I met her.

I slipped away from work, drove to the beach for a bit. Took a much-needed break. Was sitting at the edge of the waters with my feet submerged looking at the sky, when I hear a voice like a melody, “excuse me, is the water cold?”

Without turning around, I answer, “Its fine, just don’t go too far, coz I hear the tides coming up.”

“Thanx.”

The song comes to an end and my eyes wander, the first thing I see is this perfect figure in a black dress walking away from me into the water. She has beautiful black hair with streaks of brown. Has her arms stretched and she stops at knee-deep waters. I look around and don’t see anyone else, and am thinking, “damn, was she who spoke to me….”

Missed opportunity.

Get back to work and the same old song and dance. End of the day, a friend buzzes me, “stop acting like your saving the world and get your ass home, I am having some people over.”

Ring the bell, and the doors opens to dim lights, blaring desi music and I can feel the work just melt away.

“What the hell took you so long…don’t even think traffic coz Natasha just came from where you’re at.”

“Natasha must have left 2 days ago. Honestly it was traffic,…..Hey Natasha….” (oops)

I settle down on my favorite bean bag near the balcony with my best buddy JW to unwind a bit before I take a swing at the dance floor.

I see her, very familiar, shes looking straight at me. A familiar smile. I am drawn. Walking to her, have no idea what I am going to say, when she says, “thanx for the warning at the beach. I was hoping to run into you so I could thank you.”

Stumped. Minds working as fast as it never can again, she is perfect, her smile, hair, the slight dimple, her tan, and I feel a few words rushing out…

“Oh, that, can’t think of anywhere else I would have rather been…”

Smitten at first sight. And its all over my face. “I am glad you were there too.” She says.

I am making crazy headway here. I put my hand forward, “hi, I am…

“Hi Nikalank, didn’t know I would bump into you so soon, wasn’t prepared.”

“Prepared?” I curse my memory again. “I am sorry, have we met? It sounds like an excuse but I suffer from goldfish memory syndrome. Where have we met before? And you are…”

“We met at the beach silly.” Laughs. She has me hooked like a 3 year old is to his first ice-cream. The rest of the room has disappeared. I can see her so clearly, each strand of her hair playing on her face because of the drift from the aircon. She brushes it away, gets up, puts her hand on my chest, my heart skips a beat and i feel a soft breath whisper into my ear…

“Hi Nik, I am Death.”