beating heart slowly calmed down.

She smelled anti-septic liquid and ointment that a doctor uses for treating superficial bruises as she sniffed around. She wanted to get up and escape but a question struck the softest spot in her heart as tears started rolling down. Where should she go? Her own foster parents pushed her into the abyss for their profits without a second thought. Her body started trembling as a nauseating feeling emerged when she remembered last night events. Sweat started pouring down her forehead as she curled in the bed as if she wanted nothing more than to disappear from this world. She remembered her dead parents and wished that they accompanied her at this time.

A click sound was heard along with a wood scraping sound produced when an old door was pulled, was heard as Aditya came out of the bathroom with only his towel on. His bare upper body was thin with clearly defined lean muscle frame visible while his wet hair bangs stuck to his face. Droplets of water could still be seen on some parts of his body as he shivered when the cold wind blew when he came out.

Aditya did not notice that the woman who occupied his bed last night was looking at him in a daze as her crying stopped. He continued to hum his song as he took a spare towel to wipe his hair dry as his hips moved to the tune of his song. He came up to his laptop and checked the freelance programming site if there were any easy codes which he could finish before going downstairs to work in the garage. Even though he was operating with a single hand while the other hand dried his hair, the speed of his typing was phenomenal. Suddenly he felt that someone was watching him as he turned around to see a pair of teary eyes gazing at him.

Aditya stood there like a statue when he saw that Hamsa was awake leaving his mouth wide open not knowing what to do. After some time he reached out to a shirt within his arm range and ran outside like he was escaping for his life. It's weird how a human mind works, when you see a person/ animal running away from you, it somehow emboldens you as if you are strong. This was what happened to Hamsa when she saw Aditya running away from the room. At first, Hamsa wanted nothing but to run away from this room or at least shout loudly but when she saw Aditya running away, her trembling heart actually steadied as she felt secure and a little confident.

Aditya steadied himself as he patted his back as he wore his t-shirt. He calmed down as he thought to himself,' Why did I run away? This is my room, I saved her yesterday, I got her treated, Adi there is no need for you to be afraid, go and face her boldly.'

With these thoughts in mind, Aditya entered into the room but when he saw that Hamsa started trembling when she saw him, all his courage was swept away as he stuttered," the… there is nothing to fear, every...everything is alright, I… I saved you la..last night, there is food and other utilities on the ta.. table for you, I… I have to go for work, take rest, the doctor will come in an hour, after that yo...you can go wherever you want." Aditya escaped again as he completed his monologue with interruptions. He grabbed onto his mechanic clothes while on his way out.

Aditya actually never had this problem with a woman before but when he saw Hamsa eyes which were filled with terror, fear and despair, he somehow felt like treating her delicately like a fragile glass structure which might break at any moment, so that she was not hurt.

He actually wanted to go to work after Dr Saavni came and when Hamsa decided what to do but now he could only start work early today as he grumpily went downstairs.

Hamsa once again experienced the feeling of having control over the situation when she saw Aditya stuttering and escaping again. It was like a small ray of light had seeped through the cracks of her broken heart when she heard that Aditya had saved her and even got her treated. She pursed her lips tightly as tears started to flow again except it was more like venting rather than actual grief.

"Adi, what's special today?" Chakri came and asked as he saw Aditya wearing the mechanic clothes early in the morning. Aditya had become the prodigy of their shop since he demonstrated the perfect dismantling and assembling of an old 1.2 L K series engine that Aditya had replaced previously where Kranthi tricked into posing for his social media post.

Even their Boss Ramlal was impressed with Aditya's prowess that he promised him that he would get him trained in dealing with High-end cars also. Aditya was also happy when he heard this as those high-end cars were where his true passion lied.

"Don't ask," Aditya grumbled moodily as he picked up a spark plug boot pliers and dove under the car engine hood to start the repairs he was fond of. When you come earlier than others, you get to choose your repairs.

After an hour, when Aditya was welding a damaged car exterior with his welding helmet on, he heard Chakri's startled voice, "Who is that beautiful goddess?"

Aditya lifted his helmet as he saw a Dr Saanvi standing at the entrance of their garage as she looked at him with a small smile on her face.