Sour Grapes.. Reloaded

I am sure, that I’ll be able to pick her out even from a crowd of hundreds. There were no cosmetic illusions on her face (or really high quality cosmetics, I used to joke to myself). Her face lingered on my mind a lot longer than any girl I encountered at work. I first spotted her sipping on a cup of coffee at an outdoor café adjacent to my office building. I remember thinking that she did not warrant a second look, a decision made easier by being an hour late to office.  Like a melody that lingers on your mind long after you over hear it from a source unknown, she left a bit of her in me. My recollections of our encounters were disjointed and vague. Flashes of her fair skin, long fingers and nails, kajal around her eyes, casually tied up hair and big round ear rings disrupted my work on numerous occasions. This place is too small, I’ll meet her again; I assured myself as I typed away on the computer. I looked around as I got out from work that day, hoping to get another glimpse of her.  She was not to be seen. Not many girls worked the late night shifts anyway. The search shall begin on the other side of the weekend, I reminded myself. Numerous similar searches were abandoned even before they had even begun,and this one showed every sign of going down the same route.

 Monday arrived without any hangovers from the weekend.  Driving under the influence of Monday Morning Blues I was busy finding a suitable song to set my mood up. I was reminded of her only after I spotted a bunch of people chatting away at the table where she sat the other day. Standard search protocol applies; identify the tag, identify patterns and routines and then real work begins. I got out of office an hour later and went down to the café. She was nowhere to be seen.  I knew I did not have the luxury of time to hang around and wait for her. After few very long minutes, as  I made my journey up to the 8^th floor, I could sense that my determination to find her had reduced considerably.  So be it, I calmed myself down. However, every female who stumbled into my field on vision was treated to an extra few seconds of my attention, that day.

I had completely forgotten about her the next day as I walked past the café. As I waited for the lift door to close, the sound of quickening footsteps made me hit the button to open the closing lift door.  She stood right in front of me, exactly as I had remembered her. I soon realized a few things, Black was a color made for her, the dress she wore was made for her body and the expression on my face was making me look like a dork as a result of which she was already grinning. With much difficulty I pulled myself together as the lift moved. Then it struck me, she did not push the buttons on the panel.  Her office is on my floor?? , I struggled to underplay the emotional surge I was experiencing within me. Thankfully this time I was not looking at her.  As the lift stopped, she stepped out first. She glanced back and smiled at me but, did not stay back to see my reaction.  I watched her walk away and then disappear as she turned the corner. 

Back to the drawing board, this narrows things down beautifully; I thought .My Company shared the floor with two others. Even though I missed checking her tag, spotting her again will be an easy task. My company's proximity to the building elevator and the clear line of sight from the office reception area provided a perfect vantage point to survey every soul stepping in to or out of the floor  Only a matter of time  before another encounter can be staged, I told myself.  As time passed my day just kept on getting worse exponentially. 

Being a developer, I often had to live through phases where it felt like I was running on a tread mill. You put in the effort, tire yourself out physically and intellectually, and ultimately you realize, that you have not moved an inch. I had stayed over for more than an hour even after my official shift had ended .As I finished up I knew I could not take any more human contact for the day. As I swiped out from the office and looked towards the elevator, I recognized the black dress.  I toyed with the idea of starting a conversation but was acutely aware of my less than inspired mental state and the possibility that I might make a mess of it. She’s in your territory, let it pass for now, I reached an agreement with myself. There was something extremely alluring about her. She had an amorous aura around her, which made it very difficult for me not to look at her.  Our building was famous for frequent power outages. During which, the lift would stop working for a few minutes even after the backup power is turned on. I secretly wished for an outage.

 We exchanged smiles as we got into the lift. An incoming message on my mobile suddenly reminded me of a very critical update mail I had not sent. And the day just keeps on getting better; I cursed myself as I made a move for the buttons on the panel and hit the button to halt the lift at the next floor. As I leaned back I noticed that she had moved as well. Her hands were slightly raised, as if she was trying to stop me. I did not look at her face, but I could sense that she was breathing hard. Maybe my panic mode freaked her out. The lift stopped right after one floor, and I got out. I did not even look back.  A loud f-bomb did very little to vent my frustration, when the lights went out as I walked back up to my floor.

My daily chores ensured that I had little to no time to spare on what had now become a quasi cathartic activity. She managed to make her presence felt by her absence during those days.  I looked around every time I got out on a break, but she was nowhere to be seen. She is right here, not need to hurry. You have not seen her with a guy either, it’s fine. Two days later, as I got out of office the building suffered another outage. I decided to take the fire escape and walk down the stairs. As I opened the door to the fire escape, I saw two figures moving in the dark. The power came back on as I walked in.  I saw a well built guy a wearing black shirt and blue jeans, I did not know him but I recognized the girl who was clinging on to him. It felt as if I just landed the lead role in the realization of a curse I used to wish upon my enemies. She was never mine, but I felt as if I lost her. I sensed some kind of sadness deep within me. He pulled away as he spotted me, but the girl was in no mood to.  As I walked down I saw her looking at me over his shoulder. Her eyes were not as beautiful or calm as I had remembered them to be. They were fierce, excited, lustful and even a tad bit scary.  The sight was quite difficult to absorb. I knew I had to leave the scene as soon as possible.

 As I sat inside my car the anticlimactic end to my almost love story managed to get a chuckle off me.  Then something else got my attention. One full week had passed since I met her first, which meant that the days one which she was spotted were two Fridays and a Tuesday.  She had an amorous appeal that lingered on and played tricks with the mind and most importantly there was this cloud of mystery over her existence. So far she was complying with all the characteristics of the "Yakshi" from classic literature. Not only that I saved myself from almost falling into her trap, I was happy now. Just as I was getting comfortable with my fool proof theory, I saw them walking out of the building, hand in hand, Laughing and thoroughly enjoying each other's company.  As I drove past them, the thought of the guy getting his blood sucked dry, on top of an Indian Devil tree by the blood thirsty yakshi made me happy. Serves him right, I thought. As those images filled my head and I whispered under my breath, Yakshi!!