JAMIE
"And here I thought that meeting up with a stranger was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing." She stood before me with her hand on her hips.
I remained cool. "Well then, I guess you have to stop saying I'm a stranger, then."
She motioned for me to accompany her. We settled down near the cafeteria and ordered ourselves a cup of coffee each. She sat on the chair comfortably working her fingers on her phone. I was surprised at her cool and collected behaviour. Or maybe a bit too much since she wasn't talking at all. I had to do something fast. Oh yes, I almost forgot.
"Here, you dropped this the other day," I said, giving the bracelet to her.
"Oh, I was searching all over for this. Thanks," she said, sounding unimpressed.
She brought two cups from the counter and we warmed ourselves to it. I waited for her to say something as she took a mouthful from the cup and opened her lips a little only to press them together to wash off the extra chocolate left on her upper lip. Her lips had a touch of a pink gloss, a little darker than before. Only a second later, I realized that I had my mouth opened slightly. I closed it immediately to make sure she didn't notice me.
Seriously, dude? You're better than this.
"So, stranger, how did you manage to find me? I'm pretty sure I didn't mention the college I'm studying at," She said with a look of 'you stalker' written all over her face.
Of course I never considered this possibility. Women were so quick to jump into ridiculous conclusions, while we men drowned ourselves in confusion to their response. I ran my hand through my hair in frustration and sighed.
Thereafter, I explained it all right from where I accidently found her, till this very moment, including the obvious fact that I also studied in the same college, to avoid further misunderstanding.
"If you still don't believe me, you can always ask my classmates about me, or you can check the attendance record of one of my teachers, or--" I said when she bursted out laughing.
"Alright, alright, I believe you now. I don't need further clarifications," she said waving her hands before me. "You wouldn't believe what I was thinking about you before. I was actually planning ways to threaten you."
"Well then, you saved me a lot of trouble, thank you very much," I said sarcastically.
"Mention not," she played along.
We then talked about our college and other basic things before calling it a day. I was glad that things were finally cool between us. I was about to go when she made a humming noise.
"I'm slightly disappointed in you, Jamie," She said with a childish face.
"And may I know why?" I asked not able to understand the meaning behind what she said.
She took a step closer to me, making a sneaky face. "Aren't you supposed to do something before going?"
I stared at her lips again then to her eyes. "What do you want me to do exactly?" I whispered with a grin. We locked our eyes into each other for a split second until she broke away with a sigh.
"Nothing special, I was only teasing you. I thought I was going to be asked since you took all the trouble to find me," she smiled stating out the obvious when she swinged her mobile phone along the phone strap with her fingers. "I hope you didn't spread anything disturbing about me. If you know what I mean?"
"Nope, not a word," I said, ruffling my hair nervously. "Listen I... My phone battery is dead and since I purchased a local sim card just recently, I still don't remember my number. I was planning to ask you tomorrow."
"I see," She said, nodding to herself. She took out something from her bag and held my palm. Our bodies were a few inches apart. I let her scribble down the numbers on my palm with her black pen.
"Here you are. Don't let it fade away easily 'coz I won't do it again," she teased.
"Yes ma'am," I said while letting out my breath I didn't even know I was holding it in the whole time. She quickly walked away, disappearing slowly from my line of sight. As I watch, I couldn't help but notice what I already did earlier.
Her perfectly well shaped down ass.
.
After that, we became quick friends. We would often meet up after classes to roam around the campus for a short time. Either that, or it was mostly chatting through Facebook or Whatsapp. Gradually I came to know her. She originally hailed from a small town near Saharanpur. Her father owned a big farm, handling his business over there. She also had a younger sister who still lived in her hometown. She was living in Delhi since her eleventh grade. After residing in a school hostel for two years while being tortured with its gross food, she decided to live in a residential girls hostel instead. It was a big bungalow where the landlord lived with his family downstairs while the girls lived on the first floor. She often talked about things she did with her roommates, like mid- night chats, snacks and birthdays, which made a poor man like me lonely. Maybe I should start hunting down a room mate or two and make them share my rent.
But admist all those friendly interactions with her, there was one thing that became quite a trouble to deal with.
Even the slightest of her actions from pulling her hair strands behind her ears, to the way she would sometimes press her lips together, or simply adjusting her top, would turn me on. Day by day, I would bear the torture and try to divert my mind towards anything else, whenever I was around her. It wasn't like she was the most unique girl I had met and I have met many. There was just something I couldn't put a finger on. Something I was drawn to. Well, for starters, she was really attractive. Often men glanced her way when she walked. If she had a boyfriend, he must be one heck of a lucky guy.
...
AYU
Soon it was the Fresher's party in our college. The occasion I have been waiting forever since I entered college. The seniors organised it in the auditorium and had decorated it perfectly much to our surprise. I decided on wearing a red one piece dress, with a ribbon like neckline. The dress length dipped to the level of my knees. It fitted perfectly. I topped it off with a short black jacket, to make me look decent.
However it turned out that almost everyone had their attention at me when I stepped in the auditorium. I did wanted to look good, but I guess I overdid it. I hated grabbing too much attention. I saw my classmate with whom I attend my French classes, passing a crooked smile at me. The way he checked me out from time to time often got on my nerves. I should go away quickly before he striked up a conversation with me. I caught up with my classmate Sally and soon joined the party with the rest of the girls.
The rest of the party passed by in frustration. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't avoid the lustful eyes of men, who are watching over me from time to time. Few senior guys even approached me to have a conversation while Sally and her friends seemed to be in their own world. Guess, I wasn't needed tonight. This wasn't my day after all. Maybe I should just have my dinner alone and leave. After all, free food shouldn't be missed.
The dinner part of the event was held outside, on the campus ground. I took a plate and spoon and poured the dishes I wanted to eat. Eventually, I settled down in a chair with my plate. I was about to have a bite when from the corner of my eye, I noticed someone grabbing a chair and sitting next to me.
"Jamie?" I said, mildly surprised to see him. I spotted him hanging out with his group earlier. He was wearing a formal black vest suit. It was my first time seeing him this way, but I have to admit that he was looking good. Way too good infact.
"One and only," he softly mumbled while taking a spoonful of rice and then turned his face to me. I sensed him sizing me up and down, just like those other lusty men today.
But Jamie is different.
Come on Ayu, just because he looks different, doesn't mean that he IS different.
"Why is the pretty red riding hood eating here all by herself?" He asked, a certain kind of amusement playing in his eyes.
"But I'm not wearing a hood you see," I giggled. "What about you? Where are your friends?"
"Oh, they are still inside. I was hungry so I came here and saw you. You look kind of frustrated. Is everything okay?" He asked me with a glint of concern in his eyes.
I looked at him again and noticed the top part of the white shirt which was left unbuttoned. Before I knew it, my eyes were tracing down his collarbone to the line that revealed a part of his bare chest. If only I could touch that part with my fingers, then unbutton his shirt further and...
"Ye- yeah, I'm perfectly fine," I raised my voice a little as I diverted my eyes away from him.
What? Just what is wrong with me? I must have lost my sense of mind somewhere. Now I'm really going home after this before I infect my mind with this man.
I was more annoyed at myself than him because this wasn't the first time I thought about him this way.
"Hm, is this good?" He asked, pointing his finger to my plate and disturbing my train of thoughts.
"What? You haven't tasted Baingan bharta before? (a vegetable made by cooking brinjal) What the hell have you been eating all these years? You even said that it was your first time eating Aloo matar when you came here," (Potato with peas) I asked, not hiding the shock in my voice.
"But I have eaten peas that they put in fried rice there," he defended.
"Whatever! Just stand up already. Let's get some Baigan bharta for you. You'll definitely like it, it's my favourite." I beamed.
"Alright, miss red riding hood." He teased and we shared a smile.
I made him taste every dish that was available here, regardless of whether he had tasted them or not. I laughed when he made a disgusting face at the ones he didn't liked. Well there wasn't much of a variety here anyway, so we simply stood there and talked about food for a long span of time. I actually found myself enjoying a bit in this good-for-nothing party, or maybe I was just influenced by his presence.
"Shall I drop you back to your pg? (Paying guest: In other words a hostel outside college/school)" Jamie asked politely after the party was over.
"No need. For your information, I live in a safe neighbourhood. Besides your house is far away, right? So thanks but no thanks," I rejected gently.
"Okay, see you around," He said and turned around.
"Jami!" I called after him. He turned back to me, looking expectant.
"Um, well-" I began to slutter. "Thanks for today."
"For what?"
"For being my company tonight. You were right, I was indeed frustrated... And by the way, you look handsome today," I said, forcing a smile. I couldn't help but feel lonely, for some reason.
"Oh! Then I'm glad to be at your guest, red riding hood. Anything else?" He joked ignoring my last comment and I let out a small laugh. But then Jamie stepped closer to me and we somehow locked our gazes for a moment. He raised his hand and cupped my face gently. It was the first time I had felt his soft touch on my skin. I think my heart just skipped a beat.
No way!
"W-what are you doing?" I questioned, breaking the awkward silence between us.
"Huh?" He whispered somewhat bewildered. After a stretch of silence, he answered, "There was some smear of yoghurt stuck in your face, that's all." He removed his hands away from me. Before I could utter a single word, he bid goodbye and left quickly. I stood there somewhat dumbfounded.
Alright, now what was THAT?
...........................................................................................................................................
So what was your opinion about this chapter? I hope it wasn't boring. Do vote for this story if you liked it.
Anyway there's a surprise next chapter, I'll update soon enough. Take care and Happy New year.