The bright red star

Written on request by MNK again :)

Pearls! They dazzle when you smile at me
A smile as sweet as ever could be
They knew when you were born, that's true
That smiling star, Is that you?


Stars! They shine so bright when you look at me
Eyes, as kind as there ever could be
You came down to earth and that's when they knew,
That shining star, Is that you?


Music! That's all I hear when you speak to me,
Words, as Naive as ever could be
They named you after a star, Well it's true
That Glowing star, That's you!

The journey

It was a foggy and cold day. Priya was trying hard not to snooze.'What a waste' She thought 'Sitting in this stupid bus at the crack of dawn, so that I can get to that hell hole and spend the day doing what I hate most'.


All of her life, Priya never got out of bed before eight in the morning. Two years ago, she landed a job and that was the end of that habit. Her office was on the other side of town and she had to spend a good part of the day travelling to work. What made it worse was that it was not what she wanted. It was not her dream job. To her it was 'a job that paid the rent'.


The bus was cruising at top speed. There was hardly any traffic so early in the morning. The bus lurched to a halt and Priya woke up with a start. She looked out of the window and said 'Shit!' loud enough for the guy in the front seat to turn around and go 'You forgot?? Again??'
Priya just glared at him and whipped out her phone and started dialing.


'You don't even have him on auto dial? Honestly, I don't understand why he does not ask one of us to call'


Priya was trying her best to ignore him and was muttering 'pick up, pick up, pick UP'.


"Hello?" a sleepy voice answered the call.


"I forgot to call again" she squeaked into the phone.


"Oh , that's alright. I'm on leave today. Not feeling good. Sorry I didn't let you know before"


"Ohh! Take care of you!! "


"Yeah I will. Bye"


"Bye". Priya looked slightly disappointed. The guy in the front seemed satisfied with what he saw. He turned around in his seat and fell asleep.


Priya fished out a novel from her handbag and started reading it. But she could not concentrate. Something just did not seem right. She tried to read a few more minutes and then shut the book and shoved it back into her bag. She picked up her phone and dialed Neeta's number. She let the phone ring for a few seconds before she cut the call. It was a signal to Neeta that the bus was approaching.


After a few minutes, the bus stopped and a pretty girl got in.Priya could smell her perfume even before Neeta came into view.


"Hey Pri. Where's Suraj?"


"Hey babe! Not well, won't be coming today"


"No wonder you look so frumpy. I mean if I don't talk to you first thing in the morning, I feel like I haven't had my morning cuppa coffee"




"Great" said Priya moodily " As if I were not addicted to enough things, I am now addicted to Suraj"


"Haha. And If you do not get your daily dose of Suraj, you sulk and act moody"


"Very funny Neeta!!"


The guy in the front seat turned around to let them know they were disturbing him. Neither of the girls looked at him and continued talking. He turned towards the couple sitting across the aisle to complain, but they were too lost in each other to notice. He grumbled something about disturbance in the buses and went back to sleep. Neeta and Priya giggled and continued to gossip until they reached their destination. They bid each other goodbye and went on to their blocks.


Priya sat down at her desk and switched on her PC. As she checked her mail she realized it was going to be a long day and started working right away. It was 8 P.M by the time she finished all her work and rushed out to catch the evening shuttle. Luckily, not many people were working late that night and she managed to get a seat by the window. The bus crawled through the traffic. Priya sighed inwardly, she knew she would be very late today.


An hour later they were still nearer to the office than her home.Priya was hungry and tired and felt really irritated. She was no mood to talk when she saw her phone flash suraj's ID. She answered only because she thought it was polite.


"Hello"


"Hi" Said Suraj. He sounded better than he had in the morning. "Are you still not home?"


"No, took the 8'o clock bus. Traffic is horrible, I guess it's gonna take another hour. Did you want something?"


"You sound really tired.. Actually, I just called to tell you that I would be coming to office tomorrow. Don't forget the signal"


"I'll try not to " Priya said smiling in spite of herself.


Suraj asked Priya if she heard A.R.Rahman's latest album and their conversation veered towards music. They continued talking for more than an hour. Priya got off at her stop and was walking home. She was feeling exceptionally cheerful.


"Ahh! home at last. I'm really hungry. What did you have for dinner?"


" Nothing yet, I think mom made parathas"


" Well then go and eat. You should have told me earlier"


" You said you were hungry, I did not have the heart to tell you"


Priya smiled and said " You know you are so silly at times? You are not well .. go eat. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye"


"Bye"


The next morning Priya made sure she alerted Suraj on time. When the bus stopped and Suraj walked towards her, she realised she felt really happy. She felt like she hadn't met him in a long time. They started off where they stopped their conversation the day before , only to pause to signal Neeta that the bus was there.


As soon as Neeta got on to the bus she went " Hey Suraj, how are you doing today? Somebody missed you a lot yesterday." and gestured towards Priya.


Suraj turned towards Priya with a questioning look.


"Ohh! you know how boring this journey can be" said Priya airily, hoping that Suraj did not notice her blush.


Suraj looked at her in a queer way for a few seconds. Then Neeta started telling them something she heard about the HR guys and they spent the rest of their journey arguing about that piece of gossip.

It was a busy week for Priya. She also had a job interview the next week and she was busy preparing for that. It was the same story everyday. She would get into the bus, alert Suraj and then bury her nose in a book. Suraj and Neeta would give her pointers for the interview.

On the day of the interview Priya felt really tense. She wanted the job badly. She knew she could do it, yet she had an uneasy feeling about it. She had reached the place an hour early and was trying to calm herself down by listening to some music. She recieved a text message from Suraj "I'm sure you'll do well :). Treat in office cafe tomorrow?"

Somehow, the message seemed to have done what the music couldn't do. Priya felt a lot more confident now. She did very well in the interview and got the job.

Priya was really excited the next day. She did not take calls from Suraj and Neeta the day before so that she could surprise them with the news. She finally got her dream job. Suraj almost ran to her seat and said "Well?" Priya kept a straight face as long as she could and then she squealed "yessss!"

"Awesome" roared Suraj "when are you joining?"

"Can you keep it down?" the guy in the front seat muttered.

Both Priya and Suraj grinned at him sheepishly. Priya turned to Suraj and said "I have to join next week. I've got so much to do before that. I am so excited."

Suraj's smile faltered slightly, but he recovered quickly and said " Ohh that's too soon. But I guess you can manage. I knew you could do it"

Priya raised an eyebrow and said "Really?? You did not look that convinced a minute ago.."

"Well, you wouldn't take my calls. So, I thought you were depressed or something.By the way, Neeta will not be coming today. She said she had to go somewhere"

"Ohh, then I better message her that I got in. She'll kill me if she hears from someone else"

The week rolled by too soon and it was already friday evening. Priya finished all her goodbyes and got into the bus. Neeta and Suraj were waiting for her. All three of them were very excited. They chatted away happily until Neeta's stop was there. Neeta hugged Priya and then got off the bus.

Once Neeta had gone both Priya and Suraj fell silent. They usually never ran out of things to say to each other. But that day, they were unusually quiet.

"Don't sit like that, say something!!" urged Suraj after a while "We might never meet again"

Priya just stared at him for a while. Then she started talking about her new office.When Suraj's stop came, he shook her hand and gave her that queer look again. Then he got off the bus.

Priya felt a sudden sadness engulf her. She would never see him again. She looked out of the window, Suraj was walking down the lane. It was no use denying it, she was hopelessly in love with him. She wanted to call him back and tell him that she loved him. How she wanted to turn back time. But she knew, that even if she could turn back time, that journey would end exactly how it did. She did not have the guts to tell him how she felt about him.

Priya joined her new job the next week. It was a great place and her colleagues were fantastic. Of course, she still had to travel to the other side of town. At least now, she felt the journey was worth it. But she really missed the fun journeys of the past two years. She missed gossiping with Neeta, though she tried not to think of Suraj. She reasoned with herself that she could not have it all. She had a great job and that she should be happy about it.

As months passed Priya slowly got used to life at the new place. She now had a lot of new friends. Neeta and Suraj called occasionally and they used to talk about old times. One day Neeta suggested they meet up for lunch over the weekend.

Priya was waiting for Neeta at the lakeside restaurant. She was checking her watch every two minutes. Neeta was not usually late, but then as she always says 'sometimes, traffic can be a bitch'. Just then Neeta walked into the restaurant. Priya's heart sank when she saw who she brought along. It was Suraj! She had forgotten what looking at him could do to her heart. It was beating like crazy. And then it stopped beating abruptly as she noticed something.

They were holding hands, and they looked great together.

Priya sighed and waved at them.

" Hey guys" she said, trying to smile, but she wasn't really sure if it was convincing.

They joined her at the table. Priya could tell Suraj was trying to avoid her gaze. He picked up a glass and started drinking some water.

" Hey babe" said Neeta , beaming at her "Guess what?? I'm getting married"

"Aren't you supposed to say 'we'?" asked Priya gesturing towards Suraj.

Suraj almost choked on the water he was drinking. He was looking at Priya with his eyes wide open.
Neeta looked at her as if she were insane " What on earth are you saying?"

"Well you were holding hands when you came in" said Priya defensively.

"Are you crazy or what?" said Neeta "This guy developed cold feet after reaching the restaurant. He wanted to go back so I was dragging him in." Neeta was glaring at Suraj all the while. She seemed to be angry with him about something.

"I'm sorry" Priya said to her knees. She did not know where to hide. She was feeling really stupid.

"Priya" said Neeta in a different tone "Do you really think he could?"

Priya looked at Suraj, who was still staring at her with wide eyes.

"Priya, I couldn't.. I never would" he muttered as if in a daze.

"For heaven's sake stop muttering and say what you want to " Neeta growled.

"Priya, I could never marry Neeta" said Suraj "she's not..." he trailed off.

"Me!" Priya said with a faint smile.

It was a foggy and cold day. Priya was trying hard not to snooze. She woke with a start as her phone beeped to indicate a text message from Suraj.

'Miss u already- hubby'

Priya sighed "What a waste! Sitting in this stupid bus at the crack of dawn going to spend the day away from him"