The Cinderella moment had passed for sure. For both of them.

...

He felt caged inside his room, as he paced from one end to the other. He was surprised no doubt, but he could feel an unfettered anger coursing through his veins, and he failed to recognise the reason towards the same.

Who is she? Why is she here? He questioned again and again.

The wind howled and roared outside, as the heavy leaves of the date palms swayed, creating disquiet both within and without. Vedant was however oblivious to the torrential rain outside his window.

His mind was somewhere else, lost in the depths of a pair of warm brown eyes, as he tried to solve the puzzle.

He stopped in the middle of his room. Brown? Yes. Warm eyes? Yes. But there was something else there. No, no ... actually something had not been there. His analytical mind sieved through every second to locate what he he had not been able to easily pinpoint.

And it frustrated him to the core.

...

She stared out of the window, her eyes glassing over, as the rain hammered outside. She could hear the wind roaring through the heavy palm fronds. The light from the street lamp just outside the boundary walls of the house, flitted like a tempestuous siren as it illuminated a small patch towards the back of the land, which often doubled up as a mini garden. She could hardly see anything else in the surrounding darkness, but she knew that the darkness outside could hardly measure upto the gloom within.

Inside her heart. In her life.

As deep thoughts percolated through her mind, she pushed herself out of the reverie, forcing herself to thank the Almighty for the blessings that were still a part of her life. Most people were not this fortunate yet.

The thought made her sigh as she realised that she was an apparition in the house, the one who had to stay away. From everything. From everybody.

However she was mature enough to realize that this was the order of the day - the more she stayed back in the shadows, the safer it was. For her. For everybody.

Lesser questions. Lesser answers.

No questions. No answers.

A balance maintained.

And now he had upset the equilibrium. And she was uneasy. Her mind raced back to that moment when two completely unknown universes had hurled into each other's path

Flashback

"Ouch"

She could only register the searing pain flash through the left side of her body, as she dashed into something. Something hard. Something warm. But something totally alive. And kicking.

It was a someone actually.

The water bottles fell down from her hands, awkward and heavy in their magnetic pulls, as she looked up at the obstacle.

Disarmingly, it turned out to be a pair of black eyes, then surprised, a bit angry, as he rubbed his own shoulder gingerly.

"Who are YOU?" he  shouted, his voice laden with unshed sleep. And something even deeper.

"Who are YOU?" she retorted in equal measure, as her left arm and shoulder throbbed, her eyes watering due to the pain.

"My Father's house ... so I have a right to ask first" he grumbled righteously.

Gopi Mama had chosen that moment to make an appearance.

"Vedant Baba, you should have called me, I would have come upstairs" his voice had remained apologetic. A wee bit startled.

Vedant had looked at Gopi Mama then, totally irritated

"Mama, I can do my own stuff. I came down for some water, I don't need to wake you up at midnight for water. Right?"

He then turned towards her to see her backing away towards the door, the bottles secure in her hands, her eyes fixed on his face.

He had by then managed to tamp down his anger, the searing pain now having being replaced by a dull throb. Much more bearable.

"Who IS she?" He asked again, this time his question was directed to Gopi Mama

"A guest" Mama responded. "Just staying with us for a few months."

Vedant took a step towards her, testing waters. Though much calmer and composed than before, she stuttered - "I had come for some water"

In response, he raised his eyebrows - "Who ARE you?"

She looked straight into his eyes and responded, before walking away

"Saroja"

...

Vedant's room

Saroja, Saroja, Sarojaaa ...

His fingers were now balled into a tight fist, as he walked over to the window, still unable to understand the reason behind his anger.

His mind hummed her name, without any rhyme or reason ... Vedant was supremely angry now. Why would his mind leech onto something that was irrelevant?

Nobody had told him about the presence of a Guest in their house. And that too a young girl, maybe around his age, whom he had chanced upon in their own kitchen. By accident. Clasping the bottles for dear life, the surprise, the agitation clearly visible in her eyes.

When the Cinderella hour had beckoned. Them both.

"Dammit"  he banged his fist on the table, the momentary pain burning through him.

Once she had left the spot, Vedant had enquired about her, but Gopi Mama had remained tight lipped, requesting Vedant not to bring up the issue with the elders.

"The girl will be in trouble. She is a good girl" he had nearly begged.

A huge dollop of cajoling failed, the only information that Gopi Mama had divulged was that she was not supposed to be in the kitchen. Vedant was short of any further questions, as he had stared dumbfounded at Gopi Mama.

"What? Not be in the kitchen? Why?"

Later back in his room, the questions had spilled over

What the hell is going on?

Guest?

Why is she staying down there?'

Why not the kitchen?

Why was Gopi Mama nearly begging?

What was that elusive something missing from her eyes?'

Sleep eluded him that night well into the wee hours of dawn.

...

She smiled as she realised that they had collided against each other, sometime at midnight.

THE fabled Cinderella moment

The smile lingered on for a while - he definitely seemed to be the Prince. She had heard about him from Gopi Mama for sure, the son who had just returned from USA. The darling of the Rajus.

She twirled her pen around, in between her fingers. And then she laughed out aloud, as the comical references of their Meeting, more like collision, settled in. 

She was definitely not Cinderella. Maybe in her next birth. or next, Saroja wondered. Not in this one for sure.

...

The Fairy Godmother smiled somewhere

...

End of Part 3