A Fortuitous Night (With A Stranger)

The after story-I.

All the roads are snow-covered. There isn't a single house in the vicinity that isn't ice-capped. In every children's park, nothing can be seen except white snow, but this doesn't stop kids from having fun. Some kids are making snowmen while some others are making little snowballs to throw at their friends. As the new year is around the corner, there is a lot of hustle and bustle on the streets, people constantly keep moving from one place to another. Despite the chilly winds and frigid weather, markets are over-flooded with people, after all, it's Christmas time.

Hayal has put on a long black coat, and high-heeled boots along with a beanie, scarf, and gloves. No part of Hayal's body except a small portion of her face is exposed. Hayal has been in Thailand for the better part of her life where there aren't even chilly winters let alone snow and sleet. The staff of the hotel in which Hayal is staying has advised her to not go out without an umbrella. Hayal's destination isn't very far from the hotel so she decides to walk up there.

It's 11:40 a.m. and Hayal is at exactly the same place where Anisha has been in that photograph, below the sign saying it's platform no. 4.

Yes, you are thinking absolutely correct. Hayal is at St. Petersburg station waiting for Anisha to show up.

The moment the clock tower chimes at noon, Hayal becomes a little anxious as she is scared for the worst i.e., what if Anisha doesn't show up. At the same time, Hayal feels that Anisha won't lead her here if Anisha doesn't want to meet her. Amongst all these chaotic thoughts, Hayal tries her best to stay calm and focused. Someone taps on Hayal's shoulder from behind and Hayal turns to see. It's Anisha.

Hayal right away hugs Anisha and out of excitement, Hayal picks up Anisha while still hugging her. Hayal doesn't let go of Anisha and keeps holding her. And this time, Anisha also doesn't resist at all. After some time when Hayal puts Anisha down, the first thing Hayal does is thank Anisha for coming.

Anisha opens her cute little backpack and pulls out some beautiful flowers. Actually, these are three lilies of different colors namely white, yellow, and red. Anisha gives them to Hayal wishing her a 'Merry Christmas'.

Hayal takes the flowers in one hand and pulls Anisha by her waist with the other to kiss her.

It seems as if there is nobody in the entire world except these two. They may be in Russia but the kiss surely is a French one. Both keep kissing each other. The passers-byes and the on-lookers have a varied reaction to this lovely couple. Some smile seeing their love and some feel slightly awkward. While some others just ignore and keep on going.

After they stop kissing, Hayal kisses Anisha's forehead wishing her a 'Merry Christmas'. This makes Anisha even more happy. Hayal then asks, "From here, where should we go now?"

"Ahh! I forgot to ask. Where are you staying, Hayal?"

"In a nearby hotel."

"Why? I mean... Why would my girlfriend stay in a hotel when I have a house in the same city?"

The word 'girlfriend' rings a thousand bells in Hayal's heart and she is on cloud nine. Seeing Hayal smile like crazy, intrigued Anisha asks, "What made you so happy?"

"Anisha, you called me your girlfriend for the first time"

"No, it isn't the first time."

"Huh?"

"Yes, Hayal. I have said that before... Though, not explicitly."

Seeing Hayal's perplexed expression, Anisha explains, "Hayal, you said only your lover or partner can touch your face or neck. That day, at the airport, I kissed you. Wasn't that me saying I am the one who will love you?"

"I thought the same, Anisha. But still, you didn't make it clear. So,..."

Anisha kisses Hayal on the lips and asks, "Now, is it clear enough?"

Hayal is a bit shy when she says, "Yes, it is."

Anisha then proposes that they pick up Hayal's luggage from the hotel tomorrow and as for now, they should go to Anisha's house.

Here they both arrive at Anisha's house. Hayal pounces onto the sofa in the living room and lies like a lifeless log. Anisha turns on the room's heating system and fetches Hayal some warm water. While giving the glass of warm water, Anisha teases Hayal by saying that Hayal looks cute with a red nose. In Russia, the temperature during this time of the year goes below 0 degrees, so it's not surprising that Hayal's nose has turned red due to cold. Hayal glares at Anisha.

"Okay, okay... I won't tease you anymore. So, Hayal, what do you wanna eat? I can prepare that for you."

Hayal with a slightly embarrassed expression on her face tells Anisha, "I don't want to eat anything. I just wanna sleep. Actually, for the entire past week, I have been working like a non-stop machine. You know, how it is during the festive season. The workload in the hotel has quadrupled. As I needed to be here, I had to finish everything beforehand. Till now, the excitement to see you has kept me awake. And as of now, since I am with you, I am feeling sleepy. It seems as if my battery has completely discharged."

Anisha takes Hayal's hand and almost drags her to the bedroom upstairs. Anisha gets a change of clothes for Hayal and asks her to freshen up. When Hayal comes out of the washroom, she sees that Anisha has already changed her clothes.

"I was in the washroom, so where did you change?... in the room?"

"There are other washrooms in the house, silly."

Anisha hops into the bed and spreads out her arms gesturing Hayal to come and hug her in bed. Hayal without wasting a second joins Anisha in bed.

Anisha is resting her head on the headrest holding Hayal in her arms in such a way that Hayal's cheek is touching Anisha's bosom.

"Hayal."

"Yes, Anisha."

"Usually, you have a lot of questions and now when we are here... together... why aren't you asking anything?"

"Well, Anisha... Being your girlfriend and lying in your arms like this is already an answer to a hell lot of questions. (After taking a small pause Hayal further says,) Besides, I know, you have many things that you can't share. So, I promise you, I'll be patient enough to let you be comfortable with me first."

Deep down Anisha's heart is fluttering to hear Hayal say something like that. Anisha has always liked how Hayal tries to be considerate of her in every situation. Anisha further says, "Thank you, Love. How about we do this? You can ask me your questions and if I am not comfortable, I'll let you know."

"Anisha... Since you have given me the liberty to freely ask you anything, how about this? It may appear that only I had feelings for you. But I think, that's not the case. So, tell me, why did you leave without a goodbye?"

"Okay, fine. Hayal, I will tell you what happened that day in Nepal. When I was halfway down the stairs, I got a call from my superior saying that we had to leave Nepal immediately and he was right outside the motel waiting for me. So, I went back to my room, got all of my stuff, and came down to the reception for check out. I didn't have much time to tell you anything. So, I placed your breakfast order at the reception and wrote you a note, asking the receptionist to send it with your breakfast. I didn't know what else to do. It was only later on that I realized that I had no means to reach out to you. Also, I thought it was best for you to not get involved with me."

In a slightly taunting way, Hayal says, "Yeah... Yeah... Best for me. And what else... Ahh! The note... which I have kept with myself for all these years like a crazy person."

"Hayal..." Anisha says Hayal's name as a way of telling Hayal to stop taunting her.

"Okay, I'll stop. But, Anisha..."

"What?"

"After finding out that you have checked out, I tried calling you on the number you used to book that motel room. But, I couldn't reach you."

"Hayal, whenever such things happen and we have to leave a place like that, the first thing we do is deactivate our cell phones."

"Okay, fair enough. For the first time, you had your reasons. But, what about the second time? Why did you promise me, you would have dinner with me if you were going to leave before that? Huh?"

"Hayal, my tickets were sent to me after you left and I didn't have the means to tell you that. (Hayal wants to say something, but Anisha doesn't let her say it and continues.) And besides, I knew, you put a tracker in my bag... meaning, the moment I leave, you'll know. Hayal, though our encounter has been for a very short period, I knew for sure that you'll follow me."

After this, Hayal decides to let go of the matter as what matters in the end is that she's finally with Anisha. After asking Anisha a few more questions about Anisha's favorite things in color, food, movies, etc., Hayal falls asleep.