[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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Nila was running late. She wondered why she chose to trust the bus driver to reach Chennai on time when he had rarely ever done so. It was a pain to take an auto to her flat, haul her luggage in and then quickly swap her clothes to presentable ones and take an auto to the field where the State Sports meet was taking place. When she rung Krish, everything felt like déjà vu. He picked up her call but all she could hear was 'where', 'race' and 'starting' but they were enough to make her rush towards the arena. Thank God Krish was tall as a tree because she spotted him immediately in the crowd. Nila navigated through the crowd and reached him.
"Hi!" she said.
"Nila! Oh my—you like shit. What the fuck happened to you?" he said and someone smacked his arm. It was Farah.
"You can't say that to a woman. She's just... tired and looks like she's mistaken black eye shadow for eye cream," she said, studying Nila. Farah wore a denim skirt with a slit and a pale-yellow blouse. A blue scarf hung loosely over her shoulders.
Krish made a face. "Somehow that sounds worse."
Nila simply laughed and hugged both of them. "I'm so happy to see you all!"
"Says the one who wouldn't pick up our calls," Farah muttered.
"Come on, Farah. I called you and explained everything. I thought we made up," Nila said, poking her arm.
Farah stared at her for a moment before breaking composure and muttering, "Whatever," with a hint of a smile.
Another face popped up behind Farah. "Hello, Nila," Aadil said. He was wearing a white loose shirt, tucked into blue jeans and a denim cap. He looked like he walked out of a golf match.
"Oh. I didn't notice you. I'm sorry, Aadil. How are you?"
"I'm fine, Nila. You look... good."
Farah coughed. "Liar."
"I'm sure I don't look that bad," Nila said, patting her hair. Nila had taken a week after the call with Kayal to dive head-first into completing all her work for college. Report after report, research after research and a lot of all-nighters and movie breaks later, she was done with everything. She had been so focused that she'd even sat and started a presentation about her future with Vijay. Nila had mapped it all out--- reasons why they work, reasons why they won't, conflicts, possible solutions. She knew if Kayal saw her doing this, she'd never let her live it down. But having all the meshed thoughts in her head neatly organized on a screen helped her think better. Especially the slide that said 'I LOVE HIM SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH AND A LOT MORE THAN THAT' in bold big letters.
She knew she had to tell Vijay. She had to see him and tell him how she was wrong and that she missed him. Nila remembered that his sports meet was on this Saturday. A little white lie to her parents about compensatory internship hours and she was already boarding a bus to Chennai. She didn't have time to reset her sleep and rest enough to undo her zombie look.
