But me ..

The idea of having him, consumed me suddenly, desperately. His brazen self was attuned to the fact that my eyes slyly devoured him, while he had his beer, sitting in one corner of the bar, alone. I think I had made it evident that I did not feel an ounce of guilt or shame whilst staring a stranger and would wait, unceremoniously so, for his arrival at my side of the joint.

I waited, he never budged an inch from his seat. Frustrated, I tossed my heels and proceeded towards the dance floor. I could sense his eyes on me as I glided along. Men hunkered around , I could feel their breath, stinking of alcohol. Amidst the cacophony of sounds - voices, music, clinking of glasses and couples kissing in a distance, I was lost. In a haze, perpetual, transcending into space. I could almost fly, except that I couldn't. My bare feet was stomped on, almost cruelly by some lady who face I had missed because of her sheer height and the excruciating pain she had so kindly bestowed me with. Almost blinded with the pain, I stormed out, looking for a place to sit.

I swallowed a glass full of water and sat still, till the pain eased out. Although my friends weren't really convinced of my condition, they let me go ahead and dance some more. By then, I had forgotten about him. Momentous agony seemingly had a have a amnesic effect on my grey cells. Gangnam style was blaring from the speakers and in spite of my lesser known feminine self shouting in my in despair, I started frolicking around with a bunch of hippies who were more than kind to accommodate me into their group. The song suddenly changed. As people started pairing up, I was left on my own. Awkwardly I started leaving the floor, a little fatigued with all the jumping around.

Almost magically, the floor had clear little enough to accommodate a stunningly average looking man, whom I had found mind numbingly attractive few hours back. He was looking directly at me, even then, I thought of it as one of those moments when you think that some one is looking at you but they are looking at the person standing next to you. I was still debating in my head whether I should leave, when he came close to me and asked, "May I?"

My little known dance skills had gone down the drain that very moment. I was somehow intimidated by his tall and lanky frame and couldn't look into his eyes, even once. We floated along the dance floor effortlessly, in spite of my conscious self. And then, obscurely enough, I decided to let go. His hands glided along my back, never enough to reach my bottom. I looked into his eyes and saw my own reflection, earnest yet difficult. My frame, seemingly imperfect at all the wrong places never seemed to bother him as he held me at my waist, gentle and firm. My hands perfectly fitting into his, I was already building castles in the air.

We barely talked. He held me carefully enough, making sure that I did not stand a chance on succumbing to another blow by platform heels. In my mind, I was praying hard to cling on to the moment as long as possible. It was almost three in the morning. I had persuaded my friends to leave without me. He asked if he could drop me home. I replied with a faint, "yes"

The car journey was made in silence. I reached my apartment when I blurted out hurriedly, "Will I see you again?"

He looked at me for some time, distraught. He smiled and said, "Definitely, maybe."

"What does that even mean?"

"Bye, Anna"

"Wha .. ? How do you know my name?"

"Bye, Anna. You will see me soon" - his car stormed past me.

The next day my friend hurled the newspaper at my face while I was still fast sleep.

"I knew there was something wrong with that guy."

"What? Who?"

"That son of a bitch, yesterday."

"Hey mind your language!" I blared

"He is Ismail Faiz, the leader of one of the most wanted terrorist outfits in the country."

"No, no." - I mumbled in disbelief.

My phone vibrated next to me.

'I start letting my guard down when people stop giving me reasons to keep it up. This time around, just one person was enough. I hope I will see you soon.'

"I hope you do." , I replied and tossed back my head into my pillow without the faintest realisation that I had quite fallen in love with a man who posed a threat with almost everyone, but me.