What It Was To Love Her....

After class

She came and sat down next to me. This is perhaps the closest I had been with her.

“Hey, I am Natasha” She said extending her hand for a handshake.

Who doesn’t know? I wanted to say

“Hi I am Laylah” I said instead and gave her a quick but confident handshake. The couple of seconds during which I touched her hands left a tingling sensation in me. I don’t know what it was but it felt amazing.

I had been with dozens of girls before and even having sex with them did not feel like what I was feeling by just shaking hands with her. Wow! This girl is having some serious effect on me.

We didn’t interact for the rest of the class, save a few glances and smiles we gave each other. At one instance when I turned my head to look at her, I saw her staring at me but immediately turned away as she caught me catch her.

I turned back too. But wait! Was she looking at me? Why? Does she like me? No, I ruled it out.

Probably my mascara might have got smudged or something.

The rest of the class passed faster than I knew it. As soon as the Professor left the class, I too got up. It was lunchtime.

We got up and walked out of the class together and she said what I had wanted to say.

“Would you like to sit together for lunch?” she asked.

“Would love to actually” I said.

We bought our food. She bought a slice of Hawaiian Pizza and mixed fruit smoothie while I settled for fries and coke.

We talked away the entire lunchtime. This is my best lunchtime in a very long time. After I had moved to the States, I more or less had my lunch alone and ate out regularly. At NYU too, I would sit with my friend, Jane but she had been bunking college for a while now as she was down with viral.

We talked, or rather she talked, about a lot of things. Our families, schooling and our hometowns. She told me she was from New Jersey and was now staying in her own apartment in Brooklyn. In NJ, she stayed with her parents and sister, Kiara, two years her senior and now studying in UCLA.

In my turn, I had lots to tell her but couldn’t. I was tongue-tied. I just told her I had moved to the States sometime back and was staying with an Uncle. I did a part-time job, more to pass my time than for money, at GAP store in Queens Mall, Monday to Thursday from 5-8 in the evening.

The lunchtime too, passed very quickly. I wanted to sit there with her and hear her forever, watch her forever. We didn’t have any classes together for the rest of the day. Actually, she did, I didn’t so I sat in the library for half an hour and then went back home.

It had been a great day. We exchanged numbers too.

At 5, I was at the mall and ready to get working. The store was owned by a young Latina girl named Adrianna. She was pretty, olive-skinned and amazing breasts. Well, breasts are my favorite part! Besides her, there was another guy, Andy who I supposed was a cousin of hers.

Adrianna was a very nice girl. I had actually come shopping to the store when we got talking and I told her I was looking for a part-time job and she told me she needed more help in the store too. Well, that was it. I got the job. There were other people who worked different shifts during the day but I dint know much about them except once when I had met everybody at Adrianna’s party.

I enjoyed my job. It was simple and I got paid well. As in not a lot but more than enough for what I needed because my dad too sent me my monthly allowance. And in a couple of months I would have saved enough to buy a car. And more than anything, I found a close friend in Adrianna. Though she was slightly older than I was, she was great company and knew my situation of being homesick. We were beyond the employer-employee relationship and often hung out together and sometimes with Andy, we were a party of three.

Honestly, earlier I even had a tiny crush on her but never dared to tell her or show it. She often complimented me and I reciprocated it but that’s all. But that was before I had seen Natasha. She’s got my mind off everybody else; I hardly go to the Club these days. The last was three weeks back and didn’t seem to like anyone there. Natasha has raised the bar for me.

 Well, nobody knows am gay, as in I am not particularly out of the closet with exception of the Lesbian Club which is my only public display of sexuality.

As soon as I entered the store, I was greeted by Andy, with a “hey” and Hi5. I asked him where his sister was and he told me she was at the back settling some clothes. I went up to her and greeted her which she reciprocated with a surprising bear hug. For a second I did get carried away and wanted to hold her longer but I soon came back to my senses and brushed it off. I mean I lusted after her does not mean she did too. I mean I don’t even know if she plays for my team at all. I started helping her with her work. The store was more or less empty except a couple of customers whom Andy was handling.

“Thanks” she said.

“Well, you pay me for this” I said jokingly. And she laughed too. I like it when people laugh at my jokes.

The real reason was not because she paid me. She was a friend and you help your friends, right?

“You are so completely covered in this pile of clothes. You could have done without wearing your own” I joked again.

She giggled “Maybe I shall do that from tomorrow. I shall stand in a pile of clothes with none on myself and you can come rescue me.” She said and winked at me.

I froze for a second. Was she hitting on me?

I quickly regain my humour and said “Sure, but keep as less on yourself as you can. That way I can reach my prize faster”.

She gasped as her jaw dropped. “Pervert” was all she said

“Hey you started it!” I defended myself.

The entire evening went smoothly. Customers flooded the store between 6 and 8 so much so that I had to stay back for over half an hour. The store finally shut down at around 9.

Andy, Adrianna and I lived close to each other and walked back home together that night. Andy’s house cam first, then Adrianna’s and last mine. She even invited me over for coffee but I excused myself because I knew my aunt would be waiting for me for dinner.

After all that happened that day, the only thing that remained with me were thoughts of Natasha. She sitting beside me, the lunchtime, how much she spoke and all that she said …………... the handshake. I could still feel her soft hands on mine. Thoughts of Adrianna hitting on me did occur once or twice but I let them be and drifted into content sleep thinking about Natasha.

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