[This story is set in a verse where anuj and anupama have never known each other, and Anupama has moved out of shah house post divorce.]
For the umpteenth time, she was glad that she had moved out. At least she didn’t have to undergo an interrogation every time she stepped out of the house. She was on her way to meet Devika now, as she was going to help her look for some decent jobs. The school teacher job wasn’t all that rewarding,so if there was a chance at a remotely higher pay, she was going to take it.
Anupama chuckled then. Once upon a time all she could think of was house, children, in-laws and husband. Now she was occupied searching opportunities to one up herself. Such a welcome change.
Anupama stopped her train of thoughts, as she spotted a speed breaker and slowed down her car. But once over the speed breaker, as her hands went to shift the gear, she was jerked forward as sound of something shattering reached her ears. Looking behind, she realized that someone had crashed their car into hers.
“Oh God!” Anupama sighed as she removed her seat belt and stepped out. People really needed to keep their eyes on the road!
~*~*~*~*~
They ended it with a handshake, and the woman walked out.The man followed soon after, however while the woman disappeared around the corner, the man walked over to the red Audi, turned his keys in the door and settled down, leaning his head back.
“Another dunce!” He chuckled, shaking his head as he started the car and veered it out of the parking lot.
Anuj had a lot to think back on.There was a time when he used to dream of the perfect love but now he had stopped hoping. He was 39 now, still meeting girls his age and younger alike, on his mother’s insistence, but he failed to feel the connect he was looking for.Vibes, as the Gen Z called it, he was yet to find the one whose would match with his. There would be times when he would meet someone who could hold an intelligent conversation, or someone who shared his interest. In the end though, his heart never agreed.
He wasn’t per se dying to get married but yes, he did dream of having that one special person, just like his parents. But alas, now he was so tired even the thought of dating frustrated him.
“Way to feel miserable about yourself!” Anuj had just about groaned when he experienced a jerk and lurched forward. Shocked, he looked in front to find that he had rammed his car into the car in front.
“Shit!” Unbuckling his belt,he quickly stepped out.
He approached the bumper to see that there were a few dents on it. Nothing too worrisome. The same however could not be said about the i10 whose left side tail light had been shattered and the trunk had buckled in a few inches.
Anuj peered to the side then, as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, the sound of sandals precisely. His eyes went for the sandals first, as he trailed them upto a simple blue saree before he found the face of the woman approaching him.
Thump.
Instantly, his hands flew to his heart, as he blinked confused.
Her hair was braided to one side, while her neck was adorned by a simple necklace.
Thump.
“Just what in the….” Anuj murmured confused, as the woman stepped past him to check the damage done to her car.
She turned to him then,clearly not pleased.
And they made eye contact.
Thump.
Now this was really strange. Why in the world was his heart going insane over a woman he had laid eyes on a mere seconds ago.
Of their own accord, he found his eyes moving up towards her partition. No sindoor. Then he traced his eyes to the necklace, clearly not a mangalsutra. Was she single?
“You should focus on the road when you are driving!” Anupama remarked, as she saw the well dressed man in front of her simply staring. Most probably at a loss for words.He had caused an accident, alright. Now she was just waiting to see, what sort of excuses he was going to come up with.
As Anuj heard Anupama speak, his heart did another thump and he came to realize the track of his thoughts. Why was he looking for her marital signs?! And being married didn’t necessarily require her to parade around like those bahus he would see on TV.God!!
Anuj cleared his throat as he found the woman waiting.
“I apologise. My thoughts were somewhere else and…I’m really sorry. Are you alright?”
Anupama who was ready to pick a fight, suddenly felt all frustration leave her body. Because the man had accepted his mistake.
“I am fine”, Anupama replied and looked as the man massaged his neck.
“Are you…Ok?” She asked then and as Anuj looked at her in confusion, she motioned towards his neck.
“Oh, yes…just a minor jerk.It’s my fault anyway”, Anuj answered and both fell quiet. Anuj couldn’t for the life of him place this feeling. He hadn’t been half awkward with all his potential marriage partners.
As Anuj found her glancing at her watch, he glanced at his own to realize that he was getting late for his meeting.
“Excuse me!” He spoke as he quickly rushed to his car, and came back in a few seconds.
As he forwarded her the chit and the card, she looked at him confused.
“I am really sorry, but I’ve an important meeting to attend. I’m not trying to evade responsibility or anything, but regarding the repairs, would it be alright if we do that tomorrow. This is my personal number, so you can give me a call tomorrow and we can talk about the damage pay. And in case, you can’t reach me, this is my business card, just to assure you that I’m not running away”.
Gingerly, Anupama took the two and nodded, “I’ll take you on the offer then. I hope you will pick the call”.
Anuj nodded, “Absolutely.And thank you for being understanding”.
Anu smiled a bit and turned to leave. Anuj turned around too when he was called from behind. “Excuse me?”
“Ji?” He looked as the woman spoke, “Drive carefully! This is for your and for the safety of others too”.
“Sure”, Anuj smiled and watched as the woman finally entered her car and drove away.
“She was pretty”, Anuj spoke out loud and his heart jumped again. He chuckled amused, “Wow! You can’t be serious! Crushing at this age, wo bhi pehli nazar main! That too on someone you caused an accident! Not to mention, even if she did not look like it, she felt married”.
Who are you to judge?! The world can be full of eternal singles like you!
“Maybe she was not?” Anuj pondered and then as his phone started to ring, he bit his lips.
“Meeting!” And quickly he rushed inside his car, started it and drove away.
~*~*~*~*~
“Kya soch rahi hai?” Devika asked as she and Anupama were searching the internet for suitable vacancies for her.
“I was thinking about him… his voice was nice. And somehow he felt awfully familiar”.
Devika chuckled, “Your obsession with voice is seriously weird. But I’m happy at least it was a man. How was he?Handsome?”
Anupama tapped her cheeks as she closed her eyes to recall the encounter. A well fitted suit, a well groomed face and….pretty eyes.
“He was pretty, I think”, Anupama repliedand Devika started to laugh.
“Did you by chance crash your car with an actor or something? I mean, he was pretty and he looked familiar”.
Anupama shrugged, “Perhaps. Anyway,let’s focus on the work of finding me work”.
“Aye! Aye madam” Devika saluted and both got busy in their tasks
P.s- i wrote this long back but recently came to the realization that it was never posted on wattpad.