After they left he went to open the door but its locked.he tried to use force but its in useless.
"Oh no," she whispered, collapsing into a corner, utterly distraught.
"What do we do now?" she asked, her voice trembling.
He glared at her, "Shouldn't you have watched to see if the bus was leaving? All this trouble is because of you! I tried to help someone like you, and look what happened. I should blame myself for helping an idiot like you, because of you, we missed the bus and got stuck in this wilderness. All my luggage on the bus is gone! Do you have any idea how valuable it was, you naive, foolish girl?" he spat, his words laced with frustration.
She felt a mix of anger and hurt, thinking, "How can he speak so disrespectfully? Why wouldn't I say if I saw bus leaving, with my dizziness and all, I couldn't focus clearly. Can't he understand my situation and forgive me? What an uneducated brute!". She sat watching him, wondering if he would continue his tirade.
"What? Why are you staring so seriously? Are you going to hit me?" he challenged. She turned her face away, offering no reply. "Oh, so now you've done all this and still have an attitude, stupid girl…" he muttered.
"Excuse me, mind your words," she said, her voice firm.
"Oh, really?" he began to retort further, but then he looked at her again and stopped. "What, are you feeling dizzy again?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
"Yes," she admitted.
"Drink that juice."
" I won't drink that" .
"Fasting and not drinking juice isn't going to help. "
"It's awful"
" but drink it anyway. What else can we do?" he sighed. "There isn't even any water here," he stated.
She looked around the dusty, roughly ten-foot square room. There was nothing but an old rug and some items.
He picked it up, dusted it off, and spread it on the floor before sitting down. The room was bare, save for a small bundle of items in one corner; no fan, no light, just utter darkness punctuated by the chirping of crickets from the paddy fields around the stall. A wave of fear washed over the girl, compounded by her exhaustion and dizziness. She clutched her head.
"Drink the juice, girl," he urged.
"I won't drink it. It tastes terrible; I feel like throwing up ,If I drink it, I'll just get sick again" she replied.
"Fine," he sighed, then got up and searched the entire room. He found some vegetables in one spot. Bringing them to her, he simply said, "Eat".
She opened her eyes and looked at the vegetables he had brought: a cucumber, a bottle gourd, two tomatoes, and two carrots. "What am I supposed to do with these?" she asked .
"These are all we have. Eat, or your blood pressure will drop, and that's dangerous. Just eat something you like," he insisted. She took her shawl, wiped one of the tomatoes, bit into it, and slowly began to eat. He watched her, captivated by her as she ate the tomato.
He found himself watching her, his gaze fixed on her lips as she ate the tomato. "Are you hungry too? You can eat if you want," she offered, noticing his intense stare. He quickly turned his face away. After eating the tomato, she felt a little better. She reached for another tomato, but he stopped her. "No, don't eat the tomato. Eat something else," he said.
"Are you going to tell me what to eat, too?" she asked, a hint of exasperation in her voice.
Looking at her seriously, he firmly stated with hunger-filled eyes and rough tone, "Do not eat the tomato. Eat something else. You need to be aware of the consequences if you don't heed the advice.".
Their eyes met and held for a moment. For some reason, she complied, taking a carrot instead of a tomato, and ate it slowly, a faint smile playing on her lips. He felt a sense of urgency, realizing their predicament, he stood up, peered out the window. As he stood by the window, she observed him, struck by his height; his hands seemed to touch the ceiling when raised. He then went to the door and kicked it vigorously, back and forth. She wondered 'why is he kicking? What if it breaks?".
"I'm kicking it so it breaks, otherwise, are we just going to sit here? There isn't even water to drink," he explained. "And we don't know when they'll return," he added. Despite his strenuous efforts, the door remained firm, as did the wall. Nothing worked. Frustrated, he came back and sat down.
The girl finished her carrot and pushed the remaining vegetables towards him, saying, "I don't need them anymore. You can eat". She was shivering from the cold draft coming through the window, but there was no pane to close it. The stall was in a truly deplorable state.
He looked at her stood, picked up the rug he was sitting on, dusted it, and offered it to her. "Cover yourself; you're shivering," he said .
"Ugh, no, I don't want this. Isn't there anything else?" she asked, her voice tinged with childish petulance.
"Just a minute …I'll call room service and order a blanket and a room heater, okay?" he quipped,
"Why are you being so sarcastic?" she asked, a little hurt and angry.
"Well, you see the situation, don't you? What else would be here?" he retorted, though his eyes softened. The girl wrapped herself in her shawl, then covered that with the rug, curling up, attempting to sleep. Exhaustion quickly claimed her, and she drifted off. But he, for a long time, remained awake, gazing at the moon through the window and the beauty in front of him.
2 hours later, the girl awoke. She checked the time – five o'clock. The faint chirping of birds could be heard, and the sun was slowly beginning to rise over the surrounding fields. She looked at the young man, who was now asleep, his head resting against the wall. "He looks so much better when he's quiet," she thought. His good complexion, curly hair, and light moustache made him quite handsome. She looked around for few minutes. She is feeling dizzy again "Well, what else can I do?" she mused and drifted back to sleep. A few more hours passed, and she awoke again. She quickly checked the time – eleven o'clock. "Oh, it's 11 already?" she exclaimed, asking, "Has anyone come?".
He, who had been engrossed in his phone, looked up at her and deadpanned, "Oh yes, Trump and Modi just came by, asked if facilities were good and if we needed anything. I told them the hospitality is top-notch and everything is perfect, so they left".
"Why are you being so ironic?" she asked, slightly annoyed. "I just asked a casual question"
" Did you think I'm mad and dumb as you, I would wake you up if someone came.do you think iam as stupid as you" he retorted, beginning to scold her again. "Why didn't you stop those buses? You have no common sense; you should at least listen to someone who does. God truly forgot to give you a brain. Did you escape from a lunatic asylum or something. to latch onto me?" he continued to berate her.
The girl, though annoyed, chose to ignore his tirade. She felt angry, but she knew that at this moment, he was her only recourse. "It's all your fault! If you weren't here, I would have gone with their jeep. Because of you, I'm stuck here, hiding with you in this tiny stall, barely able to stretch," he scolded her.
she wanted to shout back, but kept her resentment to herself. Controlling her rising anger, she calmly decided to eat the carrot that was there. He told me not to eat tomatoes. "Can I eat anything now?" she asked obediently to cut his rampaging insults, in her small voice.
He turned his face away seriously, saying, "Whatever".
She finished the remaining carrot, then looked at the bottle gourd and cucumber. "I'm hungry. What should I do?" she wondered.
"Eat them," he said.
"But how do you eat a bottle gourd and a cucumber like this?" she inquired.
He took the big round cucumber, pressed it firmly with his hands, and it split into two pieces. With his tall, lean, muscular figure, it's nothing for him, but to her it's scary.
"Oh my god," she whispered, "if I had retorted to his insults, with his anger, he might have crushed my head like that. I would have died by now!".
He chuckled to himself, and she wondered, "Did I just imagine that?". They shared the half-cucumber, eating a little each. Both were incredibly thirsty.
"Look," she pointed through the window, "the water pot isn't even two steps away!".
He gazed into her eyes, "Yes, the thirst is within reach, but unobtainable," he said.
"Right," she softly agreed, looking at the pot, wetting her dry lips.
He chuckled again, turning his face away. After a while, she looked out the window, then, growing restless, took out her phone.
"Don't look at your phone for too long. If it switches off, you'll have more trouble," he snapped again.
"Oh God, has he swallowed some fire? Why is he always shouting like this?" she wondered. Time ticked on to four o'clock. she felt a little dizzy again. Only the bottle gourd remained. "I wish someone would come," she thought. Suddenly, the sound of a 3 vehicles made them both stand up alertly.
"Stay behind me, hide there in the corner," he instructed, pointing. He positioned himself in front of the door. Standing behind him,she felt happy about his behaviour. He might be rude to bone but he is such a gentleman always well behaved except to his insults. She felt she is lucky to be stuck with a man like him. What is its some rouge? OMG, she would be in deep trouble if it were anyone except him.
Some folks arrived in 3 jeeps. This time, it wasn't just young ruffians, but older, more distinguished-looking men in their 60's or 70's, though they still had a tough demeanour. They look like farmers from a nearby village. The stall owner was also with them.
"Oh, I wouldn't be this happy even if I saw Lord Venkateswara in Tirupati! Come, open the door, boy!" she exclaimed, seeing him and swallowing her thirst.
Hearing voices from inside the room, all the elderly men outside paused their conversation. The stall owner, ignoring them, came and opened the door. The moment the door was open, they both rushed to the water pot, emptying it in a desperate competition. A Day without water. Just imagine their thirst. The girl drank glass after glass, while the young man, in his urgency, lifted the entire pot and drank directly from it. They both drank until their clothes were soaked, then looked at each other, laughing amidst their relief. "Indeed, there's no taste as tasty as plain water," they thought.
They looked around to find all the elderly men staring at them with serious expressions. He quickly brushed the dampness from his shirt. "Hello," he began, "we missed our bus yesterday. Could you possibly arrange a vehicle, or at least let us hitch a ride in this jeep to the bus stand?".