Author's Note : This story is the extension of the short story 'Smile' which I had written a while back ( with a few changes). I felt that the original had the potential to turn into a                         full fledged story so I decided to work on it :D And this is the end product ! Enjoy reading !!

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I saw him for the first time, on Saturday, in the park.

He was cycling down the pathway.

It was a beautiful autumn evening. As the sun set it cast a golden glow upon him.He seemed to be radiating light.

And the dying rays of the sun lit up his eyes, making them look like fire. 

Such a lovely colour.

I was mesmerized.

Our eyes met by chance , and he flashed a smile at me.

 I was so struck by it that I couldn’t think of anything else for the rest of the week. I craved for saturday.

Saturday arrived painfully slowly and the day passed by in a haze. Come evening, and I rushed to the park as fast as I could go, hoping for another glimpse of him.

That day, I was disappointed. He didn’t turn up. What could have happened? Why didn’t he come? Did he not like me? Don’t be silly! I scolded myself. He smiled at you of his own volition. Its not like you asked him to! Besides I’m just a random stranger to him anyway. It’s not like he’ll even remember me! And there could be thousands of reasons why he didn’t come! Maybe he was sick, or he had work to do, he had to take care of someone,or watch the dog or maybe he just didn’t feel like coming today for whatever reasons. For all you know, he may not even be a regular at the park..

That thought stilled me for a second.He may not be a regular. I sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case.I prayed that he wasn’t just passing through randomly that day. Maybe he comes on some other day I reasoned with myself, and decided to put the theory to test.

Every day of the next week found me sitting on a bench in the park, fervently hoping to see him sail through again, while pretending to read a book. Every ring of a bell, every sound of a leaf crackling , made me look up, only to return disappointed, to the book.Was I never going to see him again?No!  I scolded myself Don’t think of such things!

And so, I persevered, sitting day after day on the park bench, waiting and watching.

Finally, my efforts were rewarded, when I spotted him again, on the third Saturday after I took up my vigil.I had decided to end my watch for the day and was heading towards the exit, when I saw him,towards my left, about 300 metres away. He was calling out to a young boy, asking him to hurry up. Was that his brother? I didn’t know and I didn’t particularly care either, I was too excited on seeing him again.

I woke up in a very good mood the next morning. What day was it again?

Sunday.Oh ,right. I have a lunch date today.And so I went about preparing for the day.

I cursed in my head as I threw on the first pair of clothes I could lay my hands on.

I’m going to be late again.

I had totally forgotten about my lunch appointment by the time I had finished my chores and had settled in the tub for a long soak. When I finally  remembered about the appointment it was already five minutes to meeting time. I scrambled out of the tub as fast as I could go and so I found myself in this mess now.

My outfit decided, I quickly smoothened my hair, slipped on my shoes, grabbed my purse and sprinted down the street as fast as I could go.

I glanced at my watch as I neared the cafe’. Fifteen minutes late. I was definitely going to get yelled at.Maybe I’d better not show up at all.But the consequences of that action would be disastrous. And so I continued my journey.

Five minutes later, I was at standing in front of the cafe’ getting yelled at. 

I’m never going to hear the end of it. It was already almost half an hour since I’d arrived and I was still being scolded for coming late.

“Don’t you make that face!” she scolded when she realized I was tuning her out

“Listen to what I’m saying! You’re always coming late! Its going to get you into big trouble someday! Discipline in life is...”

I tuned her out. It was almost always like this. Whenever I had a meeting with Tina I always ended up coming late. And every single time she would lecture me on the importance of time. In fact I’d heard this lecture so many times that I knew which point came after which. I knew the lecture would go on for at least another five to ten minutes before she was satisfied. Bored, I cast my eyes around the cafe’ instead.

It was a pleasant enough place. We were sitting in the outdoor area today as it was a fairly pleasant day. A nice wind was blowing, as I lazily observed the other costumers.

Then to my surprise I spotted him! Again! I quickly sat up in my seat, all attention, hoping I was not hallucinating.

“Are you listening?” she demanded, when she saw me jerk upright.

“Yes.”I replied absently, as I looked for him amongst the crowd.

“Then promise me you won’t be late again”, she said. “I promise.” I replied ,still searching through the crowd for another glimpse of him.  

“Look at me in the eyes and promise” she said. I was too busy trying to confirm what   I had seen, and so did not respond.

“Look. At. Me.” she demanded. There was a dangerous tone to her voice.

Not wanting to be lectured again. I tore my eyes away from the crowd and looked into hers” I promise .“ I said .”promise what?” she snapped at me.

“I promise never to be late again.” I said quickly, turning back almost immediately toward the crowd. But I didn’t see him again, no matter how long I looked.

 Maybe he already left. I thought as I exited the cafe’ later that afternoon. 

I plopped down on the sofa, tired from all the walking around I had done this evening. I stared at the ceiling as I contemplated about what to do for dinner.

Two minutes later, I decided to order for the night.

I was simply too tired to cook and there was nothing simple to make at home that would satisfy my hunger.

I rose tiredly from the couch and made my way to the phone.

I stifled a yawn as I waited for them to answer the phone. “Hello? Is this XX Fast Food? I’d like to order ..........”

I stifled another yawn as I settled on the couch once more , waiting for the food to arrive.

Half an hour later, the bell rang. I got up, heading towards the door hurriedly. The food had arrived.

I opened the door and to my shock I saw him standing there. “Delivery from XX Fast Food.“

His voice is low and a little deep. His eyes-

“Ma’am?”

“Huh? Y-Yes?’

“Your order. Please check if it is right” he said, handing over the package to me.

I took it in a daze and peered into it, Not sure what I had ordered anymore. My head was filled with his voice.

I looked up after about 5 seconds and said “It’s alright.”

He handed me the bill.

“Thank you for the delivery” I said as I handed him the money.

“Thank you for ordering from XX Fast Food” he said as he accepted the money.

I stared down the corridor after him as he walked away, wishing he would have stayed a little longer.

I slowly sat down on the chair, in a trance, as the events of the past two minutes  replayed in my head.

I couldn’t believe my luck! I had seen him two times in the same day! Two!

That brought the total number of sightings of him upto four! And three of them were within two days!

I took that as a good sign and happily reached for the food that was waiting on the table.

I relived the last two minutes once more as I unwrapped my food.

His voice. So low and a little deep. It seemed like it would be a good voice for a singer.

Maybe he sings. I giggled at the thought as I stuck my spoon into my food.

And his eyes. In the sun, they seemed like fire, but now they were more mellow and they were a dark brown in colour. They were more serious too, not carefree, as I had first seen them. But that is probably because he is at work. His hair was combed to the side too.

I decided to order more frequently from XX Fast Food from now on.

Maybe I will meet him again.

“What’s the matter with you?” Tina asked me one evening.

We were sitting on a bench in the park near my home. It had been nearly 3 months since the fast food incident. In the time between, I had run into him two more times. Both times unawares. And had three more sightings of him at the park.

I had also been scolded several times by Tina, and was, for the first time, earlier than her today. A pleasant surprise for her, of course.

“You keep looking at the path and sighing” she said. “Just what is the problem?”

I kept silent. There was no way I could tell her the reason. At least, not yet.

Not when I was so unsure myself about how I actually felt regarding this matter.

“You can tell me y’know? I’m actually offering to hear you out here” she said.

And indeed it was a tempting offer, for she hardly offered to lend an ear to other people’s problems and generally preferred to stay out of it.

And much as I would have liked to finally have someone to talk to about it, I wasn’t entirely sure if I actually liked him or if it was just a temporary infatuation.

So instead of telling her anything I just shook my head and waved her away.

Oh no! I’m late! I thought as I ran down the lane.

And I had left early too. Well, nothing new. I ran on, knowing that I would probably get yelled at again.

To be expected of course, since I was meeting up with Tina again. However a small consolation was that at least this time, I wouldn’t be the only one getting scolded.

Just another corner I thought as I rushed towards the library. I was meeting up with friends for group study at the library along with Tina.

Almost there- oof!

I dived down to pick up a sheet that had slipped from my notebook.

“Sorry”, I mumbled as I hurriedly slipped the sheet back into it.

“We seem to run into each other a lot” a voice replied.

I looked up to see him standing there, a twinkle in his eyes.

“Oh. Yes.” I replied, embarrassed.

“Well then until next time.” he said as he walked away.

I was red as a tomato as I walked the rest of the way to the library and my cheeks were still burning when I reached.

“What’s the matter?” Tina asked me when she spotted me later “You looked a little flushed. Everything alright?”

“Yeah.” I replied, even more embarrassed that she had noticed “must be from all the running I did.” I said, retreating behind my book to hide my embarrassment.

I thought about what he said as I headed home later that afternoon.

We seem to run into each other a lot.

Oh well, it’s true. I thought as I strolled back home.

After all I had run into  him in that exact spot just two weeks ago and then there was also that time when he accidentally landed up at my place instead of the neighbour’s  for  a delivery just three days before that.

Looks like Lady Luck favours me. I thought as I happily walked home.