Rama

Chapter 3

"Hey Prabhas, need anything?" Ambika scampered up the sidewalk to reach him as fast as she can. I understand her aggravated sense of urgency - even with normal guests, she is always on her toes but this one definitely was causing major jitters since she probably thinks she is trying to handle something out of her league. 

So I understand her. But, funnily, I don't understand myself. For reasons which are purely insane, I couldn't take my eyes off from the tall athletic figure standing in front of me - there has to be some sense to this absolute teenage behavior, I thought, while mentally slapping my wrist to unhinge me from his sight. I noticed he has changed into a round neck Abercrombie & Fitch black T which has been perfectly paired with a pair of grey Adidas training shorts and Navy Blue Solid clogs.  Was he wearing specs at the airport? Hmm, No. But the one thing he is still wearing that had caught my attention in the airport itself was his watch - it had a Prussian blue leather band and the dial looked like a sailing chronograph from a distance. My friends know my interest around men's watches, and if I tell Ambika about this crucial observation, she would laugh it off saying "All you notice in handsome me is how their time is ticking away"!

My remote post-mortem was abrupted suddenly by an immensely deep voice -"Actually I was hoping if you, by any chance, have one spare US to India converter. I think I forgot to put it in my bag."  This is the first time I have heard his natural voice - I think I have heard him a couple of times onscreen though while surfing through channels. But all of it was in Hindi. His English, however, has a distinct British accent - is he the one about whom Divya was educating us one day saying that the actor has a British mother and an Indian father and they got separated after some 30 years of marriage or so? Well, it is impossible to remember details from the millions of gossip enriched sessions that Divya has involuntarily made us participate in. 

I turned a little to quickly check the state of Divya behind me. She was standing still with her eyes fixed on the man behind my head - I hope she was breathing. I couldn't control a suppressed giggle looking at her comatose outline. This is going to be more interesting than what we have signed up for, I thought.

"Sure, sure....Erm...I think I have one... I will bring it right away". Saying this Ambika scooted off in her usual marathon speed and tugged Divya along with her who probably would need some oxygen to try and breathe again. 

"Hi, I am Prabhas. Small world, huh?" He walked a few steps towards me and stretched his hands. 

"Yep, smaller than we thought. Everyone knows who you are, by the way."... "I am Rama, Rama Srikanth. I kind of co-own this place with Ams...I mean Ambika...but as you can see she does all the work." With that, our hands touched each other and they were off within seconds. 

Did I retract too fast? I thought for a second. "Well, that probably was the shortest handshake in the history of mankind." Saying this he laughed out so loud that I could see a curious head momentarily popping out of the front door of Pratiksha which disappeared immediately, even before I could blink. 

While he continued to be amused at an evidently embarrassing situation, I noticed for the first time how immeasurably handsome he was. His sharp features were in no match to the sparkle that his eyes had - but then why were they looking so different in the airport? I guess this has to do with his smile - yes, his smile and that slight tinge of mischief that filled his jet black eyes. He pushed his bangs casually to the back and a shy smile passed my lips unknowingly. Had he ever looked this gorgeous onscreen while romancing with his beautiful co-stars? I don't think so. It is impossible to look this tempting when you have half a ton of makeup to carry along with fake emotions. 

"I know ... I know... That was awkward and funny!" I said while looking at my own feet to hide a possible blush that may have ridiculously made an appearance on my flushed out cheeks."How long do you guys plan to stay here? Is Dehradun the only stop or will you be moving higher up in the mountains?"