Squeaky Clean Soul Connection

Hello Readers,

The idea for this one was from  a thought on difficult it is to find people compatible with yourself and what if you end up finding someone with just the proper dose of the same kind of weird you are!

Hope you like it! 

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I was walking without really bothering about my surroundings. I was far far away from the familiar road I was walking on, the road I take everyday to office. I knew the road so well, Knew the bumps and rocks and potholes like the back of my hand, that I would freely let me mind dwell on other stuff while my years of practice would be called in to guide me through that road. I came across the junction of main roads and immediately, my autopilot was switched off and I was woken up from my reverie. I dully turned my head to check for traffic on both sides before crossing the road, when my eyes saw the old mechanic shop to my right. There were 4 guys working there and one of them had taken a lunch break. Nothing very interesting but somehow, something was not quite right here. I had already turned away and started crossing the road but there was a nagging in my brain that seems to say something just didn’t fit in the scene that I just saw. IT took my boredom induced befuddled brain all of 5 secs to understand.  When I realized what it was that had somehow been a misfit there, I was so astonished that I came to halt! Right there! In the middle of the road! Stupid move! A car swerved to my right and just missed hitting me! The driver swore horribly and made some rude gestures. I raised my hands in apology and gave him a shamefaced look, that immediately cooled him down and he reprimanded me saying I shouldn’t be day dreaming while crossing the road and drove off.

I turned and walked back to the same footpath again because I wanted to analyze what I had witnessed a few seconds back. I had a look at the garage again. I was taken aback because they were all staring at me. They had just seen the stupid thing I did in the middle of the road. I was so embarrassed, I decided I’ll check this out some other time and again did an about turn. I heard someone laughing behind me which made me walk away faster!

I couldn’t sleep that night. The image of what I had seen kept flashing in my mind’s eye. I was wondering about the ‘whys’ and was coming up with countless possible answers! One weirder than the next! I decided I need to talk to this guy and figure out the answer to the ‘why’ else I shall not know peace!

So, the next day, on my way to office, I had a peek at the garage. Sure enough, they were all working. My brain was in tangles! I was finding it hard to decide whether to go talk to him or make my way to office like a coward….As I was contemplating, He lifted his head and shot me a curious look! That helped me with my decision! Coward it is!

By evening, I had made up my mind…I had to woman up and talk to this guy! I was unable to concentrate at work!

I was on my way home that evening  and as I neared the garage, my feet suddenly had a mind of their own and started walking towards the garage! Before I realized what my stupid feet had done, I was standing there, right in front of him!

I was feeling a bit awkward and was mumbling a bit when he gave me a kind smile and asked me to have a seat! I looked around for a chair and found none. He just chuckled and put one of the drums upside down and what had my heart beating so fast was ..he wiped it clean with a cloth before putting a sheet of clean newspaper on it! He then gestured  me to sit. I think that’s when I fell for him…hard!

He offered me a glass of water (which I accepted owing to the fact that I could see a clean water cooler inside). After I had gulped it down (I didn’t realize I was that thirsty!) I felt a bit at ease and started talking about what I have been planning to from the past 36 Hrs..

I told him that I had watched him eat his lunch the other day and found it surprising that a mechanic would be using a fork and knife to eat rotis! And the way he was using them made it clear that he used them well! He immediately lost his friendly disposition and appeared a bit stand-offish.

I realized I had upset him and in my eagerness to sort things out, I blurted out the first thing that came to my stupid stupid brain! “It’s just that I suffer from a mild case of Mysophobia and nothing turns me on more than a neat freak”

I realized I had said that aloud! My mind short circuited and I ran for it! I sent the empty glass in my hand flying and from the ‘Ouch!’ I heard behind me, I guess it had landed on his head!

But before I could cover some considerable distance, he overtook me and forced me to stop. I was so embarrassed, I started blabbering. He calmly asked me to be silent and inquired whether he could do some talking now. I nodded my head. He gave me a reassuring smile and introduced himself. He was not a mechanic as I had assumed, rather an entrepreneur who owned the garage and many other like them. Mechanical work was a passion he had. Hence, instead of just running the business as white collared entrepreneur, He’d spend most of his time in the garage, working with his mechanics.  He was well educated and was single. (He gave me a wolfish grin when he emphasized that!) and yes..He suffers from the very same illness that she herself had! Though his was limited to food. He just could not eat with dirty hands and he being a mechanic, his hands were bound to get dirty. Hence he had always used cutlery to eat anything and everything! That was the reason he was very particular on the cutlery and had a clean set on him always! To prove his point, he removed a pair of fork and knife from his pocket! They were wrapped in a clean napkin!

That did it! I knew he was the one! When one is berated for a quirk one had, when my family had tried everything they could think of to get rid of this oddity I possess,  when everybody made fun of or ridiculed me for being a freak, I finally meet somebody who would not only tolerate my freakiness but could also understand and relate to it!  The Gods have spoken at last!  

The L Word

Hello,
Trying a different genre this time : Romance! A desi one @ that, so gimme some margin on this one  :)
Also, this is the first time I'm putting up a post without a work of art accompanying it! The reason being that I'm experiencing a painter's block right now :P

 ********** Enjoy***********

DAY 1

She

She was day dreaming again. About what…no one has a clue but she….and as the auto slows down in the usual spot of her usual path because of the usual traffic nightmare in her city, she immediately snaps back to reality as if she had an in built alarm clock! That’s because it’s her fav window shopping shop that’s in view. She loves the displays on the 4-5 mannequins they have and starts checking them out one by one…and she mouths…”ugh!…..no!….not bad!….kinda nice….and …decent! “  and after she checks out the last one,  her eyes automatically hovers to the spot next to it expecting another mannequin but is surprised to see a guy there and that too watching her intently!

He

He was standing on the footpath waiting for his ‘always-late-never-sorry’ friend to pick him up. He is irritated and hungry, so is not the least bit interested in the good looking chicks that are passing by him chatting non-stop.  Some clumsy woman bumps into him and gives him a withering look as if it’s his fault!
He ignores her and turns towards the road and notices the traffic slowing down and thinks ‘Dear Lord! My late friend is sure gonna be later!’ It’s then that he notices a girl in one of the autos that has slowed down. She is checking out something with a lot of concentration. He turns to see what that is which has captured her attention and finds the mannequins beside him. He cannot peel his eyes off her as she mouths something looking at them. He doesn’t try to lip read … he just stares at her moving lips, thinking…so cute!
Before he can process anything else, her eyes are on him and they widen in surprise. His first impulse is to look away but somehow…he just can’t do that. And ends up giving her a goofy lopsided grin.


She

She was surprised to find a guy staring at her but as soon as he grinned, she snapped out of it and immediately turned her head so that she was directly looking ahead. She pretended she found the auto driver’s head very interesting. But at that very moment, the snail like pace of the traffic also stopped and the auto dint move an inch forward and she was still in his line of sight. This pissed her off more than anything. She tried to peek at him through the corner of her eye and saw that he was still looking at her and she heard a chuckle from him. Mortified, she turns to the other side and pretends she is extremely interested in the cheesy slogan written behind another auto.


He

He saw that the moment he grinned, she quickly turned away.  As luck could have it, the traffic came to a halt just then and he could continue to look at her as long as he pleased (or as long as the jam let him). He could see she was a bit annoyed that the auto wasn’t moving ahead.  She then had a look at him sneakily through the corner of her eye. He just couldn’t resist a chuckle and felt rewarded when she blushed a deep pink and turned her head the other way.

She

She was wondering how long she should stare at the backside of an auto that declared “Paa nahi sakthe tho kya hua? Chah tho sakthe hai” under a photo of the current bollywood numero uno Starlet! Then she realized that the traffic started moving. Before she knew what she was doing, her head snapped to the other side and she had a look at the guy before the auto zoomed away. She was wondering why she did that for a few seconds before resuming her day dreaming pass time. But this time, the guy crept into her day dreaming episode!
She smiled to herself as she was getting down from the auto thinking the guy was pretty cute even with a stubble that was a couple of days old.


He

He was unusually silent on the ride to office. He still couldn’t think of anything else but the parting glance she had given him. His friend was getting a bit edgy thinking  he was annoyed and that a time bomb was ticking at his backseat that would blast any second now! He couldn’t take it anymore and turned around and opening his helmet’s visor said he was sorry for being late and could he please talk! This made our lover boy laugh out so loudly, a couple of girls who were waiting for the signal to turn green beside them jumped off their skins and gave him a reproachful look thorough their helmets! He gave the girls a ‘I’m-sorry-dint-mean-to-scare’ look and to his friend said ‘Chill dude! It’s not your usual tardiness that has rendered me silent but…err…well…’


DAY 2
She

She was in the auto the next day and was totally excited for reasons she couldn’t understand and was not interested in her usual pastime of daydreaming. Instead, she was eagerly waiting to glance at her favourite shop but not to look at the merchandise at all. When the auto neared the shop, she felt her heart go haywire with anticipation but he was nowhere to be seen. She was leaning out of the auto, desperately checking but he was not in the vicinity of the shop.  Disappointed, she sat back and with a grumpy expression.

He

He wanted to know if she was interested in him at all before he wished to proceed with his plan. So, he decided to test her the next day. He deliberately stood on the other side of the road just opposite to the shop and was inconspicuous with his hood over his head. He was not even sure if she would come in the same route. Just when he was thinking that the entire thing was kinda stupid and he may never see her again, fate contradicted him and voila! She was right there! And the icing on the cake was she was desperately searching for something…no somebody…no…him! He felt his heart swell in his chest! The look of disappointment on her face at not finding him…Priceless! He decided it was time to proceed with the plan!

Day 3

She

She was confused. She had wasted a better part of yesterday thinking about him. She had lectured herself not to waste time thinking about a total stranger she had happened to glance one day! But her mind just wouldn’t listen and she was again thinking about him. Intricate details she was surprised her mind had registered from the fleeting glance she had given him. Apart from how tall he was and  broad shouldered, she could remember details like the huge watch he wore that complimented him and his eyes! Deep brown and smiling eyes and the hint of dimples on his cheeks as he had given her a grin! Sigh! She was not that hopeful when she was in the auto that day and  when she was nearing the shop was experiencing both elation and disappointment mixed together with a heavy dose of craziness! He’s there! Right there! Next to the 4th mannequin! She sees him waving at her and gestures her to stop, which without thinking she does! She tells the auto driver to wait for 5 mins and gets down and shyly looks up at him! Wow! He’s taller than she had thought!

He

He was waiting for her near the shop. He had dressed with care today. He had worn the white shirt that everyone said looks good on him. He was clean shaven and presentable. He had even got a couple of admiring glances from a few girls passing by him and he was sure one of them had winked at him! Well..It did boost his confidence a bit and though he was not that into praying, he offered a quick prayer to God asking him to help in whatever way necessary for this to succeed. That’s when he saw her. He hesitates for a moment but when he sees her face light up on seeing him, he immediately waves at her and gestures her to stop. To his unbelievable eyes, she does!! He cant believe that she’s getting down from the auto..for him! He cant believe she’s standing in front of him! He cant believe she’s giving him a shy smile! He thinks she is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen and hopes he doesn’t goof up!

And thus begins a love story. How does it end? Well, the changer of seasons will let you know.