MILD BRUSH WITH JOY

Fardeen woke up at 11.30AM and was slightly annoyed for having slept this long into the day. Considering it was a holiday he consoled himself that he was allowed the liberties that he would not otherwise indulge in. By 1.30PM he was on his way to the gym. He warmed-up and began his back and biceps workout with his buddy Ritesh. Finding his body ridiculously unresponsive to the very first variation of the back workout, he tried hard to push himself and failing at it miserably managed to complete his workout purely by the craft Ritesh used in making sure that he didn’t give up.

Back home he felt listless and lounged about with a book of poetry by Rimbaud. If anything, the poet’s words added onto the misery of the already lazy day. Shutting the book he called Rahul and Ritesh and set out to get a bite at U B City. Noticing that City Bar was already packed with people and Shiro wouldn’t have opened its doors yet, they landed up at Subway. Ritesh plonked on a chair at the entrance itself lost flirtatiously in la-la-land with his girlfriend, while Rahul and Fardeen went right in to the counter. The chap there greeted them with a warm smile and enquired how they were doing. Fardeen asked him if there was something else other than the usual Chicken Seekh that he normally ate.

“Why don’t you try the Chicken Tikka and Roasted Chicken combo,” he said in his typical ‘I have to sell this’ tone.

Fardeen thought for a while and glimpsed at Rahul who didn’t seem too elated, “I think the roasted chicken smells,” said Fardeen with a wrinkled nose when he heard someone laughing. He looked to his left and saw a young girl who would have been around nineteen or twenty years perhaps.

“That was too funny,” she said with a sprightly smile, her scintillating aura something one could not afford to miss. 

“What was?” he asked, noticing that she was wearing a lovely baby pink tee on blue faded denim jeans. Her right hand was twinkling with an assortment of bracelets. Her hair was well groomed and her skin was clear and brilliant.

“The part of the roasted chicken smelling,” she said shyly.

Fardeen smiled, “My health-conscious buddies tell me I ought to keep myself limited only to the roasted chicken and not the stuff that’s deep fried. I tried it last time and it had this weird smell.”

“Really,” she said making a face similar to his expressions, looking at Rahul and nodding her head in acknowledging his presence. Rahul nodded in return with a smile.

“Oh please add some more of the mayo,” she said as her eyes moved to the Sub that was in the process of being made for her.

“After you’re done with her order, kindly make me three Subs of chicken tikka,” Fardeen told the chap as Rahul received a call and stepped aside. Fardeen didn’t make an attempt to glance at her although she was standing a couple of steps away from him. With silence at the counter, he watched the chap fill her bread with the vegetables when she said, “I think you must try chicken teriyaki. That’s one of my favourites.”

“Thank you,” said Fardeen, as he requested the chap to change his order from tikka to teriyaki. Her Sub done, she picked her tray up and left quietly, giving Fardeen a slight bob of her head. Once Rahul, Ritesh and Fardeen had finished their Subs, Fardeen excused myself to wash his sticky hands when he spotted the same young woman at a table on his way out. She looked at him with her bright eyes and he halted just a moment, “Thank you, I liked it too,” he said softly.

“You’re sweet,” she said and he pretended he didn’t hear that and added, “Oh yes, the sauce was also a bit sour.”

She laughed, “Are you on Facebook?”

He nodded.

“How silly of me, I don’t even know your name,” she said with a dash of enthusiasm. He gave her his name and was about to leave for the restroom when he heard her ask him whether he didn’t want to know her name. He turned to her and smiled widely, “I’ll know when you add me,” he said and walked away to the washroom.

“What an ass,” said Ritesh slapping his head with his palm.

“Seriously,” supplemented Rahul with a smile.