*THAT* Morning !!!!!

The three of us were going to the footpath veggie market to restock our fridge for the week. Just before we took the turn, I saw her running towards us, clearly on her jogging path. I irked my trio to walk faster so that she doesn’t catch up to us. Within minutes we reached the veggie footpath. From where she appeared, at that turn, I presumed her to take the left on her track. While we were busy negotiating with the veggie prices, I saw her racing past us from the corner of my eye just to stop a few steps ahead. It was quite a chilly morning with a thin crowd. It was then I noticed what she was wearing. She wore black tight jogging pants with a sleeveless tight top. Her face, her arms and her neck was sticky with sweat. She seemed to be running from quite a time now. The faint sunlight gleamed from her face giving an illusion of divinity. She stopped in her track to work out some stretches. As she flexed her body like an acrobat, she sang to herself, her own stretching-song that spoke about the beauty of the rising sun and the chill of the fog on the sweaty skin. The rhythm was quite catchy and I started following her words when she started her stretches for the second time. She was not even to her 2^nd flex, I realised that it was just me singing and she wasn’t anymore. When I looked at her, the evident look of recognition was all marked with a sign of horror clearly saying that she dint expect to be mocked at, that too from a class-acquaintance like me. I never had that chance to talk to her, never had the chance to tell her my feelings. I could never tell her how beautiful she was, that she looked gorgeous even when she had just smeared all the cheese from the burger onto her face. I could never tell her that every time I saw her it became a freight just to take a single breath, it became hell-of-a-job just to say a small line without stammering  few of the words onto the floor. She just gave a jerk and took a left that was clearly out of her track and that led to a dead end. A lock of her hair got stuck to her face and that took my breath away. As he left, a breath of guilt escaped my mouth and I was clearly disgusted with myself. As I turned back, the two of them were awestruck. They seem to say, “What the f**k!”

I couldn’t bear with myself and just gave a sprint for a quarter mile until I came to a shop that wasn’t yet open. I just stood there with the portico pole against my back. Few minutes later, she came jogging and her eyes met mine. She must have met the dead end and then turned to return to her own track. As she saw me, her legs took a curve from the road and the bent in the path that clearly stopped just before me.

“Who the heck you think you are, huh? Mocking me on the streets.”

I stammered the most genuine sorry I could for at least 10 times before she seem to relent and turn. She didn’t even tell if we were clear. She just got ready to take off. It’s better to take care of ones routine than to waste minutes on a stammering fool”

“Hey wait!”

She was clearly surprised at my blunt call. And most surprisingly the call came without the stuttering doubt in my throat.

“Uh, listen… I wasn’t trying to mock you…. I followed you rhythm because…. ((a deep breath)) I followed your rhythm because I liked it.”

“You liked it? Like you weren’t trying to make fun of me in front of your group.”

I took a step forward. “No I wasn’t, your lines were beautiful ((just like you)). The way you talked about the sun, the….the fog.”

“Well, thank you. Well I must go. See you.” And she left.

I started to jog behind her. “Would it be okay if I join you?”

She didn’t say yes nor did she refuse. I took it as a yes.

“So you jog every morning.”

“Uh... hun”

 “It’s great”

Tired of the small talk I asked, “I’m Samarth, if you don’t know my name.”

She gave out her cutest laugh as she stopped her legs, “I know you Mr-if-you-don’t-know-my-name-Mishra”

That seemed to break the ice.

Elated on hearing that I was took a step to continue the run considering she would do the same. Actually, I wasn’t sure on what to answer next, so I thought it would be easy to jog forward.

Even before I could take the second step, she pulled on my arm. “Bahut hogaya, I’m tired. Let’s just walk.” And so we did.

We started talking and I realised she is a 100 times more gentle and childlike than I thought her to be. We talked sipping over tea at a road side stall. And then talking through the way back till the time I finally dropped her at her house.

“Thanks for the tea. You are a good guy. I wonder why we hadn’t met before.”

((I’m a good guy))…... ((Good guy))…….. ((Good)) …….((G-O-O-D))

“Um… should we do this tomorrow?”

“Okay, sure. Be here at 5.”

And she took a step forward and gave me a small hug and I could inhale her sweat which smelled more intoxicating than any drug anyone had ever used, sweeter than any perfume anyone ever wore.

“See you in college.” And she went in.

It took me at least 5 minutes to recover from the hug. I didn’t even realise when I started running, when reached home.

“Dude…. Why the heck are you smiling?”

I saw my friends sitting on the couch with the veggie bag dumped on the floor.

I just went into my room and screamed my heart out. Her name must have left my mouth many a times with a prefix of the three magic words.