[a desi bus romance] Vijay and Nila have only one thing in common - they take the same bus at the same time everyday. What if this mere commonality steers their life into a whirlpool of uninvited feelings, wholesome conversations and unexpected conn...
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The day after Nila's interaction with him, he'd stood next to her with his obnoxiously beautiful face and his angled jaws, deftly carrying his gym bag in one hand and his backpack on his shoulders. She was foolish enough to expect an apology from him for being rude but nothing came. Of course.
Now that she had made an enemy out of him, Nila could identify him from any corner of the bus. And that's how she discovered that they shared the same bus in the afternoons as well, confirming her suspicions of him being a college student. Since he didn't get down at her stop, there was no chance that they belonged to the same college. So far, she had gathered only these crumbs about him but for some reason, there was a stubborn itch inside her to know more. She wanted to excavate his deepest darkest secrets hiding between his well-put appearance. This strange curiosity was unusual for Nila. She decided not to encourage it.
Nila was exhausted today. Sanjay hadn't come to college. Lilly slept in most of the classes and Maya was sneaking her Kindle between her notebook. The absence of Sanjay and his entertaining nonsense plus a series of continuous lectures made Nila want to jump off the building. She couldn't wait to go home to her bed. The only highlight of her day was that Maya had bought her a new plant to keep in her new flat. Maya's mother had already potted it in a beautiful hand-painted flowerpot. It wasn't exactly her style but it was the thought and the plant that mattered.
She was in the bus with the plant in one hand and the other tightly gripping the railing. Nila bit her teeth as someone pushed her from behind, sending her crashing against the hard plastic ridges of the seat. She tightened her hold on the plant, shielding it with her body. If the plant got crushed, she would never forgive herself.
The bus conductor moved through the crowd, demanding money for tickets. Nila looked around cluelessly, wondering how she was going to take the change out of her bag with a plant in her hand. She considered giving it to the people seated but the man before her was asleep. How he was sleeping through all the ruckus in the bus was beyond her. Nila knew she was fucked when she heard the bus conductor blast someone for giving a hundred rupee note to purchase an eleven rupee ticket.
She bit her lip and tried shifting the plant to her hip but the old lady next to her gave her no space. Nila blew out a breath of frustration.
"I can get you a ticket," a voice said. She whipped her neck to the side to lock eyes with a warm brown pair of eyes. It was the douchebag, or as she fondly liked to call him – DB. His voice was low and deep, similar to thunder teasing the sky before it put on its main show. She couldn't help but feel the tremor travel down her spine. Nila wondered how she hadn't noticed him at all.
"Um, no thanks," she squeaked and then cleared her throat to repeat, "No, thank you."
His expression didn't change. It was as if he had expected this answer from her. God, was she so predictable? Or was her pride betraying her and waving its bright flag at him?
