Love @ 7 – Love Short Story
Photo credit: Oleander from morguefile.com

“How much for the potatoes Bhaiya?” a feminine voice asked.

Mayank looked back & saw a stunningly beautiful girl buying groceries. His mother had send him to buy veggies from the market much to his disgust , but at last he agreed.

“20 Rs for a kg.”

“Weigh 2 kgs please” came the reply

She took the bags & went her way across the street to the left.

Mayank was disrupted from his thoughts when the vegetable seller asked “How many kgs should I pack?”

After which Mayank hesitatingly ran following the girl, but she was nowhere to be found, at which Mayank felt  disturbed & couldn’t sleep the whole night. His mind muttered the same words more than a hundred times, remembering the beautiful eyes, the accentuated lips, lovely fair skin of the angel in disguise.

“Sh*ts !! Where am I gonna find her now?”

Mayank worked as an assistant manager at a leading bank & he usually reached home by 8, but since it was a Saturday he was home at 5 & much to his disgust he had to go to buy veggies, but it soon turned out to be a blissful memory of an angel direct from heaven in the market at 7.

The day went in a jiffy, but he did not forget the sweet voice even for a fraction of a second. At 6:45 he dressed perfectly unlike his usual track suit, he wore a nice shirt & jeans, ready to get another glimpse of the cute lady.

He went to the same spot where he first saw her & stood close to the vegetable seller pretending to analyse the veggies  as if he found treasured gold antics with minute detailing. He waited till 8:30 & the seller was ridiculed like hell. “What do you want Sir?”

“I will tell you in a while”

“How long will it take?”

“I will tell you in a while” 😉

He waited for half & hour more & at last said, “pack me a kilo please”, to which the seller replied “Here is the packet, you please leave I don’t need the money.”

Monday went with usual office chores he asked permission from the manager to leave early, to which the manager agreed. Back at home, he got ready again in hope that he will see his angel again, he reached the market at sharp 7 & Voila here she was, looking pretty as ever, much to his delight.

She stood near the fruit seller, bargaining in her mesmerizing voice laden with sedatives (that’s what it seemed to Mayank).

He kept staring at her, when she began to walk his way it was noticed that the guy was not safe to be around. Which nice girl would feel comfortable at someone gazing so deeply at her?

She made a face & began to leave, a week passed & the same routine followed. By now the girl liked Mayank, the way he dressed up was sauve & sophisticated & now Mayank had calmed down a bit, as in he knew that he must not reveal his interest so damn clearly making the girl uncomfortable…

Both stared from time to time, when he stared she looked in the opposite direction biting her red lips beautifully, when she looked back, Mayank looked down but they both knew they wanted each other’s attention.

A month passed & still no improvement from both the sides were made, no initiatives were taken & they were shy like hell. Both sober, polite & had awesome personalities yet they feared rejection (everybody in love get chills down the spine when it’s time to express there feelings, Right?)

At last after 6 months Mayank got the courage & followed her till the end of the street, she knew she was being followed but she wanted him to make the first move.

“Excuse Me”

“Yes” she stopped.

“Can I please know your name?”

“Ananya”

“I want to tell you something, girl”

“What is it?”

“I come to the market everyday at 7 just to get a glimpse of yours, I am Mayank & I am not a loafer by any means”. “I think I have fallen for you, I love everything you do, I know you live at Rose Apartments, 6th floor & I would really like to know you better”

“I know you come there just for me, I noticed the constant staring some 6 months back, I would like to confess – sometimes I don’t buy any veggies still I come just to get a glance” she said shyly.

“How can you be so sure that you love me?, you hardly know anything about me? Maybe after knowing me you would not like me anymore?” Ananya asked.

“Even after knowing everything I am sure I would love you even more, there’s something that attracts me towards you & I am sure its not only your beauty but the inner soul”

“What if I told you I am a Widow” she said.

Mayank was speechless, “What?”

“Yes, I know I should not have acted in such a manner but my husband died after a week & my in-laws say I bring bad-luck, I am not a well educated girl & my religion would not allow me to date another man”, I have to live with my destiny no matter what!

“Can’t you fight against the customs for our love…” “Oh! I am sorry, you don’t even love me, right?”

“I don’t know, but in those 15 minutes in your strange company I feel as if I am free of all the boundations,  society had imposed on my heart, I am not allowed to love, I am sorry”

And she began walking her way, tears flowing down here cheeks.

“Wait”, Mayank screamed.

“Please leave me alone , if anyone saw you with me, I will have to face dire circumstances”, she sighed.

“Love is not about letting your lover go, Ananya, just tell me you love me or not?”

“I don’t know, Mayank but you deserved better than me, go and find some one who can give her love to you” with these words she left. It was the last that they saw each other

The next morning Mayank went to her apartment but the guard told him that Ananya left at 4 in the morning.

It’s been 8 years since the last conversation they shared, Mayank has a 6 year old son & a lovely wife but he will never forget the 6 months of constant staring at 7 when he was a bachelor. Maybe his love would be like this forever, constant, secret somewhere deep in the heart not letting any one know how much he missed her after these 8 deadly years….

©Tanya Sehgal