The room appeared messy. There were several boxes on the floor. The sky-colored paint on the wall seemed fresh. This girl had just taken this apartment on rent and moved in here. She was supposed to do all the unpacking today. She opened her bag; took out a scarf and tied it around her nose (face). Then she collected her dark black, long silky hair and converted them into a high head bun. Taking her phone and its charger in her hand, she moved towards the left of the room, where she plugged the charger into the socket and kept her phone for charging. She was all prepared to set all her stuff in the room but she was in the dilemma of which box to open first. She took a few steps back towards her phone, opened her playlists and pressed the play button.
“लग जा गले के फिर यह हसीं रात हो न हो …”
Her mood was on then. She started from the left-most corner, unpacking her stuff, arranging them and humming the song.
All of a sudden she heard a not-so musical sound and as she turned behind, she saw a cricket ball near her foot. She took it in her hand and looked ahead with her eyes wide-opened. They appeared mere scary as her face was covered with the scarf.
The ball had left her window glass turned into little pieces. She got furious. Holding the ball in her hand, she headed towards the balcony. A little guy of around 10-12 years of age was standing under her balcony.
“दीदी, प्लीज, बॉल दो ना (Sister, please, give me the ball)”, he requested.
“ऐसे खेलता है कोई… (Does someone play like this…)
“मेरी खिड़की तोड़ दी…(Broke my window…)
“जाओ नहीं दूंगी बॉल (Go, I won’t give you the ball)”
“प्लीज दीदी (Please, sister)
“सॉरी, अब से नहीं होगा (Sorry, from now on this won’t happen.)
“बॉल दे दो (Give me the ball.)” – he pleaded.
“किसने मारी बॉल यहाँ? (Who hit the ball here)” – she shouted
“मैंने (I have)” said an amazing voice from behind. She turned around with her furious and wide-opened eyes; scarf covering the face and the high bun.
It was a 6 foot tall, dark, handsome guy in a blue t-shirt and grey trousers. She scanned him. His body was wet with sweat, his eyes had innocence and his lips had a smile.
“Sorry madam, आज बच्चों के जिद्द करने पे (Today upon the demand of children), I joined them in cricket.
“बहुत दिनों बाद खेला न इसिलिये जोश में आ गया. (Played after a long time, that’s why I got enthusiastic)
“I will get your window repaired.” – he said in one go.
The wind from the broken window got strong and naughty and opened that single knot of her scarf revealing her attractive face. Those red eyes were now calm and the redness had now shifted towards her cheeks. She didn’t know how to react.
“I am really sorry miss. Please forgive me.” – the lad continued.
She kept on looking at his eyes and handed him the ball without uttering a single word.
“Thank you” – the guy said and moved his hand towards her.
“By the way, this is Varun and you?”
“Reenu” – she uttered the first word of the conversation in a soft yet melodious voice.
