My next door neighbor

Just like a schoolchild, the only moment I am happy is when it's time to leave my cubicle for the next ten hours and escape office. I was putting things in my bag and humming, "I had a dream, we were sipping whisky neat... hmm hmm hmm hmm, high enough!"

I was about to get up when someone called me, "Sonia!" I looked up. And there we went again!

"Please check the doc I have shared. I need the report tomorrow morning." My boss ordered and moved on.

I get confused sometimes! Like really. I always thought that God has given me a face. Maybe not a pretty one but a face. But now I have seriously started doubting because I feel like I don't have a face, instead it has become a never-ending list of some pending stuff. My face reminds my boss of all the pending things in the world whenever he sees me.

I put down my bag, switched on my system, and started hitting the keyboard with all my anguish. The man in the next cubicle taunted me by saying, "Wow, Sonia! Are you going to break those innocent keys?"

"No, I am not going to break the keyboard." I snapped, "I am going to break your head!" And continued typing.

I didn't exactly remember when I finally left the office. It was around 9:50 or something when I returned. I was trying to reach for the keys in my bag when a deep voice echoed in the empty corridor. I looked back. A man, in his thirties I guess, tall, fair-looking was smiling at me. It took me more than eight seconds to realize that he was standing at the door of the apartment that was diagonally opposite to mine and was vacant for the last 12 months.

"Hi! I am Aakash. I shifted here today." He said.

"Hi! Sonia." I replied half-heartedly. A part of my mind was thinking what exactly should I say next and the rest was confused whether to make it clear that I was an INFP- Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving and have absolutely zero interest in talking to people. And that he shouldn't interact with me unnecessarily.

"Nice to meet you!" He was about to say more when his phone rang and he went inside. "Thank God!" I sighed and opened the door.

The next morning, I woke with a start. At first, I thought, I had a bad dream. But no. It was my doorbell ringing without any pause. I opened the door and saw my good-looking new neighbor with an ear-to-ear smile. I wished to break his teeth and his finger for ruining the sleep of a night owl.

"Hi! did I wake you up?" Aakash asked.

"No, I was playing ludo alone at 6 am with these hairs all over my face!" I tried snapping but to my surprise, he bursted out laughing and I got more irritated.

"You are funny! Ohh, thank God I didn't get an old grumpy neighbor. Actually, do you mind if I borrow your newspaper, just for today? I haven't subscribed yet." He said.

I pulled out the newspaper from the door handle and handed it to him. He might have said thank you but I had closed the door on his face already.

The next few days were clones of each other. I couldn't decide if I should laugh or cry or just hibernate somewhere. I never learned how to deal with an extrovert. In the office, it became easy to deal with such people but it was my home and I didn't know where else to go. My neighbor was always short of something. Sometimes milk, sometimes sugar or ginger, sometimes tea leaves! Oh yes, he was a tea addict and on Sundays, I became a wholesale supplier of tea ingredients.

But the worst thing was, I didn't realize and wasn't ready to accept that these things are becoming my habit. I couldn't imagine where it would end.

It was the transition time of the weather and while half summer- half rainy season was unfolding into autumns, I caught cold and fever. The only demerits of staying alone, away from your family are these days when you are in charge of your own selves. It was already three days that I had locked myself in my home.

It was the fourth day of my sickness and I was lying on the bed with my headphones on and doing nothing. The doorbell rang. My instant thought was to ignore it but then decided against it. I switched off my headphones but forgot to close my playlist and The Weeknd Guy started screaming at the top of his voice. It was my neighbor.

'Heyy!" His voice was softer.

"Hi, Aakash!" I replied.

"It's been three days and you have literally locked yourself and it felt like no one exists here! Are you alright?"

I wanted to say that's what introverts do. Cease to exist. But a part of me was happy to be asked. For the first time here in a city that wasn't my hometown, it felt good to have cared.

"Yeah, I am fine. Just those season-changing things. Cold and fever." I replied with a smile.

"Ohh! I see." He continued, "I was worried. Anyways, take rest and take care." He smiled and went inside.

I was about to close the door when he spoke again leaning against his door, "You listen to English songs a lot, I guess?"

"Yes, I do." I said and realized that the phone had shifted to Justin Timberlake's 'Mirror'. "That's my favorite too! Maybe we can exchange our playlist sometime." He replied and finally went inside. I didn't put my headphones on this time. I let my phone play it louder.

It was a Sunday afternoon. My intuitions said the doorbell would ring anytime soon and it did. I giggled at my own reveries and opened the door. Aakash was standing with two huge mugs in his hands. I stared at the cups first and then at him with a question mark on my face.

"You like tea more or coffee?" He asked.

"Black coffee!" I said it before I had realized.

"Great! Even lesser efforts!" He grinned and went inside his apartment but kept the door open.

I did the same and played a song on my music system. I knew what he would be doing but pretended not to know about it. After five minutes he was there with two cups and settled himself on my couch as if he lived here on my side of the corridor for ages.

I started laughing at his gestures.

"What?" He asked.

"No! Nothing." I picked up my mug and sipped slowly, "I mean, thanks for bringing in the coffee treat to my home."

He was scanning my place. I wanted to arrange my novels on the shelves but felt lazy. He got up and started reading the summary on the back cover.

"So, you read?" He asked.

"Pretty much the only thing I do, apart from my job" I replied.

"You know, that's the longest sentence you have spoken so far. To me." He smiled.

I blushed. Couldn't decide what more to say. But I said, "That's a talent only introverts get."

"Ohh, so you are an introvert?" He said thoughtfully. "And I used to think you avoid me because I am a bachelor, little older than you and all that stuff."

"Well I would have done it in that way but you never gave me a chance, extrovert people!" I tried playing sarcasm and he laughed.

There was a sudden thunder reverberating in the sky and lightning flashed through the room. It started raining. Though it wasn't a cloudy day and out of al. weather predictions. We both stared through the window. I spoke before I knew what was I saying, "Come, we can enjoy this from my balcony."

It was his turn to stare at me. Having said all those introvert stuff, he definitely didn't expect this. We both settled ourselves on the bean bags. I had a feeling of deja vu. I imagined somewhere about the 'perfect moments', when I read novels, but it was the last thought that they can happen in my life too. But this moment felt serene and beautiful. The small red hibiscus and pink adenium plants looked so perfect and bright under the grey yonder. And my dream catcher and wind chime tinkling with Chris Brown's verses.

"If we were not together,

It's probably for a reason

Every heartbreak has its season

It ain't always summer in June"

His voice was magical! I whispered to myself, "Wow!"

"Hmm? You were saying something?" He asked.

"No!" I said, "I mean you have a magical voice!"

"Thanks! This song is special."

"Why?" I asked, surprising myself. Since when did I start talking so much? But, I guess I was in the mood too.

"This song is real and one should always remember. The lyrics had hit me hard when I had listened to it for the first time. I kept on reciting it till I had learned and followed it by heart." He said in a single breathe. There was something in his eyes. He kept looking at the flowers and the drops of rain settling on the green leaves like dew. I knew what it had meant and part of me didn't want him to go in some type of bygone. But I lost to my curiosity.

"So you don't want anyone to reach you? And you didn't have everything?" I asked.

He gave a sad smile. "Yes!"

"Ohh! I am sorry." I replied.

There was a long silence with the noise of the downpour, thunder, and wind chimes.

"So," He broke the silence, "You never had a story or some love story?"

"I have hate stories." I said, "Every day with the Hitler in my office."

We both started laughing.

"No like seriously?" He pushed.

"I thought I had something like one-sided love. But my fate broke those illusions soon and I was back to normal after one and a half year."

"I see!" He replied.

"How did you get over it?" I asked.

"It took few sleepless nights, months of disillusionments, a year of overthinking and I was back." For the first time, his smile wasn't irritating.

My phone beeped. I scrolled through it and saw a forwarded message of some theatre play next Sunday.

"What are you doing next Sunday?" I asked him.

"Umm... Lemme think" He counted something in his mind and said, "Nothing."

"We are going to watch theatre." I said.

"You are fine with going out with an extrovert?" he said playfully.

I made a face and replied, "Or else I wouldn't have asked!"

He agreed and we the plan was final.

That week was entirely different. Moments I was experiencing after a long time. I had almost forgot how it felt like waiting for something. For someone. I tried remembering if we had agreed on a friendship yet. But in one just evening, it felt like more than being friends. I kept checking the calender and remained absent minded. Stopped cursing my boss even when he caught me with pending tasks like he always did.

"Are you in love or something?" One of my colleagues asked.

"What do you mean?" I snapped with a little blush on my face.

"You are acting differently. You stopped hitting your keyboards even when you are given work while you are leaving?" She said with mischief in her voice.

"Okay, so do you want me to scream?"

"No, but thanks to him!" She giggled at her own joke and left. And I kept on wondering if my emotions are getting that prominent.

The special Sunday finally arrived. I had spent the entire Saturday night deciding what to wear. I called my sis but that non sense was of no help. "Ohh dee, come on! First, tell me who's he! And then only I will help!" After letting my leg being pulled for 20 minutes, I disconnected. My eyes finally got fixed on a light blue kurta with Gujrati handwork. That was just a play but I was in a mood for doing things differently after a long time.

"Wow! you look..." Aakash paused and looked into my eyes directly for the first time, and then continued, "you look beautiful."

"Thanks!" I said. I made sure not to go red like those filmy girls. It took an hour to reach the auditorium. It was Shakespeare's play, 'As you like it'. Apart from the medieval dialogues, I like the plot.

The teaholic person dragged me to the tea stall after the play got over and we were having his special cardamom-ginger tea. We were sitting on a bench there and watched the hustle silently for sometime. I was about to get up when Aakash called my name, "Sonia!"

I tried reading his face. "What, you don't want to go home?" I asked.

"I want to say something."

The air around me got tense and my heart skipped a bit. I didn't know why it felt predictable. Yet, I wanted to listen to it.

"I never thought I would be able to pull back myself from my past. At first, you reminded me of everything she used to be. My first and previous love. But no! The last Sunday, was different. You were different and everything else was different. You know, you have a world inside you. Will you let me in there? In your world?"

I gazed at him for how long, I didn't remember. I never imagined the scenario where I can be loved or told these things.

He started again, "I know all this must have been too sudden for you. You can refuse!"

"No. I mean, I was not even sure if we were friends. I am scared of things going fast you know. It never stays." Didn't know why, but my eyes got foggy and I might have started crying like a baby. Then and there.

He took my hands and squeezed them. It was warm and assuring. I could have hold them forever. I tried my best to push back my tears.

"We won't rush. You can be yourself. I will do all the talking. I am the extrovert, afterall. And you can just listen!" He winked and then laughed.

I smiled. "Of all the places, why you did you choose a tea stall, to propose me?" I asked.

"I didn't choose it purposely." He said, "I just wanted to say it, the place was accidental."

I tried giving a mischievieous look and continued, "I will say yes only one condition."

He turned serious and held his breathe, "What?"

"If we ever manage to reach till the wedding, don't you dare pick up a place like this, all wet, and crowdy and noisy." I said it with a serious tone.

We both looked into each other eyes. His eyes got bright and deep at the same time. Like it holds so many stories in them and all of this is going to be a part of those dark fables. But then he started laughing and twinkle in his eyes. He stood up and bowed dramatically, "As you wish, your highness!"

He hold my hands yet again and this time too tightly. We were going home. Our home. And I found my man, in my next door neighbor!