Chapter 1: The Wrong Seat, The Right Start
407 Words
Chapter 1: The Wrong Seat, The Right Start
The clatter of the train echoed through Secunderabad Station as the intercity express prepared to pull out of the platform. People rushed, bags bumped knees, kids clung to their mothers, and vendors screamed over one another. Amid the chaos, Anaya Rao, 24, in jeans and a breezy maroon kurta, scanned her ticket one last time.
“Coach S2, seat 41. Window seat. Perfect,” she muttered to herself.
Dragging her backpack and a trolly that squeaked like it had arthritis, she finally reached her compartment, only to find a guy already sitting in her seat.
Slim, early 20s, laptop bag slung on one shoulder, messy hair, and earbuds in place, he looked too chill for someone who had stolen her window spot.
“Excuse me?” she said.
He didn’t respond.
She knocked the side of the seat with her knuckles. “Hi, that’s my seat. 41.”
The guy looked up, pulled out an earbud. “What?”
“That. Seat. Is mine,” she said slowly, pointing at the number.
He squinted at his ticket, then at hers. “Wait, really? I thought this was mine... oh. Mine’s 42.”
“Well, lucky for you, they’re next to each other. But I do want the window.”
He shrugged, amused. “It’s just a seat.”
“It’s my seat,” she replied sharply.
He smiled and slid over to the aisle side. “You’re intense. You must be an Aries.”
“Excuse me?” she said, irritated and intrigued at once.
“I’m Karthik,” he extended his hand. “Nice to meet you...?”
“Anaya. Not an Aries. And I don’t do small talk with strangers.”
He grinned. “Lucky for you, I talk enough for two.”
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Two hours later, Anaya was laughing—actually laughing. Karthik’s stories were ridiculous but charming: how he once got locked out in a towel during a hostel fire drill, how he tried to make biryani in a rice cooker and nearly set off the smoke alarm.
She wasn’t supposed to enjoy this. She didn’t even like people that easily anymore.
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Next Morning – Bangalore
They parted ways without exchanging numbers.
“See you never,” she joked.
“Don’t be so sure,” he winked.
She rolled her eyes and walked off, not knowing that fate wasn’t done playing its game.
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- Writer
