It was a hotel lobby. Too many white-washed doors in that rectangular space. The first door I knocked on, was the right one. The one where I was supposed to report.


A fat African lady sitting near the entrance smiled at me. She was wearing a red and white frock which came upto her knees. Her hair was tied in a bun which settled neatly behind the pale blue bandana that she sported. The bracelets tinkled as she fidgeted with the papers on her desk.


She handed out a couple to me. They seemed like the lyrics of the song that was being recorded in that same very room. I looked up to see a whole setting of musicians and a lone singer clutching the microphone close to his mouth. Looked like he was romancing it.


I walked across the room looking at this scene. And right where I sat, beside me, was a face staring into my eyes, like it had been following my route since the time I had entered. He had the cutest face ever. I had never before in 22 years, had the ‘love at first sight’ experience.. but this one seemed to make up for it. And surprisingly, he felt the same. He looked at me like “This is it. She is the one”


So there we were sitting on a brown sofa looking at each other and before I knew the recording had come to a close. People were packing their stuff and leaving the room. The cute guy walked over to the African woman and mentioned something to her in a low tone. She quickly nodded her head and rose to walk towards me.


I had, by that time, vacated the sofa and occupied a chair at one end of the room, beside a window. I still had those papers. And the cute guy selected a spot right opposite to where I was seated but at the other end of the room. The fat woman had dragged her maroon chair to our space and placed it right at the centre. She plonked her huge body over it..and instructed us to read and learn our words. Both of us had our heads in our pile, but occasionally both looked up to see how the other was doing. The only hindrance to this exercise was that the African lady was shifting in her chair every other second. Sometimes she blocked my view, sometimes his. Finally, at the end of 5 minutes- he spoke- “Maria, could you please not move your chair. It creaks”


The woman looked suspiciously at him, and then at me. Her fat lips broke into a mischievous smile and she mentioned something about ‘going and checking over Bob’. I didn’t know who Bob was but I was so grateful to him ;)


Just when we were alone in that room, the both of us heard a strange sound. It was of a cat- purring. He asked me if I heard it too. I nodded. For some reason, he was looking at the ceiling..as if a cat would be suspended in mid air. But then, that gave me a reason to be smarter than him, as I finally found that there was a kitten stuck between two cupboards across the room. I pointed that out to him.


We moved towards the spot and he gently lifted the vulnerable animal out of the nook. I was looking at him, all this time. But when I saw the little kitten purring louder than ever, I realised how pretty it was. It had the skin the colour of champagne..and big round eyes. He brought it closer to me. I stroked its fur..and rubbed its ear lobe. “You like animals?” he asked. “Ya. I like them”


We placed her on the window sill and she seemed to be enjoying the fresh air. “So what are you going to do now?” He asked. And when he asked these questions, he smiled. That almost led my heart to beat faster, and my mind to grow numb. I realised how horrible I was doing..but I really could not help it.


I brought my mind back to his question. I think I had wasted too much time. He sensed my discomfort and suggested- You want to help me find her a home?


I looked back into his eyes. And smiled. That was real. “Sure”


And like all the typicality of a movie- love had happened..and it did not even take an eternity. We walked out of the door, a kitten in tow..