Simply Rebellious

Chapter 5 - A Love Story?

Naina had entered a distant colony from her house. Swati's house was even farther away. She was looking around and was walking backwards when her waist hit something very hard.

"Ouch!"

She turned around, she had hit a parked car's bonnet.

"Chalti gadi se takkar khane se koi marta nahi. Kaho to gadi start kar du fir iske aage kud jaana?" She heard an unfamiliar voice.

Fuming with anger, she turned to face the owner of the voice.

All the anger and frustration Naina had felt a second before evaporated like thin mist. Before her, was standing one of most handsome boys she had ever laid her eyes on. It wouldn't be a lie to say that he was an exact replica of Maine Pyar Kiya's Salman Khan! She felt as if she had been pulled into a trance where the world around her faded and it was only she and the boy, standing alone on a deserted road in the middle of the night.

"Karu? Gadi start karu?" The boy smirked on seeing Naina's eyes transfixed on his face.

His voice brought her back to reality.
She was running away from home and had just met a stranger who was dressed in a night suit but looked oh so charming that she couldn't think straight! She hadn't felt so floored before. It was an altogether different plethora of emotions.

"Hello?" The man waved his hand in front of her bringing her back from her dream world.

"Itni raat ko akele ghum rahi ho, kya baat hai?" The stranger asked her.

"Tumse matlab?" She realized that he was too interfering.

"Waise mera naam Sameer Maheshwari hai." He said.

"Toh?"

"Toh? Toh kya? Kuch nahi." Sameer shrugged his shoulders.

Naina scanned him from top to bottom. She averted her gaze and then began wondering if the dog would have left the street and it would be safe to head to Swati's place when Sameer spoke again.

"Chai peeogi? Pee hi lo lagta hai ghar se bhaag rahi ho. Bhaag bhaag ke thak gayi hogi." Sameer pointed at the late night tea stall next to where he was standing. Naina hadn't actually registered her surroundings till now.

"Tum wall clock kha gaye the jo thodi thodi der me bajte rehte ho?" She asked him.

"Nahi. Tum zaroor roz karele khati hogi jo itni kadwi ho." Sameer grinned.

"Karele nahi tinde." Naina walked upto where he was standing and sat on one of the benches.

She ordered a cup of tea for herself and sat, looking around at the empty street, closed shops and the engulfing silence. Sameer sat next to her, both of them looked at the moon peeping behind the clouds. A mild wind was blowing their hair, gently.

"Mera naam Naina Agarwal hai." Naina said after a pause.

"Toh?" Now it was Sameer's turn to make her feel odd.

"Toh? Toh kya? Kuch nahi." Naina smiled. He noticed the little change of colour of her cheeks.

"Ghar se bhaag rahi ho?" He asked her.

She looked at their feet  and nodded slowly. They looked so perfectly aligned together. His company felt ... so right.

"Par bass kal shaam tak ke liye." Naina added.

"Kyu?" Sameer was confused.

"Tum agar mujhe pagal samjhna chaho toh tum samajh sakte ho par mai aaj kal ki ladkiyon se bahut alag hu -" Naina began telling her story.