MELBOURNE CBD

Welcome to the city, Mam,' Anmol Barik said, looking at me in the rear view mirror and smiling.

I looked around. Unlike the places we crossed to reach our destination, the city was full of people and buildings. There were trams and buses everywhere. It was quite early in the morning, yet I could see a lot of people on the roads.

'So, this is CBD, is it?' I inquired.

'Yes, Mam, and you are going to love it,' Anmol Barik said with pride.

I was too tired to love the place then, but I must tell you that I did fall in love with it eventually. It is a comforting place----as reassuring as a warm cup of coffee on an icy--cold evening. It had a special place in my heart, and I would cherish every moment spent there for the rest of my life.

I was free that day and had to join the rest of the team at work the next day. We parked outside the hotel, and Anmol helped me carry my luggage. I read the name of the hotel just before entering it--- Punthill Apartment Hotel, Flinders Street. I was given a card for my apartment, and a valet took my luggage upstairs to the fifth floor.

The red-haired valet and I reached the fifth floor. I placed my white key card on the reader, and the door of room number 350 opened. We walked into a spacious living room. A brown three-seater leather couch and a beautiful wooden centre table made the room look comfortable and cosy. In front of the sofa were two big glass windows with an incredible view of the calm Yarra river. There was a large TV and a dining table as well as a few abstract paintings.

It looked pleasant and quite. As we moved towards the bedroom, I felt a wave of tiredness wash over me. Signalling the valet to leave the bags in the corner, I sat heavily on the white linen bedcover. As soon as he left the room, I flopped back on the cosy bed. I cannot recall anything after that because the last thing I know is that I had crashed with my face at an awkward angle on the pillow and my legs dangling under the bed.

I woke up with a Jolt after a bad dream. I saw myself hanging from a parachute as there was a problem with the plane I was in. The flight attendants asked us all to fold our legs, but as soon as I did so, my seat flew into the sky, and I was dropping freely. When I woke up, I was still dressed in the same clothes which I had put on the previous morning and I was sweating profusely after the nightmare. I was in dire need of a shower. I got up from the bed and wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth.

Behind the headboard was a wall, and on it was a painting of a flower which at first glance looked like a heart to me. This is the thing with the human brain---- it shows you what you want to see, everywhere. Excited about the next many days to come, all I could see was hearts.

I walked up to the window and thought about how life had planned everything for me: my meeting with Piyush, his working at my office, my coming to Melbourne with him. Ideally, I should have come to Australia with a plan, but I had not. Why? Because I had recently learnt that you do not always need a plan. Sometimes all you need is a little trust. Trust what life offers you, take a deep breath and let go of all your inhibitions. Once you do that, life presents to you all the miracles it is capable of.

This was precisely what I was going to do: relex and let life take control of itself.

By 6 p.m., I had taken the much-needed shower, changed into a fresh set of clothes and made a call to my mother who was only concerned about me and my food which I had or hadn't eaten. 'I have had some sandwiches , Ma . . .' I assured her, and started describing the view from my window. My mother, however, was stuck at the word sandwiches'. For the next five minutes, she told me how careless my eating habits were. She only dropped the topic when I promised that I would eat something more substantial after the call. After about half an hour, there was a knock at the door. By then, I was sitting in front of the TV stuffing my mouth with a dark chocolate cake. The door opened, and I saw my boss standing there--- it was Rajbir.

'Sir . . . ' I said, which sounded more like a 'fur' with all the food stuffed in my mouth. Just then some crumbs from the cake also decided to fall from my mouth and land on the cream carpet. I stood there embarrassed.

' I see you have made yourself comfortable already, haven't you?' his tone was sarcastic. I did not make any attempt to say anything more. Thankfully, leaving me in the company of food, Rajbir walked back towards his room without saying anything more.

Later that evening, Rajbir and I sat at the dining table facing each other. He looked relaxed in his Clothes. I fiddled with a piece of decoration, a white and blue miniature sand clock, waiting for him to begin a conversation.

'So, how was your flight?' he finally asked me, taking his eyes off his phone.

'It was good, thanks,' I replied. There was nothing more to add.

His phone rang. The team had planned to go out and eat Italian food for dinner that evening. We got up to get dressed.

' Let's go, Rajbir said as soon as I got ready for the dinner. I was dressed in a floral dress which I bought from a shopping mall in pune. I locked the door behind me. Piyush and his friend, whose name was Martin, came out of their room. They were staying next door to us.

I eyed Piyush. He was dressed in a printed shirt and black jeans, his beared enhances his face and he looked charming, carefree and relaxed. Martin was chatting animatedly next to him. I do not recall much of what he said to me when we met as I had eyes only for Piyush.

Then Piyush extended his hand to greet me. 'How was the flight?' he asked me casually as I placed my hand in his. His hard palms touched mine soft palms and for the first time it felt like something had happened that went beyond words. I froze at the contract. I bet he noticed it because I saw his blush. Why would he blush at a touch from you? Look at him and look at you. He is perfect while you are anything but perfect for him-----I came back to my senses exactly when I felt Rajbir's eyes on me. I was still holding Piyush's hand. I quickly withdrew it, and we all walked out. That touch had, however, made me even more conscious of Piyush. As I walked with him next to me, I could feel him.

At the restaurant, I was quiet during most of the dinner, mainly because I was very conscious of Rajbir's attentiveness towards my actions. Somehow, he caught me every time I looked at Piyush and raised his eyebrows. His reaction made me very nervous. I dropped everything which came into contact with my hands. Piyush was his usual chirpy self. He laughed at every joke Pihu made. His closeness with Pihu added to my discomfort, and I was unable to eat properly.

'You have hardly eaten' Martin commented

on my barely touched plate, and I blamed my lack of appetite on jet lag.

Finally, Rajbir paid the bill. Three meals every day were to be paid by the company for every employee, and that dinner went on the same account.

All of us headed back to the hotel, and we quickly dispersed into our rooms as it was quite late by then. I changed my clothes into my night suit and came into my bed and I do not remember when I fell asleep looking at the book which I had started reading on the plane. Its cover had a picture of a very funny-looking Godman, and I drifted into my past, recalling my tryst with a Godman in India.