With two bags in tow, K. got out of the taxi and made his way to the dilapidated booking office. A hastily constructed enclosure of clay bricks and asbestos sheets, it served as the local office for a travel agency and as the final stop over spot for the buses making their way out of the city. Nestled in the shade of two coconut trees, the office and the rusty bench outside its entrance provided much needed comfort as the whole place burned under the sun’s intense midday haze.
As K. walked into the office, the agent quickly straightened up. Upon enquiry, he vouchsafed that the bus was expected soon and prodded him to book his ticket without any further delay. K., being a regular traveller along this route, had grown accustomed to this charade and nonchalantly dismissed this notion, and told the agent that he would rather wait for the bus to turn up.
As he turned away from the counter towards the highway, he could see a fairly large group of people scattered across the gravel track, trying to bide time. All of them looked expectantly towards the road with the hope that the bus would soon come.
Almost thirty minutes into the wait for the bus that was to take him home, K. started showing signs of irritation. A warm, stiff wind was blowing across the highway and into K.’s face – almost charring his skin as it made contact – as he stood on the gravel alongside the dusty highway and the vehicles whizzed by with a single minded steely resolve towards their destinations. The sun was shining down hard, and the lack of moisture in the air made K. uncomfortable. Growing up in Atlantia, K. was used to the wind and the humidity. This place that was only a two and half hour drive from his home along the coast was a complete contrast to it. Hot and arid against the humidity that he had come to like and embrace, he ached to complete the journey quickly, to soak in the evening winds blowing from over the Secrian Sea and into the land inwards.
He glanced around at his fellow passengers. A middle aged man, who had been voicing his displeasure, had now got into a huge row with the agent. A regular passenger along the route, he chastised the agent for fleecing his passengers and criticized the unprofessionalism of the whole venture. The bus being late troubled him no less, and he derided the agent and exhorted him to call up his superiors.
There was a businessman in a palpable rush to get back to the city. A couple who had eyes only for each other, insouciant! A family, with a young child egging on his mother to take him to the shop across the street. A group of teenagers fooling around, picking on one among them, led by another’s hortations. They all seemed equally restless. And then, there was her.
With her jet black neck length hair tied back and wearing a headband dotted with effervescent colours, she peered into the screen of her mobile phone, intently typing away. Wearing a necklace made out of beads, and a wristband she sat on the bench outside the office. Ear buds in her ears, the music seemed to have ensconced her from the outside world. K. forgot his wait for an instant, his attraction towards her, overwhelming him. Every now and then she would look up to spot the bus in the distance and the grimace borne out of the disappointment only made her contort her face into an even more prettier figure. K. found himself in a state of immediate enamourment, and wished fervently for a seat next to her on the way back.
He was interrupted in his thoughts by the agent who had rushed out of his office, announcing with much vigour, as if retorting to the passenger’s harassing pleas, that the bus would be arriving in the next couple of minutes. The travellers, energised by the agent’s enthusiasm started picking up their bags and making their way to the edge of the road, intently looking towards the highway trying to spot the inconspicuous bus. The bus soon came into view and all the passengers let out a collective roar of relief. K.’s mind leaped at the prospect of finally making his way home. As the bus drew closer, the passengers started bustling amongst themselves to get in first.
K. managed to get to his seat – one of the remaining window seats towards the back of the bus, with the aisle seat empty. One eye on the rest of the passengers coming into the bus, he started putting away his luggage. As he sat down, there was still no sight of her. A fearful thought crossed K.’s mind, he quickly dispatched it away. There was no other bus due for a very long time; she was bound to get into this one. One of the last ones in, she started making her way to the back of the bus.
His heart leapt and he hoped. He hoped for a tryst!
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/455yew/the_tryst_part_i