Anamika woke up perplexed! The previous night was sleepless. Full of nightmares. She shuddered on thinking of the fall off the cliff, in her car. The dense forest that haunted her dreams, was something she hated to relive! But the picture of Saurabh, was just not willing to leave her sight! It had been over a year since she met him. But his thoughts in any form bothered her deeply.

She got up, and splashed some cold water on her face! Got back and checked her watch. It was still 2 o’clock in the night. Three more hours for her to wake up and go for a jog! She felt restless to go back to sleep. Coming into the living room, she sat next to the window. The couch was lit by the street lamp outside. The yellow-orange hue of the light made her feel warm! Going back to sleep was no option though. She took out her diary and began scribbling into it. Half an hour of writing to vent out her feelings was more than enough. She felt lighter. The sleep was returning into her tired eyelids.

The alarm tune of Anamika’s latest favorite song woke her up. 5:00am! Today, without lazily snoozing it a single time, she sprang up in a minute! Getting ready, she set out for the much awaited jog! It gave her more space to think!

Walking back home, she finally decided to give this date a try! The thought that nagged her for a few days had to be kept aside. She let a sigh of relief on finally having down to a decision!

She consulted a few friends to share a few tips for the so called ‘date’. A new male friend was more than happy to help her out with it. After a lot of discussion and thinking that went down with it; it was decided that she will be as normally and casually dressed as possible. Retaining the ‘me’ factor in her! She decided to wear semi-trad, her favorite attire for the date! Leave her hair open after a shower. She believed that the wet long hair looked pretty, and thanked herself for not getting a short boy-cut done a month ago! Looking into her reflection, she wondered what the mirror showed was good for this date! Only to realise later, it certainly was!

After having counted days and hours, the long awaited date was a few minutes away! Anamika had a queer feeling in her stomach. Butterflies created a havoc inside! Excitement and nervousness mixed up! Venue was decided to be a 5 star hotel’s Lounge. She hoped for it all to turn out well! She wondered if Saurabh would find out about that meeting with a random guy named, Varun! His violent and possessive nature scared her. But she had put him behind in time, and was pretty composed in the new life, which she had spun around her! Where Saurabh found no particular place, besides her heart!

During all of this daydreaming, she realised she was very late, as per Varun’s forecast! She gathered a few excuses which she had kept handy!

“I was daydreaming about this date!”, would have definitely sounded lame and unreal!

Varun reached before time, to pick her up. She had kept him waiting for more than half an hour! Anamika never liked to keep anyone waiting for her. Especially after all the drama she had faced during Saurabh’s era!

Varun welcomed her with a warm smile! He smirked at her, pointing at the watch. He made Anamika feel at home in his car, as he started conversing with her in his baritone. She did not really pay much attention to what he said, and melted inside the chair listening to his honey smooth voice! The very feel of this happening kept her numb and dumbfounded. She spoke very little.

On their way towards the venue, he showed her the CD’s he had got for her. She felt it was very thoughtful of him to remember her likes. Some upbeat English music was playing in his car. He swayed his head along with the beats of the music. Was definitely marked a full in her ‘rhythm’ score. Sense of style marked him high as well, a casual yet trendy blue shirt, with sleeves folded up. A sparkling shiny brown watch adorned his wrist, at the end of his well built forearms! A wonderful musk fragrance filled up the air in the car!

Anamika felt surreal to have been sitting there with him in such an environment!

Her thoughts were interrupted by him, “Are you still here? Or planning to run away?”

“Not yet!”, she smirked at him.

[…to be continued]