"9:30 pm shift?" the driver asked.
I nodded & boarded in my company's bus.
It was my first night shift at my company and after spending the entire day in numerous unsuccessful attempts of sleeping before finally giving it up, I decided to have a light dinner and leave for my 'day' at work.
I scanned the entire bus for some suitable seat which will keep me from being disturbed by other employees at the bus as well as will enable me to get some spectacular view of the outside. Although many of the window seats were vacant, I found the seat adjacent to the driver more suitable for me. It may sound a bit strange, but i always like the isolation which it provides whenever i would be traveling by such buses for my day shifts as well.
'Headphones are the best friends of human beings', a novice philosopher in me thought while plugging in the headphones of my mobile. It was nearly 9 pm, & i let the music player to decide which songs to play. You actually love it when you do not create any playlist and the songs which are randomly played one after another leave you pleasantly surprised. The same case happened this time when a variety of songs from 'Locha-e-ulfat' to 'Taanke zaanke' started playing and I looked forward to what this first night shift had in store for me.
Some minutes passed and the driver suddenly applied break. Due to inertia I was thrown forward with some force which disturbed my heavenly feeling i felt while listening to the music. I realized some more employees have boarded in the bus and we will soon be reaching our company. I checked time, it was 9:22 pm. When I looked up, something caught my eyes. It was something in the rear-view mirror of the bus. Somebody was sitting on the first seat, just behind the driver, the reflection of whom was visible from the mirror which was just in front of me. I could see a face, oh not only face, a so much beautiful, rather strikingly, undoubtedly, heavenly or whatever you say, such type of beautiful face was looking at me from this mirror. I am not sure whether she was looking at me or not.. but i could sense my eyes being kidnapped by hers. She appeared like a goddess whose glowing beauty caused the bus to become a heavenly place.. 'Dil yeh mera, bus me nahi..' the song started playing in my mobile.. 'What a timing yaar..' I thought to myself. Really my mind was thinking something out of the world.. Each of the line from the lyrics seemed perfect for the situation. and I wanted it to go on like this till the end of the world.
"Aapko utrna nahi kya?" the driver asked me. It brought my senses back. That girl had already got down as we had reached our company and only I was left in the bus. I rushed to the outside & struggled to find her. But alas, she had disappeared in the crowd.
I found myself moving towards my floor of one of the buildings of our company where my teammates were waiting for me. As this was my first night shift, they were instructed for taking care of me in case i feel sleepy. 'Someone has stolen my sleep' I wanted to say.. but it was of no use. I decided to concentrate on my work instead.
It went on for good 4 hours. I was not feeling much sleepy but thought to take the liberty to go out by saying that i am feeling so. I told my teammates that i am going for a walk and will return as soon as possible. They agreed.
I came out. Our company has a wonderful campus, enough to spend your boring days & nights, too. I decided to explore it this night and within a few minutes I surprisingly found the same girl sitting on a bench, all alone. Although I am a law abiding citizen who restricts himself from being mean by deliberately trying to talk to unknown, especially beautiful girls; i decided to make exception this time. I went to her.
'Hi..' i said with a (killer) smile.
'Hi.. ' she said & smiled back. I was surprised. I hadn't expected her such a nice reply from her. Maybe she was also attracted towards me by whatever she-would-have-seen-through-that rear view mirror. They say whenever you fall in love, everything seems surprising. Here God had decided to explore me to all the surprises of my life in my first night shift itself. If such incidents were gonna happen, i would rather prefer to spend my entire professional life doing night shifts.. Professional life as well as Love life.. both were blossoming at that night. what a combination yaar...
"Hey what are you thinking, come sit here.. " she said. i felt reluctant to sit beside her but i found myself already doing so.
"Your name?" I tried to start a formal conversation.
"Ishita" she said, again with a smile, " Yours?"
"Ishant" I said.
"Oh, made for each other.." I was surprised once again. No doubt i thought the same thing but I am sure nobody will say such things in the first meeting itself. Still, I let the destiny to give me more surprises. I loved this first night.
"You belong to which section?" I asked, taking the conversation further.
"KPO" she said, " and you must be from IT"
"How do you know?" I asked.
"You look like an IT guy."
"Like?" I was curious.
"You look cute, which I like about IT guyz"
That made me blush. "Oh blushing makes you more attractive, dude.. I must say I have fallen for you."
I felt as if I was on cloud 9. Nobody had ever praised me like this. Everything was happening so fast that I couldn't control myself.
"Even I have started liking you Ishita.. The moment I saw you in the bus, the world became more beautiful. I want to explore this beautiful world with you. Will you be my girlfriend?"
"Oh it's too early to say so, dear.. Will decide it after some time. Wanna try some?" she handed me the bottle of sprite. I was going to decline, but I realized that she had already had some of it. I didn't want to loose the opportunity to share the bottle. Quite romantic..
I took the bottle and brought it closer to my mouth. Suddenly I found my cell ringing.
"Where are you?" my teammate was asking.
"Yea just coming" I said and cut the call. I turned to Ishita, 'Sorry yaar, my teammates are calling, I have to go.."
"Hey, what is your full name, dear.. I will ping you via our communicator." she asked.
"Ishant Malhotra" I said while leaving.
I thought i will again get a chance to meet her that night. But unfortunately i was struck with heavy work that even though i tried to make excuses to my teammates, i couldn't get out alone. Once when I got out with two of my teammates for tea, i found Ishita was not there at the bench. Maybe she had waited long enough before leaving. I cursed myself for not taking her number or not even asking her surname. I had to wait for her message now.
The whole night went in thinking about her. In the morning I got a message on our internal communicator, from Ishita Sharma, 'Oh, her surname is Sharma, then..' I thought to myself & started reading the message.
"Hi.. hope you remember me.. This is the same girl with whom you were flirting last night. So Mr. Romeo, for your kind information, there is nothing of that sort from my side. Do you remember I had offered you sprite last night? It was just a bottle of sprite with Vodka filled in it. I am sure you must be aware that vodka looks so similar to sprite that one can actually not make a difference in between the two. i was smart enough to bring that bottle in my bag as I knew i would be bored on my first night shift. Then I met you & tried to make fun of you. Thanks to you, my first night shift became memorable. hoping to see you again..
With so much love...
Yours
Ishita"
I didn't know how to respond. Anyhow it was my time to leave the office. I was not actually heartbroken but yes, my love at this first night shift became memorable because of her. I cursed myself for being so foolish ( & so illiterate about vodka, too). I boarded in the bus of my route & went to the same seat as last night. I looked at the same rear view mirror. She was there, looking at me, with a naughty smile on her face. I still felt that I may have some hopes. I continued looking at her and at the background, I could sense the same song being played,
"Dil yeh mera, bus me nahi;
Pehle kabhi, aisa hota tha nahi..
Tu hi bata, is dil ka main,
ab kya karu.."
