Language Of Love [P4]

She rushed onto the bus struggling a little bit with the luggage making me wonder where did all this energy suddenly come from. I followed her and boarded the bus. I noticed that when people looked at her, she lowered her head as if the last thing that she would want to do is to face them. With all that’s happening with her, I found that reasonable. She found a seat and sat there very uncomfortably. I sat behind her and she looked at me and smiled. I noticed that her lips were not getting wide, just a short smile.

I took my phone out to check the time and put on some music. Noticing that there is no charge left in it and remembering that my power bank was already dead, I put it back into my pocket with a sigh.

The bus started moving and both of us stared at the sky getting lost in our thoughts. When the conductor shook her off from her thoughts and asked “Where to?” she looked at me.

I told the conductor the place and he took the money that she held towards him asking "Are you traveling together?"

As we nodded in agreement he tore two tickets and gave her the balance. As he moved away from us, I gave her my share and she kept that.

After some time I lost interest in staring at outside views and rethinking my life. Traveling by bus without music is quite boring. The only boon was that the bus was moving fastly. As I sat there restless, she started removing her hijab and I turned my attention towards her again. There was lots of safety pin on it as if she was wearing it for the first time. Her ‘not that long hair’ took freedom for granted and danced along with the wind. She grabbed a scarf and restricted them after keeping the hijab in her bag. My mind wondered what she would look like now and smiled slightly not knowing why.

What would she be thinking now? I tried that question to occupy my mind with something less boring. There is a lot of pain inside her, she might be thinking about it. Or maybe about a better future…She was staring at the sky like she was since we boarded the bus. She wasn’t using her phone either. I thought for a moment that she didn’t have a phone and then thought, her phone may be out of charge just like my phone. As she occupied my mind, the questions that made me wonder came back to me. Who is that boy? Did he cheat her?? Maybe he died? No. If it was something like that, she wouldn’t throw that ring away.

It was drizzling outside. I sat there enjoying being wet by the tiny droplets of water that found me. Before I could let them take away all my stress, the guy next to me poked my arm and told me to close the window. I was really irritated as he was denying me something I really loved. But then I looked at him and saw a 40-year-old man who is really tired of his work and is getting back home. So I decided I would rather not piss him off and closed the windowpane and looked at the sky through the window near her. She was enjoying the rain just like me. But after a moment she stared at the sky and closed that window too. She didn’t turn back but it felt like she closed it for my comfort. Well, how is she supposed to know that I love it? As I watched her, I realized that she was tired and badly needed some sleep. But she was trying to stay conscious in the fear of falling asleep in a bus full of strangers in the middle of the night.

The rain started getting heavier and the sound was terrific. Inside the bus, it felt like we were all in for a horror movie as everyone had either serious looks on their face or was dead asleep. No one was talking and the only light was from a blinking bulb made the atmosphere more dramatic. Even though I couldn't see her face, I knew that she is calm. After some time rain was mild again and she was in the same position with her head tilted a little bit to get some support. Suddenly there was a rush on the bus as many people got off and many more entered the bus. I assumed that we might have reached Kodungallur. The bus was almost full and she was now the only one with an empty seat next to her as someone occupied the one next to me.

As I expected a man boarded the bus from the next stop and he realized he is unlucky today and decided to stand.

She noticed him and to my wonder, she stood up and asked the person next to me to exchange seats with her. Oh god. She looked amazing with that loose scarf that failed in covering her hair.

As he agreed, she told the man who was standing “You can sit here” and sat next to me with a smile saying “Hai” with a hand gesture also.

I didn’t expect any of this and was glad as I felt maybe she was comfortable with me.

I replied with a glad “Hello”

“Any problem if I sit here?”

“Seriously!!” I asked her

“Yeah, maybe you don’t like it?”

“No, No, Nothing like that,” I replied comfortably

“You know I was thinking about your name. actually how people would call you” she is so curious about my name

“Some call me shinas, some shinlay and loved ones call me shinu”

“Ohh cool, I prefer shinu” I don’t know why but my mind was feeling happy as she preferred it.

“So chirakkal?”

“My uncle's house is there”

“Why didn’t they come to pick you up from the airport?”

I wasn’t interested in knowing it. But I really wanted to know her story and felt like this would start a conversation. “It’s a big story shinu, and I don’t think I can relive it now”

continues...