The one at the ticket counter : the 1st formal DATE.

Its in continuation of an ongoing fiction; so in case you missed the 1st and 2nd part, here you go :

http://unsocialgaurav.blogspot.in/2015/05/the-one-at-ticket-counter.html

http://unsocialgaurav.blogspot.in/2015/06/the-one-at-ticket-counter-2.html

http://unsocialgaurav.blogspot.in/2015/07/the-one-at-ticket-counter-heartbreak.html

or 

scroll below to find the posts. Thanks!


 “Hey, how have you been? By the way how did you get my number”, I was really curious about it. “I needed a favor from you, so I asked Rashi for your number. Hope you didn’t mind me calling you up.”, she tried being a usual lady who calls up a random guy for any favors. “Damn you, Rashi”, I thought. “Yeah, tell me what was it that I could do for you?” Instead of beating around the bush, I wanted to come straight to the point. “Meet me over a cup of coffee tonight. Then I would tell you. Its my treat” she replied.  I was knocked out. The girl who was the epicenter of my thoughts, asking me out for coffee, the same girl who is already engaged, happily. I didn’t knew if I was being lucky or hopelessly pathetic. Whatever, the coffee plan did cheer me up, as this was the best I had heard in the past 1 week. “Are you asking me out on a date?” I tried being funny and a flirt at the same time. “Yeah, yeah, think whatever you want to, but CCD Madhapur, the one with a lounge at 8. Pick me up on your way to CCD. I will wait for you near Building no. 10 at 7.45?”

“Yeah, sounds like a plan. Will give you a call once I start. See you then.”, and the call disconnected. There was an obvious excitement on my face as I kept back my phone on the desk. I speculated for a good 10 minutes, about the possible reasons of Ritika calling me out of blue. It was then that it occurred to me that the only person who could answer this would be Rashi who had earlier passed on my number to Ritika.

“She needs a favor from you. She didn’t tell me what it was, but the fact that she’s been looking for job change for quite some time now has to do something with it”. This is how Rashi greeted me as soon as she answered the call. “I just called you to ask for your weekend’s plan”, I tried to ignore her information and dodge the embarrassment. “I know why exactly you called me. Ritika called me up an hour back and you calling me up now. And for weekend plans, you would have called Rahul instead”, she countered my lie with a fact. “So, you really have no idea what it is all about”, I cross-questioned her. “Look, Ritika is not my closest friend. I told you what I knew. But please don’t get all excited and have any false hopes. Ritika may be in a relationship now, but its not her 1^st one. She knows how to get her work done, and I don’t want you to fall for her”. The incident at the ticket counter suddenly flashed in front of me. “Yeah, I get it” I replied to Rashi and disconnected the call. I sat on my chair, and swung back and forth, unable to comprehend what exactly this girl was looking for. I was not sure if I should be cautious, reminding myself of what Raashi just told me, or be rather excited at the mere prospect of meeting the girl I had a huge crush upon. Somehow the call with Raashi made me introspect about the entire thing. A girl who chanced upon a stranger to get movie tickets can also make her way get through whatever she wants. I sat in front of my workstation, blankly seeing a batch process run on the console, as a tsunami of thoughts crisscrossed my mind.

I started to pack my stuff, the moment clock struck 7.30 PM. The inbuilt GPS in my brain quickly calibrated itself and started looking for the shortest route to Ritika’s work place. You know you are in Hyderabad, when an IT firm which is located at more than 7 kms away from yours can be reached in less than 30 minutes. I took out my phone as I took the staircase instead of the usual lifts. I called up Ritika as planned and she answered the call at the 1^st ring. “I was actually waiting for your call”, she uttered immediately. “Oh, alright! Will be there before 8, and please come out of your office”, I replied to her. I specifically asked her to come out because I knew that for a female, logging off from the office can be a time taking affair, that too when she is going out elsewhere after that.

Despite of being stickler for punctuality, it never worked in my favor. It took Ritika another 5 minutes and 3 calls to finally arrive outside her office. There was a hint of makeup on her face. I checked out her carryon bag, and wondered what all she kept in there. “How should I sit, I mean one-sided or cross legged?” she asked me even before exchanging pleasantries. “Sit in whatever way that makes you comfortable. I don’t mind anything”, I replied as she wasn’t yet my girlfriend and her seating posture as a pillion rider was certainly not my call. She was still confused and took a moment to decide. I could not comprehend what went across her mind, but she decided to sit one-sided, the way most of the woman prefer to in India. This was followed by an awkward silence for the next 10 minutes until we reached the closest CCD. I was extra cautious, drove slowly and ensured that every bump or pot-hole on our way met utmost respect which I otherwise never cared for.

“So, whats up”, I asked her as soon as we took the corner table for two. Before she could respond to it, the server appeared in a whiff with a menu in his hand. “What would like to order sir”, he asked with a fake smile and a weird accent which certainly wasn’t Indian. While I was still fiddling with the menu, in order to scan the menu to sort the items with their prices in ascending order, she spoke out. “I will have a Café latte, with a spoon of sugar; double cheese vegetable grilled sandwich and a glass of iced water. And how about you Gaurav?” I sat there with my jaws and eyes wide open, as none of the syllables which she just spoke for her order made any sense to me. “Do you like cold coffee? Try out their Café frappe, it’s amazing”, she suggested me sensing my unfamiliarity about the pretentious items in the menu. I could only blabber a “Yeah, sure. Sounds good”. The server vanished the second his Café’s business rose manifold times by the senseless order of overpriced items. “Cold coffee?” I thought. “Do I come across as a cold person that she recommended me a cold coffee”.

“I am amazed why haven’t we done this earlier. I have met you so many times, but you have never come across as such a warm person”, she started the conversation.

“I guess it’s the hot coffee speaking. I am otherwise always warm. And I thought that was the reason you ordered a cold coffee for me.” I replied to her with my some humor added with a pinch of sarcasm.

“No I mean, we never met casually. How is your work and how your new role is treating you”. She certainly did her homework as there were not many people who knew about my elevated role in my organization.

“All is cool. Am getting used to it”, I replied to her.

She went on talking about her job, her family, colleagues and her friends. What she did not speak about was her boyfriend with whom she was engaged. In another 30 minutes, I knew the names of her siblings, her relatives both closed and distant ones and also about her pet dog. We went on having a marathon conversations over the next 1 hour and I noticed how hapless the store server looked at us, as he noticed us ordering nothing after our 1^st order. She sounded not only genuine, but affectionate and passionate about how she treated things in her life. My likening, respect for her increased manifold times after our 1^st formal conversation over a cup odd Café’ latte.