They Call Me Alien - Part 2

The cab had come slowly and stopped at the entrance of the coffee shop. Laxman didn’t feel like stopping Livita from enjoying herself. He just looked at her with gracious eyes. He felt like holding her hands and dance along with her, but he had beaten the back of his head for having thoughts like that. He knew it wasn’t right to think about a girl without her permission. In his life, he had never fallen in love, simply because he thought he wasn’t capable of attracting any girl to fall in love. He always degraded himself that he hadn’t born to rule the world and speaking with a girl always brought shivers to him until he had talked with this mesmerizing and captivating alien. He was having the boyish feelings for the first time, like how Livita had come to enjoy this new planet. They both were poles apart each other. But still something was brewing between them. Laxman didn’t know what it was. He wasn’t such a brilliant fellow to know what his heart was speaking to him.

“Livita, we have to get into the cab,” Laxman finally said to her. He regretted to say this, but he couldn’t wait to bring her to watch a good movie. These days booking tickets are like buying milk packets, such a hassle free job. Yes, he had already booked tickets for the Aamir Khan’s movie. Not because he was a big fan of this superstar, but simply because he wanted to bring her to a nice movie. He knew the hot star’s movies never failed to create buzz in the media.

She got in as he held the door open for her. The car went through the winding paths of the city without any trouble, since the traffic flow was better than the week days. But when they reached the movie theatre, he felt like the whole city was hanging there. He knew that weekends were mostly spent in the theatres by most of the people.

They stopped in front of the Inox theatre. He got down initially and paid the bill. Livita craned her neck to see such a massive crowd. She wondered why people are crazy about movies and when she had seen fans pour milk on the huge cut-out of the hero, she gasped. She kept looking at it.

“Hey, what happened?” Laxman cajoled her.

“No, nothing. I just thought why they are wasting it like that,” Livita said, she pointed her finger at the milk since she didn’t know what to name it.

He smiled and said, “It shows how fans adore their heroes once they started liking them on screen. They express their love through these acts. Anyway, shall we go in?” he gave her a warm look.

She looked at his eyes, there was a slight appreciation shown. She had seen the young couples were lacing their fingers before they entered in. She thought it was mandatory to hold hands to watch a movie. When she tried to hold his right hand, an enlightening shiver passed through his back and his stomach shook for a few seconds. It was like some enormous force suddenly descended into his body. But he didn’t feel like releasing it; in fact he tried to grasp her fingers tightly. At the same time, he felt bad to take advantage of this girl, who was still grieving about her boyfriend. He suddenly removed his hand with a ray of struggle. Livita gave him a questioning look, but she didn’t speak about it since the theatre looked dark and the film had started already. You could hear the hero was talking with his friend in a slow voice about his ineffective method of handling the oppressors. Laxman had maneuvered his mobile to shed light to find the seats he had booked. It was on E row, seat numbers 18 and 19. The torchlight of the mobile fell on a young couple who were almost brushing their cheeks while watching the movie, they felt disgusted by what Laxman had done now. The boy threw an upset face and groaned, the girl almost ducked her head.

“Hey, what do you want, man?” the boy who was disturbed from making love, said in an irony voice.

“Sorry, I want to find the seats- E 18, E 19,” Laxman said.

“Fuck off,” the boy said and threw his hands to the front seat.

Laxman’s fingers clenched but he didn’t want to react harshly now. If he had come alone he would have definitely fought with him. But he was with Livita and he didn’t want to lose his coolness in front of her for some reason. Maybe he had thought she would feel bad about him or he didn’t want to create nuisance amidst people who were already cherishing the film which was screened. The beefy sound from Dolby Atmos system was too audible for everyone.

Laxman and Livita settled down on their seats and watched the film. But Livita couldn’t resist asking what the guy had told him. She wasn’t aware of this f-word.

“What he meant?” she asked.

Laxman didn’t expect this question. He was both surprised and squeezed.

“No, nothing. You just watch the movie. He is an idiot and don’t even know how to respond others,” he said.

Livita knew it must be something harsh to ask him, so kept a tight face and threw her eyes at the screen. Whenever the magnificent hero came on the screen, people reacted vociferously like it was a major festival for them. His each phrase drew booming whistles and recurring hooting and clapping. Particularly when the hero had beaten the thugs by uttering punch dialogues. Not to mention Livita was stupefied and merely lost her senses why these people were celebrating him in a tremendous jolt that too they were seeing the hero on the screen and he wasn’t even physically in front of them. Though she can’t understand the Hindi version of the movie, she could correlate the crux of the movie without any dialogues. Laxman felt guilty about bringing her to the Hindi movie, only because he wanted to see this film and the hero was his favorite. He thought she would enjoy this along with him, but she didn’t. She only liked to watch films like sci-fi in which the people would travel beyond the galaxies and find something interesting to reveal to the world. But she didn’t want to tell the blunt truth in front of him. She pretended that she too liked this movie. Even if it was a romantic film, she might have liked it though her soul was already plummeted with the gamut of emotions. But she didn’t find a single romance scene in the film until now. Worse, she didn’t even see the heroin yet. Now the interval began. The people stood from their seats and moved along the aisles to get popcorn, coke, samosas, sandwich and many more. Laxman didn’t like to buy popcorn because it would cost more than what the actual ticket of the movie is. If the movie ticket was 160 rupees, the popcorn and coke’s cost would easily soar beyond 200 rupees. That too he had to wait in the queue for more than fifteen minutes and fight with the sales person to serve in the FIFO order since the crowd was huge and there is always a possibility that people try to intrude in a hasty way to get the work done. It would take minimum half an hour to get the preferred snacks along with some bruises on their skin before they come back to watch the movie again, and during that time at least three scenes would have easily escaped from them.

“Why the movie suddenly stopped in between?” Livita asked him innocently.

“It is break time. People would like to go to the restroom and buy some snacks. It will take minimum fifteen minutes before the movie begin again,” he said.

“Shall we go then?” Livita said without thinking for a second.

“Do you really want to go?” he said.

There was a gentle shake from her. But Laxman didn’t want to go out and spend all the money he had brought from his manager, today. He had many plans with this money. He wanted to buy a Rolex watch and sun glasses to attend a wedding reception of his thickest friend, Rajan Malhotra on coming Sunday.

“No, we will eat something outside after the movie. If we go out now it would be difficult to come back on time and we may miss the movie,” he said. He swallowed a thick lump intermittently while prayed to God that she would understand his concern about saving this money.

“Ok, all right,” she said and looked at the couple who were sitting in the front and kissing each other. Even though some dull yellow light gleaming in the theatre, they didn’t mind kissing each other. Livita didn’t blush but stared at them without even blinking her soft ruby eyes.

Laxman croaked his throat and said, “Livita, did you like the movie?”

“Hah,” she said and brought back to answer his trivial question, “yeah, I liked but…..”

He caught her response. “No, I don’t think you……….”

Someone had to fill in the blanks. Livita took this job, “I thought it is weird. Sorry to say this outright, but I always like to see sci-fi stuff. I have interest towards this genre only, but I like to see some romance films too, you know.”

There was fluttering enthusiasm crept to the gut of his stomach on hearing this. He said, “Yeah, I am also surprised about the lack of love flavor in the movie. But I hope it would come in the next part. To be frank, my superstar always tries to give some social message instead of tossing the love sequences all the time. You got what I mean?”

“Obviously, but still……..” she didn’t finish her sentence, making him to guess. “Anyway, will see what comes next.”

The interval was over. People started walking down to the theatre with big popcorn packs in their hands and coke in their armpits and their children on their shoulders. A few mothers were chasing down their children who were running down furiously to find their seats while knocking down the old fellow who came on their way. But the couple who started kissing at the beginning of the interval, hadn’t taken rest yet to dismantle their lips from wetting. They were still dwelt in the buzz of happiness as they closed their eyes and locked their faces to kiss beyond the eternal time. Everyone thought they were creepy couples, but wondered about giving the same kind of treatment to their fiancés.

After a few dull scenes, the fire broke in the eyes of everyone as the hero had a staunch verbal fight with the heroine before they embraced each other and spoke some lovely words, which definitely would have smoothened the many broken hearts in the theatre. The words were like a medicine to them, a lady who had divorced her husband a few days back, poured her cries like monsoon rain at a gushing speed. Even Livita couldn’t hold her heart from freezing on seeing the intimate and prosperous scenes between them. Her fingers were twitched to hold someone to pamper her furious feelings. Finally she had laced her fingers with his and clenched it tightly. A moment Laxman’s heart burst like a nuclear bomb. He thought she was trying to kill him since he had brought her to the unpardonable film. His heart dangled on his chest precariously as if it was going to snap and fall into his bowl. But this daunting and exhausting feelings immediately replaced by breezy and cozy and velvety emotions when she further stretched her neck to him, asking to forgive her through some pleasant way of actions. Laxman, are you alive still? She is asking for something from you. Will you be able to give it to her?

He was speechless when her pulpy breath fell on his face. She smelt of peeled orange. It was raising his heartbeat multi fold, beyond the exaggeration. He wasn’t a poet to describe his thoughts in a deliberate and adoring way. He even wondered if he can speak a few words which may vent an uplifting force to smoothen their friendship or whatever. He always doubted his caliber and he had never been a strong person. He even was not worried to call himself a coward to escape from others’ staggering remarks. What he was going to do now? It was still a million dollar question.

“Livita, are you all right,” he said, that’s all he wanted to say now, to avert the impending collision between them.

She jerked back, as if some insect had bitten the back of her hand, and said, “Sorry.”

The next second, she was her way to get out of the theatre. That doesn’t mean she hated him. But it only meant she hated herself for what she had done to him. She felt recklessly bad for whatever she had done now. She was ashamed of being born in a noble family for taking advantage of some strange person. Yes, still Laxman was a stranger to her. She felt like she should rip her heart off from her chest. "What kind of a woman I am to take pleasure from him, while living in the thoughts of my beau to come here and take me home. I am completely a jerk and a nitwit to even come to watch a film which didn’t interest me," she thought vehemently as she stormed out of the theatre and waited for a cab to pass by. Devastated Laxman chased after her, like her pug. He came close to her and said, “What happened? Did I make any mistake?”

“No,” she said. Shaking her head wildly, trying not to show her face to him.

“For God’s sake tell me then why the hell you came out of the theatre. Don’t you like the movie?” he said.

“Yes,” there were no more words. It’s like she was shutting the floodgates when the water was trying to explode through it.

“I don’t know what’s going on here. Do you think I am mad on you to behave like this?” he said, this time little stubbornly. There was enormous force in his talk, which was quite a new thing for him. He had never done that before.

A cab appeared now and she waved her hand at the driver. He pulled the cab near to her. But Laxman wasn’t interested to let her go alone. She didn’t even have money to pay the bill, he thought. But people may not ask for bill if a girl explains about her inability to produce the money, and there are many good men who are ready to understand the women’s concerns. Laxman knew about it.

She opened the back door and entered in, trying to shut the door firmly now. But Laxman had fought hard to sit next to her. She tried to stop but in vain. He had easily subdued her force to make his entry.

“Driver, please go to Ram temple,” Laxman said.

“No, go to beach,” she interrupted.

The cab driver threw a confused face as looked over his shoulder and saw them enquiringly as if they made an adulterating response. “Ma'am, please tell where should I go?”

“I said go to beach,” Livita said sternly. She knew there was beach in the city, because Laxman had told her about it. He also briefed about some of the important places she had to visit here. In fact, he first thought of taking her to the beach but somehow he hated the idea. So he dropped it earlier.

There were no more arguments, the cab driver swung the car swiftly down the wide road and took a right turn after hundred meters and past the Airtel tower and snaked through the skyscrapers and finally stopped behind the beach stop. They could feel the sea salt on their lips, and the roaring waves lifted up and slumped down in a breezy way. She had heard the hissing wind on her ears as she climbed down from her seat. But she didn’t pay. The driver stared at her as she turned her back to him, her both hands were folding on her bosom. It had never come to his mind that she was an alien, even when he had seen her ruby eyes. He was bamboozled by her indifference to pay the bill. Finally, Laxman had come to rescue him. He handed him two fifty rupee notes and thanked him. The driver’s eyes stormed with happiness and drove back to find another potential customer.

Livita was already walking fifteen yards front while gazing at the luminous sun which was hiding under the sea at the west. It was such a scenic moment to be captured by the camera. She had never seen such a large sea which was gleaming brilliantly as the ripened sun rays fell on its surface, it’s like millions of divas were dropped on the sea.

“Livita, please wait,” Laxman was walking down heavily on the beach sand which made it difficult to tread on. He was almost panting after ten hastened strides.

But she didn’t stop to speak with him. The anger was rising in him. He felt like beating her for not heeding to his voice. Though they had a short relationship, he felt it was strong. It looked like they had been into love for many years before they broke their intimacy.

She stopped only when her feet dampened on the sand as the sea waves washed it frequently. Her hair swung on either side since the pleasant wind swept past her.

She looked at him. He was standing next to her, panting and puffing for chasing down her all the way. His back was plastered with sweat. Even the whistling wind can’t help him cool his system. He wanted to speak a lot of things. His mind was filled with so many gripping thoughts about her. But how was he going to tell everything to her? He had to find courage to open up. He knew it was difficult to speak with a girl than taking a home loan from the public bank. It needs both fearlessness and perseverance to endure it. Laxman, are you ready now to face the battle with an alien woman? Do you think you have an upper hand?

The waves came stealthily and kissed her feet and gave frothing bubbles which burst after a few seconds. Her feet were tender and purest than the gold. She looked gorgeous even when her mind was blowing with myriad thoughts.

“So, what do you want, mister?” she asked. It looked like she was accustomed with the local language. She knew how to tease him so that he would feel the intense heat inside his chest.

“I don’t want anything. But I wanted to you sorry,” he said.

His voice was raspy and dried.

“For what?” she said. She didn’t have any idea why should he ask for sorry to her.

“For letting you down,” he said, with a significant paraphrase.

“Don’t be smart.”

“No, I am not.”

“You are,” she thundered, as her hands flew in the air.

There was a long pause as few couples crossed them by holding waist to waist. They were giggling. His eyes stayed at the girl for a long time. He couldn’t just take off his eyes from her; it was like his eyes were having magnetic force to pull the woman on his side. But Livita didn’t like what he was doing. She gave him a slap across his face.

“What are you doing?” she thundered. Even the waves frightened to reach her feet now.

His right hand had automatically passed to his cheek and rubbing it slowly to soften the pain. He stared at her with a blinking and fearful gesture. He only prayed her hand won’t reach his face again. He was really crouching under terrible fear now. Why this girl had beaten me? Why? Why? Why? The same question made his head buzz.

“I just took a glance at the couple,” he lied with hazy eyes.

“Don’t lie, I can read your thoughts just like reading a document on the computer,” she said briskly. Her body whisked with furious energy when she said it. His feet tread back. But she caught his hand and took him to the same position where he was earlier. Worse, she didn’t pull him by the collar, it might have pushed him into deep embarrassment and it would have taken at least fifteen days to come out of such a grievous situation.

“Sorry, I just thought she was cute. Don’t you think so?” he asked mercifully.

Her lips prepared to change the color from purple to red. That meant she was sneezing hard to quell her atrocious anger. She didn’t want to avenge, also she knew how to calm down. She eventually did. Her body regained the natural position which she was supposed to be.

“If you dare to see any girl again, I will kick you into the sea,” she said, slightly raising her left leg to indicate what she meant.

Laxman felt like he had to run back now, because he thought she had some mysterious force on her. His fingers were started quivering and his vocal cords shook too.

“Why?”

He thought this audacious question was really going to put him in jeopardy.

“Because I don’t want to hand you to anyone,” she said.

“What does that mean?”

“You are a fool,” she said.

“No, I am not fool,” he said and tried to show a brave face.

She laughed a little. But her grieving face returned back soon.

“You are………….” She said.

“I never thought you would be treating me badly for helping you at first hand,” he said. Feeling deprived. He felt he would have carried on his work instead of taking her to the theatre and now here in the beach. He thought it was waste of money and manpower.

“Thanks for that. But that doesn’t mean I should be your sincere servant all the time,” she said.

“Of course, but……………” he said.

“Anyway, what do you think of me?” she said.

“I think nothing of you but you are an alien,” he lied. His heart prompted him to talk such nonsense, but he was in a retaliating mood and it was difficult to put himself on the mute mode.

“If you call me once again alien, I am going to chop off your hair for sure,” she said with a flourishing hand. He felt the swishing sound in front of his eyes. He swallowed a lemon size lump down his throat and looked at her.

“No, I won’t. But what is there in between us other than what I have said earlier,” he said in a promising tone as if he was telling an undeniable theory to her.

There was a peeping sound that came from the distance. Probably the children were hooting and crackling on the beach along with their parents while enjoyed this evening thoroughly. Even you could smell the hot fishes frying on the pans and its refreshing masala smell was digging bore well in everyone’s tongues.

“We had exchanged so many things in a day. I know the full history of yours, right now. I mean once I started having close relationship with any person, I know in and out of the person at my fingertips,” she said, little arrogantly. But her tidy and pleasant face didn’t give anyone a chance that she was an arrogant girl. In fact, her words would prod anyone’s soul like a peacock feather is used to stroke your body. That was one of the biggest advantages of any girl, their talk would let the boys to mesmerize and swim in their brains for a few seconds relaxingly. Here is a real example.

But Laxman wondered if this girl was playing a hide and seek game with him right now. Worse, he thought she was planning to trap him to take to their planet, so that they can use him as an animal for their research. This thought almost smothered his neck and made him impossible to breath effectively now.

“So what?” he said. Not expecting anything in return from her.

“So what???” she said, a perplexing face danced in front of him. If she would have brought her hands to her hips, he knew he had taken a visa to the hell for sure. But she spared him from that dangerous adventure. He thanked God many times.

“Okay, let me clarify you. Are you into something?” he said.

“If you keep talking like a philosopher or a scientist, I am not going to leave you for sure,” she said.

“Oh, my God. Livita, what the hell is happening to me? Please don’t hijack me. I am just twenty four and didn’t even watch a girl in a bikini yet,” he said. “Don’t ruin my life. I wanted to live at least fifty years with five kids around me.” You could see the panic in his face straightway. There wasn’t a single part in his body wasn’t trembling now. Even he had a choking breath intermittently as if he was admitted in the ICU and trying to take his breath with difficulty.

The waves came with a whooping sound and crashed on their feet. Laxman jerked back, as if she had punched on his groin.

She laughed and laughed for close to a minute. Even the visitors in the beach stared at her and hastened to know the reason why she was laughing curiously now. But they didn’t approach her, thinking it was personal joke or something.

“I love you,” she said. “Will you marry me?”

Yes, she decided to stay here and didn’t want to return back her planet. She felt it was such a lovely place to hang on with brilliant people, though it was strongly debatable. She was happy to find a fellow who is so lively and can understand the feelings of a woman and try to share the burden of the pain she had carried in her heart. After battling the love depression for so many months, she was finally able to celebrate her life again. She didn’t want to lose the remaining years thinking about the loss of her ex-boyfriend. After all, the world has so much to give back to us. The loss was difficult to be replaced, but God surely finds a way to fill in the blanks. Yes, now she found this truth and knew Laxman was the gift God had given to her.

“What?” His heart fused now to take the high voltage coming straight from her. You could sense the burning smell emanated from him. But it was a miracle to see him alive there yet. This guy was still standing there as he looked into her eyes. It must be a weird dream which often chase me at night, he thought.

She almost tried to embrace him, as she stretched her hands to pull him close to her. The strong drizzles started blessing them from the heaven. It was such a jostling and reverberating moment to enjoy their lives. She scooped her head above as the drizzles fell on her face and she shook her head and looked into his eyes. She was getting closer and closer to him. She had felt the warmth of his body on her. It gave her feeling like she was floating in the sky like a bird with a joyous heart. But when she tried to kiss him, she got a message from her planet. Yes, her mother said she has to return back there immediately since they have found something interesting in the black hole. Livita had looked at the message without stopping the love fire between him and her and turned off the device in her hand and tossed it into the sea and hugged him tightly and started kissing him with a craving energy. Laxman hadn’t expected such a priceless gift fall on his hand but he thanked the almighty Lord for showing some miracles to him.