THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGER (PART 1)

“Hey, hey you, blue scarf!”
Zakima stopped In her tracks as she registered that the words were meant for her.
She looked around the subway searching for that voice, feeling dizzy as she looked
at the strange crowd of people looking as lost as she was feeling when she saw a
guy running fast toward. In her hazy view, she registered that he was young, almost
as much as her. He was carrying a woman’s bag. Why would be carrying a woman’s
bag? She moved forward and almost tripped over her own two feet. Damn, she was
high. She thought it was best to let the guy come and stood rooted. The guy slowed
down to a stop, breathing hard. He hunched down, hands on knees trying to catch
his breath. He should have just let the bag where the stupid woman left it. Couldn’t
she hear when he was calling out to her? Cursing softly, he straightened up. His eyes
trailed up her stilettos to her naked legs, up to the small skirt, the tank top, up to her
startling blue scarf which was currently being twisted between her fingers. Her eyes
were the perfect shade of brown, the kind that comes over the horizon when the sun
sets, setting the world on fire in its reddish light. Her skin was as dark as olives and
her hair was cascading down her shoulders, blinding as midnight. Her eyes were
hooded as she looked at him. She was used to smart boys, but this guy was a man. It was sad that some people
didn’t know that difference, she thought. It’s sad some
people wouldn’t ever see what they are witnessing when they were looking at him.
His blonde hair was messy and made a strange combination with his grey eyes.
“your bag, you left it back on the bench,” he said smiling softly at the stunning
woman, all his earlier irritation vanished. Zakima vaguely registered his words,
shaking her head lightly. She looked at the bag in his hand and realized what he was
saying. But her hazy mind couldn’t care less about the damned bag.
“you are an interesting stranger,” she tried to say it without slurring her words
but failed. He raised an eyebrow at her, catching up to her condition. In her clouded
mind, Zakima saw the stranger come towards, smiling softly at her. Oh god, she was
going to puke.
“how high are you?” he said, taking her hand in his. He had to admit that it felt nice.
“no idea. What are you talking about.” She tried to give him a coy smile but in her
condition, all she could manage was a strange sort of curve on her lips. She thought
that a grimace would look more elegant in this situation.

“my sir, how dare you accuse a lady of such inappropriateness,” she said, stumbling
again as she tried to move towards him
“forgive my rudeness, my lady. I am a peasant unworthy of such words.” He grinned
at her, curtsying slightly.
“Hey! Only women are allowed to curtsy!” she exclaimed.
“now that’s just sexist” he winked at the lady.
She grinned slightly, keeping her hands on his shoulders. She gazed into those grey
smiling eyes bending slightly lower to his ear, she whispered,” You are an interesting
stranger.” That’s when she dropped unconscious.
“Woah!” he tried not to stumble as the pretty lady went limp in his arms. ‘Not high,’ he
thought to shake his head. His night just became a whole lot interesting.
Zakima’s head was pounding with pain. She felt like mouth has been nesting a very
nasty scorpion. ‘ugh,’ she thought as she turned around, curling her fingers around
the soft bed. WAIT! WHAT? She shot up from the bed and groaned immediately as she
felt every muscle in her body scream in protest.
“Woah there sweetheart, take it easy.”
She turned so fast it was almost comical to him as he gazed at the wide-eyed
wonder in front of him. He tried to give her a calm smile to make her trust him.
“who are you, what the fuck is this place. What did you..?”
“let me stop you right there, this place is my house and I didn’t do anything. Last night
you left your bag on the bench and when I went after you, you kinda fainted and you
weren’t waking up and there was no ID or even a phone in your bag so I brought you
here.” He stopped, taking a deep breath, waiting for her to react. She relaxed slightly,
gazing at the young man in front of him.she took a deep breath.
“who are you?” she asked sceptically.
He grinned, “Your knight in shining armour, my lady.” He winked at her.
She shook her head, remembering bits and parts of the small conversation they had
last night. “Thank you so much for helping me.” She did a little curtsy at the end.
“now-now, I couldn’t just leave a beautiful lady like you alone.” He smiled.

Her eyes glinted with genuine happiness as she laughed. She was almost surprised.
She gave him a grateful smile. Picking up her belongings, she turned to leave. “well if
I can’t convince you for breakfast, perhaps I can at least get your number.”
“sure.” She wrote it on a piece of paper, writing her name on it and stuck it on his
refrigerator. He bent down slightly, kissing on her cheek. She closed her eyes as she
felt his lips pressing softly against her flesh.
When she finally got out of his apartment, she realized he lived in lower Manhattan.
Ah! The beautiful stranger, the kind she would perhaps never see again. She sighed
as the morning air hit her. She realized she didn’t even ask his name.