Madness - 1

He lay without motion, his eyes staring at the empty space ahead. The wind howled, the windows clattered. A paper under his arm flapped vigorously trying to fly out. On it was a story that was struggling to be told ...
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I was past impatient and reaching levels of extreme irritability. What started of as a beautiful friday was now slowly in my mind, turning into a gloomy sunday evening. The status screen read

IC634 Chennai 16:45 20:45 Delayed.

Already four hours behind schedule. It was going to be a long night !
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Vizag's airport was newly built yet it radiated most of the old. Shiny locks adorned the colorful suitcases of passengers, just like necklaces did women; then there were the 101 teary relatives who seemed to cry and smile at the same time; the yawning guard who with extreme non-chalance kept the barrel of his rifle pointing at his own face; And of course the new white floor and wall tiles that exhibited the famous irreproducible patterns of maroon and brown, giving the casual observer an indication of the spitting force and chemical breakdown of the nation's favorite condiment.

I was hungry. There was no sign of the promised free meal or any of airline staff who made that promise. My stomach was rumbling, my head seemed to be exploding ....

Then she came ... with those large expressive eyes , with a small sticker pottu that seemed to have been etched out of her forehead, with a face that expressed a thousand emotions .....It felt like a wave of fresh rain on a humid day.

The negative train that ran circles in my head, changed track!

The first time she saw me, I was staring. It was an awkward moment and I felt like one of those dozen cheapos in Elliots beach who had nothing better to do than ogle at the ladies. Our eyes met again ... this time she was staring too. I felt naked. Darn I thought ... should have bought that newspaper after all ...

I cudn't help but look at her again. She was approaching me now .. Oh god! Was she going to create a scene now?

"Excuse me! "
uhmm.. yes ...
"If ur not too busy ... could you help me find my bag"

Ahaa.. her bag was missing... whew!
NICE!

She din't have to say a thing more, I was already up looking for them... with her tagging behind me answering all my sherlock style (read dumb ass) questions...

the bag was ultimately found ... my imaginary conversations turned into a real one and a pair of ears began listening to my ordeal.

"What time you think you will get home?" ... she asked
Well lets see here. For every half hour since 4 pm they have been delaying my flight for an hour..... I think this will have to be home.

Just then, came the announcement

Passengers travelling to Chennai via Indian Flight IC634, your flight has been canceled. We regret the inconvenience caused.

The next flight out was early the next day. I swore.

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I still don't know if she really meant it or if she asked me as a formality but I quickly accepted the offer to stay the night at her place. I was attracted to her. She was classy and I seemed to have gotten comfy with her. She wasn't one of those hot babes nor one of those face that could kill million types that I typically drooled over yet there was something about her ... .For a totally rational guy like me, love at first sight was more of a case of bad hormones.. but those science classes started to get fuzzy as we walked out for dinner. We talked, finished dinner, talked, walked home, talked and talked and kept talking... even the street dogs seemed to call it a night.

She seemed happy. I was on cloud number nine.
Then the sine wave began its free fall.

"I am not feeling too well "
What's wrong ?
"My stomach's hurting real bad ... "
Uh oh !

It must have been the mushrooms she ordered because she started puking them and in half hour was exhibiting classic signs of food poisoning( more and more puke ). At the hospital the on duty doc said stuff like "Low pulse ..oxygen, syringe, emergency room" ...

My ears saw things .... my eyes heard things....

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The color was back on her face.

It was about 4 am. We got back to her place. There she was, a complete unknown I had just met and yet felt a strange and strong connection for. My eyes hurt yet i couldn't close them, i kept worrying about her ... I sat by her bedside keeping tabs.

She woke up.

Are you feeling better now?
She nodded weakly. "Were you awake all night. Didn't you sleep? Did you miss your flight?"
I held her hand ...Im sorry.. this wouldn't have happened if i hadn't shown up .. i mean the dinner thing.. the emergency .. i feel bad.
She looked at me, her eyes moist, her voice deep ... "Thank you for being here"
I couldn't catch my flight, I dint feel like leaving your side
She held my hand tighter "Ill be ok."
No you dont understand ... I dont feel like leaving your side .. ever

It just came out.

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(To be continued .. )