MH-12-XX-3101

So.

I'm on an assignment.I'm with my camera. My dearly beloved camera.The bands on stage are having fun.Even though it's a dry day. Naturally the space is not packed. But as the music plays, the people get going. Even though it's a dry day.

I'm on a shooting spree. Different angles, different exposures, different positions, different reactions. I have to try really hard. It's a dry day.The frames aren't coming to me.I can't see the colors as clear. The music is fluctuating.

But then I see you.

You're with your friends.Friends I notice much later. Your glasses remind me of someone I used to know well. A deep shade of brown.Rectangular and sleek.

Did I mention I love your dress? It's different from everyone else here today. It's dignified for starters. You're probably the only female within these boundaries that does not look like a wannabe whore, for the lack of a better word.

I can't keep looking at you, as much as I want to. I really love my work. Temporarily it keeps my thoughts from drifting towards your table. As the second band finishes it's set, I find myself compelled to look at you. But it's not that easy.

See, I don't want you to see me looking at you. It's a dry day. From the way you lean on your table and sip your drink.through a straw and quietly smile to yourself when the crowd goes crazy over a song being played on stage, I know you've got your shit together. Until you let your hair, which is tied in a bun, down and smile some more, I'll just get back to shooting the bass player who's having fun on stage. Besides, your friends just ordered another round of drinks. They light hard cigarettes. You're going to be here for a while. Your pretty friends is looking at me for the third time now. I don't look twice. I want you to look. I want you to notice.

I'm done with photos and need a break. I wonder if this is the right time. But no, I still haven't finished.I'd like a few reactions from the people. I click. I click and I click some more.

And then I come to you.  I have you in frame. I have you in full focus. But I can't press the button. Something holds me back. Your friends haven't noticed me pointing the camera in your direction yet. Something doesn't seem right. Fuck. What is wrong with me?

I chose to shoot the guys on the right staring at the stage instead and flee. I decide I need a drink. But it's a dry day. Just my luck.

The gig is done and over and I'm eating dinner. And as I see you and your friends in the distance, deliberating on staying back for dinner or going somewhere else, I sense time ticking away faster than it should be. I look at my plate and I look back and you've disappeared all of a sudden. The piece of meat on my plate bears the burnt of it. After I've stabbed it with my fork and cut it apart with my knife and bring it to my mouth, I hear your voice. It calms me down funnily enough. Even the parts about the lighting on drummer on stage being absolute crap.

I turn around and see your friends and(more importantly) you chatting up with the long haired lead guitarist of band number 2....or was it 3.....I'm compelled to reach out for a cigarette. It's not your interaction with him really, it's more about an opportunity lost. Or maybe it's a little jealousy. Maybe both. I don't bother about it any longer. I continue with my meal.

As I scrutinize the texture of the gravy my piece of chicken swims in, I wonder what you're like as person. From whatever I've read tonight, you seem to be the kind of person that reads a book over a cup of hot cocoa before falling asleep at night. You seem to be the kind that would happily pick a two wheeler over a four, just because it seemed more fun. You like dogs yes you do.More than you like people, but cats aren't that bad either.You don't have tonnes of friends, but a few very close ones.You don't like partying too hard and too frequently. But you do no know how to have tonnes of fun. And somethings tells me you're fairly new to the city. Something tells me you like your coffee with a little chocolate, as long as it retains it's bitterness. As long as it's not ridiculously sweet. But alas, dinner is over. And dessert is not on the house.Unfortunate it isn't it? I guess one can't have everything in life.

All this while I failed to notice the resident dj has really picked up the pace. I realize the current track charted on Beatport last month. I can't remember the name. And I don't have the heart to walk all the way and ask him. I decide there's nothing left for me to do and I make my way to the exit. My head feels heavy and my senses blurry. Even though it is a dry day.

I walk out and breathe the cold fresh air, and stand with the crew next to the main road with people driving like there was no tomorrow. I wonder if I'll see you again. I don't think I will. You don't seem to be much of an electronic music enthusiast. Which means you'll stay far away from here over the next few days. Old school dubstep is brilliant,so is trance and house, it is trust me. Robo girinding noises they play today aren't.
I'll show you. Promise.There's a different kind for everyone.

As I ponder over getting back home, I hear three voices behind me. Through all the noise that the un-serviced cars and two wheelers make. It's you. And your friends.Your pretty friend tugs at your hand as she realizes it's me. She smiles as she looks down at her feet and continues walking. The other one smirks. So do you.

As you cross the street humming a not so popular song I realize what I've done and what an idiot I've been. I see your friend ride her two wheeler down the road. I see you follow. Your friend is riding pillion. Well at least I got something right.

I couldn't catch your name. I don't know who you are or if I'll see you again. I wonder if it would be any different tonight had we been drinking. Perhaps, perhaps not.

But in a city with more than half the traffic volume being two wheelers, when I see the registration number 'MH-12-XX-3101' I'll know you're nearby. And if I find you, I assure you that I won't hesitate to ask you what your favorite book is.

Even if it is a dry day.




DISCLAIMER: This piece of writing is purely fictional. Any resemblance to any person, place, event, vehicle, is purely co-incidental.