Once Upon A Hullabaloo!

CHAPTER 5

A loud buzz slashed through my dreamy slumber and I banged my side table in a desperate attempt to snooze off the alarm. It continued to screech mercilessly until I finally caught hold of that annoying invention called mobile phone. Smudging my eyes open, I faced the dead black screen of my phone ironic to the sound that still chose to shriek in the silence of my apartment. 

I rolled over to check the wall clock striking three in the morning as I realized that it was my doorbell ringing. Throwing the blanket over, I slipped my feet into the hello-kitty soft slippers and dragged myself to the drawing room. I tugged at the security chain to confirm it's place before opening the door half way. 

He stood there with his hands shoved in the denim jeans pockets and a familiar grin on his face. The white linen shirt did justice to his toned physique. Even my sleepy self couldn't miss out on his appealing mop of hair dishevelled just like the other day with a few strands falling over his forehead, adding to his charm.

"Kshitij?" I whispered in a sleepy, croaked voice fiddling with the chain to let him in.

Well, this was the first time I was talking to him since that day at the coffee shop. Of-course my mirror-practices to come up with the right words to justify my situation and my desperate choices with an imaginary him were not counted. But now that he was here, it was a difficult to recollect that poorly practised speech at three in the morning.

"You have nice pajama-suit there." He winked and walked past me to enter the house.

I looked down at my white pajama with blue polka dots and a full-sleeve blue tee that read~ Wanted- Prince Charming! by the picture of a frog-prince.

"Thanks?" I murmured pushing the hair-locks behind my ears, "What are you doing here?"

He plopped on the sofa and locked his arms behind his head giving a knowing smirk, "By the way, you should have used the peep-hole in your door before opening it at this hour in the night. Anyway, pack your bags. We are leaving for Ahemdabad. Now!"

"We have a train to catch in the evening today." I yawned secretly realizing how casual I could be about my safety when I'm sleepy.

The messages and technicalities were whole & sole managed by my beans, not giving me any chance to talk to him since they absolutely didn't want me to back out from this. Frankly speaking, I did have an itch to call this guy-in-my-apartment-at-three up and cancel on the thing but I was missing on something very essential- contact information! Yep, my beans are pretty smart that way.

"I know." He shrugged.

 I frowned at him, "So what happened?"

Of-course I expected this almost stranger to explain his arrival at my place at such an odd hour. This thing was getting scarier by every passing second. I was an alone woman in the apartment with this random guy. For all I know, he was a maniac who might just pull out a dagger to plunge it in my guts at any moment now. He agreed to such a weird idea without any hesitation- I might be repeating myself but there had to be something highly wrong with such a guy!

"I had to pee!" He broke my chain of thoughts.

"What?" I walked upto the bean-bag lying on the floor and dumped myself on it.

"I was sleeping and I got up to pee. I couldn't help but admire the beautiful dark sky lighted up with a moon and faded stars from the balcony. I had this unignorable urge to enjoy a less polluted and building-free version of this infinitely stretching grandeur." The excitement was pretty evident in his eyes. "And what could be better than a long drive to another state?!"

"The summary is that your problem of nocturia leads us to embark upon a spontaneous trip to Gujarat." I arched an eyebrow at him.

"If you try harder, I'm sure you can put that into better words." He got up from his comfortable position, "C'mon, I want to leave as soon as possible."