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Now she moved a little bit towards the other end of the train. I can still see her earrings with that Redstone in it. There was something special about it.

I don't even know that she remembers me or not. Is she trying to get away from me?

It was yesterday on this evening train, I've seen her first. I was sitting on the left which is on the platform side. She was on the opposite. It was the same part of the compartment. 

This is the last general compartment on the train. I usually come back from the office in this.  As usual, it was with fewer people. She was talking with a man. He was angry at her about something. He tried to talk to her with some real anger.

Suddenly I noticed she slapping him in the face. It was in a second, the man looked around got out where the train was stopped. 

There were some college students on the other end of the compartment.

They looked at her with a curiosity of what's just happened. It was a yellow seat she was sitting. She wore a black shirt and some kind of skirt, that I have never seen before.

She was beautiful. Her dark eyes, it had some beauty I have never seen before. Tears are started to come out of that. She covered it by her hands and leaned forward. Now I can't see her face. She covered it with her hands.

After some time she removed her hands and looked at me. For some seconds we stared at each other. 

"It's okay," I said her with a pleasant smile. I didn't know how that came out of me.

I was not much of a social person. There was something special about her.

She smiled at me too. Then my station came and I left the train by giving her a last smile.

I didn't expect to see her today. But now she is again on this train in the same compartment. I looked for her a little longer. She hasn't noticed me yet. I wasn't expecting anything more from her. Just a smile.

Now it's time for me to leave. I left the train and looked inside for her. She was texting with someone on the phone. She hasn't taken her eyes from it. 

The train passed and I walked towards the home with thoughts about her. 

Who was the man she slapped yesterday?

What she was doing for a living?

She didn't look like an office worker.

Is that her boyfriend who was on the train yesterday?

When all these thoughts passed by, I reached my home. Living alone in this house has bored me a lot. I've been working here in this city for two years. Nothing interested happened in these two years.

The first thing I thought about after getting a job was being a social person and having a relationship with someone. I was some kind of an introvert all my life. It's just the fear I had in my mind to deal with society.

Nothing changed even after getting a job. The situations that happened in the college days are happening even now. Wherever I go to parks, Mall everywhere I see couples talking, friends celebrating their birthdays and family functions. 

I felt like the one who was living just in the opposite direction of all this. I've seen beautiful ladies like her in the train, office, the neighbourhood everywhere. But nothing had any continuation to the story.

But I feel something different about her. I see a lot of movies and tv shows. I'm in love with those characters they always had some kind of interesting life. They always had some mystery or crime to solve. They had a purpose like saving the world or saving someone. But mine was full of boring reality. Boring computers and typing sounds.

I slept a little bit late that day, thinking about seeing her in the next evening.

I woke up early and caught the train to the office. I didn't know why, but I searched for her on the morning train. I was like some kind of child who was working out something stupid.

The office was boring as usual. I was looking at the clock all this time. Time is stuck. At the afternoon after lunch, I lit a cigarette at the back of the canteen. It was the usual one. Her eyes came to mind.

Finally, now it's evening. I tried to pack my bag and put my laptop inside it. I was starting to leave. Suddenly Alby came into my way. He was the one who sits next to me in the office. 

I give a doubtful look at his face. 

"I'm in a relationship with Diya," Alby told me like there was something more to add to it.

"You are the only one who didn't know that. Even if you ignore me, I am considering you as a friend. We are planning to get married. " He told that in one breath. He thought that I was gonna leave him. Before he even completing it.

"Ok," I said. And I looked at my watch it's five minutes late. I have to leave now.

"So we are having a party on Sunday night at the Miles Club.I'm inviting you first. I expect you there"

He said that like I'm not gonna attend it. So he was trying to please me.

"I will be there," I said that in a hurry. I was not even thought about anything at all. I will be saying ok to anything he was gonna say at that time.

There was a small shock in his face. He didn't expect that. He smiled. I left there with walking fastly, by not giving him anything more to say.

I reached the station. The train was gone. I felt like I'm gonna never see her again or next evening will be after hundred years. I was frustrated. 

After fixing my mind in a way that I don't want to see her, I waited for the next train. The train came, I walked towards the usual seat on the side of the platform.

Suddenly I noticed the eyes looking at me from the next seat I was directed towards. She was listening to some kind of music. She saw me now. Some kind of fear came inside me. I thought  I  was gonna have a heart attack. I thought about changing the direction for a second but it was hard when she looked at me.

I sat next to her. For the first few seconds, I  started doing something to hide the feeling inside me.  I grabbed my phone and started to play a song, in the tension I forgot to put earphones. It played a little bit loud for a second.

Then I stopped it and searched for the pair of earphones in my bag.

Then I heard someone started to talk with a soft voice.

"Do you remember me?" She said that and unplugged the earphone on my side.

I looked at her. It was hard but I tried. 

"Yeah..." I stammered a little bit. She was that much beautiful that I can't tell any words looking at her face.

I think she found out I was uncomfortable. She started to put the earphone back towards her ear. 

"What you are listening to?" It was a quick question from me. She didn't expect that. Even I didn't expect that from me. Why did I ask that?

She doubted for a second.

"It's Sugar Town," she said that with a smile. It felt like a funny question for her.

It's the first time someone saw me as  funny, I also smiled.

Truly I was a big fan of that song. So I continued to talk about it. I thought that as an opportunity have a nice conversation.

"By Nancy Sinatra, I'm a big fan of her, I always listen to this song when there is something bad happens in life," I told her with some interest in her.

"Me too. This song makes me feel like everything is going to be okay, when something bad happens" she was not smiling when she said that. I felt like she was in some kind of issue.

"Anything bad happened between you and your boyfriend after that?"  I enquired. I thought it as the right time to ask the question.

"He wasn't my friend and it's not at all relationship issue. I'm not that kind of soft girl" Now there is little bit seriousness in her face when she said that.

"I'm sorry if that was uncomfortable for you"

I felt like it was my problem to ask that question. So I tried to keep it simple and tried to end the conversation.

There was a silence for a few minutes between us. I hate these uncomfortable silences. I tried to look outside and scroll through my playlist to play something.

"What's this? She found a find out a paper folded into small and was placed at a gap between the train seats. She took it out and pointed towards me.

I felt like she became some other person. I smiled at her with some kind of empty head.  She unfolded it into its original shape and there was something written on it.

" Why you avoid me?" she read it. That's what written on that paper. She read it and looked at me. She smiled. 

"Why people do this these days? There is Instagram, WhatsApp and everything." She asked that to me like I knew the answer to it.

"Maybe they don't have a data plan" I answered that as to just provide some valuable information to her.

She laughed. We both laughed looking at each other for a minute. That made me feel like We become more close.

We laughed for another round.

"What do you do?" She asked me that and I felt like she was interested in me too.

"I work at a software company," I told her that with implying in a way  it was not at all interesting and I have a boring life.

"Sometimes we have to live a life of the person whom we are not supposed to be" I don't know how, but she understood what I was meant.

"What about you, are you having a good life?" I had a curiosity to know what she does for a living.

"I...I..." She stammered.

The train slowed down. Her attention went into the surroundings. It was my station. I understood that it was not a  good situation to continue a conversation.

"It's where I live, See you soon," I said that half-minded. I was even ready to go further with her. I had nothing interesting to do until next evening.

"Yeah.. See you tomorrow." It was some kind of relief for her. She wasn't that much happy to tell about herself.

I left the train and looked back at her said a bye.

I walked towards home with an unsatisfied mind. I felt like we talked a lot, But I don't even know her name.

"That was the most awkward conversation one should ever have," I told that to myself.

Then everything until next morning was slowed down. I couldn't sleep. Her face was in all of my thoughts. But I felt like I have a purpose in my life now, even if it's simple like seeing a girl in the evening.

I woke up early and reached the office early than usual. Due to yesterday's events, I had to smile at Alby whenever he looked at me. It was hard. But I tried to be more social that day because of the thrill I had to meet her in the evening.

At the afternoon when I was smoking I'd a chit chat with Alby about Diya. That made Alby think that something happened to me.

Finally, the evening came. I didn't know which train she was gonna come. I walked fastly to the station before even the first train came. 

The first one came. I looked inside for her, she was sitting there on the opposite of the platform side.  I entered and walked towards her.

There is some change in her face now. She looked like some another person. She was wearing that Redstone earring. 

"Anything bad happened at work?" I asked out of curiosity. Because she was changed. Even her dressing style's different now.

"Do I know you?" 

I never expected that one from her. I stayed empty-headed for a second.

A lot of things passed through my head for a second.

"Am I mad?, Is this a Hallucination?"

Am I dreaming?"

"Why?. We chatted yesterday." I was quivering when I said that. After all this loneliness now I am turning into a mad one.

"You are mistaken. It's the first time I'm seeing you." There was a sympathy I can see in her face when she said that.

My brain was blasting. One more little push I will become really mad.

Then I saw some blurry shadow reaching towards us. It was him, the one she slapped that day. 

"Any problem hon?. Do you know him?"

He enquired to her by looking at my face. I don't know why I fear this guy. He looked like some kind of thug.

"No..No... He's mistaken me for somebody else" she looked at me while saying that.

I became silent and put an expression on my face that of a mad guy. It was easy. I put my whole attention to my phone to ignore them. I didn't have any texts even to reply. That's usual I didn't have any friends. So I looked through my email.

"Hon, we have to leave the town before night. So be fast when we reach there. Pack everything. We are not coming back, Keep that in mind"

The thug said that to her. He is not at all cared about me. They were on to something bigger. 

It was also another hit for me. She doesn't remember me and now she is going to leave the town. After a second I felt good about that. There was no need to see her again like this.

I was ready to leave her chapter behind when the train reached the station.  I left the train with a broken heart but I knew that it will be okay after some days.

I turned and looked at her for the last time. Now there is some other guy. The thug was talking to him.

She looked at me. For a second I didn't know what was happening there. Her lips are saying me something,

It was...

"I'm sorry........."

That was something I can't even accept. There was no problem for me if she left like some kind of stranger. But now.....

I didn't know what to do. I felt an urge to help her. But I didn't even know what the trouble is.

 The train started moving. She slipped a folded paper between the seats. Then she once again looked at me...

She said sorry once more. But she couldn't complete it. The train was gone.

I stayed there like the feeling of the world is going upside down. 

Who was she?

Why me?

What was she written on the paper?

There's a lot unanswered questions.

I felt a kind of feeling to walk towards the opposite direction to my home. I put the earphone. 

And played the sugar town.

The sun was settling down.

Sugar town played in my ears...

I walked towards somewhere by singing the lyrics.

"I got some troubles, but they won't last

I'm gonna lay right down here in the grass

And pretty soon all my troubles will pass

'Cause I'm in shoo---

Sugar Town"

image :unsplash